OzKiwiJJ

I found the bid email for our cruise. This is what we were able to bid on for a ten night cruise:

We're doing Melbourne to Sydney via South Australia, departing 21st March. The minimum bid for balcony to mini-suite was under $200 (can't remember exactly what it was) for a ten night cruise so we thought we'd have a go. The minimums for club class and suites were much higher but we don't want club class anyway as friends are joining the ship for the last three days, Melbourne to Sydney, and we want to dine together.

We had an email from Princess offering us a chance to bid for a mini-suite, club class mini-suite, or suite for our March Grand cruise where we currently have a balcony cabin booked. We put in a lowish bid for a mini-suite just for the fun of it. All bid categories were booked out when we bid so it will depend on last minute cancellations. I've heard you can decline the upgrade if the new cabin is not in a suitable location but haven't seen that for myself. I carefully checked where the minisuites were before deciding to bid. On Coral Princess you have to be careful bidding on mini-suites as there are some right at the bow that don't have balconies.

If you do a one way itinerary it's usually only four sea days out of 13/14 - one sea day rounding East Cape in NZ, two sea days crossing the Tasman, and one sea day going from Hobart to Sydney.

The apartments on Princes Wharf operated by Auckland Waterfront Serviced Apartments are great but I think they require a three night stay minimum. We've stayed there a couple of times. Perfect for if the ship is leaving from Princes Wharf - those apartments are opposite the Hilton so you have a very short walk. It's a longer walk to Queens Wharf though. Some of the other apartments on Princes Wharf are effectively AirBNBs with extra cleaning charges etc.

Because they need to offer variety in the itineraries, plus a lot of people want tropical cruises where they can lay by the pool and sip cocktails. Usually only a very small number of cruises are affected by cyclones. However I'd love to see more winter cruising from Brisbane and Sydney to South Pacific and Queensland ports. The Queensland itineraries were very popular when cruising restarted last year, but no South Australia / Tasmania itineraries please - sitting at Station Pier for three days was a bit tedious!

Just to clarify - ETAs for both NZ and Australia.

February and March are the best times to visit NZ. If you start your trip in NZ the weather should still be reasonably warm and by the time you get to Sydney it will be starting to cool off a bit.

Which is crazy as people can be infectious without symptoms.

It does make sense though. Most people don't go to those places several times each day, every day. On a cruise ship you essentially do that: breakfast, lunch and dinner in the MDR or buffet; maybe trivia or bingo; the theatre or a lounge for a show, lecture, or other type of entertainment; and bars. And on port days buses and tenders. Most people would be in far greater contact with other people on a ship than in their every day lives. And ships are relatively small enclosed spaces so the chances of Covid spreading is greater. I wish each ship would announce the daily Covid cases like they did on Westerdam. It might make some people more cautious, especially if they also stress that people who catch it can be infectious a couple of days before they develop symptoms or test positive. But the current Covid wave appears to be subsiding so maybe the restrictions will be eased soon. I'd still like to see masks being mandatory in theatres, and crowded lounges where things like trivia and bingo are held. Not just for Covid but for all the other respiratory illnesses that spread rapidly on cruise ships. I've been on enough longer cruises (12+ days) now to have noticed how often the dreaded cruise cough ramps up as the cruise progresses.

Definitely try to get to Sandbar. The food is amazing! Every dish is a work of art. The motel itself is comfortable but has a weird bathroom setup - shower and toilet in the bathroom but the handbasin is in the main room and is quite high. I'm average height and found teeth-cleaning a bit of a challenge.

Not so much better suggestions but additional tips. The stop where the 109 bus terminates is also the stop for the 58 tram (Toorak to West Coburg). This tram travels along Williams St into Victoria St with a stop at Victoria Market. It also has stops at Collins St and Bourke St where you can change to trams travelling down into the main shopping area. The 109 tram turns into Clarendon St before crossing the river into Spencer St, then turning down Collins St. Stop 124A, just before the river is the nearest stop to the Outlet Centre at South Wharf, and is also a good stop to change to the 96 tram (St Kilda Beach to East Brunswick) if you want to go to Bourke St in the city, or out to St Kilda Beach.

They won't refare after final payment though.

That should be a lovely cruise. Repositioning cruises are great and that one will have lots of relaxing sea days. Enjoy!

Fair enough. Although be aware that the tests don't always show positive even when you have symptoms. I caught Covid on a cruise, the Medical center gave me a PCR test which was negative but I was asked to isolate. Next day I tested postive. And the RATs are less sensitive than PCR tests. But it's certainly a good idea to monitor yourself if you have concerns. Enjoy your cruise. Are you doing the Princess Round Australia cruise? If so, it's wonderful.

Wow! That must have been seriously scary, Gut. I'm so glad you are all OK and hope you will be able to replace the damaged items without too much hassle. I reckon your instinct was right - looking after a helpless/frightened pet or child should always be top priority. Adults can usually look after themselves unless injured.

Australians can refare if the price drops. Just ring Princess. I've done it a number of times.

Yes, it's annoying. We've just booked a Japan cruise for October 2023 and have the same issue but I was expecting it. You can prepay the "Crew Appreciation" but check what the exchange rate is if you decide to do that. I just checked for our cruise and the prepay amount is a tad higher at the moment so I'll keep an eye on what the exchange rate is doing over the next few months. Also be aware that the excursion prices are in USD.

I doubt they'll even check exactly what the test kit was. In fact it might be impossible as you only take a photo of the result. But why bother bringing one from home? You can get them easily enough here at any pharmacy.

When stopping in Noumea there is a ATM at the entrance to the supermarket diagonally across the road from the cruise terminal / shuttle bus dropoff. But it's harder when ships only stop at smaller islands as it's not as easy for the locals to get the AUD exchanged.

If the mask you were supplied with was anything like the ones that were supplied on Westerdam then I'm not surprised you ripped it off as soon as you could. The Westerdam ones were extremely uncomfortable - a weird shape and the ear elastics were too short so both pulled the mask uncomfortably tight as well as hurting the ears. Luckily we had an ample supple of our own very comfortable P2 masks.

That's useful to know. Thanks, mate. Anyway it was super-efficient in Hobart as people left the ship in groups, either for an excursion or whatever group they'd chosen the day before. No queues, just a smooth flow through.

It must be different if the cruise embarks in NZ - we had the "face to face" with Border Force in Hobart on Westerdam which embarked in Auckland.

If the ship stopped in Tasmania as its first Australian port of call then Passport Control is done there. However I'm not sure what they do about people in isolation at that time.

The Japanese wore masks long before Covid was ever heard of. They are a very polite culture, housing is small, and public transport is often overcrowded. Anyone with any illness would always wear a mask to avoid infecting other people.