This was my 18th cruise, 5th on Princess departing Jan 23, 2007 from Auckland. We flew from LAX to Auckland on Qantas the day before the sailing and stayed at the Stamford Plaza which let us check in at 8am and was within walking distance to everything we wanted to see and to the port. Or rate included breakfast which was a very good buffet. We managed to arrive with enough energy to walk around town all day. We ate dinner at the Skytower which had great views. We also took a bus to see the sights. We found everything expensive but we did go to Foodmart to get some wine for the cruise. The next day my daughter arrived and used our room to shower, stow her luggage while she and her friend explored the city before boarding the ship. We decided to walk to the port which was about 3 blocks away (fortunately downhill).

Embarkation was about one and a half hours--very slow. They just don't have enough of a facility to deal with a large cruise ship. When we arrived on the ship, our luggage was waiting. We had staterooms on Plaza deck which were small insides. Compared to Carnival they are on the small side. We had Anytime dining and made reservations as soon as we could call for them. We tried out the 4 different dining rooms--they were all similar. We went to eat at Horizon buffet which I found to be very small for the size of the ship. The food was adequate though, but beverages are limited. There is no lemonade for example or hot chocolate in the morning. As for the ship itself, it is just beautiful. The staff is always cleaning everything. There are 2 aft pools and an adult pool near the spa as well as 2 larger pools, one covered. The gym had lots of treadmills and other equipment and there is a sauna and steam room in the women's locker room. I did have one facial on a port day for $60.

As for the entertainment, I have seen these shows before. The Princess theater is too small--it was standing room only for the shows. Other entertainers were pretty poor and the average age of the passengers was about 65--the oldest crowd I've ever sailed with. This did not make for much night life. There were very few children on this sailing. The activities were the usual, the Cruise Director was pretty poor though. There was a lack on information on the upcoming ports--no port talks at all. Our cruisecritic group met at sailaway as well as at tea the first sea day. The ship organized a little meeting for us as well to "talk." The food in the dining room was good as was the service. We ate in Sabatini's one evening which was great. Now for the excitement--we had not so great weather and terrible seas crossing the Tasman. I was glad to be on Plaza deck as others who were higher up had stories to tell of waves crashing on Deck 14, the water from the indoor pool crashing the rafters, TVs falling, wine bottles flying, etc. There were people sleeping in the common areas the next day as they did not get any sleep the night previous. The captain announced we encountered seas from 30-55 ft. and we were late to Hobart by 6 hours. Also the seas going from Dunedin to Fiordland were quite rough as well. It was very cloudy and windy in 2 of the 3 sounds. If you are doing this itinerary come prepared with sea sick remedies, I never did get sick and the buffet was always crowded no matter what. It also gets COLD and WINDY. Read more