SinbadThePorter

Overpaying is the part of the full Disney experience that they are missing out on.

I hope they are charging them full fare.

Port Chalmers? There are actually three, but I don't think the third one gets used by cruise ships. The Beach Street Wharf is the one next to the shed. Then there is the Container Berth opposite, which was where I got stuck, and a multi-purpose berth further along the same side.

Yes, it has all the atmosphere of a school lecture hall. 😵‍💫 For trivia, give me Club Fusion every time.

I was referring to the the local bus trips from each town. There are two wharves at Port Chalmers. The closer one can be walked off, but the further one requires you to be escorted off. I was once held up on board there for over 3 hours waiting for a minibus to travel the hundred meters or so to the main shed.

No only Majestic. Which put me off the Royal class. I hesitate to describe Majestic as a cruise ship since to me they seem to have deliberately designed her to make the sea an afterthought. She floats, but has almost no nautical spirit.

We are next in Lyttelton on Jan 3rd. At least now we won't have the dubious pleasure of trying to catch the local bus to Christchurch ever again. Dog eat dog doesn't even begin to describe it. What was easy and simple in Port Chalmers was anything but in Lyttelton. All we wanted to do was to stop at the gondola and do a little shopping at a New World. I'd have thought that a simpler option might have been to put on some extra public buses on the local route on cruise days, rather than rustle up some free shuttles and effectively ban cruisers from the town of Lyttelton. By the way, I've never seen anyone mention it, but NZ supermarkets just leave the Oz ones in the shade. The fresh food section at New World is a marvel to behold and they sell some of the best meat pies I've ever tasted. 🥳

If I disliked Majestic, what are the odds of my liking Discovery?

You could say that about the whole system of tipping on cruise ships. The process is almost completely opaque to those who are providing the cash. Essentially we are trusting the cruise lines to do the right thing by their staff, and we all know how eager multinational corporations are to do the right thing. 🥸 I just go with the flow.

If the cruise line offers automatic gratuities, take advantage of it. You are on holiday, you don't need to be wasting time working out who deserves what and then chasing them around on the last day trying to hand over envelopes of cash.

Even so, a mini-suite at $99/day is tempting.

P&O have been trying hard to sell cruises out of Cairns for years now. They always end up discounting them to rock bottom. It's like the dream of cruising out of Darwin, until the airlines come to the party with cheap airfares it ain't gonna happen.

The train is an excellent way to get to your hotel. Just be aware that there is a surcharge on the fare from the airport train station which for two or more people makes the cost nearly as much as a taxi. You can use your credit card to pay fares on Sydney public transport.

I've been on Coral six times since June last year and just never noticed more than one or two couples in there. But I have to say while I didn't make a habit out of checking out the Sanctuary, it just always seemed nearly empty whenever I looked.

Increasing the price would turn it into even more of a ghost town. I've never yet seen much demand for the Sanctuary in Australian waters.

Covid couldn't kill the cruise business, but that could. 😜

He couldn't get along with crooks and psychos like Fletcher Christian and John Macarthur. 😁

Every time I get off a P&O cruise it's always the last time.

All I can say is, that's grouse. 😉

I knew exactly what the title of this thread meant as soon as I first read it, but I suddenly just wondered if anyone under 40 would.

It's ye old marketing trick. This is the idea behind creating different price levels with various conditions attached to each level. It's designed to catch the unwary. Hopefully there are few such on CC! 😉

This place.

The official cruise terminal in town is too small for Majestic and most modern cruise ships. She will dock at the industrial port across town from where the only way off is the shuttle bus to the official terminal.

I'll second Whitehaven beach. Especially if you are provided with a lunch. A wonderful place to have a picnic.

Not being a coffee drinker and having a weakness for a morning hot chocolate, can I find it at the Grounds Club?