OzKiwiJJ

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.

Headline in today's SMH. In the article it quotes Burnet Institute Director Brendan Crabb: " I have absolutely no doubt that Australians don't know that Covid is putting 50 times more people in hospital than the flu, that it's killing 50 to 100 times more people than the flu, that 5 per cent of them, if they get infected, even if they're vaccinated, are likely to get long Covid." Yes, we have to live with Covid but in my opinion most Australians have gone from over-cautious to under-cautious, especially in crowded situations. We'll be lining up for a booster shot as soon as it becomes available, and will still continue to wear masks indoors in shopping malls, supermarkets, theatres etc. It's no big deal to us.

Keep an eye out for those silicone measuring jugs. Unbreakable and the 1 cup one squishes inside the filter jug for packing. Also because it's flexible you can squeeze it slightly to get the best pouring spout.

The Brita filter jugs are ideal for that. The only downside is that it is too big to fit under the tap in Princess bathrooms. You need to use a glass or small jug. I found a silicone measuring jug, Oxo brand I think, in the Brisbane Myer store which was perfect. We have a water filter at home so I always drink filtered water. That may be partially why I notice the chlorine taste in unfiltered water so easily. It's a shame we don't live near each other as then I could lend you our filter jug to try.

We've done six cruises since the restart, ranging from 7 nights to 28 nights. We were both fine on the shorter cruises but I caught Covid on the 28 night cruise in October. I developed symptoms on day 14 and I'm 99% certain I caught it onboard, probably from someone standing too close to me while I was sitting enjoying a drink in one of the bars. At that stage there were no mandatory tests onboard once the cruise started. I believe that regular mandatory testing on cruises should be a must. On our Westerdam cruise, where we had mandatory testing, the Captain announced the Covid numbers each day and after both mandatory test days the numbers jumped by a significant amount. It doesn't bother me to wear a mask while roaming the ship. It doesn't bother me to do mandatory tests. I am aware that a ship is a closed environment, and am even more aware that there are going to be many selfish people who won't wear masks properly, and/or who won't report having symptoms, who will be sharing that closed environment with me. So be it. We mostly enjoyed 74 of the 80 days we have cruised since the restart, and even the six days in isolation weren't too arduous - we both love to read and I also enjoy games and puzzles on my phone. Roll on March for our next cruise!

We used a Brita filter jug when we did the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in 2019. We didn't have a drinks package for that cruise. It was really good. I like to use 1 litre sipper bottles at night - I've drowned myself too many times using a glass in the past plus glasses aren't big enough as I can drink over a litre of water overnight if I'm not sleeping well. I just took some sipper bottles on (empty) then filled them from the filter jug. We also took a slab of 500ml bottles on with us for use at ports. We didn't bother taking the filter jug with us for cruises since the restart as we've had drinks packages for all of those so just got bottled water from the bar every day. Actually the waiters in the Ocean Bar on Westerdam were really good - every night when we stopped in for our after dinner drink they would always bring us four cans of water to take back to our cabin. I seem to be OK drinking the ship's water during the day, as long as it's well iced. It doesn't affect me but I do notice the chlorine taste if it's not iced or the ice has melted which is why I prefer bottled or filtered water at night.

That's good to hear. I miss being on Coral. It felt like a second home after all the time we spent on her last year.

The Wahine disaster took place in the middle of a very serious storm. It should never have left the wharf. I recall having to jump the fence to get into my home as a power line had come down across our wrought iron entrance gate. My mother was terrified!

Personally I felt I was much better off having Covid on Coral Princess than at home, despute missing a couple of ports. All I had to do was relax and get better - no cooking, no housework, a nice balcony to go out on for some fresh sea air, food and drinks delivered on request, and no charge for medical care including antivirals. You can't compare the shipboard environment to your home environment, unless you work in an office full time and travel to and fro on crowded public transport where the risk is of catching Covid is more comparable to the closed-ship environment. I'm more than happy to be on a cruise ship, fully vaxed and wearing my mask when roaming around the ship. Roll on my next cruise!

Yikes! I lived in Auckland for 15 years and never saw anything like this. There was always one underpass that flooded in heavy rain but nothing as severe as this lot. Very sad.

I went on it when it was Dawn Princess. The inside cabins are very narrow. Unless they've changed the furniture it was very cramped with the bed in queen mode, it's best as two singles as that gives space between the beds to move around. The bathroom is reasonable - one of the slightly bigger Princess shower cubicles. Storage was adequate. Personally I wouldn't book an inside cabin for a 14 night cruise these days. I was unwell one day on Sea Princess and being stuck in the inside cabin all day was depressing. The one thing that made our isolation bearable on Coral last year was being able to go out on the balcony for a change of scene.

It's a bit tricky with Port Douglas as it's a tender port so connecting with the private tour companies can be a problem. It's a popular resort town so the tours are timed for land-based tourists, not cruise ships unfortunately. The Low Isles are great for snorkelling if you can find a tour that fits.

Drive up the Otago Peninsula to the Albatross Sanctuary then go to the Penguin Place nearby. You will probably have to book for both of these places. Stop at Larnach Castle on the way back into the city.