Princess Aussie Experience

[as19111]

We are in the very early planning stages of a cruise to Australia/New Zealand.

 

I know that some of the Princess sailings advertise the "Aussie Experience". Two of the Princess ships sailing out of Australia use Aussie dollars. What else is there on the ship that counts as the "Aussie Experience"?

 

How does this differ/match other cruise lines?

 

Thanks for your help.

[bobhsv]

Maybe it is because there will be lots of aussies onboard! We are a fun loving crowd and exceptionally easygoing, rarely complaining, luv Americans etc. On our Princess cruises from Sydney, I notice they have the 'decent' bacon, Canadian bacon to you. Also the trivia will be aussiefied. On the SeaP last year, the menu was still mainly from the USA, and I had my first taste of your pumpkin pie for dessert.....my, that was an experience! The Diamond was similar. Some of the shows, comedians will be different, either aussie or NZ. All the ports, whever you go, are fabulous for AU and NZ....so good that you will wish you had more time downunder.

Jen

[as19111]

Thanks for your response. Everything you describe makes a whole lot of sense and fun, too. I haven't heard anything yet that would be intimidating in any way.

[Floridiana]

I have just come back from two 'Aussie' cruises, Sydney around NZ- Sydney on the Sea Princess and the circumnavigation of Australia on the Dawn Princess.

 

The passengers were almost all Australian on both cruises. No worries! Many had done these cruises several times before and helped with information.

 

Entertainment: The comedians were Australians or Brits - not only did I not always understand what they were saying, their humor was based on events in Australia. The audience laughed and I could easily identify non-Aussies by their perplexed silence. :-)

 

Forget about the 'sales'. The exact same merchandise that costs US $ 10 on US Princess ships cost AUS $ 15 on the two Aussie based ships.

 

The really good part: Almost all ports had free or low-cost shuttle busses. Many nice excursions were offered by local companies right on the pier. They had brochures, friendly and competent guides, and most excursions could be paid with a credit card. The large towns and cities have clean, comfortable and low-priced public transportation. Many smaller towns and the CBD's (downtown) can be walked easily. Did I mention the beautiful parks and wildlife centers?

 

Some excursions lead to places so far away from the pier that an excursion offered by the ship is the only viable option.

[as19111]

More great info! I guess Princess describes it that way to let us know that these ships are not completely the same as other cruises from the US based sailing. It seems totally logical that the majority of the customer base would be from down under and Princess would accommodate those passenger preferences.

 

When we sailed from Southampton to Iceland/Norway, the number of folks from the UK was over 50%, but I can't say I saw or felt any significant differences on the ship from other sailings. So, I just wasn't sure what "Aussie experience" would provide. (But I was curious about the menu aspect, too.)

 

Thanks!

[Floridiana]

The menu was an international medley. It had a lot of fish and sometimes lamb.

[yenta]

Which ships use Aussie $? We will be on the Diamond in November.

[cjm66]

Which ships use Aussie $? We will be on the Diamond in November.

 

The currency on Diamond Princess is US dollars. Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess currency on board is AUD for cruises departing and returning to Australia, otherwise US$.

 

Colleen