arxcards

Grog is bonded. Smokes are not, as long as you take them back to the ship yourself. There is no duty free rule on this. P&O just won't let you take alcohol aboard, so it is bonded whether duty free or not. Cigarettes can be taken aboard, whether duty free or not. Fung Kuei will deliver back to the ship and you will see it again on disembarkation morning, so be sure to carry any cigs back to the ship yourself. P&O won't fish them out for you.

Ouch. That is a shame for the Brisbane market, as it leaves them a ship short for their summer season. P&O, Carnival, Royal Caribbean. I was looking at a Brisbane cruise, so glad we hadn't committed. Making room for the new Star Princess? 🤣 Caribbean winters must be the go. Yet another ship relocating there.

Princess has been able to sell individual packs of 20 over the bar for $12, whether domestic or international. This was still true ex-Sydney last season. They were restricted to 1 pack per adult per day. Thankfully no longer required for us. I don't recall P&O being as cheap for us either. Fung Kuei is the go. Cheaper, more choice, plus you can take them to your cabin and consume during the remainder of your cruise.

I find the cabin to be very much a Princess cabin, and yes, most of the ship is still very Princess. I think the exceptions are Waterfront, Angelos, Dragon Lady & the Pantry. Also, Shooting Stars disco never looked as good as the Blue Room does on Explorer. We have very fond memories of cruises on Golden & Star Princess, and aren't inclined to spoil them with Adventure & Encounter.

P&O can be weird. It could also be that WA and QLD have different rules in place. The funny part with P&O on international cruises is that "duty free" cartons are bonded and can't be taken back to your cabin, yet you can only disembark with a packet per adult.

There is a duty free shop aboard, but all the grog and smoke cartons are removed from display on domestic cruises.

That is the way. If you want cabin E and it is available for both short legs, a PVP or skilled T/A may be able to get it released it for the dual itinerary. When they are dual-porting, it would make it easier for Princess if it was all guarantees, but they have kept specific cabins available. The other alternative is to have a loose booking arrangement, and the risk of passengers denied boarding due to overbooking. The guarantee categories are usually the cheaper ones for each cabin type. Seems that passengers not only want the cheapest fare, but also their choice of cabin. That isn't always possible. In most instances, specific cabins are available for most cabin types on Princess, but once they have sold, they become guarantee only to allow them the flexibility to fill all available cabins.

When built, it was the Dawn Princess Vista Lounge. P&O only changed the decor when she became Explorer. The layout of most areas are very similar to her Dawn Princess days. Thanks for your posts. I am looking forward to your comments from Europe.

You could select a cabin, but not the ones you wanted. Your comment holds the answer - it isn't possible to sell the same cabins on the 7 & 4 night individual cruises and also sell them on the 11 night combo cruise. I think it holds true that of those cruises on offer, that the 7 night Brisbane to Brisbane cruise will be the most popular, it made sense that more cabins were allocated to that option. We did consider booking the 7 and the 4 night cruises separately. There wasn't a big difference in pricing, and it is still an option to anyone wanting to book a b2b specific cabin.

If they wanted that, they wouldn't be offering a combined 11 night cruise option at all.

BA & BB balconies will normally have selectable cabins. They are midship, upper balconies. They are also more expensive. BD, BE, BF are more likely to be guarantee, but are less expensive. All the same, if you tell an agent you will only book if you can get specific cabin numbers, they can usually shake one out of the booking system.

We are on the same cruise. I booked later than you, but booked a specific cabin. The last I looked, there was still a handful of specific cabins available, but maybe not in the grade you want.

No foreign port = no duty free cigs or alcohol.

Not all cruises from Sydney have gratuities included in the fare. Daily gratuities are added on Cunard, Disney & Holland America. It is the thought that counts. Any amount from the heart is usually well received.

If you book early enough, you can book a specific cabin, although not in all grades. Once those allocated cabins are filled, they will default to guarantees so they can be more flexible in how they sell the remaining cabins. Even then, get your T/A or PCP to shake the tree for you. No big deal. If you book late, all of the preferred cabins are already taken, so you may as well settle for pot luck anyway. Be wary though. Most T/As will pitch you their best price, and those will be on bookings with non-refundable deposits for guarantee cabins. There will often be specific cabins, but at a price.