~*Lou*~

We have the choice of Coral, Caribbean or Sapphire Princess for Alaska - same itinerary. Which would you choose and why? We’re a family with teenagers. Probably internal cabins. But all 3 ships look like they have promenades and lots of outside decks. many thanks in advance

Disembarked at Melbourne station pier this morning. We did self assist walk off, with a time of 7.50am. We managed to not receive yellow customs declaration cards last night so by the time we walked off the ship, waited for just two lifts in the terminal with our bags, found customs cards from station pier staff, completed them, passed through passport/customs clearance, waited in queue for a taxi, we were in the taxi at 8.35am.

Because we have teens, after all the sea days we were very keen to get off & explore. We were off the ship at 7.30, and by 10.30am we had wandered round the main streets looking at art deco buildings, hired bikes and riden along the beach front for one hour ($80 for family of 4 for one hour - walk in rate) and bought ice creams from Lick This. Then we played mini golf ($30 for family for 18 holes), had another look at the beach and back on the free shuttle at 11.45am. Other family friendly activities would have been the aquarium (1.3 km south from I site) or the bathing pools (about 1km north of I site).

This was June 2022, one of the first after the re start. I know there were cases on board only from tables outside rooms. Definitely no MDR or IC on last day. Excellent to know we should have better options this time! Thank you!

You can have breakfast in the MDR on the last day??? We were on Coral last year, only the buffet was open, not even IC, it was utter chaos, we gave up and ate at the airport!

Has anyone looked at the marine weather forecast for next week? We board in Melbourne on Monday and I'm a bit anxious about a rough crossing (sea sick children and husband) and we might miss Fjordland and even Dunedin? Would love to be wrong!

We had a mid-ship cabin but noticed more movement in the dining room and buffet compared to the cabin in rough seas on Coral. Yes burgers, hot dogs, tacos at the grill on deck 15 above the pool deck. Alfredo's pizza (only pizza, no entrée or dessert) was in Sabatini's at lunch on sea days in 2022 - no idea how they manage that now with extra "casual dining" charges. Its a lovely ship, so much outside space.

We're in Dunedin on 12th January. When we originally booked the cruise, we were scheduled to be in port from 8am to 6pm but now it's 7am to 5pm. I had booked us on a private tour (with Fantail Tours) from 10am to 4pm but now I'm worried we are cutting it too fine to be back in time and on board on time. I have emailed the company who say we will be back at the port by 4pm and "there is no need to cancel" but I'm anxious about the timing now. I still have a couple of weeks to cancel without loosing money - any thoughts? Should we cancel? The tour operator website doesn't have anything on it about guaranteeing getting back to the ship on time. Many thanks Lou

We’re on Grand Princess to NZ in January and we’re taking friends with us who have never cruised before - if they hate it they may never talk to me again?! So I am trying to make sure I can give them as much information to plan as possible: We’re all on Standard fares, no Plus or Premier. What are the costs at Alfredo’s in AUD – can you just sit down and share a pizza between a couple of people from different cabins and charge the pizza back to one cabin? How much in AUD? (we have 4 teens between us, this is important!). Is there a difference in quality of pizza between Alfredo's and Slices? Can anyone post some Princess Patters – mostly the sea days to see what activities are available across the ship. Power points in cabins – in a mini-suite, how many Australian power points, and USB plugs? At Coffee & Cones on the Lido Deck, aside from the free soft serve, do they offer milkshakes and how much do they cost? (Coral had them for $3 each in 2021) Many thanks! Lou :)

Hi, we are in Tauranga in January and the Zealandia tour to Hobbiton is fully booked for our date, and our cruise line doesn't offer ship-sponsored tours to Hobbiton. Is it a reasonable idea to rent a car for the day and drive ourselves to Hobbiton? I understand once we're there, we join a tour group, and I'd need to book that in advance? We are in port 8am-6pm. Many thanks for any suggestions.

Zealandia tours to Hobbiton is booked out for our date (16th Jan, on Grand Princess). Can anyone recommend another tour company? Could we rent a car from the port and drive ourselves? Many thanks Lou

Happy to help. Happy to answer any queries you have on this - also try doing a search on my user name as I have posted trip reports abut our Alaska cruises in 2015 and 2019 - these were both quad-share internal cabins. I have found we mostly all go to bed and get up about the same time when cruising, rather than the children going to bed much earlier than the adults, we just wind up on the same time timetable (my husband might try to stay in bed longer in the mornings but that generally doesn't work out). Also Alaskan cruises are mostly port-intensive - you are up and off the ship for a full day more days than sea days, and when you get back you are all tired, that's been our experiences anyway.

The photo above looked familiar and then I realised it was my image! That is a standard balcony on Coral Princess with foldaway and one pullman. We had children age 11 and 14 at the time. You CAN walk round the pillow-end of the foldaway to get to the balcony (that's my husband on the balcony in the dark in the photo!), its not impossible but you are shuffling sideways and need to be careful not to bump your shin on the corner of the bed (or the head of which ever child you have down there!). Yes the steward folds the bed up during the day for a bit more space. 4 in a cabin works with children but you do have minimal personal space and need to be considerate of each other 100% of the time - I found this harder with my husband than the children. We have done 4 x 7 night cruises (2x Alaska, 1 x Med and 1 x Queensland) with 4 in a cabin (3 x internal and 1 x balcony) and lived to tell the tale. Better than not cruising at all!

Hate to sound like a broken record, but they still haven't updated their website:

They haven't updated the Princess website yet - this is a screen shot of "what is included for a standard fare" on the 8th January 2024 sailing to NZ which we are booked on:

We're cruising on Grand in Jan-24 and my husband and teenage daughter really want to see Hobbiton so I'm following this with interest too. Not being a LOTR fan, I would prefer to visit Rotorua, so planning our activities from port of Tauranga is tricky!!

We have been to Alaska in an inside cabin twice - yes a balcony would be fabulous but I'd rather be in an inside cabin than not cruising at all due to cost. Mind you, I pick the location of the cabin carefully so I can easily get to a public outdoor space - one of my Alaskan cruises was on the wonderful Coral in 2019, so we had a cabin near the front of the ship so I could get out the front in just a minute or two any time I like (and I did, a lot!). So if the ship has decent outside decks, like a wrap around promenade for example, or multiple viewing decks aft or forward, inside is just fine. Hope that helps Lou

Depends on the 4 yo. My 5yo and 7 yo made the walk to Nugget Falls with no trouble, they played on the beach while the adults took in the scenery. Same children enjoyed the bus up/train back at Skagway without getting bored - but I knew in advance they liked trains, some children wouldn't be at all interested.

Standard balcony on Coral - by day and by night. Lower two beds must be twin and not queen, due to ladder. You could walk round the rollaway to get to balcony but not much space.

We had a standard balcony on Coral for the 4 of us. The 3rd bed was Pullman and the 4th was a rollaway. Yes its was tight when it was all set up at night, it worked ok but everyone in the cabin has to be considerate of each other. Lucky the person on the rollaway was only 12 and not tall.

We’re a family of 4 and we’re and we’re in Tauranga for the day next January. We plan to hire a car and visit Hobbiton (2 passionate movie fans in the family). Is there anything else on the drive between Tauranga and Hobbiton we should be looking out for and stopping for? many thanks Lou

We’re a family of 4, we’ll be in Dunedin for the day next January. If we hire a car for the day, and children want to see wildlife, what should we be trying to do with our day? many thanks Lou

We will be in Tauranga in January 2024 (8.15am to 5.45pm). If we rented a car (2 families of 4, so 2 cars!), is it possible to visit both Hobbiton and Rotorua on the same day or is that too ambitious and we should just focus on one or the other? If we did get to Rotorua, where exactly do we want to visit? It's the geothermal gems of mud pools/geysers/natural hot springs that appeal most. I do realise we can't "do it all." Many thanks Lou

Hello We have been on Coral Princess and about to book on Grand Princess. From the cabin tours I have seen online, the wardrobes/dressing area seems smaller (looking at both interior and standard balcony cabins) than the cabins we have previously had on Coral - am I imagining this or are Grand wardrobes smaller? Many thanks Lou

Thank you so much!