M.U.T.S. - Movies Under the Stars

Last night we went to the movies.....movies under the stars that is! 

At night on Princess ships, the pool deck is transformed into an outdoor movie theatre. The deck chairs are prepared facing the big screen and blankets available if you get chilly.

We watched Star Trek Into Darkness. 

It was a nice experience! If they have other movies we like hopefully we can go again.

A quick look at the changes on Sun Princess since the recent refurbishment

We took a long walk to check out the new features on the ship since the recent dry dock.

Here is the International Cafe on deck 5 this was previously a cafe also but did not have food selections as it does now. The food is changed a few times a day to suit breakfast, lunch and evening snacks. 

They serve really nice panini and croissants filled with goodies and they toast them on the spot for you so they are lovely for a quick snack. This is included in your fare.

Here is the breakfast selection.....

The seating area has been refurbished too with comfy chairs and couches. This area is hard to get a seat on this cruise!

The passenger demographic is largely elderly people. Probably less than 100 in my age group (40) so many of the passengers tend to hang out here most of the day rather than on deck there are many mobility impaired passengers on board too. 

Back to the cafe, the coffee is great. Really nice cappuccino and hot chocolates! I really like that Princess provides table service in their coffee venues. Royal Caribbean should consider this Their coffee venues are awful. You have to line up for  ages for take away coffee in cardboard cups. Somehow coffee is not the same that way... 

After a lovely cappuccino, Trevor and I ventured out to deck 7 where you can walk around  the deck. We took some photos of the tender vessels heading ashore. 

Then we checked out the new Sushi Bar. I took a photo of the menu for those of you who might be interested.

If anyone would like to see any other areas just comment on the blog and I will check it out for you....

Lombok, Indonesia

We have arrived in Lombok this morning to warm humid weather which was to be expected. This is a tender port so the tenders will be operating all day going back and forth to shore.

We are staying on board today as we could not find any tour we wanted to do in this port and decided against venturing out on our on on this occasion.

Today I hope to get in some exercise walking around the ship. Hopefully it will be a bit quieter on board today. 

Tomorrow Lombok, Indonesia

On the second night after dinner we went to a comedy show. It was a comedian called Mike Harris. The show was funny and worth a look for a chuckle for an hour or so. 

We are again at sea today. We have had good seas for the last few days luckily. Weather is getting warmer and more humid (not my favourite!).

Tomorrow we arrive in Lombok, Indonesia. Lombok is a tender port. We are not going ashore tomorrow. 

Last night was formal night. We have three on our cruise.

Interesting combination of dress. Trevor, my husband, was concerned as he cannot wear a tie and thought it would be a problem. He wore his suit but with no tie. Well, we saw all sorts of dress from topcoats with tails, suits with and without ties and just slacks and shirts with no tie for men. Clearly there are many options....no problems however you choose to dress. We like to observe the dress code when we can and if we don't want to then we will go to the buffet or have dinner in our suite.  Women have far more choices......

After dinner, Trevor and I went to a show in the Princess Theatre. It was a broadway style show with singing and dancing called 'Piano Man'. A tribute to great piano men like Billy Joel, Elton John and Barry Manilow. The show only went for 30 minutes but was good entertainment. If you have never been on a cruise and are considering it, I recommend you go to the shows. Remember the entertainment is included in your fare so why not? How many of us have time when we are at home to go out to shows? I know we don't. We tried a yummy mocktail called Chococobanana at the show too. Yum!

Today I went to the Lotus Spa and had my hair done. I like to try our the salon on ships. I rarely get time at home to spend hours in a salon to get the full treatment so I did this today. I had a head of highlights done, cut and blow dry for $205. It took over 2.5 hours. Not bad price considering you are at sea and they could charge the earth if they wanted to!!

I enjoyed the scalp massage too.

Trevor and Michael are going tomorrow to have haircuts too...

Trevor is off shortly to go to a wine tasting. 

Sea days on board Sun Princess...

We have three sea days until we reach Indonesia, the port of Lombok.

On the first night on board we were informed that we had an offer of a complimentary dinner in the steakhouse onboard, we took up the offer and had a very nice meal there. The meat is of top quality and always well prepared. The service there is impeccable.

On the evening we left Fremantle we had some rough seas and some rocking on the ship. Michael, our 9 year old, was feeling sea sick. The next morning he was very sick and ended up visiting the medical centre on board to get an injection of Phenergan (not sure of spelling?). After a long sleep he soon perked up and later that day he was eating again and feeling much better. So day one was a write off for us as we spent the day in our suite, we watched DVDs with Michael and had our meals brought in. It was relaxing. This is where having a mini suite or suite really pays off. Imagine  being stuck in a smaller cabin all day, the three of us! Having  the balcony also offers the option for fresh air even if we have to stay in. If you can get a good sale fare a mini suite or suite, they are really worth it for the space especially if you have children and don't fancy roaming the ship all day. Later that evening we ventured out for dinner in the dining room with Michael now feeling better. 

The meals were very nice, selection was less than I remembered and I think Royal Caribbean has more selection on their menus. Nonetheless we found something that we all enjoyed and had lovely service. Our waiters were very nice and we got a lovely table for four overlooking the ocean. We are allocated first sitting for dinner so that means we need to be there at 5.45pm each night. I wish Princess would introduce anytime dining here in Australia as they do elsewhere. It is really handy to be able to dine at a time that suits you each evening depending on your daily schedule. I know many of you would say that you could go to the buffet anytime you want but we prefer to have dinner in the dining room rather than fight through hoards of people at the buffet. It is not very relaxing. We do eat there sometimes too, don't get me wrong, we are not buffet snobs but as we rarely eat out at home due to our work commitments, it is nice to go to a restaurant and have wonderful service and be looked after.....what do you all think?

Today we explored the ship some more. The refurbished atrium was nice with the International Cafe...I will get some photos of it and post them over the next few days. I bought a coffee card. You get 15 espresso based coffees for $35 which is a saving of about 50c each. We also get free hot chocolates! That is good as Trevor (my husband) normally gets those, a big saving for us.

Interestingly I had read on the Princess website that they has created a 'dedicated' space for the Sterling Streakhouse or at least that is how I read it. Not true. They still section off part of the buffet to create the Steakhouse at night. No difference in the meals regardless we had a great meal but I was expecting something else based on what I had read.

Tonight is formal night so we might get dressed up and get some pictures taken.

We are on board Sun Princess!!

We just boarded the ship in drizzly weather. Embarkation was a bit chaotic in Fremantle but we are here now and have checked out our suite C749 on deck 9. Some photos below.... Looks like new carpets and recovered furniture as I don't remember this furniture when we stayed in this suite last time...the balcony is huge and overlooks the back of the ship.

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.

Here we go....Sun Princess 17 night Australia/Indonesia cruise!!

While I sit here thinking of last minute things to do before we leave for our next cruise, I am contemplating what this next holiday will be like.......

We booked a mini suite on a good sale fare for Trevor, Michael and myself. 

Two days ago I got an email from our travel agent to say we had received a free upgrade to a suite! Not too shabby.....17 nights in a suite being pampered!!

I hope to report on all the fun!!

Another holiday comes to an end

We spent a few more days at sea going across the great Australian bight all the way to Perth and we had very good seas.
Arrival in Perth was smooth and disembarkation was efficient also.
We then spent the day in Perth at the zoo which we really liked and had dinner that night at Soprano's. Yesterday we flew back to Adelaide and are now home.
It was a good holiday overall and we are already thinking of our next one.
We made good friends on board which we will be keeping in touch with also.
28 nights on a cruise is a long time but I liked it. It gave me the chance to truly wind down from work and got into a shipboard routine. A few too many sea days for my liking as I get a little bored in those days after being on the ship for so long and I prefer more port days but it was a good trip.
We are still undecided as to whether bigger is better when it comes to ships. We liked Voyager and thought the royal promenade concept at sea is amazing but found that Radiance of the Seas was a bit better organised. It really does come down to the people running things doesn't it? We could go on Radiance now and find it disorganised as staff and crew on ships change.
Our dining room service was awesome as usual. Our waiter Halil, from Turkey, was fantastic. He looked after us for 28 nights and personalised the service. He took great care of Michael's needs too and we were very appreciative.
Now that I sit here reflecting on our trip, I am glad to be home and am already thinking about all the work waiting for me at my office but for one more day I will try to chill out......next trip....maybe Alaska

Adelaide

We arrived in Adelaide this morning to a warm welcome from the bush band. The terminal is nice and efficient. The volunteers and tourism staff do a great job helping passengers.
We live in Adelaide so we will take the opportunity to visit family while we are here and then we sail off to Perth tonight.
I took some photos of inside the terminal for those who are interested.
Voyager is also installing a new radar while in port so there is a photo of the crane carrying out the work.

Travelling through NZ Fjordland National park - Doubtful, Dusky and Milford Sounds

A few days ago before we left NZ, we had a whole day of scenic cruising through the Sounds is one of the great attractions of a NZ cruise. Photos speak for themselves

Excursion to Port Arthur, Tasmania

Today we docked at Hobart and we had booked a ship's tour called 'Port Arthur Express'. It is a morning tour.
We had to meet in the La Scala theatre on the ship to be escorted to our tour bus. We took a 1.5 hour scenic drive from the port to the Port Arthur site. During the drive we went through all the countryside that was burnt out during the recent bush fires. It was eery to see bush burnt and yet some homes around it left spared.

At the Port Arthur site we were joined by a guide who gave us a 40 minute talk about the site. To look at it today it is such a beautiful place yet it was called hell on earth in its day. Very interesting...
When we arrived they have us each a playing card which we would later match to a convict in the museum. We then found out about our convict and why the were sent to Port Arthur. My convict was sent there for stealing a handkerchief.
There were of course worse criminals there.
The tour was well worth it although you would need a lot more time to se this site properly. It was a good option for us with a child as it wasn't too long or him. He was quite interested to see the cells where they housed some of the prisoners

Check out some if the pics.

Dunedin

Today we arrived in Dunedin. The ship docks at Port Chalmers which is about 10km away from the town of Dunedin.
Last time we were here we took a ship's excursion to the gorge.
This time we took a shuttle bus arranged by the ship into Dunedin and spent the morning shopping.
It is a pretty town and reminds me of Adelaide a bit.
We had sunny weather again so we were very happy about that.

The Sun Princess was in town also today and I got a few photos of the ships together.

Tauranga - excursion review

Today we went on an excursion organised by RCI to Rotarua.
We visited a Maori cultural centre and the geysers and mud springs. It was a good excursion that even kept Michael interested and that takes a bit!
The crowds there were huge as there are two cruise ships in town today.
Michael and Trevor learned how to Haka!
What a hoot!
We got some great photos and the sun was out too!

Auckland

Today we spent the day in Auckland. We did our own thing and went on the Hop on Hop off bus.
We spent some time at an aquarium and the kids really loved it.
We went there with our new friends Maria, Darren, Caitlin and Aiden.
The sun came out too so it was a good day.
We are back on the ship now and headed to Tauranga. We have an excursion booked there so we are looking forward to it.
Check out the pics from today's outing.