South Pacific - Australia Cruise Reviews

The Dawn Princess was the smallest Princess Cruise fleet we have been on.  We did miss some of the amenities like a specialty dining facility (Sterling Steak House is shared with Horizon Court Buffet), larger casino with video poker options, international cafe.

This cruise was our 14th. It was the worst cruise we have done from the cabin point of view. We have booked a " Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony" and got a cabin with a lot of noise especially at nights when the ship was cruising from port to port. We have heard noises like a woodpecker above our bad, Balcony doors were banging, Air Condition were running at low capacity especially during nights, sofa with stains , Balcony with rust all over and poor paint, Wooden hand grip looks terrible .   

The staff was amazingly helpful, courteous and made one feel as if one is their most important cruise client. Amazing how they recall your likes and dislikes @ dinner!. Rooms were impeccable.  Would have liked to see a little more room in the anytime dining area.  Where we sat was difficult for getting in and out of chairs as it was for waiters to maneuver serving our table.  Maybe scale down your table widths a little.  Needed water and shade for very elderly when boarding ports that were standing for long time in the heat while waiting for the tenders to return. Could have sent more tenders for quicker service.

As my wife and I had been on two Norwegian Cruises and river cruises with Viking and Avalon and we thought that the food choices and preparation was better on our previous cruises, than on Princess. There was with great frequency, food suited more to Asians than to Americans. Americans constituted 1500 of the 2200 passengers for this cruise.  There was not enough anytime dining choices where late during the evening (9-11 pm) you could get short order meal items or a hot sandwich like you could on Norwegian/Viking.  There were more draft beer choices on Norwegian.  There was more to do and far as sports on Norwegian to include regulation shuffle board and basketballs that were correctly inflated and with basketball rims with nets.  The promenade deck on Norwegian had markings that got all walkers and runners going in the same direction.  There was no such organization on Princess.  As far as itinerary, I think there could have been one more port in Australia and one less port in New Zealand.  Our cabin steward was very polite, but there were no towel animals as were on Norwegian and the river cruises.

Used the anytime dining ,loved it and the service provided By Inman Marco and Allan my wine steward Table 183 I continued to request this table because of the care and service

Overall a good experience.  Too many days at sea and bad internet connections.  Good food in specialty restraunts but poor food in main dining room.  Food better in Windjammer than in main dining room.  Pool deck screen needs to show movies during the day not just looped music especially on at sea days.  Port choices were very good but tendering in every port was a nuisance.  

This was truly a wonderful cruise, with great ports of call. A dive at the Great Barrier Reef, a trip up into a rain forest and the best zoo experience ever were just some of the highlights of this trip for us! The ship is beautiful, and the staff, food and evening entertainment were excellent. Definitely a trip to remember!!!

Radiance is a very comfortable ship. Wife and I enjoyed a Jr. suite. The pros were the suite (very large and comfortable), the speciality restaurants particularly Chops and Giovanni's. Steaks and service was excellent in Chops and lamb, pastas and service was likewise excellent in Giovanni's. Grand Buffet was a bit better than average with standard fare. Lunch in dining room very good with an exceptional salad bar. Boot camp in ShipShape center was very good. Trainer Patrick was excellent! Overall ship was in good shape and crew exceptionally friendly. The cons---entertainement was a bust, below average except for mentalist. Too many sea days (5 in all on a 10 nighter) without any enrichment offerings. Adult beverages were very expensive for very small pours. Our original excursion to Great Barrier Reef was canceled and no options offered. Only by the "grapevine" did we find out that another excursion was added at next port. Very poorly handled by staff.

Wonderful itinerary on a superb ship.   Seas can get a little rough between Australia and New Zealand, but that ship seems to handle it well. Food quality was adequate and service was excellent. We did a two day land excursion through Queentown during the cruise. There was a lot of time spent on a bus, but I did feel it was worth it. We were offered a $300 upgrade  for a smaller bus and better accommodations which I would not recommend. We also had an included classic drink package which had enough variety to satisfy most taste.  We also scheduled a number of our excursions through Viator.  We had no problems in this regard, and Viator seemed to give a better value.  However, you must follow the directions given on your receipt carefully. 

Excited to go to the continent of Australia and then New Zealand.  Enjoyed great shore excursions, good food and entertainment!  Ship is very clean and staff is friendly.  

The itinerary was outstanding.  But somehow I expected more.  After about 20 hours total travel time, we arrived in Papeete and were boarded promptly.  We were on a Oceania chartered flight by Air Tahiti Nui.  We arrived at 10 PM to find that all of the restaurants and buffets were closed.  Here it is the first day of the cruise and you board 200 older clients and you have no food except room service.  Room service was soon swamped making it slow.  Very poor planning Oceania.

If you are concierge class or above, don't expect any special treatment from Oceania.  The Executive and Concierge Suites were okay.  I expected a special venue for breakfast and lunch for concierge class, but there was none.  The rooms are nicer, but that's about all you get.

Nice ship.  Being located in the aft of the ship, disappointing that there were no stairwells or elevators in or near the aft.  Weather in New Zealand was disappointing.  Great time on sunny days.

this is our first cruising experience, but luckily sit on the Celebrity, which we believe very unique, and we decide to do it again if there is any more such cruise, and hope to see different parts of world by cruise.

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line. Food wise the cafe is consistently very good, few waiting lines, and exceptional service, except on cruise days--- can't find a place to sit down very crowded. Pool areas are always clean and inviting, except on cruise days--- no where to sit, too many "saved" lounge chairs. We were in Aqua and always had excellent food choices and service in Blu. The "for fee" cafe on 5 was quite good and never really crowded, exceptional food and pleasant service. Aqua cafe on 12 for breakfast and lunch was a nice break, a lighter fare and quite good. Specialty restaurants Murano and Tuscan are quite good, on the expensive side (always ask for any deals when booking, we consistently had 40-50% off) and service is VERY slow, expect a 2 hour meal. Beverage packages though are quite confusing and inconsistently honored throughout ship. Sometimes we ordered anything we wanted and were served (we had the classic package) other times "no soup for you!" Heinekin bottle, yes, Heinekin draft NO! Go figure. Entertainment was a real downer except for one comedian but ship dance/singing group was always quite good. Also, could have more enrichment programs on such a long cruise with many cruise days. Overall a 4 star experience.

The first reason for choosing this cruise was that had eight stops and nine days to take incursions. I also have found Holland America a cruise line that fits my life pace and quality dinning. I was a little disappointed with both the quality and variety of choices in the main dinning room. The service was excellent as expected. I was also disappointed  with lack of on board entertainment. Not taking away from the night show after dinner. There was know or little educational programs. I do want to thank Holland America for encouraging and allowing church services.

The variety of activities onboard was excellent.  We enjoyed the ice skating, rock climbing, sports court, flow riders, etc.  The nightly entertainment was also very good.

Tour – not enough staff to manage the people in the staging area.

Bathroom – had smell, shower floor side broken, sink slow drainage, toilet moldy

Stateroom – attendant did not change the glasses in the bathroom each day

Ice Skating – no direction on how to sign up

Windjammer – hours too short, plastic cups with stains – porcelain cups ok

Photo Gallery – cannot access photos when ship is in port

Deck 11 – forward starboard door to outside broken – can go out, but cannot re-enter – informed staff, but still not functioning the next day.

Poor air conditioning and air circulation throughout entire ship

La Scala Theater – seat drink holders do not fit any of the cocktail / wine glasses

Compass – many errors, especially on timing

Compass – no inserts on port of call with map and shuttle information, as with other cruises

Free port shuttles on other cruises, but not this one.

All in all it was a good cruise.  Enjoyed the breathtaking views of New Zealand especially cruising through the sounds.  It met my expectations.

The Celebrity Solstice is a lovely clean ship. Lots of activities and entertainment aboard. 

Ending the trip in Sydney was fantastic.  It was so wonderful to open the curtain an see the Sydney Opera House up close and in person.  Always thought the roof or sails were white when they are actually beige.

Sydney is a lovely walkable city but expensive.

Looking forward to visiting Australia again, if not on a cruise definitely an on land trip to view more of the country.

Even though the flight and traveling was long, I highly recommend this itinerary.

Happy Cruiser

The ship was nice and so was the staff, the sailing was fun.  We have been over 300 days at sea on a variety of ships.  This was my least favorite, because we felt like second class people.  We were told we couldn't go up front to see the sounds because it was reserved for the elite.  Celebrity, Princess cruises let everyone take turns going up front, maybe you should see how they do it. We were not the only ones that felt that way. Also they held seats for the elite, but they didn't release them when the show started. Why not, did they not want us to sit with them? There were children running unsupervised it seemed very dangerous 4,5, 6 years olds (I asked them their age and where their parents were, the parents were dancing or out by the pool?) you might want to check on doing something about that before someone gets hurt. 

Our rooms were clean perfect and the room service was very good, they were there to help us with any problems. 

Ship was very good. Clean and modern room. I'd give the food an 8.5 out of 10. Ports were great and the special overnight tour was well worth the price.

This cruise was dream cruise for me. Since I was young I always wanted to go to New Zealand and Australia. The staff on board did what they could to make up for the lacking staff. We were informed several staff was off for the  holiday. The internet did not work.  Photographers had to be tracked down to get photos made even though I pre paid for the photos a head of time. The food in the dining area was cold at time. We had to  wait for water and refill as staff was not around.

The positives were the Bar tenders were great as well as the coffee bar staff. Our  room was cared for by a great crew.  The buffet staff was much more available then the  dining room staff.

The staff working the excursions was also great very  helpful too. I  enjoyed the port of calls and had a great  time talking with  the natives.