OzKiwiJJ

It's easier to filter it. We've had a water filter in our kitchen for over 20 years.

There are plenty of cafes near the Rendezvous.

Except that they have to add chlorine to it to keep it safe to drink after circulating through the ship's reticulation system. Unfortunately I can't handle too much chlorine in drinking water these days. I use filtered water at home.

I just checked the Australian Passage Contract for a cruise I booked recently and there are no restrictions at all on bringing non-alcohol drinks onboard. It's not even mentioned.

A lot depends on the length of cruise, the ship, and the itinerary. But is it really fair to compare today's fares with pre-Covid ones? Three years have passed since then and lots of things have gone up in price.

A friend of ours stayed at the Rendezvous Hotel Sydney The Rocks late last year and said it was really nice. It's near the Argyle St end of Harrington St so walkable to the cruise terminal.

I just spotted a thread this morning. Yes, it sounds like they are non-refundabke bookings in the US. Seriously? Princess expects people to book a guarantee cabin which will probably end up being an "F" category cabin at the same price "F" category cabins used to be and it's a non-refundable? Whoever came up with that idea must be away with the fairies!

What they have done is block out the lowest category of cabins in each class ie IF, BF, and have made those only available under the 'Princess chooses" option at the fare those cabin categories would normally go for. The first category that is able to be selected is therefore one higher than the lowest and is also at the fare that category would normally go for, but the way it's shown makes it look like they are charging extra for cabin selection. One other problem with this rather stupid idea is that some people prefer cabins in the "F" location but are no longer able to select those cabins. It's very deceptive and very annoying. Posts 46 and 62 on this thread in the AUS/NZ forum show a couple of examples of the price breaks for the various fares.

Otherwise find a nearby supermarket, buy some slabs of bottled water, attach luggage labels, hand them in with your luggage and they will be delivered to your cabin. Princess only though.

All hotels do it. It's common in Japan to ship baggage as there is virtually no baggage space on the Shinkansens. Your hotel should be able to advise you how to do it.

I also remember swimming at Scorching Bay and Worser Bay. And Paraparaumu and other beaches up that way.

I can remember swimming at a very young age but not how cold the water was. Actually I was a bit of a problem for my parents. Neither of them swam but I was a real water baby even before I could actually swim. I loved racing into the sea and jumping over the waves. Luckily I never got into trouble.

Jeez Marion, that's too long ago to remember! 🤣 But kids never seem to feel the cold as much as adults do. I certainly don't recall the water feeling cold but, then again, I'd only even swum in NZ waters (even in Dunedin when I was very little) so the temps were normal to me then.

Oddly enough there doesn't seem to be any discussion about this on the main Princess forum, unless I missed it. Given the amount of discussion about it here I expected the main forum to be in an uproar about it. I wonder if they're trialling it in our region only. Hopefully one of our overseas friends can check this and report back.

The wine packages were never available on Australian cruises for some odd reason.

In summer only, usually during the Christmas holidays onwards. I doubt I would want to swim in Wellington even in the height of summer these days, I've acclimatised to Sydney sea temperatures. I have swum at Oakura in Northland a few times when visit my friend who has a bach there but even there the water seemed cold to me.

The wardrobe was smaller even in the balcony cabins. The bathroom came off the end of the wardrobe area rather than the side like on other Grand Class ships. But the shower cubicle was a decent size and shape, bigger than on Diamond, Golden and Ruby, and much bigger than Coral.

L237 is an IF category. If you really look at what the select-your-own options are on any cruise you will find that IF's are no longer able to be selected, they are only sold as "Princess chooses". The first available category to select will be IE unless they are sold out. IE is always more expensive than IF so, yes, it looks like you are paying more to choose your cabin but in reality you aren't. However you are one of the people who will find this new and very stupid concept of Princess' to be very annoying as you will never be able to choose the cabin you actually want. However there are a few cabins on Grand on the Lido deck that are IC's and if you get in early enough you might be able to book one of those instead. But some ships may only have IFs on the Lido deck so that would be a big problem for you.

Sarah, give me an exact cabin number for that cruise.

I don't understand what you mean. Which category is the cabin you want? Why do you think you have to pay more? If cabin 1234 is a IF or BF, ie the lowest category, then from what I've seen you won't be able to select that cabin as it would be block from selection and reserved for "Princess chooses" bookings. If it isn't one of the lowest category cabins then you would pay exactly the same as you would if the lowest category was able to be selected. If you believe differently then give an exact example from an actual cruise with pricing.

We found the chairs in Crooners were very comfortable, as were the chairs in the Wheelhouse Bar and One5 but not the sofas. I've learnt to avoid Princess sofas and any of the squishier chairs after several years of cruising where possible. I had to get Rolf to haul me off a sofa in the Wheelhouse Bar on Grand - my knees didn't want to work at the angle I was sitting on it and it was to squishy to get any leverage. Such a shame you have been affected by the power outage. I hope Princess compensates you for the inconvenience and annoyance of not having the cabin you booked.

Sarah, you don't really pay extra, you just get to choose from higher category cabins which are always more expensive than the lowest category. A BA is always dearer than all other balcony categories unless there is a promo, even a BE is dearer than a BF. They have just removed the option to book the lowest category cabins directly so your only option is a higher priced category. If you regularly book the lowest category cabins then you either take pot luck or pay the extra for a higher category. If you usually book higher category cabins then you don't pay any more than you would if the lowest category was able to be selected.

It was when I was a kid. It's a very safe family beach close to the city. And as teenagers it wasn't far to walk from where my local bus route ended (Courtenay Place).

I was horrified the last time I went ashore at the Isle of Pines. There were so many idiots trampling over the reefs close to shore. Most of them were just walking around with a mask on peering into the water every so often.

But cruise ships used to regularly stop at places like Lifou, the Isle of Pines and Mystery Island which are all tender ports and all of which have very little to do other than snorkelling, swimming, etc. They were/are always very popular ports.