Princess Australia has a new rule from the Australian Govenment

i took my grandson on a coastal cruise from Brisbane to Sydney on the Sun Princess which we got off yesterday and he wanted to get a souvenior pen from the gift shop but they have a new ruling out (not sure when it started) unless you have been to an overseas port you cannot buy anything from the gift shop including lanyards....i was shown the paper from the Australian Government that forbids them selling anything unless leaving Australia so this will affect all cruises in Australia....if the other ships that only sail in Australian waters it should affect them if they follow the Government ruling

I thought that this was always the rule.

i know you couldnt buy duty free smokes or alcohol but everything else you could buy but not now

i know you couldnt buy duty free smokes or alcohol but everything else you could buy but not now

It was the rule when I started sailing back at the turn of the century.

It was the rule when I started sailing back at the turn of the century.

have you been cruising for that long

we've bought things before on coastal cruises but not anymore

have you been cruising for that long

 

we've bought things before on coastal cruises but not anymore

Yep.

If not on a ship, in my head.

Sounds like a shambles. How would they know who is who?. You might be doing a back to back and have gone to a foreign port all ready. Sounds like some shoreside retailers have their knickers in a knot.

I wonder if you will only be able to buy from Amazon when it comes to Australia . providing you have been overseas?

Sounds like a shambles. How would they know who is who?. You might be doing a back to back and have gone to a foreign port all ready. Sounds like some shoreside retailers have their knickers in a knot.

I wonder if you will only be able to buy from Amazon when it comes to Australia . providing you have been overseas?

David if your doing a coastal cruise they put a sticker on your card so they know what you are doing

its some BS thing from our Government and i believe its something new

What generally happens if a cruise is not going outside Australian waters the ship will circumnavigate Willis Island off the North East Coast which is I am advised as being outside Australian waters for Duty Free purposes. On a recent round Australia cruise the Celebrity Solstice was supposed to go to Bali to get the international connection. The Bali stopover was cancelled and the ship diverted to circumnavigate Willis Island which met customs regulations for duty free. If one is on a coastal cruise and one doesn't go to Willis Island then no Duty Frees

i took my grandson on a coastal cruise from Brisbane to Sydney on the Sun Princess which we got off yesterday and he wanted to get a souvenior pen from the gift shop but they have a new ruling out (not sure when it started) unless you have been to an overseas port you cannot buy anything from the gift shop including lanyards....i was shown the paper from the Australian Government that forbids them selling anything unless leaving Australia so this will affect all cruises in Australia....if the other ships that only sail in Australian waters it should affect them if they follow the Government ruling

Bob, we just did a 3 nighter on Carnival Spirit, no ports, shops were open and doing a roaring trade, all the sales etc. Our grandson bought a lanyard.

Do you think it was perhaps because you were part of a longer cruise?

The shops would be open for duty free and they have put restrictions on those that have not been through immigration etc

I am not sure what the reasons but I could not imagine the shorter round trip cruises not opening their gift shops.

We were just on a 3 day cruise to nowhere with P&O Aust out of Adelaide, just going in circles round St Vincent Gulf. Everything was open except duty free alcohol and cigarettes. Bought some Darrell Lee sweets, had a go in the Casino, sister bought some make up and my Mum bought a bit of bling. I also got a new fridge magnet. We arrived back on 27th March, so very recent.

Maybe its a Queensland thing, I know when we were doing a domestic WA coastal cruise a lot of things were closed down.

Bob, we just did a 3 nighter on Carnival Spirit, no ports, shops were open and doing a roaring trade, all the sales etc. Our grandson bought a lanyard.

Do you think it was perhaps because you were part of a longer cruise?

The shops would be open for duty free and they have put restrictions on those that have not been through immigration etc

I am not sure what the reasons but I could not imagine the shorter round trip cruises not opening their gift shops.

Chez i'm not sure but we could not buy anything from the gift ship and i dont know if it'll filter to the other cruise lines or they may not worry about it but it was from the government

i have a friend doing a 2 night cruise from Melb to Sydney in a couple of weeks on the Golden and the cruise will be going to Fiji so i'll ask her to find out if any restrictions

Chez i'm not sure but we could not buy anything from the gift ship and i dont know if it'll filter to the other cruise lines or they may not worry about it but it was from the government

 

i have a friend doing a 2 night cruise from Melb to Sydney in a couple of weeks on the Golden and the cruise will be going to Fiji so i'll ask her to find out if any restrictions

Yes, I think there may be a difference between a short cruise that returns to the same port, no immigration, to an international cruise, that stops at a domestic port eg Sydney to Brisbane and they sell that sector ( 2 nighter) separate.

I havent done one of these for a long time, but out of curiosity Bob, when you boarded and everyone was going through immigration, where were you directed to? another line?

Yes, I think there may be a difference between a short cruise that returns to the same port, no immigration, to an international cruise, that stops at a domestic port eg Sydney to Brisbane and they sell that sector ( 2 nighter) separate.

 

I havent done one of these for a long time, but out of curiosity Bob, when you boarded and everyone was going through immigration, where were you directed to? another line?

Chez we were one of the first onboard so we didnt have to worry about immigration so not really sure about the lines

we know if doing a domestic cruise you cant buy smokes or alcohol but i have been cruising solo for awhile so i havent been buying things from the gift shop but my grandson wanted to buy a souvenior pen but we couldnt so i dont know when this ban started

It could have something to do with whether GST is applicable or not. ...but even so the ship should be able to cover all that in their own accounting systems, and not discriminate passengers.

If this is the case I would say goodbye to the short 3 and four night cruises, as there is no international port involved and the shop will not be able to open. If it has to do with GST then how do the shipping companies manage there bar sales and paid dining options on these short cruises as GST would be applicable on these sales also.

Why did they have the gift shop open if they couldn't sell anything ? Or was it just to let everyone know the rules.

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have you been cruising for that long

we've bought things before on coastal cruises but not anymore

I failed both maths and speeling at skool but I am pretty sure the turn of the century was 1999/2000. So I think its a safe bet that the claim GUT makes that he was cruising on or about the 'turn of the century' is accurate (close enough for Government work) unless you are inferring he was cruising at the turn of the last last century in which case the gloves are off and I am backing out, grabbing some peanuts and getting a comfy seat to watch the fight!! :D

i took my grandson on a coastal cruise from Brisbane to Sydney on the Sun Princess which we got off yesterday and he wanted to get a souvenior pen from the gift shop but they have a new ruling out (not sure when it started) unless you have been to an overseas port you cannot buy anything from the gift shop including lanyards....i was shown the paper from the Australian Government that forbids them selling anything unless leaving Australia so this will affect all cruises in Australia....if the other ships that only sail in Australian waters it should affect them if they follow the Government ruling

When on the Dawn, 16 March Sydney to Brisbane, they had a limit of $50 which meant most shops stayed shut and only the convenience store was open for all those souvenir type items.

It was the rule when I started sailing back at the turn of the century.

have you been cruising for that long

 

we've bought things before on coastal cruises but not anymore

I have cruised since before the turn. My first cruise was 1988, second was 13 years later, third was another 8 years again.

David if your doing a coastal cruise they put a sticker on your card so they know what you are doing

 

its some BS thing from our Government and i believe its something new

Yes, I think there may be a difference between a short cruise that returns to the same port, no immigration, to an international cruise, that stops at a domestic port eg Sydney to Brisbane and they sell that sector ( 2 nighter) separate.

 

I havent done one of these for a long time, but out of curiosity Bob, when you boarded and everyone was going through immigration, where were you directed to? another line?

This has been our experience, with either type cruises, no immigration for RT cruises to nowhere. and straight to security after checking in rather than immigration for the coastal cruises.

I failed both maths and speeling at skool but I am pretty sure the turn of the century was 1999/2000. So I think its a safe bet that the claim GUT makes that he was cruising on or about the 'turn of the century' is accurate (close enough for Government work) unless you are inferring he was cruising at the turn of the last last century in which case the gloves are off and I am backing out, grabbing some peanuts and getting a comfy seat to watch the fight!! :D

I cruised on P&O UK Aurora from Fremantle to Melbourne as a small sector of a world cruise. As domestic only passengers we were permitted to purchase 1 bottle of alcohol duty free as long as it was consumed on the ship. We were not supposed to take it off the ship, but checks in Melbourne were non-existent. As this is a UK ship, they probably would not be registered for Australian GST and would have all prices ex GST.

In the case of Princess Australia, they would be GST registered, so if some passengers were doing a domestic sector of an international cruise, it would probably be a nightmare for them if selling to domestic passengers. They would probably have to display and charge 2 different prices for each item- one with GST and one without.

We did a short cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas way back perhaps 2007 when it first arrived in Australia, no ports.....it was a charity RFD's cruise.

All the shops were open, selling duty free. I don't think they realised they were not supposed to be selling :eek:. We and everyone else walked off with as much as we could carry, we had about 7 bottles of spirits!! No customs, just walked off:') Got it on our little propellar plane home, bar was stocked with Bailey's, Midori, Bacardi, bit of Sambucca;p

OMG I think Royal realised their mistake!!....yep those days won't happen again!