Treasure Islands on Sun Princess

There is a saying, "nobody is an island." Being born an islander,  I say, "everybody is a treasure island." That was what I believed before I embarked upon Sun Princess Wednesday, September 24th. Ahoy, Matey, here I come. Yo Ho Ho~

Chinese believe that it takes a decade of cultivation to ride on the same boat, whilst, it takes a century to share the same pillow. When fate brings us together, we cherish every encounter and embrace the relationship. With 2000 treasure islands (staff and passengers) on Sun Princess, I wish to know as many of them as possible.

pAt the first sight of Sun Princess docked at the Kobe Wharf, I fell in love with her beauty immediately. Sun Princess, built in 1995, is a magnificent lady of 77,441 tons, measuring 261 meters from stem to stern, 32 meters in width, 15 stories in height, 1,011 rooms for 2,022 passengers.

Sun Princess made the news in October, 2007 as the largest ship to ever cross beneath the Sydney Harbor Bridge while entering the harbor for the first time, with a vertical clearance of approximately 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) to spare at low tide.From 2012, Sun Princess started her first World Cruise.Being recently renovated in August 2013, Sun Princess looked classy in her way in interior and Captain Diego Perra was newly appointed from June 2013.

Immediately after all passengers were on board, we were requested to participate in muster training of emergency response. From Room 525 on Deck 11-Aloha, Irene and I joined residents in line, followed directions of musters diligently through various emergency exits to designated positions. We learned to put on life vests timely and properly. It was an important lesson for All to be able to survive at sea just in case of danger.

I made it a habit to read the Princess Patter--the Daily Guide to Life At Sea, before I went to bed. I wanted to attempt all activities and classes, including dancing, cooking, cocktails, not to mention the Grand Casino. In my dream, I looked forward to the refreshing morning, the relaxing afternoon, and the enchanting evening the following day. It was fun and exciting to make acquaintance with different people brought together by the love of traveling by sea. Ninety percent of passengers on board were from Taiwan, as Sun Princess was a charter cruise by Taiwanese businessmen. Princess Patters were readers friendly. They were printed in traditional Chinese characters. All announcements on board were bilingual, both in English and in Mandarin.

Due to the outrageous service charge, rate at 100 minutes for US$69, I didn't spend a penny on internet. In Taiwan, I could get a rate at US$3 for five hours! Who bothered to sit in front of computers while plenty of food and drinks were served on board, plus many interesting outdoors and indoors activities waiting for fun loving people!

Being surrounded by an army of servants, I never felt bored for a second. Staff on Sun Princess in different uniforms (white, red, green, blue, flowery) provided instant services at hand. I enjoyed three most luxurious dinners with the best services ever from Alan and Alex at Marquis Dining Room on Deck 5-Plaza, and two extraordinary and exquisite breakfasts served by Worawut Pitaksakseree (Woody) at Regency Dining Room on Deck 6-Emerald.

Woody is from Thailand with a southern Chinese heritage. He knew all tricks to make golden ladies laugh. We were the last table to leave Regency Dining Room Friday morning. It was after 10 when we were still sitting by the window entertained by Woody. Saturday morning, we arrived at Regency before 6:30 to be the first group of customers. Woody served our table upon our request with a big sunny smile on his hearfelt face. In addition, I made hundreds of friends with more than 20 staff on board, Chris, Lucy, Lynn, Ted, Tina, Massimo, Thai, Delong, just to name a few!

Sunset Friday afternoon and sunrise Saturday morning were memorable. Irene and I got up one hour earlier to see the sunrise. The smart phone woke us up the Japanese time, instead of Taiwanese time. I took the chance to enjoy a cup of chocolate in tranquility at International Cafe' on Deck 5-Plaza while waiting for dawn. Suddenly the sky turned from dark to bright, Irene and I rushed to Deck 14-Lido to take the first glance of the rising sun upon the vastness of the horizon and the turtle island in Yi-land. The sun was huge and red. A bright new day began!

While I felt sad to leave Sun Princess with the disembarkation tag (Navy/Azul 3) on my luggage, I was happy to be home. It was the first time ever I had the inbound by ship stamped on my passport. The moment I arrived home, I added the website of Princess Bridge Cam--Live from the Sun Princess, as my favorite site. I can track my Sun Princess anytime with just a click on my desktop.