South Pacific Cruise Reviews

The cruise was a wonderful experience, one to be remembered. It is a trip that I would recommend to others providing a good balance of time on the ship and time at port. The ship was maintained with a very high level of cleanliness minimizing the risk of spread of sickness. Thank you Sun Princess captain and staff.

This was a short 10 day cruise. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment.

Brilliant - love cruising on Princess ships. Actually just love cruising full stop! Best holiday you can have. If you like to unpack once and be treated like you are special then cruising is the holiday for you

Just back from 12 wonderful days on the Sun Princess. We found the staff on board this ship to be exceptionally warm and friendly. Our rooms were serviced twice a day and nothing was ever a problem. Entertainment aboard the cruise was good except for the Princess Show Crew which was so unprofessional it wasn't funny. All voices were mismatched and their dancing was all over the place. A bit of a disappointment.

The Regency Dining Room was exceptional and Horizons Court Buffet had a huge selection range. The International Cafe at the Atrium was a life saver being open 24 hours for coffee and snacks.

our toilet stopped working 4 times. The good part was their very prompt attention and it was fixable.

The ships getting old. I think the food quality in the dining rooms has gone down hill since a previous cruise 5 years ago.

overall most would be happy enough but Princess were better than this.

we all developed head colds.

the average age of passengers is over 70.

had to pay for a yoga class.

Shore excursions are ridiculously expensive.

Would do this cruise again , although I would not expect any similar cruise to be as good . ....................................................................................

Great trip, sometimes it seemed there were too many sea days, then sometimes not. I would recommend this to anyone planning on going to Alaska and not wanting to fly.

We booked this cruise because it was convenient and leaving from Fremantle and also had heard wonderful things about the Princess Line.  It was the Dawn's last cruise before being sold to P & O.  The ship is very old and from the beginning a lot of floors had blocked toilets.  Ours blocked 5 times during the 12 days.  One couple didn't have a toilet for 6 days and had to use a public toilet on another floor!  Dining areas were extremely hot and the air conditioning did not cope with the heat.  The second day into the cruise, they started running out of drinks.  No Stout, Johnny Walker and Red wine became limited to only $80 - $120 per bottle.  Cheap wines sold out early in the cruise.  Some food items also ran out and not replenished.  Prunes and breakfast fruit in particular.  Prunes ran out on the 3rd day much to the dismay of the many elderly cruisers.  The shops were closed for stocktaking after 6 days - never to reopen, so buying anything like Panadol or eye drops etc was non existent after that.  Clothing was just what was left over and very poor choice of models and sizes.  The Casino also closed before the end of the cruise, even though we were not in port.  This was so that the machines could be overhauled before the handover to P & O.  So too bad if you enjoyed the Casinos.  Entertainment during the day was also of a poor standard and many of the activities wound down after a few days including the Bingo!  Many cruisers were loyal customers that wanted to do one more cruise on the DAWN - a favourite amongst many Princess Cruisers.  We were all charged a normal rate to cruise on this last cruise and yet Princess just ran a very poor ship!!  Staff were wonderful and the evening shows were very good.  The cruise director was apologetic about the poor standard of the cruise and said "Please don't shoot the messenger".  All staff were making the best of a bad situation, having to often apologise for the lack of drinks, food or facilities.  Very disappointed with Princess.  They let down their loyal Cruisers well and truly.  

This was my first cruise and as the title reads, it was disappointing.( this cruise was the last voyage for the Dawn Princess before it went over to P&O to become the Pacific Explorer)

 Family and friends recommended Princess Cruises and praised their ships and services. Unfortunately we didn't experience this. 

A toilet that didn't work for 3 whole days, no wash machines working on our deck, supplies of food and drink running low and poor shore excursions are just the firsts of it.

The staff could only please guests with what they had, and they didn't have much. Lots of unhappy guests.

This hasn't changed my view of cruising, i loved it and will be going back on one, one day. But unfortunately i'm deffinetly reconsidering what cruise line it is on.

I was a first time cruiser but I loved it. The food was amazing,  the ship clean and plenty to occupy me during the day.  I even preferred the sea days. It was unfortunate that we had to miss two ports due to Cyclone Donna but understand that safety is paramount.  Occasionally there was a funny smell around parts of the ship.

Had the best time ever I wouldn't look back got looked after so well felt like a princess.. no bad word about the Sun princess am going again one day the food was great, but had heaps of cocktails hahahaha 

 I will go again 

i don't think there was anything to complain about, Well organised and friendly staff. Would recommend to anyone, great food, great room service. Am thinking of booking another one as this was our first and we were very happy.

This was our first cruise with princess cruises, we usually like to go with P&O but heard that princess was a step up. Heard that the food was better than P&O, that was not so, the buffet on golden princess was disgusting it was like reheated up left overs. This was the first cruise I didn't put weight on so for that I am very grateful but I would rather have enjoyed the food. Having said that it was my only complaint, my almost 9 year old grand daughter who we took with us had a blast in the childrens areas. The staff looking after them were brilliant and kept them busy and happy with all their planned activities . our grand daughter spent most of the cruise doing crafts playing games and made lots of friends. The 3 swim pools were great so none of them were ever overcrowded.   The movies were reasonably current and plentiful both under the stars, in the theatre and in the staterooms. The staterooms are a bit tight, way smaller than any of the ships we have travelled on before and the shower was a nightmare, especially when trying to wash my grand daughters hair . There were a lot of people on the ship that would have a hard time fitting in the showers

Beautiful Ship but would prefer Carnival Spirit over it for future cruises, Spirits main areas were a lot cleaner than Radiance.

Food

Radiance Dining - Windjammer 5*s - Dining Room 3*s didn't like the Menus

Spirit Dining - Lido 4*s - Dining Room 5*s great Menu every night, 24hr Ice cream & Pizza

Entertainment

Radiance - 3*s - Like the Orchestra but not a fan of the shows

Spirit - 5*s - Playlist Productions are fantastic

Cabin

Radiance - Interior 3*s - Great size, uncomfortable beds & pillows, Small bathroom, nicer colour scheme than Spirit and loved the curtain to close off sleeping area

Spirit - Interior 3.5* - Great size, bigger bathroom than Radiance possibly due to the large lounge in Radiance where Spirit only had a chair. Beds and pillows more comfortable

Cruise Director & Entertainment Staff

Radiance - 3*s - Think his name was Steve (forgettable), Entertainment Staff, only liked a couple and where was Bingo? Never heard an announcement!

Spirit - 5*s - Eli - Best Cruise Director ever and entertainment staff from Jess, Baby Jane and Mason are all fantastic, BINGO was the best with Jess!

Adult Area

Radiance - A hot solarium that smelt of chlorine, never saw the bar open and kids freely walked through

Spirit - SERENITY Deck - PERFECT!! Pool, spa, pods, hammocks, bar always staffed, live music at times and no kids. I have no problem with kids on cruises, i take my own but sometimes you need to just chill and relax.

Access

Radiance - Well my calves got a workout using stairs as the lifts were hopeless. There's 6 i think near Centrum and some forward but that's it

Spirit - Glass elevators in Atrium and elevators at either end

Salon

Radiance - Great staff and service

Spirit - Not used it as yet.

Tour of Ship

Radiance - All Access - Missed some due to timing, no photos at all with Captain who wasn't there at the time

Spirit - Behind The Fun - FANTASTIC tour and a must do. Price included photos with Captain on the Bridge with you/family and the whole group, also had photos with Head Chef in Galley, food samples and champagne in Steakhouse.

This is based on my personal experience, remember everyone's experience is different, happy cruising.

we had our 3 grandchildren with us, our favourite time was dinner at night in the Sapphire Rome, our waitress Sixue and waiter Ayay made us feel special, the children looked forward to dinner every night and did not wont to eat anywhere else, they get 10 out of 10 from us.

The downside of the dining room was the air conditioning we froze and all had colds and sore throats the day we left.

on the last 2 days when the weather was colder, I had to wonder what you do to keep occupied , would not contemplate a winter cruise, mustn't forget Kim the cabin attendant he was great always friendly 

This was our first cruise and it was awesome.  We had the best time from the moment we boarded.  All staff greeted us with a happy smile. Our bar staff, waiters in the MDR were exceptional nothing was all complicated for them. Hats off to the Cruise director Jamie and his offsider Katie and their staff who are fantastic at what they do.  Always funny to listen and watch them.  Never a dull moment.  lol.  Getting on and off the ship was so organised it was a pleasure to be on this ship.  Pity this ship is not coming back to Australia after 2018.

The only thing I would suggest would be more music on the pool deck depending on weather.

I would recommend this ship to all my friends and their friends. Had the best time.

For an older ship she is doing ok. Bit dated but is in dry dock in October for a facelift.  Carpet in hallway outside our stateroom was replaced in a day.  Part of their continual refresh maintenance according to the note left in our room.  Food in dining rooms wonderful along with service.  Buffet great for breakfast but average for lunch and dinner. Theatre shows great.  Cruise director and deputy a bit weak however a couple of the other cruise director staff we great. Kids programme awesome!!  Our girls loved it.

I was very disappointed in this cruise I was not happy with the room or the food that was in the horizon court. 

The room was so small for the 4 people in my family it was almost unbearable and to top it all off my husband & I was not allowed to have our beds together because of some lame reason of it was to dangerous for my children on the bunks but my sister had 1 child in a bunk above her bed and she was allowed to have the beds together. It did not make sense to me the difference between 1 child in 1 bunk or 2 children in 2 bunks. 

This was a 40th anniversary cruise for me, as I did a similar cruise with my parents back in 1977. We loved the adventures of this cruise, and it took us to some very memorable tropical beaches, and many places of very significant history. This cruise has also refreshed my desire to return back to Vanuatu very soon, and get another fresh Mud Crab on the beach at Champagne bay.

We loved everything about the Solstice.  The Stateroom was large and comfortable; the food was amzingly good and the entertainment was Vegas/New York Broadway caliber in nature.  I would cruise them again and recommend them highly to anyone, except those with children as there was little for kids to do onboard.