Just back review P2 - Pacific Sun Butterfly Whispers

[fishart]

Hi again,

I start this second installment to mention the staff…

These folks, especially the waiting, kitchen and cabin stewards are major workers. These guys are working from very early hours right through into late nights… Some smile genuinely, others smile because they have too…hard to differentiate between the two but when you understand what kind of days they have, you feel but the deepest admiration for these people. The working conditions are very tough, with very little reward… I say this in admiration and of some concern, however, not forgetting that these people choose on their own accord to work on such ships and conditions.

From one account we got – these folk work 10 months straight with 3 weeks off at the end…this is 7 days a week, by the way…no weekends off etc etc..

We had DEMO as cruise director and he was brilliant – a great MC and comedian!!! He said he is staying with the Sun when she heads up to Brisbane as her new base.

DEMO’s assistant Kevin is a real scream – he MC’s a lot of the fun games onboard and also calls the BINGO…(not forgetting sex god assistant ‘Milan’)

Another notable staff member was Kelly who heads the trivia’s onboard – great sense of dry humour and makes the trivia’s specially fun..

Okay, well for those who haven’t been on the Sun yet, all the above meant absolutely naught – but for recent travelers on the Sun, I hope these names brought back some smiles.

Finally on the staff – the dancers and Pacific Sun showband was fantastic – the shows were great including G’day, G’day and Piano Man and Tribute etc… nice finish to the evening..

I know I have missed on many more but the list is endless…and my fingers are hurting from this typing already… ha ha ha

This next section I will double back a little to offer insight to the Wharf 8 arrangements in Sydney. The Wharf 8 Passenger terminal is located on the southern side of the Darling Harbour precinct.. If you do a search for the location of the Sydney Wildlife World and Aquarium, well Wharf 8 is about 500m (just less than 10min walk) up behind the Aquarium along the waterfront.

We arrived at the terminal by taxi from our CBD based hotel at about 9:30am.

At the far northern end of the terminal (not inside at the entry doors) there an open warehouse where you drop off your main luggage. Keep hold of your hand luggage.

A lovely lady greeted us, where she double checked we had all our P&O luggage tags attached to each bag...then each bag is run through a scanner and loaded onto a truck to be taken to the ship.

We wandered off to the Sydney Aquarium to pass time – a really great Aquarium for the kiddies and big kids alike…. From memory I paid about $46 for the 2 adults and one child family pass.

We returned to the terminal at about 12:15pm to find a massive queue already snaking through the whole entry area of the terminal.

People from health services weave around the queue issuing out a simple health questionnaire that you need to fill out for entry. The questionnaire mainly asks if you have been feeling ill (influenza style involving vomiting, diarrhea, etc). Note you need to fill out one form for each adult – don’t share the form between adults as they will make you do it all over again ask for more forms if they didnt hand you enough…children to be listed, are shared on the same form for each adult.

Back to the queue… although rather daunting looking at the massive line-up, once the check-in process commences at 12:30, the line was processed through rather quickly…We were at the back of the queue and with the hour (about 45 minutes), we were walking to the gangway of the ship.

First process is to hand back the health questionnaire - then you walk through to another rather large section of the terminal where there are quite few desks and where you will collect your cruise cards. This is where you hand in that form (issued with your cruise tickets) nominating how you will pay for your ship expenses onboard and also your cruise tickets… Note that this is not where you hand over your cash for your cruisecard – you do that at the Pursers desk onboard the ship.

After you are handed your cruise cards each, you then proceed to the customs section where you show your passports, and have your hand luggage scanned…thereafter you are free to head to the gangway and into the ship.

In regards to the cruise cards - each cruise card is personally printed for each passenger, including children. The cruise card is your boarding pass both on and off the ship when visiting other ports. On the card is your name and also you will see that you have been assigned to a dining room and table number and an 4 digit account number which is linked to your family/room.

Once onboard, you then have a 48 hour grace period to eventually get to the Pursers desk to discuss how you want to pay for your expenses. I had taken $1000 cash which I split between the three of us - $500 on hubbys card, $450 on mine and $50 for our son…

I had taken some cash for gambling, and I had already got some Pacific Francs before the cruise and our VISA card was supplied to the Purser if we overspent.

In regards to currency conversion, the Sun seemed to have a good supply of Pacific Francs for this cruise…Note that they only hand out cash (500 francs the smallest)…if you happen to get coins as change whilst in any of the ports, you will not be able to hand them back to the pursers desk for conversion back to $AUD (only notes). So make sure that you try and get as many notes back from your shopping/tour ventures… We didn’t deal with anything less than 500 francs anyways…so didn’t matter…

Surprisingly there was a short queue at the Pursers desk when we first boarded so I lined up and managed to arrange our account very quickly.

On the last day at sea, I managed to get served at the desk very quickly again at about 12:30pm… I fixed up our cash accounts etc, closed our sons card (money-wise) and told the pursers that any expenses that hubby and I make for the last 24hours to be charged to our VISA.

Nice and easy…we had a final statement slid under our room door by the time we woke up the day of disembarkation and all we had to do was wait for our turn to leave the ship…

In regards to needing actual cash onboard, cash is only necessary for the casino, and for betting on the Seahorse races… Bingo tickets are bought via your cruise card.. $10, $20 and $30 books available.

I won’t go into detail about the races and bingo as this will spoilt it for those newbies, but I will say that they are great fun!! Hubby and I had never played BINGO before and became BINGO addicts by the end of the cruise…jackpot on the last day at sea was $7,100 which was won by 2 people at the same time and split between them…still, $3,500 is nothing to sneeze at! Great fun!!!

I also took about $20 worth of $1 coins for the Laundromat… The Laundromat is located on deck 5 and consists of 5 washers and dryers only – we did a few washes whilst onboard and sometimes had to wait for a free machine, but never for too long. Each machine only costs $1 and it takes 30min for the washer and 40 min for the dryer… We also took our own small supply of power – we suggest others do the same…

There are a couple of ironing boards and irons setup in the landromat as well…

If we were to have a gripe about the ship – we would suggest that they could have a few more machines installed…

Okay, next report is about the food, food, food and drinkies…

Stay tuned!!

Cheers! Iesha

[fishart]

Forget to mention another couple of things in regards to cruise cards...

YES you get to keep your cards after the crusie if you want, also, if you dont have your own lanyards, they charge about $6.95 from memory if want to buy one on the ship... (we took our own)

 

The cruisecards are not your room/cabin keys....each passenger will find a room key sitting in the cabin when you board...so you attach then this extra plastic card/key with your crusiecard on your lanyard...

 

When you leave the ship after the crusie finishes, you leave your room keys on the desk of your cabin as you found them when you boarded...

 

Again, you use your cruisecards as you leave the ship.

They have a couple of machines that you "log/scan" your crusiecards through whenever you board or leave the ship...

 

Okay, well hope thyis helps...

I am working on my next installment...will post it tonight...

Cheers! Iesha

[LouLou28]

Iesha! This is a great, comprehensive review!

 

I'm cutting and pasting into a word document to give to my sister - shes cruising with us (for the first time) in February - and the details you're giving is just what she needs.

 

We cruised before (on the Star though) and I'm loving the details your giving for the Sun - will be very helpful!

 

Thanks for all of these useful tips!

 

:D

[AuzzieCruiser]

Thanks for the review Iesha. Loving it so far. I'm leaving on Friday doing the exact same cruise as you.:) I feel like a newbie all over again!!:p

Looking forward to the review of ports.;)

[i_love_cruising]

Iesha,

 

You have excelled again! What a comprehensive review of the embarkation process for those travelling from Sydney. Thank you so much for taking the time to give such a detailed review.

 

Sarah

[Sundance12]

We had DEMO as cruise director and he was brilliant – a great MC and comedian!!! He said he is staying with the Sun when she heads up to Brisbane as her new base.

DEMO’s assistant Kevin is a real scream

 

ok does ANYONE know what Kevin is doing after sun leaves?! going crazy here

[ianqld]

The Laundromat is located on deck 5 and consists of 5 washers and dryers only – we did a few washes whilst onboard and sometimes had to wait for a free machine, but never for too long. Each machine only costs $1 and it takes 30min for the washer and 40 min for the dryer… We also took our own small supply of power – we suggest others do the same…

 

Iesha that seems a bit extreme.

 

Did you take a generator or long extension cord :D

 

Love the review, going to look for P3 now

 

Ian

[fishart]

Iesha that seems a bit extreme.

 

Did you take a generator or long extension cord :D

 

Love the review, going to look for P3 now

 

Ian

 

 

Ha ha ha...yes, well hmmmm .... those darn typos can throw a whole new spin to the story... laundry powder folks!!!

 

But hey, if you do happen to take your own 1200 nautical mile long extention lead...I'd love to see a photo of it... ha ha ha

 

Cheers! Iesha

[discovery]

Hi Iesha,

 

Who was your waiter?

 

Angel

[fishart]

Hi Iesha,

 

Who was your waiter?

 

Angel

 

 

We sat at table 165 in the Bordeaux Dining Room and had Fariday as waiter and Ronald as assistant... (we secretly nicknamed Ronald 'Jackie Chan' cause he looked a little like a younger Jacki Chan)..

 

We had a 11yo girl at our table have a birthday on the last night, and I asked Fariday during lunch if he could organise balloons for our dinner table, which he did so with no issue what-so-ever...

Fariday was very attentive, remembered our regular drink orders and both Fariday and Ronald (if we bumped into them on the ship during the day) would instantly give us a beaming smile and greet us by name...

 

On one of the nights after dinner, Ronald stayed back and demonstrated a couple of napkin folding tricks...he made a couple of animals which were very entertaining....

 

If you run into them, pls let them know that the Stewart family from the recent cruise offers their warmest regards...

 

Cheers! Iesha