Hi maggie, yes my wife and I did this identical trip in January 2005. it was fantastic. are you spending any time in sydney or auckland?

Hello Hansi Thanks for replying. We are staying in Sydney precruise and doing the Blue Mountain trip. Did you fly from UK. A bit concerned about long trip back from Auckland. At present have no details on flight. We have a balcony cabin on Baja deck. Only other cruise we have done was on P & O. Arcadia to the Caribbean last November. Enjoyed it immensely. Would welcome any tips or recommended trips on this one.

Hi hansi

Perhaps you would like to write a review of the ship by clicking on Cruise Reviews at the top of the page.

Many thanks.

luci

We flew from the UK via Singapore with BA. Quite cramped in economy class but very expensive to upgrade and couldn't do so anyway because flight was full. The return journey is via LA and is quite tiring although our flight was delayed from AKL so when we changed flight at LA there were only about 150 passengers so we had a row of seats each! If you do nothing else in Sydney, do the Bridge Climb. It's awsome!

Terrified of heights so don't know if that is a good option. Would welcome other recommendations on other ports of call. We have opted for anytime dining for flexibility. Hope we have made right choice. We will be flying from Edinburgh to London then onwards.

Cheers

Maggie, I'm terrified of heights too, but if you don't do it, you will regret it. The safety of everyone is paramount and they don't let you on the bridge until you've completed the training exercises and you're attached to the bridge at all times, so you can't fall off! You HAVE to do it, you can book it online. At most ports we did our own thing and where available, we took the open top double decker bus tour. Make sure you get up early to see the transit of the Fjords, and wear someting warm, it's very cold at about 5:30 am!

Maggie, we will be on the Sapphire for a B2B in Far East sept/oct so will try to get a review posted before you sail. If you can, i would try to schedule in a 2 night stopover in Singapore on way out. quite cheap when we did it in 2000. Sydney is a magical place, you need a week there! On way back from NZ, again a long over night flight to LA, not sure if they will provide you with a day room at a htl then another overnight flight to UK. Suggest you factor in at least one night stay in LA. Finally, there is a NZ homeopathic remedy for jet lag called "no jet lag" get some if you can. worked wonders for me on a flight from SF last year (bought at SF airport but not available in UK). You chew a tablet every 2 hours & one after landing. drove home to Norfolk 3.5 hours after overnite flight & then worked all day with no probs. Eric

Hi Eric. Thanks for that. Have booked flights etc direct with Princess. If you want an overnight or longer stop would it have been better to book independent flights, or will Princess do this. Travel agent did not advise us on this. Excuse my ignorance but what is B2B? Hope you have a great cruise anyway.

Cheers Maggie

Maggie, b2b is back to back, ie 2 cruises together as one, for us 27 nights on the ship. We have done b2b before on other lines, guess you have to be retired to have the time! Princess should be able to vary flights for you, they may make a small charge for that. When we went to Aus in 2000 with Cunard, they said £50 extra for stopover in Singapore, but for us worth every penny. I found a deal on the internet for 2 nights htl, trnsfers & half day city tour for a very cheap price, think it was called "Singapore experience". We also arrived in Aus a week early as wife had a cousin there who we stayed with for a week, brilliant, showed us all round Sydney. As we did not use ships htl & trnf in sydney we found we had an upgrade when on board. One of the best cruises we have ever done. Enjoy yours. Just spoke today to friends recently back who flew other way to Aukland to join a ship. Route was via LA, just 2 hours in a transit lounge there & still had to do the US finger print & photo immigation bit. Eric