OzKiwiJJ

Although it's a few years since we did a Xmas cruise on Princess the Christmas menu was pretty much as Roatanfans described. Princess doesn't really alter its menus much for our local Australasian itineraries. Christmas here is a mix of traditional British cuisine (despite it being summer) of turkey and steamed fruit pudding, or seafood and pavlova. And I won't tell you what I think of the pathetic things Princess calls pavlova - they'd ban me if I did! 🙄😯🤣

Sydney Airport is about half an hour or so by car or taxi to the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) where the Princess ships depart from. There is also a train and the OPT is only a short flat walk from the Circular Quay station. I would recommend staying somewhere in the city, near Circular Quay if your budget permits. Sydney is usually fairly pleasant in early April, warm but not too hot or humid but this year was much cooler and wetter. NZ will be getting cool so pack layers. Auckland should still be pleasant but it will be colder further south, and very chilly first thing in Fiordland for the scenic cruising.

Fly first, cruise home. Take an extra bag for the shopping that can be packed in a suitcase for the flight.

Put it this way, if they have reduced the value then they will experience me throwing the biggest hissy fit they've ever seen. I threw a big enough one in June when I discovered the pathetic Plus wine list but if the values have been reduced it will be an earthquake level hissy fit!!!! 🤣🤣🤣 But I'm 99.9% certain it's still $16.

The Plus Sauv Blanc is a Sauv Blanc / Semillon blend that is best descibed as a generic dry white. I can't drink most Sauv Blancs as what gives it that characteristic taste also gives me severe reflux but that one is so bland I could probably drink it. The Premier Sauv Blanc is Cloudy Bay - I believe in the ABCB of NZ wines, Anything But Cloudy Bay! There is a very nice Merlot on the Plus list, and it goes exceptionally well with the Princess Love Boat Dream dessert as well as red meats. The Pinot Noir is fairly boring and the other two reds are Cab Sauv blends so I can't drink them - I also react to most Cab Sauvs, headache material for me. The Rosè is very nice. I drink that instead of the whites. The variety of wines is disappointing. They promised 25 wines by the glass for Plus but there are only 9! 🤬 I like Rosè, dry Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Grüner Veltliner (my new fav), lightly oaked Chardonnays and a few of the lesser known Italian whites. For reds it's Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Nebbiolo, Barbera, and some lighter Shirazes. We discovered a very interesting cellar door in Hahndorf last year - Landhaus Wines. They make their wines in the European style rather than classic Australian which really suits my tastes.

Then I'd go for a Pinot Noir.

Oh dear, you won't like the Plus or Premier chardonnays on Princess. They are a bit too oaky in my opinion.

We left Sydney once in mid-August going to London. It was warmer in Sydney! 🤣

Yes, the former but if the drinks price was showing as $12 you might find the cruise fares are also showing in USD. This has happened a few times on the Princess website in the last few months. I think logging into Princess shows the correct fares/prices.

Much better with a Grüner Veltliner.

I think I upset him so he's taking a break from us. I got a bit annoyed at some of the unsubstantiated, and somewhat unfair (to me) comments he was making about Princess so I called him out on it.

But from about 2017 Aust to Asia was AUD and no extra grats. We did a repositioning cruise to Japan in 2018 with AUD onboard. The previous repositioning cruise we did, on Golden in 2016 was still USD.

That is correct as long as you have booked through an Australasian booking site which, of course, includes directly with Princess. As I mentioned earlier, for us the easy way to remember is AUD onboard = no extra gratuities, USD onboard = gratuities are extra.

I think the rule of thumb with Princess is if the onboard costs are USD then you pay grats unless they are included as a perk. If the onboard costs are AUD and you book through an Australia or NZ booking you don't pay additional grats but people booking overseas do. I'm not sure what the Royal Caribbean situation is, especially from Singapore. My guess is the grats would be extra.

The portions are quite small which is one reason I go to the MDR not the buffet. They have better portion control than I do. I enjoy variety so small portions of several dishes is my favourite way of dining if I'm not cooking.

At least not out of Brisbane, and Sydney isn't much better! Coral really has quite a limited season out of Brisbane as she's busy the rest of the year doing the big cruises. Princess really needs a second permanent ship here, like they used to have a few years ago, that could do winter cruising out of Brisbane, Sydney and Fremantle. Top End cruises across then back, Queensland, New Caledonia/Vanuatu/Fiji plus the alternative big cruises - Circle Pacific and the Indian Ocean one. Surely the popularity of the restart cruises, apart from the butchered 22nd Aug cruises, indicate how popular winter cruising is here. I don't think it was just people wanting to cruise after 2.5 years of nothing, people just want to cruise!

What about just before Christmas?

If the hotel room included a full breakfast for two, a three course lunch for two, a good four course dinner for two, quality entertainment in multiple venues to suit most tastes, and all the other amenities of a cruise ship then yes. But most hotels don't which is why we enjoy cruising, which has one extra advantage over a hotel - the scenery changes daily.

I just spotted an evening session while looking up sonething else on the app calendar. 8:30pm to 10pm. I'll check the Patters when we're onboard in case anything changes.

They probably will in school holidays.

For those of you staying on for the 3rd Sept cruise don't forget to drop into the roll call: https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/forum/209-coral-princess-roll-calls/ We're having a short Meet and Greet at 11:30am 4th Sept in the Wheelhouse Bar if you want to meet some of the regulars here.

It could be that, or perhaps because there aren't many kids booked on that cruise, or possibly something Covid-related. I was a bit surprised at the short hours though.

The times for the 3rd Sept cruise are showing on the app calendar: Morning 9am - 10:30am Afternoon 3:30pm -5pm I think it's sea days only, I didn't check right through the calendar as it's a pain!

Speciality dining booked pre-cruise is always charged in advance these days. It deters people who used to book for multiple days then not show up to most of them, thus denying other passengers the chance to book. It's the same with excursions although with those you can use OBC. I don't think there is any way around the dining charge issue other than cancelling and waiting until you board to book. I'm not sure what happens re refunds if you cancel though.

Have a wonderful trip. Enjoy and stay safe!