It had taken me 4 years to get my husband to agree to a cruise. I'll never live it down, thanks to Sun Princess.
We flew from Hervey Bay to Sydney and stayed overnight at the Novotel, Darling Harbour so we could embark the following day for a 4pm sailing. We probably could have saved a night's accommodation as the Sun Princess was meant to leave White Bay terminal at 4pm on 16th October 2013 but due to "technical difficulties" (scary) we did not set sail until 2am the following morning. Having spoken to crew members during the cruise they told us that the ship is 20 years old, built for the calmer waters of the Mediterranean, was only running on 3 engines. So that is the reason it bounces about like a cork in the smallest swells, and did not power through them as I would have expected.
We missed the main reason for our cruise, Bay of Islands, due to the engine problems. Visited Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and Dunedin. All very pretty ports and very welcoming. Then we were told we were not visiting Akaroa OR Fjordland, due to (allegedly) bad weather. So is 4 ports out of 7 good value?? I THINK NOT!!!! We had approximately 40 hours on onshore sightseeing for our cost of over $5000.00 for the cruise "that never was".
Small but adequate. The white linens were of a grubby grey colour and need a dose of Bluo in the wash water. Pillows comfortable. Towels changed twice a day if necessary.