Sea Princess Reviews

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Boarding ship in Sydney was a bit of an experience. Only temporary facilities at present which wasn't very well organised, could not hear public address system and staff not very helpful. This was all forgotten however once on-board. Staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Horizon Court (or the Horror Zone) was very busy as expected but staff again were friendly and the food was quite good. Sail away under the Harbour Bridge was lovely - even the rain and cold didn't do anything to diminish the sight. Getting around the ship was very easy (even for the geographically challenged like myself) and their was always someone either staff or passenger who was more than happy to help you find your way. Cabin was smaller than I was used to but very comfortable and tidy. The ship staff were extremely friendly and helpful, especially my cabin steward Manuel. He was very thoughtful no request was too much trouble and he even asked about me on the day I was so sick I could not leave the cabin. Everyone remembered your name, favourite drink, what desserts you didn't like etc (I found this amazing with so many passengers on-board. You were always welcomed with a cheery good morning or good night. My only really small complaint would be the service of the bar staff in the Vista Lounge, very poor. Entertainment on-board for the most part was excellent. The ships singers and dancers were very good, performing some nights when the sea was quite rough. The comedian from Liverpool was very good although some jokes were a bit old - but with an older audience this was not surprising. An amazing singer by the name of Lisa Crouch was a must see any night that she was performing - fantastic voice and talent. Dining in the main dining rooms was excellent, service and food quality very good. Horizon Court (Horror Zone) was a little more hit and miss, some dishes were cold but good for a late-night snack and the scones and cream in the afternoon were lovely. Room service another hit and miss affair but breakfast on days going ashore if you didn't have time for the dining room were very good. Princess do need to think about tea/coffee making facilities in cabins, it would have been nice to make your own. Shore excursions booked through Princess can be quite expensive, but for someone travelling on their own its a great way to see the sights. Visit to Copra Plantation in Fiji very interesting and scenery along the way was beautiful. Cliffs of Jokin Loyalty Island also very good. Rainforest Walk and Cascade Falls in Vanuatu very good, made more so by a very good local guide. On-board activities such as lectures were very interesting and well attended. My only criticism would be people who are entering theatre or lounge for next event interrupting lectures and being generally rude by talking and standing in the front of projectors etc while presenter is trying to talk. You can do as much or as little as you want. There are bingo sessions (very popular), casino, art classes etc which are all very well organised. Now some bad news - the self service laundries were very handy, however some passengers using extremely long wash cycles and not removing their laundry once the cycle was complete was a big problem. This needs to be addressed by Princess, before things like the argument I witnessed turns nasty. Unfortunately not all fellow passengers were considerate towards others. Pushing in while in queues (especially for tenders and food), standing or sitting in hallways and staircases and not letting people pass. Princess also need to address the mobility of passengers trying to use the tender service and some shore excursions - it was unfortunate that on some excursions and at some tender ports we were held up by some passengers who had mobility difficulties - I do not begrudge these passengers from going ashore but when time in ports can sometimes be limited, more mobile passengers should not be at a disadvantage. Also even though Princess has a no smoking in rooms or on balcony policy, passengers in nearby cabins were still using their balcony to smoke. The smoking area on the Promenade deck was not ideal - whenever you went out the door you had to walk through a wall of smoke as the smokers gathered round the door. Butts and ash were not disposed of in the bins and sometimes littered the floor - which then staff members had to clean away. In general it was a lovely cruise and I would do it again tomorrow. I would definitely recommend Princess Cruises to family and friends.

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Our 42 night cruise started and ended in Sydney. We were wondering how we would survive 42 nights, but it went really well, so well in fact that we did not want to come off. There was a bit of a mix-up with the Esta Visa for Guam, however the ship sorted everything out. We did find things were not as organised on the Sea Princess as we have experienced on the Sun Princess. The Ports of call were fabulous, we particularly loved Shanghai and going for a ride on the Maglev train which runs on a magnetic field and reaches 431km hour. We did our own thing in all the ports except Rabaul where we did a tour with a group of people. Most places we called in were easy to do on your own; the ship was berthed in easy access to the towns. Passengers that did the ship tour in Yokohama to Mount Fuji all said that trip was fabulous; we caught the train up to Asakusa to see a 11th Century Shrine and then went to Ueno to see the Cherry Blossoms which were half out, another week and all the Cherry Blossoms would have been all out. The Sea Princess is a beautiful ship, the staff were very good, food was excellent, and we met some lovely people.

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We were extremely happy with our cruise. The attention of the staff was what most impressed me on this cruise. A large majority of passengers were older people who had walking sticks and walking frames and the staff looked after these passengers wonderfully by helping them in the Horizon Buffet, carrying their plate and serving the food. Our cabin was in a great position, towards mid ship and quite close to the lifts and laundry. The food was great in the dining room and you can order as many courses, or double size meals as you like. If you buy a bottle of wine in the dining room or in the bar, you can take it with you to the next area you are going to. Buying by the bottle is cheaper than buying by the glass. While I enjoyed the food from the Horizon Court Buffet, it is never very hot as it would all burn up to nothing. Next time I might be brave enough to ask for something to be heated in the microwave. We really enjoyed the entertainment. When you go around New Zealand on a ship you realise that the ports are quite some way from where some of the popular tourist sites are, e.g. Rotorua and that if you took an excursion to some of the places it could easily take nine hours before you were back on board. When you go to ports that need a tender, (e.g. Bay of Islands - which would be beautiful on a nice non-rainy day) there never seems to be sufficient tenders released from the ship to do this job - but we were told that a certain number had to be kept on board in case there was an incident on the ship. Tauranga was after Auckland and we had the day off from going ashore. I think it can get very tiring if you are trying to do something ashore and things on board every day. Napier, the Art Deco City was next. There was a free shuttle bus from the ship. Napier is good to walk around - heaps of art deco buildings to photograph. Food places galore. Had a good vibe to it. Akaroa was the next port after Wellington, another tender port. I decided not to go ashore because I couldn't be bothered waiting if there were insufficient tenders used again. My partner went ashore, and although the ship's announcement kept saying that they were sorry for the delays, because of choppy seas - they were using more tenders and he was there and back by 11.30 a.m. Akaroa is a very pretty village which had originally been settled by the French. We have nice photos from there. Fiordlands was the next place we cruised through and it's scenery on a gigantically tall scale. Lots of photo opportunities - we were lucky enough to have both fine and wet weather - the rain puts mist on the cliffs and makes them look good and when it's fine, it gives clarity.

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Stayed at Shangri-la Sydney the night before cruising. A beautiful hotel especially the Horizon Club rooms , on high floors with great views of the harbour , Opera House and the CBD.Only a $13 taxi ride from the hotel to Wharf 5 Barangaroo. Embarkation was at 1 pm for Riviera Deck . Arrived at large tent used as the terminal building. Handed over the large bags and was directed to the check in kiosks. Check in was fast and cruise cards and numbered embarkation ticket issued promptly. Embarkation ticket was number 16 , entry gate showed now boarding number 11. That gave us time to look around the terminal , lost count of the number of push walkers and wheelchairs. The friends we were travelling with also commented on the apparent average age of our fellow cruisers. It took just on 1 hour to board the ship from receiving our embarkation ticket number. The actual passing through immigration , quarantine etc was swift and well organised. We went up to our cabin , met Christopher the room steward , had a quick look at the room then went for a walk around the lounges etc.When we returned to our cabin , our bags had been delivered so unpacking was the next chore. I discovered my reading glasses had come apart in my hand luggage. I asked Christopher where could i get them fixed , he said leave them with me and he had them repaired by the time the Life Jacket drill was over. Sailaway was fun with cocktails and cameras in hand for the beautiful trip under the Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House. Food on the ship was good at each venue we tried. We found the meals in the Rigoletto dining room , second sitting 7.45pm, were somewhat rushed but each meal had so many choices it was hard to pick one dish over another. Our favourite was The Steakhouse , with a cover charge of $20pp, great service , peaceful and steaks big enough to trip over ! The pizzeria was also very good for lunch and for dinner it had an expanded menu. The bars were all very good with fast friendly service. Our favourite was the Wheelhouse bar which has comfy lounges and beautiful wood surrounds. Live music was a hit and miss for us. Our favourite was Allan and La Donna who , i agree are probably an acquired taste, but lots of fun nonetheless. The only thing we found uncomfortable was the temperature of the air con in the common areas , way too hot for our liking , even stuffy we thought.Although there are plenty of places to poke your head out doors if you wish. Port reviews come next apparently so I will conclude this part with disembarkation. Most of the ports are not listed i find so, our favourites were the Hawkes Bay wine and cheese tour in Napier, the city drive and Lanarch Castle tour in Dunedin,the Storm coast drive in Wellington, the Tauranga City Drive , Elms Mission and Kiwi 360 in Tauranga naturally enough ! The cruise day through Fiordland finishing with the cruise through Milford Sound left us speechless apart from the odd " awesome" ! Well worth getting off the ship , weather permitting , its a lovely country for sightseeing. We asked for and received 7.30am luggage tags , met in the Vista lounge at 7.20 am and were sitting back in the big tent within 10 minutes WOW.

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We sailed on the Sea Princess from Sydney on 6 Feb 2012. While I had checked the internet weather for forecasts, we were not expecting great weather given it was the less preferred time to travel to the South Pacific. Boarding the Sea Princess in Sydney was very organised, and after about 1 hour wait, we were finally on board and in our balcony cabin, our cabin was fantastic, so clean and having the balcony gave us a bit more room, great to have that drink on in the afternoons, and to while away the night watching the stars. The staff of the Sea Princess were so friendly and helpful, always there to assist you but didn't get too pushy. The food was beyond fantastic, we always ate at the dining room, why not have 5 star silver service when you can! The entertainment was world class, and so much of it to choose from, every night we had different cabaret acts, and performers. During the day we could attend any one of numerous lectures or just find a comfy spot and read a book. Such luxury. The ports were great, 3 of them by tender which was well organised and not too bad. Of course, those that you pull into the dock are more convenient for getting on and off. The islands of Lifou, and Dravuni were great for snorkelling, so don't forget to take your own gear, the ship sold out and you could hire some on the island but we took our own. Well worth doing that. The boat is in Aus $ and most of the island take Aus $ now, given the amount of cruise ships visiting. My favourite port was Vila and Savu Savu, not so hectic and the locals very friendly. Easy to get around, plenty of tour operators on the dock so don't take the cruise ship tours, they are expensive and you can get much cheaper on shore. Duty free is great in Vila, and then Noumea. You can take 1 bottle of wine on board the ship at each port, so great for those afternoon drinks on the balcony. They did check our luggage after each port to check on our purchases and they take any duty free spirits off you and return to your cabin the night before your arrive back in Sydney. It was a great trip, well recommend it, very relaxing and wonderful. Princess cruise was brilliant in every way.

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