The Star Princess

By JAMES SHRIMPTON

Take the lift to the top deck, ride up the moving walkway to the Skywalker Lounge 15 storeys above the ship's stern, then look for'ard: that's when the sheer size of the Star Princess really gets to you.

Between you and the bow a distant 290m away, some 2600 passengers on the spacious decks and down below are eating, drinking, swimming, exercising, romancing, reading and enjoying themselves.

P&O Princess Lines' 109,000-tonne cruise ship was launched last year and is due in Tauranga on November 22 and Auckland on November 23 for the start of a 12-week South Pacific season. It is the seventh-biggest such vessel in the world, but new larger ships are in development.

How cruising has changed, and not only through the ever-increasing size and sophistication of the ships. My first South Pacific cruise was 25 years ago on the now-scrapped Fairstar, of just 23,754 tonnes.

By comparison the Star Princess is enormous, but without ostentation. There's so much more of everything, and so many more activities.

But is big necessarily beautiful, or is its huge size, all those passengers and 1200 crew just too much?

Well, the size of a cruise ship must be a matter of personal choice - like on land, with large-scale resorts and small hideaways. Some people enjoy making lots of new friends and having lots of things to do. Others prefer to relax quietly. But meeting your fellow voyagers and making new friends is half the fun.

On a week-long Mexican Riviera cruise aboard this huge vessel our cabin was all we could ask for - one of 710 with private (often windswept) balconies, the usual small but adequate bathroom, comfortable beds, TV and an ever-attentive steward.

The Star Princess has nine restaurants where you can eat 24 hours a day - I saw a number of people unable to resist the temptation of enjoying five-course dinners without having to cook or wash up afterwards.

Personal choice dining, which supplements the usual set-up of pre-assigned seating at first or second sittings for meals, appears to be a popular touch.

Apart from the three main dining rooms, buffets and fast-food outlets there are two restaurants where a cover charge is paid: Sabatini's Trattoria and Tequila's.

Be warned, when dining at night at Sabatini's have a light lunch and skip the afternoon tea and cakes because meals are enormous. Sabatini's waiters told us not to bother choosing from the 18 starters on the menu because they would give us all a small (ha!) serving of each. After that, it was a challenge to get through the main course and dessert.

Still hungry? Twenty-four-hour room service is also available for foodaholics - have your choice delivered to your room.

Every few nights, dining in the main rooms is formal, with men in tuxedos and women, some after sessions at the ship's beauty salon, in evening-dress finery.

Gastronomical excesses can be countered with exercise: in the gym, in one of the four swimming pools, in the spa, or with jogs around the promenade deck.

On the promenade walk you can visit the tip of the bow, Titanic-style - although passengers should avoid perching on the windblown top, DiCaprio/Winslet-style.

Entertainment on board includes a two-storey theatre and two other lounges with up to three shows a night, the Skywalker disco, 12 lounge-bars, indoor games including bingo and cards, and the usual deck sports. Make time for yourself in the well-stocked library.

Stage productions in the $30 million Princess Theatre are colourful with shows of high standard.

Golfers can "play" a dozen famous courses on a computerised simulator, hitting balls at giant screens showing fairways, roughs and greens. There is also a putting green where you must allow for the rolling of the ship.

Trivia quizzes are contested keenly and if you find the questions are slanted towards an American audience, join some Yanks in a six-person team. They will appreciate your wider international knowledge.

For those who just can't bring themselves to forget the rest of the world for a few days, there is satellite news on TV and an internet cafe with 25 computers.

As you might expect the ship is tastefully decorated throughout - a fine art gallery has originals and prints, some of which you can buy at auction.

With all those passengers, shipboard romances are inevitable - so there's the Hearts and Minds wedding chapel where the captain can perform marriage ceremonies at sea. Fear not, suddenly smitten couples can't fall in love and tie the knot on the same cruise. Three weeks' notice is needed for the paperwork.

Pre-arranged wedding services can be relayed by video over the internet to friends and relatives ashore. Three weddings were celebrated during our Star Princess cruise by Captain Cesare Ditel, who is married to a New Zealander.

It took a full week to find my way around the Star Princess (getting lost twice daily). Passengers may meet some people at the captain's opening cocktail party and lose them in the crowds every day thereafter. That, or you come across "new" friends for the first time on the final day. The sheer size of the ship and number of people is all a bit much for some.

One interesting shipmate was retired Dr David Niemitz, from Beverly Hills, California. "Ah - a doctor to the stars?"

"Well, yes, as a matter of fact," he replied. "My patients included Judy Garland, Ava Gardner and Mickey Rooney."

One elderly woman wanted to know whether there were elevators that went sideways as well as up and down. Nice thought.

And a man at the foot of an imposing staircase in the Atrium asked: "Do these stairs go down as well as up?"

There's only one way to find out. Perhaps it takes two or three cruises to get to know your way around this floating village.

* James Shrimpton was a guest of P&O Princess Cruises on a return voyage from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera.

Star Princess

The 109,000-ton superliner will be the largest cruise ship to visit this country. It is twice as big as the Titanic and is also larger than the world's biggest aircraft carrier.



The electronically controlled, wheel-less ship's bridge is like something out of Star Trek.

One of its six engines weighs 200 tonnes, equivalent to about 57 African elephants.

Cruises

Ports of call for the Star Princess in New Zealand will be:

* Tauranga - November 22, 7.30am-6.15pm.

* Auckland - November 23, 7am-4.30pm; then December 8, January 3 and 31 (all 6am-6pm).

* Wellington - December 6 and 10, January 1, 5 and 29, February 2, all 8am-6pm.

* Christchurch - December 5, 11 and 31, January 6 and 28, February 3 (all 8am-6pm).

* Dunedin - December 4, 12 and 30, January 7 and 27, February 4 (all 8am-6pm).

* Fiordland National Park, cruising only - December 3, 13, and 29, January 8 and 6, February 5.

What it costs

There is limited availability, but a 14-night cruise (Sydney to Auckland) leaving on January 17, starts from $3,514 a person plus $35 taxes. Flights are extra.

Ph: 0800 441 766, or see your travel agent for full details.