This was our first cruise on Sun Princess and we found it to be a very pleasant ship to cruise on, not quite as modern as the Saphhire Princess, but like the Sea Princess it seemed to have a very welcoming feel to it! The pre-booked coach transfer from Sydney airport was well worth the cost, as after a long night's flight the last thing we would have wanted was to have to search for a taxi or the like. Embarkation was smooth and problem free. One of the highlights of the cruise was sailing out of Sydney Harbour that first night underneath the Harbour Bridge and past the opera house. What a memorable experience!

Our inside stateroom on Baja deck was comfortable and the stateroom steward, Cenen, was very helpful without being obtrusive. His nightly towelling animal figurines were a delight to see and always brought a smile to our faces at the end of the day. In fact, we found the staff on board seemed very happy and friendly, on a par with the staff on our previous trip with the Sea Princess.The weather sadly was not the greatest for on-deck activities such as swimming or Movies Under the Stars with most days being over clouded, windy and at times wet, but we enjoyed many of the other on-board activities such as the gym facilities and the shopping boutiques. We especially enjoyed the art auctions and commend Mike and his crew for their thoroughly professional and informative style. We did note that many of the enrichment lectures etc seemed to be scheduled at similar times and so it was a case of choosing one or the other unfortunately.

The on-board entertainment was of a good quality, with the piano man and the two female guitarists worthy of special mention, although when they played in the Wheelhouse Bar we found them very difficult to hear. Perhaps some thought needs to be given to improving the audio system in there. Read more