South Pacific Cruise Reviews

This ship has it all and were it not overbooked by some 485 passengres is a dream. Apparently this happens every year at the end of the year because lots more families book for the Christmas/New Year cruise.

We enjoyed the cruise and were very pleased with the Captain keeping us informed of ocean conditions and schedules. Service was excellent and when we did have a request for anything our request was filled almost immediately.

My cruise sailed Sydney to Airlie Beach and back to Sydney, with stopovers in Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas and Brisbane, where we had the option of land tours (one of which was a disaster), and included travel from Boston, Massachusetts, to Sydney, Australia, with change of planes in Los Angeles. There was not enough time for customs and TSA calculated for my return flights, with only 2 hours between them; there should be at least 3 hours between flights when re-entering the country. The airline rep had to bump me to the front of the security line in order to make the flight connection; even then, I arrived at the gate as it was boarding - and my luggage had not been searched at customs.The ship itself is lovely and impressive. Public areas were magnificantly decorated to reflect the holiday season. Every area I visited was immaculate; the stateroom was spaceous, with lots of storage and closet room. There were sufficient clothes hangers, and the room was maintained promptly each day. There is a paucity of shops on this ship, which precluded participation in some of the themed nights (inability to purchase or rent appropriate clothing). Forehand knowledge of the themes planned would have assisted in packing appropriate clothing. If you plan to see the Great Barrier Reef, plan to go in early October; the locals say that's the only time of year it's possible to see anything. People on my cruise were disappointed that they paid for a tour at a time when they were unable to see anything because of choppy water.

Its obviously an older ship but has been cared for and cleaned non-stop. We prefer Holland America over the other lines we have traveled due to their attention to details and their wonderful Indonesian and Philipino crew members.

Dirty ship , My wifes request for a gluten free diet was ignored resulting in her being poisoned by non gluten free food .

The ship was old and needs updating. Our itinerary was changed because of mechanical issues. The staff was the best of the 20 cruises we have taken.

good value for money friendly peopleship seems home away from home

It is hard to put into words why you liked the cruise that you had never thought would be the best time of your life. It was my first cruise so I did not know what to expect and did not know if I would like it or not. Well once I stepped foot onboard the ship the friendliness from all of the staff was my first indication that it was going to be great. I was not wrong for the whole 31 days. It is impossible to compare this cruise to any other cruise line since I have not been on any others but I do know that in the future since my husband and I are now both retired Princess will be the only ship that I will cruise on. From the person who took care of our room to the desk staff that set up our tours, who were so very helpful, to the waiters in the dining room or the staff in the buffet area it is impossible to say what area of the ship was the best. I do know that the combination of all of these and so many more areas of the ship made it the most pleasant 31 days that I have ever spent on vacation. Also being a first time cruise I wanted to get as many pictures as I could with a brand new camera. Well I did have hundreds and hundreds of pictures which I somehow deleted by pushing the wrong button. I was devastated. I took it to the photography people on the ship and by some miracle they were able to retrieve all of my lost pictures. They were so kind and saw how upset I was over this. I could never thank them enough for this. Also if you like to play bingo onboard one of your cruises I did the same and on the next to last day won the jackpot. It was a nice amount and of course made the trip even more enjoyable.I could go on forever and still not say all the praises I have to say for the Princess Dawn. I hope to cruise in the near future. Hope to see you onboard.

We just recently returned from a cruise on the Elation. It was our third cruise; second on Carnival. I would have to only say excellent things about this cruise with only a few "not-so-great things. We felt that the stop in Ensenada is not worth it. We were off the ship walked around town and back on in an hour. There is absolutely nothing to do there - not even a beach day. The other thing I thought was a disappointment was that at the stop in LaPaz, they have kayak adventures advertised but when you went to book, we were told they werent available. If I were to make any recommendations I would eliminate the stop in Ensenada and stay the night in Cabo San Lucas. My other suggestion would be to only advertise adventures that are available. Not giving the cruiser false hopes. Other than that - I loved to cruise and will definitely be back....

It was fun with a lots of things to do. But, not kept celan. There were spills of pop in our room when we got there. Plus bugs were everywhere. I couldn't even sleep from all the buzzing!

We sailed on this ship in its inaugural year and it hasn't changed much. Celebrity is my favorite in the "big" ship category. The food was wonderful, the service great from our room steward to our waiter and his assistant, to our room service lady. They were all so eager to please and smiled all the time - nothing was too much trouble. Australia is always awesome and New Zealand a country everyone should visit. I always check out Celebrity first and have just booked a 24 day cruise on Azamara.

Overall we absolutely loved the size of this ship. We have sailed on many ships and this was by far our favorite. The Tahitian Princess is intimate yet spacious, beautifully decorated but not over-stated and it visits the most beautifully unspoiled islands in the South Pacific.

This was my 3rd time on Rhapsody of the Seas - one of my favorite ships. Most likely the most enertaining Captian on any ship anywhere. I was worried I would the condition of the ship not as good as when I first cruised on her, but she is being maintained very well. Everyone should take a cruise to New Zealand

Our trip was Tahiti to Hawaii in 11 days/ We flew on Air Tahiti then the boat trip and flew home. To make the beds softer we ordered, for free, egg crate matress covers. Our room was on deck 3 and only had a port hole but it was much better than friends who were on deck 6 that covered the window with a life boat, also less roll on deck 3. We did't get to stop at Christmas Island, low tides. Eat dinner ever night in the club room, always good food slection, the rest of time at the buffet. My wife went to program to learn line dancing but the roll of the ship was too much for her. I went to a couple of Chess programs but no body show up, not even the director?? They had a good Ping Pong program. The pool was warm and very good but the hot tubs dials didn't work. The shore trips were great. On first Island 4 of us rented a taxi for about 3 hours and cost $35 each and it had air. On Boro Boro we reserved a 4X4 way ahead for the AM run, cooler and it was the thrill of a life time. It was the best 4X4 of any of the islands the boat went to. We paid about $2300 each for 11 days but there were about 80 people on board that paid about the same and got 22 days of cruising. Here is the way they did it. Prices drop after there is 90 days or less so buy one cruise from Vacations to go.com,Hawaii to Tahiti about $ 900 and also the return cruise from Tahiti to Hawaii $ 900 total $1800 + R/T air to Hawaii for us from Portland $500 Have twice the fun at the same cost and save the whole day flight to Tahiti, 14 hours.

This ship is well staffed and runs like a Swiss watch...the food is very good as was the service. No complaints about this cruise.

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The staff was attentive and the ship comfortable and inviting. My daughter loved the teen program. We were disappointed that one of our shore excursions was canceled, but I cannot complain since it was a weather and safety issue. The New Zealand fjords were unbelievable. The pools and hot tubs were not crowded.

This was our 22nd Princess cruise, and our 4th Tahiti cruise. We had sailed on the Tahitian Princess when it was the R-4, what an extreme change. Were it not for the limited choice in air lines (Air Tahiti Nui) we would probably come back to the Islands just to be on this ship. Our party consisted of my wife's twin and her husband, my sister-in-law, and mother-in-law to celebrate her 82nd birthday.

This was our 15th cruise, 5th time on Princess. Flew to Auckland, stayed one night precruise for 1/23/07 sailing NZ-australia. The ship itself is beautiful and clean. The cruise director was useless and there was no information on the ports. It was all do it yourself. Luckily, we were prepared and had already booked private excursions. We had anytime dining which worked out well. the weather was not the best, we had very rough seas crossing the Tasman Sea and were late to Hobart by 8 hours.