Christmas 2019 on the Sun Princess

The Sun Princess is one of the smaller ships in the Princess Cruise Line with 2,000 guests and 924 crew.  The ship is about 24 years old and is definitely showing signs of wear and tear.

We boarded the ship with a feeling of happiness as this was the first holiday that my parents had been on with all their daughters together for the first time in decades. 

We were pleasantly surprised to see a lot of family groups of all ages on board enjoying the atmosphere.  The entertainment was suitable for all age groups.  One particular style of music that rocked the ship and was all inclusive was the Caribbean band that played in the Wheelhouse bar. It was wonderful to see the crowd of all ages dancing and singing the night away.  They definitely had a captive audience.

Food glorious food – as always on a cruise there is so much choice.  Members of our family enjoyed the fresh taste of Japanese at Kai Sushi.  On one particular night, we celebrated my sister’s wedding anniversary at the exclusive Share by Curtis Stone restaurant which is a six-course meal.  The entrée and antipasto are placed in the centre of the table and you not only share the food; you share life with each other.

The crew on-board were attentive to our requests and were pleasant, but I did feel that the overall energy was a bit lack lustre.

There were 5 ports of call including Fremantle.

Fremantle, WA – is a lovely port to begin and end our Christmas Family Cruise on.  I would definitely recommend a few days visiting this area prior to embarking on the ship.  A few family members stayed at the Esplanade Hotel Fremantle by Ridges and I would also recommend this as a base for your stay in Fremantle. 

Photo courtesy of Explore Tours Perth 

Geraldton, WA - Easily accessible from the port.  Geraldton is a coastal city that is easy to walk around and has many sites of interest to see; HMAS Sydney II Memorial, Museum, Cathedral, Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre.  It is known as the windy city and it did not disappoint. No matter what people say about it, I highly recommend you take the opportunity to get off the ship and go for a wonder.

Komodo Island, Indonesia – Komodo island is one of 17,508 island that make up the Republic of Indonesia and home to the Komodo dragon.  We chose to do a Princess shore excursion for this port as access to the island was only through a booked excursion.  We were placed in a group of about 20 and were told strictly to stay within the allocated walkways and between the two guides.  With great anticipation, off we trotted to see these animals that were prehistoric.  What we found were very calm log like creatures that were happy to have their photos taken by the multitude of eager tourists.

Semarang, Indonesia – The capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia.  Today, rather than a Princess tour, we organised for our family a private tour where we hired a 10-seater air-conditioned mini bus.  Our tour guide took us to see the Lawang Sewu, The Grand Mosque of Central Java, The Dome Church Blenduk, Kampung Pelangi which is a very colourful suburb, Semarang Old Town.  We were able to stop for lunch at a lovely local restaurant and enjoyed the buffet of Indonesian cuisine.

Lombok, Indonesia – is an island east of Bali and can be the jump off point to other islands like Gili T, Gili Meno & Gili Air.  Today, we had arranged for another private tour and visited Narmada Park, Taman Mayura, Bilalal Faris – Sukarara Village where we saw a local woman weaving.  Again, we had lunch at a local restaurant.

Bali, Indonesia – Our final stop was at Benoa, Bali.  The ship anchored off shore which meant that the tender trip was about a 30-minute trip to the dock. Whenever someone speaks of Bali, it conjures up in one’s mind of fun times ahead.  As I looked out from the deck of the ship, that is exactly what I saw, people enjoying being on the water.  There were jet skis, paragliding, boats of all shapes and sizes, people were swimming.  Bali was living up to its reputation.

Sailing home from Indonesia and the seas were calm with great relief.  Our family Christmas on-board the Sun Princess for 2019 was coming to an end.

           Now off to our next adventure...................................................