Sea Princess Ship Inspection
Sea Princess Ship Inspection
Fremantle, 04 April 2018, 10am – 2pm
A beautiful sunny autumn day in Fremantle, a perfect day to partake in an escorted tour of the Sea Princess, thanks to Princess Cruises. She is currently part way through a 28-day cruise around Australia from Sydney to Sydney and has completed the southern part of the journey visiting Melbourne, Burnie, Hobart, Adelaide and Albany. She will then continue onto Broome, the Kimberley Coast, Darwin, Cairns, Alotau (Papua New Guinea), then Brisbane before docking back in Sydney.
As part of the ship inspection, almost 50 travel agents are escorted through the ship and we were able to view the inside, outside and balcony cabins, the pool area, the kids club areas, the theatre lounge, the adults only areas, the sports bar, the spa, the gym, the informal buffet and the traditional dining restaurant, plus a few more cool corners of the ship.
Cabins
Like most cruise ships, the cabins are quite small in size unless you upgrade to the mini-suite or something even more extravagant. Looking a little basic or bland for my own personal taste, it is actually quite calming and quaint when you are in it. The inside staterooms are the cheapest rooms as they are located on the inside of the ship. The outside cabins are almost the same, however, has the added bonus of a proper window (no, it does not open) and of course, the balcony cabin has the balcony which opens up to a small round table with a chair either side of it. All room types are basically the same size with a good size bathroom and plenty of storage space. All cabins have been fitted with large-sized flat screen TV’s.
Dining
We enjoyed a hosted lunch in the Traviata Dining Room and were offered an entree, a main and dessert. This is the main dining room available to all dinner guests who opted for the ‘Anytime Dining’ option when making their reservation. Understated décor with its creams and browns along with wooden furniture and wall art makes the ambience of this dining room quite comfortable and warm. I am not a foodie at all, however, I love food. I had the pasta for the entrée which was quite bland, yet tasty. I had the beef for the main, which was small in size, however quite fulfilling and yes, of course, I had the chocolate mousse for dessert which was awesome!
Entertainment
Like most cruise ships, there are plenty of entertaining areas on board the ship. The Princess Theatre and Vista Lounge hold the masses so Princess Cruises can showcase their talent. These venues host a variety of events throughout the day from bingo to karaoke classes, to educational experiences about space, to movies and more. However, they come alive in the evening when the crowds come to relax after dinner to catch a show.
The Princess Theatre has the capacity to seat over 550 passengers at a time, perfect for watching one of their two nightly shows. They normally start at 7.45pm and 9.45pm, the two timeslots coincide with the passengers different dining times so the early diners can watch the earlier show and the late eaters can catch the later show. The shows vary nightly from Broadway-style productions, to stand up comedians, illusionists or circus-style shows.
Leisure
There is an abundance of things to see and do whilst onboard, although this ship is without a doubt aimed at the older traveller (by that I mean to say 55 plus).
The Art Gallery featured a good varied selection of pieces from colourful Disney memorabilia to oil paintings of very different subject matter. Silent auctions are held onboard at various times
They have a small casino onboard with various pokie machines and the standard blackjack, roulette and poker tables. The casino does not operate whilst the ship is in Australia waters.
There is quite a large internet café on-board, however, they tell us that with the onset of wi-fi, this gets used less and less each year. The library is small with very few books, however probably about the right size considering most people would bring their own literature to indulge in.
The Lotus Spa fitness centre was impressive in size as it has 4 separate parts to it. The spa/salon area where you can have an array of massages, treatments, haircuts and more, the gym area with your treadmills and exercise equipment, then a studio for spin classes, yoga and that type of thing, and then the outdoor jacuzzi’s and plunge pool. The gym and the outdoor facilities are offered on a complimentary basis
I would also recommend The Sanctuary, this is an adult only are at the back of the ship with limited beach chairs surrounding a small pool. It is capacity controlled so there will always be room for you as long as you book ahead or get in early. Nibbles and drinks are available here too and will set you back $3 per menu item. A great way to spend your day chilling and taking in those rays (there is plenty of shade too). The cost is $20 per ½ day.
Kids Club
Although this ship is no doubt aimed at catering for the older market (say 55 and up), the Sea Princess does have an awesome array of activities for the kids in the kids' clubs. I was very impressed with what they had to offer, given that this ship lacks the waterslides and the rock climbing activities that other cruise lines offer on their ships. Their clubs are separated into 3 separate clubs based on age, The Tree House for the 3-7’s, Camp Discovery for the 8-12s and The Beach House for the 13-17’s. Each area is specifically filled with fun activities that the said age group would love to use. I wish I could have spent some time in these kids club as a kid! They all have loads of scheduled games and activities planned each day and of course time to just do what you want too. The kids club is open from 9am-10pm daily on a complimentary basis (often earlier on port days). The clubs close at lunch and dinner for approx. 2 hours. Babysitting is available in the clubs from 10pm-1am at a charge of $5 per child, per hour.
Overall
There are a host of other places to chill out in and outside the ship so it isn’t hard to find a comfortable place to chill in between meals, activities or drinks to sit down and just enjoy the cruise.
As this ship is noticeably older than others, its 20 years old this year, it is not my personal taste in cruise ships. I am more interested in the mega ships with too many activities to choose from and loads of younger people onboard, more of a party vibe really. In saying that, I can’t take away from how great this ship actually is. Everything seems well maintained and I didn’t see any signed of fatigue or neglect whilst onboard. While in port, workers were painting the side of the ship, cleaners were wiping all of the walls and handrails up and down the stairs and hand wash machines were being refilled.
I would not hesitate to recommend this cruise ship to anyone over the age of 45 who enjoys a more relaxed pace with smaller crowds and who isn’t looking for the Las Vegas-style glitz and glamour that other ships offer.