Thought it would be a good way to have a bit of a look at our great country Australia but it was full of geriatrics on walking frames, sticks and in wheelchairs who were rude and whinged all the time. The poor staff were so tolerant - they deserved a medal! Catching a lift was impossible. Going to a show in the theatre wasn't on either, as they got there super early and saved the seats and lord help you if you tried to grab one! After 10pm the ship was empty and silent. The DJ in the disco tried his best but most nights it was just us and 1 or 2 others there. The onboard activities were mostly geared for the oldies too. Bingo, crafts and a bit of line dancing. No pool activities. The ports of call were generally good. Apparently, any cruise longer than 21 days is mostly filled with the elderly. The children's club was closed! The cabin was clean, comfy and quiet. Read Less

The Sea Princess is typically of the older liners companies inflict on Australia. It’s had a refurbishment and is very comfortable except for the lifts. Always overcrowded at meal time and post shows. Filipino staff members are magnificent and do their utmost to ensure we all enjoy ourselves. The Captain was very hands on, daily report at midday and seemingly always roaming the ship. Always ready for a chat he was very charismatic and professional. If you get a chance travel with Captain Christopher Lye. The performers were of a high standard most nights and the crew of singers and dancers were absolutely outstanding, including Harrison and Cassie Chestnut. Best I’ve seen on any cruise. Typically the elderly passengers hogged the aisle seats, usually 2 perched on the end so to get to the center you were obliged to squeeze past these rude, ignorant aisle huggers, wondering why they do this Read Less

Having already experienced Cunard, Celebrity, and P & O, we were doubtful that Princess could reach their high standards. But we were wrong - this Princess cruise overall was the best so far. Great ship, excellent service, wonderful entertainment programme. Food sometimes a bit off - tough steak. The Princess alcohol policy really needs review - I had small bottles of cider confiscated, and returned to me when arriving in Sydney so insufficient time to drink it all! Inconsistency of attitude when boarding with wine is poor, resulting in almost nobody drinking wine in the restaurant throughout the cruise. Many passengers resorted to concealing gin in non-original bottles - good job it is colourless - but I could not do that with dark rum, and in any case I don't see why I should have to. This Princess policy is obviously to protect their bar sales, but is totally unreasonable when their "guests" have paid thousands of dollars for a cruise! Apart from this aspect, the cruise was wonderful, and we particularly liked the mid-day reports from the excellent Captain Christopher Lye. For this ex-merchant mariner, his explanations and detail were much appreciated. I found I disliked their coffee, have gone off wine, the price of spirits on board was unreasonable,and resorted mainly to drinking water! Better than dying of thirst while at sea, I suppose. The entertainment programme, especially the shows, trivia, enrichment lectures, good library (but books too orientated to the USA guests), all contributed. Lectures by Kay Taylor, Paul Kearney, and Peter McSweeney (spelling?) were great, although Kay's diction could do with rather more variation to avoid sending her audience to sleep! Must mention our excellent cabin steward Ricardo - so pleasant and helpful - and our Traviata stewards Michael and Axela. I don't know whether they enjoy their work as much as it seems, but they have obviously been very well trained. Finally, I should mention the amazing efficiency of the disembarkation procedure - essential at a time when guests are naturally anxious to make their flight times. Well done, Princess! Read Less

We have wanted to see these ports all our lives but haven't had the chance to go ,loved the opportunity especially being able to leave and return to Sydney as my husband doesn't like to fly for long periods. Always love the dinning room for evening meals the service is always excellent . We would do this one again . The ship is excellent only thing to improve would be somewhere for the bowls etc to be played not a lot of room in the atrium when they are playing. Our cabin was excellent the beds are beautiful I slept every night I don't sleep as well at home. Loved the shows was a bit disappointed no ventriloquists or variety performances mostly singers. The encore performance was one of the best I have ever seen everyone put in 100per cent effort and a great show resulted in a standing ovation for the performers Read Less

I chose this cruise as a short break as for people that are time poor these are really good cruises to jump on. The ship itself was nice and I found it to be a younger demographical for age pax is it was repositioning. I found the food in both the dining room and the buffet to be really nice and even though I didnt get to see a show on board there was lots of other things to do. I really enjoyed my time in the Sanctuary and Budly on board made sure that we were well looked after. I think the Sanctuary is well worth the money especially for short cruises if you want to get away from the mainstream of passengers and relax.Our cabin was a more than adequate for the short cruise however I would probably like a mini suite if I could afford it for a longer duration. Read Less

My daughters and a friend of mine decided that a two day short cruise would be fun, but we were more than 4 hours late leaving the port of Brisbane , so no movies on deck least we disturb the people living near the port, but no one bothered to tell us until a fellow passenger told us a half hour after it should have started. Very annoying. When we went to the 9.30 movie on deck the speakers were so bad we couldn’t hear anything so gave up and went inside. The movies under the stars was going to be a high light for us. Then the next morning we got up ready for the advertised sales and shop openings, after looking around at everything and deciding on what we wanted to buy, we were told that passengers on the short trip could not buy anything that was not a necessity and then only up to $50. But there were people walking around with things that were obviously bought in the shops. No crew members could tell us why we were not allowed to buy anything, so I am still unaware what the reason was. If I had wanted to have someone tell me I couldn’t have something then I would have bought my husband along !! The cruise was not at all what I expected and I would not recommend a short cruise to anyone if this is what happens, all in all, I was very disappointed. Read Less

We booked this cruise for our 35th anniversary, because it left and arrived back into Brisbane. The cruise was meant to be 14 days, but due to the weather it was reduced to 11 days. It could have been reduced to 12 days, but I think it was easier for the company to completely cull the South Island, rather than have to go to the South for 1 day. The ship came into dock earlier, and the staff got the night off. Normally the turnarounds are on the same day. We were told check in would be early on our departure day, so we chose to stay close overnight beforehand. We could have gotten a lift in, but the early start was too early for our friends. So our early check-in was a total debacle ... apparently a computer malfunction, so the ship didn't end up leaving until 4.30pm. We had checked out of our accommodation for our early departure, so had to find somewhere to have breakfast (along with the other 1800+ passengers), then morning tea, and so on, just waiting around for boarding. Great start we were thinking! About the ship: The cabins were small but comfortable. We had an ocean view with a balcony. The room attendant was delightful. The bed was soft but comfortable, as were the pillows. The dining options were OK. The meal portions in the main dining room were a good size, not too large, and there was variety. The quality wasn't amazing, but it was fine, in most venues. We went to one or two shows, and they were enjoyable. We also went dancing on one night, and the band was very good. The gym was great, and thank god for the gym, it was our savior! However, there is a real push to sell the expensive Elemis detox program. This program is available online for a fraction of the cost, and there was no science behind the program that we were shown. If we could all take 2 herbal pills each day, and have them clean out our systems and eliminate everything that makes our bodies work inefficiently, I think it would be a miracle cure! In the end the science says that a good healthy diet, with exercise, and eating nutritious whole foods is the answer to good health ... makes sense to me! The demographics for this style of cruising, didn't really fit with us. We felt like we were in the middle of a shipboard conference for the aged and/or overweight. This may sound harsh, as there were some young people, and healthy looking fit people as well, but they were definitely in the minority. We had never been on a large ship cruising, and we wanted to see if it was something for us into the future. We have been to the Antarctica on a small ship and had a great time, but based on this experience, large ship cruising is definitely not our thing. Being active, I think active/adventure type cruising would be more suitable for us. On a final note, we also found that, although it sounds like you have a reasonable amount of time on shore days, the time disappears very quickly, and you don't get to achieve as much as you would like. We hired cars in 3 of the 4 stops, so we could be independent, and whilst we did get out and about, there is time lost getting to the pick up point, doing the paperwork, dropping the car back, getting back to the ship etc, and we calculated that if we had flown to NZ and hired a car for 2 weeks, travelled around NZ independently, staying in nice B&B's, eating great food, and getting in some active pursuits, the cost would have been around the same, we would have been in control of our itinerary ... and we would have had a 14 (not 11) day adventure! Read Less

We had heard from many friends how good Princess cruises were so we booked one. The first three days to New Zealand were cancelled because of Cyclone OMA. Staff were caring and efficient . Our cabin boy BILLY could not have more polite or committed to his work. Our cabin was kept in a pristine state morning and afternoon. Food was of a very high standard with many different choices daily. There was no time to get bored with such an interesting array of dishes and different cuisines. Nightly entertainment and shows were varied and extremely well performed. Shore tours were well organised and enjoyable. Our cruise director Lyn was a wonderful ambassador for Princess oozing personality and professionalism. The daily programme was jam packed with interesting and fun things to do. The assistant cruise directors were multi talented and loads of fun as well. We cant wait to book our next cruise on the Sea Princess. Lynda and Fred from BRISBANE Read Less

We had a three day delay and security technical difficulties on boarding with our NZ cruise from Brisbane but Princess Cruises did everything to make it up to us with refunds and discounts. We were so happy with the "crew" everyone was so helpful and friendly. It was hugs all round when we sadly disembarked, just like leaving family. It was as if the "powers that be" said sorry for the delay and here is the best weather you could ever hope for, Seriously it was like cruising on a lake. The cabin was nice and the bed, doona and pillows were so soft, like sleeping on a cloud. I loved the food especially the buffet restaurant and pizza. With three sea days I thought I might be bored and took books, magazines (never read one) and crochet to do but I had SO much I wanted to do and sometimes three things at the same time so it was difficult to choose. I absolutely would go again - we did the same cruise 5 years ago and still I would love to go again. Read Less

First time traveling to New Zealand and first time on Princess line. Unexpected problem at the start and cruise cut short by 3 days due to cyclone.. can't help the weather. Just myself and best friend on this trip. Embarkation went smoothly as did disembarkation when we returned. Entertainment was fantastic something for everyone.Especially one group in particular- Mosaic was their name..great band.All staff were amazing very friendly knowledgeable approachable. Food was amazing we had anytime dining. Service terrific staff amazing food fantastic Lots of areas to have quiet time or be active.. enjoyed very relaxing massage inn the spa.. staff running activities were easy going friendly Cabin was very clean and tidy. Looked after each day by amazing staff.. had arranged day tours before arriving. Organisation of these was well done.. buses were then when required. Left on time. Ticked off a couple of things inn my bucket list . visited Tauranga and went to Hobbiton and while in Aukland violated Sky Tower.. amazingly stunning views Read Less