New Zealand by Sea

Sun Princess Cruise Review to South Pacific - Australia

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 40

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5
Sun Princess

13 Night New Zealand (Sydney Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 09, 2017

Ship: Sun Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: B428

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

We LOVE cruising with Princess! New Zealand was a beautiful, friendly country and there is NO way to see everything on just one cruise.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
We had priority embarkation and it took least than 10 minutes!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Meals in the Regency Dining room were wonderful. The menu was different each night with a wide variety of options. The grill also varied the options but pizza, burger and hotdogs were always available. Certain options were available everyday at the buffet but they also had country theme nights - Asian, Italian, etc. Each meal had a variety of dessert options.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
We had a total of 5 sea days. While there were always many options to choose from, we didn't always find anything we were interested in. Pool was never crowded and deck movies were varied. We enjoyed the destination speakers, trivia activities and line dancing.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The entertainment was wonderful! The ship singers and and dance crew were some of the most talented we've seen. The specialty entertainers were a nice mixture of local area talent and others. We enjoyed it all!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
We could not have asked for better service. Our steward always called us by name and anticipated our every need. All the waiters in every venue were great.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
The Sun Princess is the oldest in the fleet but we loved it. Everything was easy to get to and you didn't have to walk through the casino to get from one place to another! Just from the looks you would like it was new boat - everything was clean and in good condition.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Awesome! We had a Club Class Mini-Suite balcony. The room was spacious with a walk-in closet and the bed was fantastic. Bathroom had a separate tub and large shower. The balcony was longer than regular balcony rooms.

Ship tip

If you don't have the all inclusive drink card, at least get the coffee card. The brewed coffee is so much better than ship coffee and they offer a range of specialty coffees.

Ports of call

Sydney, Australia

5 out of 5
We went several days early to explore Sydney. The harbor and Rocks area is fun to explore. I recommend the Captain Cook History Cruise located in Sydney Harbor.

Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand

5 out of 5
Our favorite! Nature's Wonders excursion gets you up close to fur seals, blue penguin and the yellow-eyed penguin. They support local conservation efforts.

Akaroa, New Zealand

5 out of 5
Neat little city to explore. I recommend the Akaroa Dolphin excursion - Hector dolphins, seals, and more. The day we were there a booth was set up to stamp passports.

Wellington, New Zealand

4 out of 5
Big city and hard to explore on your own.

Napier, New Zealand

5 out of 5
Wonderful, quint city. I recommend the Hawkes Bay Express excursion. Great way to see the city and learn its history.

Tauranga, New Zealand

5 out of 5
Don't miss the glow worms!

Auckland, New Zealand

4 out of 5
Another big city.

Bay Of Islands, New Zealand

4 out of 5
This is a tender port and we just didn't have enough time.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Disembarkation was very organized and things ran smoothly.
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