Today we board Sun Princess in Fremantle!!

We have just woken up, at the crack of dawn (not used to Perth time!!), had breakfast and are now getting organised for boarding day!!

We are happily catching up with our friend Maria Byrne and her kids Aiden and Caitlin, I think Darren (Maria's husband) is away working. Maria is picking us up at 10.30 this morning for a quick catch up before we take a taxi to Fremantle to board the ship.

I always love boarding day, the anticipation of getting in the ship and looking around, getting unpacked and settled in for the cruise adventure ahead! 

This time we are somewhat familiar with this ship as we have sailed on her before however we will be interested to see any changes as a result of the recent dry dock refurbishment.

I have read that there are quite a few changes that are worth checking out like the new atrium area with international cafe, the new dedicated area for the Sterling Steakhouse and many more.

Sun Princess is an older ship in the Princess fleet but a really nice one, not too big and crowded but elegant.

We just worked out that the suite we have been upgraded to is the same one we have stayed in before so we know what it will be like. I will post a heap of photos once we have boarded so you can all share our excitement!!

Princess has lots of benefits for suite passengers. Their fares are a little more expensive than Royal Caribbean in my opinion though.

As we have sailed many times before with Princess, we have moved up a notch in their loyalty club. As Platinum members we look forward to free Internet packages so that will be one less expense we won't have to worry about.

I thought I would quickly also review the hotel we are staying at in Perth.

I got a good sale room rate online using hotelscombined.com.au. I got a room with two double beds and full breakfast included for the three of us for $179 at Holiday Inn in the centre on the city. I had to pay immediate upon booking but it was worth it. I would recommend you stay here if you ever have the opportunity and are looking for good but affordable accommodation. The hotel has its own restaurant or you can just go for a walk to find others down the street.