sweetp12

I have been twice. First time was so close to walking out, second time was ok. In essence, there are five acts - 1&2 are a magician & a hula hoops act. The third act was where the problem was the first time - there was a man that made a "sound with his mouth" (think that guy from the police academy that made sound effects), but the second time around, it was replaced by a person who did a ball act. The fourth act was semi magician / semi science act (he spun full beer glasses inside a hoop over his head / in circles etc), swords threw a box type of thing. The fifth act is the worst... it is what gives it the R18 label as it is a "sexologist" who picks an audience member to find out about their sexual history (not really real - their lines are all scripted) It ends up with them colouring in a picture of a dildo which the sexologist is hiding and while implies in an adult way it really isn't. It is a terrible script, both times it was completely over acted and not at all funny. A bit cringe to watch - I am not a prude, but I felt it was overhyped as an Adult show when the most R18 thing is a picture of a dildo and the word *****... The second time I watched the act I enjoyed it more but it does seem to be a scripted show that didn't really change apart from the change in the one act, and I would describe as a modern variety show. Some people do really enjoy it, and I guess it will come down to your type of humor and the acts that they have at the time. My two times watching were June 22 and July 23, both on the same ship but the cast was completely different. I only went the second time as my sister wanted to go and paid for the ticket. I did enjoy it more round two but am unlikely to want to pay to see it again. If it was free I would go (but might leave before the end....)

We are booked into the Kingsford Brisbane Airport by Accor in March. They offer a shuttle to the new cruise terminal and have given us a late check-out at our shuttle time. That and the $15 breakfast + right across the road from Woolworths was the reason we decided to stay there. It seems to have good reviews, but I can let you know in a month!

There are some really great YouTube videos on this - the spa area is much larger with multiple rooms, a relaxation lounge, experience showers etc. I thought this one gave a really good overview

I was on the Explorer in August and used whatsapp to video call home multiple times a day. Never had any lag or buffering. I do think your experience will be dependent on how many people are using the wifi + location but in general I had no issues. If you don't buy prior, on the first day there was 20% discount if you purchased at the photo gallery (same price as pre-purchase).

Just be careful when booking the uber to get the right cruise port.... While there is only one, the old one used to be in town. We got caught out earlier this year!

I echo this experience. I gave it a go for my next cruise in March and from the time I downloaded the app till the time the credit was applied, it was less than 48 hours. It was great that I only had to take a photo of my computer screen showing the stock statement. I did try to apply for credit for my August cruise but it wouldn't let me apply for anything post July 24.

I just did this two days ago, and the credit was loaded within 48 hours of starting the process. It was easy to do on the app, and I just took a photo of my screen showing my stock holdings and this was verified overnight, and the money was loaded a few hours later.

We did a tour that incorporated both and my vote is Olveston House. I agree the scenic drive to Larnach Castle was nice vs a house in town. But the tour guides we had at Olveston House really helped you understand the story and it felt much more personal. The castle has a sad history and it a display of wealth for the time - beautiful and amazing but a real display out the upper crust of life. Both are worth the visit but if you want to learn more about how people lived vs seeing overt displays of wealth Olveston House is the one for you.

Avis Downtown is about 2km away up hill (I would taxi it as it is a hard walk... or grab a scooter). There is also go rentals and Ezi Rentals on Parnell Rise. None have shuttles but they are all very simple to get too. I have often done Avis pick up at the Airport and drop off at the Downtown. Go Rentals also have an airport drop off but it is off campus and you need to factor in the shuttle to the airport time.

Currently on the Coral Princess. We are in Wellington at the moment and are going to miss Napier and Tauranga as tonight we will go through the Cook Straight then up the West Coast tomorrow. Will do Bay of Islands on Wednesday before Auckland Thursday.

I got a refund from P&O (I know not Princess but same parent company) but can give an NZ view. I got an email from a third party provider that required me to go onto the HBSC web portal to load bank account details. P&O sent an email to tell me that this was happening - but I got that one after the provider!! The payment was made overnight once i had completed my bits.

Sneaky snails cause cruise ship to bypass Milford, Dunedin Otago Daily Times 21 Dec 2022 HAMISH MACLEAN hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz STOWAWAY snails discovered on a cruise ship have scuppered the plans of about 2000 visitors heading to Dunedin for a Christmas break. Coral Princess left Brisbane and was due in Fiordland on Friday before a Christmas Eve visit to Dunedin. Both stops have been cancelled and instead divers will clean the ship’s hull at sea to rid it of the nonnative molluscs discovered in the ship’s discharge pipes. Marjorie Walkley, of Auckland, who is a passenger on board, said despite being offered an onboard credit of $100 and a 15% discount on her next cruise, those she had spoken to on the ship were very disappointed. This was her 15th cruise and it was the first time she had encountered any problems. Along with her husband she was cruising over the holidays to see ‘‘my own country from the coast and especially Fiordland’’. The Walkleys embarked in Auckland on December 15 and carried on to Brisbane, where the boat departed yesterday. Mrs Walkley said she did not blame Princess Cruises, which would suffer financially. Biosecurity New Zealand environmental health manager Paul Hallett said staff were working closely with the cruise ship’s operators to help them meet New Zealand’s biofouling requirements. The requirements prevented vessels from bringing exotic species, pests and diseases into the country, Mr Hallett said. ‘‘Vessels are allowed to enter New Zealand if they can show they meet our standards. ‘‘We know that nearly 90% of marine pests arrive in this country on the submerged surfaces of international vessels and we have some of the highest biofouling standards in the world. ‘‘The standards were introduced in 2018 and vessel operators know they must meet them or risk not being able to enter our waters or unique areas during their journey.’’ A total of 6121 international vessels arrived in New Zealand from January 1, 2020, to September this year. Of these, 6% (377) were issued a notice of direction to address biofouling issues, he said. Highrisk organisms associated with biofouling included bivalves, such as mussels and oysters, foliose algae, hydroids, tunicates, sponges, and mobile organisms, such as crabs and starfish, he said. A Princess Cruises spokeswoman said the additional hull cleaning ahead of Coral Princess’s arrival in New Zealand was a measure to remove the exotic molluscs so there was no unintended transfer in the particularly sensitive areas of New Zealand the ship was visiting. While present circumstances were rare, they did occur from time to time and despite changes to the itinerary, service and activities on board remained the same, the spokeswoman said. ‘‘In lieu of travelling to Fiordland and Dunedin, guests will now spend an a few extra days at sea before spending Christmas in Christchurch as scheduled. ‘‘Coral Princess will still visit scheduled destinations, including Wellington, Napier, Tauranga and Auckland. ‘‘We thank our guests for their understanding and look forward to celebrating Christmas in Christchurch.’’ REPORT REGIONS YESTERDAY p23 p9

I used the airtag holders for a pets collar. Works perfectly on the watch strap https://www.amazon.com/Airtag-Airtags-Anti-Lost-Compatible-Collars/dp/B095C337PT

I have submitted mine twice in the last two months + got my princess personal holiday planner on it and still nothing...getting a bit concerned as just 25 days till we embark 😞

How have we got to page six and no one is yet to nominate the baked potato soup! I had this 12 out of 14 nights on the last cruise and commented on the others that I wished i had not have strayed... I am so disappointed it has moved off the everyday menu and has been replaced by the French Onion Soup. I also give a thumbs up to the goat cheese souffle as it was delicious.

We have a day at Brisbane on the 2nd of January as part of our cruise. We were hoping to visit elderly relatives that don't drive but could meet us in the city ok. I have read a bit about no public transport but most of the reports are focused on embarkation / disembarkation rather than as a port of call. Princess doesn't seem to have many excursions for here, certainly no transport to the city or anything similar. Is anyone able to shed some light on what options might be available for us?

Keep and eye on the P&O board - when I get a chance I will load the daily menus from the waterfront from our recent 11 night cruise + pictures. Will also post the Dragon Lady and Angelo's menu / pictures as well. We love P&O but have always struggled with the food, but this time was pleasantly surprised - there was always something we could eat and it was hot and fresh. The waterfront had great service - just as good as Angelos / Dragon Lady. They have also moved to ordering via tablet so the wait times for food has decreased - one meal we got done with the 3 courses in 40 min! (we don't like to linger so happy with a fast pace) We had no issue booking in the app - we booked as soon as we got on (actually while on the wharf, we managed to get onto the ship wifi by standing close to the gate! Just make sure if you do this that it is after 11am as the wipe the bookings and reset).

No they didn't, all salad was pre-portioned. There was always a lettuce based salad in the pantry and a second salad that changed daily e.g. pasta, rice, roast vegetable.

Waterfront Orange Menu We struggled with this menu so just ate there the one day Pad Thai - was very much a soup rather than a noodle dish Lamb Burger - this was really nice! Even though the hubby doesn't like feta he still enjoyed the sauce that was the feta and mint salad. Drunken Cherry Chocolate Cake

Pantry Lunch While we had to eat here port days we didn't really take photos - here is a random selection of menus from one day. The sugar bar had a couple of theme days that were absolutely amazing!

More random breakfast pictures! French Toast - we found this dry (the custard did not go all the way through the slice) Omlet - nice in itself but we struggled with this and the fried eggs - both the hubby and I had a funny tummy after these, thinking it was what they used to fry it with? Eggs Benny - always good Porridge - smooth / creamy with a very nice compote Scrambled Eggs - (this was a half size with hash browns) this was always consistent and good Note on Poached Eggs - this was the most inconsistent dish we had for breakfast. They came out soft, hard, medium etc. Even the two eggs on the one plate were different.

Lunch Pictures: Pork Belly Starter - was a bit dry but very tasty! Chicken Club Sandwich - the best lunch dish I had! It was warm, had bacon / egg / lettuce / tomato / chicken and just the right amount of mayo. Tomato Soup - really nice, flavoursome Floating Island - OMG good Creme Brulee Cheesecake Pineapple with Ginger sorbet - this was a bit odd, the pineapple was roasted and the sorbet was ginger spicy but not unpleasant. Buttermilk Chicken Burger - this looked great and tasted fantastic! Philly Cheesesteak Baguette- this was very soft, and very saucy - not just the cheese sauce on top but the tomato sauce that had the onions and peppers. Had a good amount of beef in it. We were always pleasantly surprised that no matter where we sat the chips came out hot and fresh.

Here is a selection of food menus and pictures from our 11 night cruise in July 2022. The breakfast menu didn't change at all during this time, lunch did however. The waterfront was open for lunch on embarkation day, but not on any port days. There was a for fee breakfast menu Waterfront Breakfast - we often ordered off menu (e.g. just scrambled / poached eggs) and hash browns. One real positive is they are finally giving decent sized juices rather than the shot glasses! We never ate at the Pantry for breakfast but we did take some photos one day.

Here is a photo of what was on offer on the Pacific Explorer as at August 2022. They offered a 10% off for the first 24 hours but no other sales for the whole 11 nights. This was a closed Australian cruise so might be different if sailing to Port Vila! (Pre-pandemic they tried to get you to buy prior cause they knew that the duty free there was way cheaper than the ship was offering!) Pick up was at Angelos from 6am on disembarkation day - take your blue slip receipt if you have it to make things easier.

We are just off - having spent 11 nights in cabin 8064 (obstructed view, accessible cabin) and while close to the lifts it was also right above the Explorer Hotel, which had live music till 11 most nights. Thankfully it didn't stop us from sleeping, but we certainly got to enjoy the music from our room! The nearest lifts are the forward lifts which are the main lifts to the pantry - this meant that we often had to wait for ages (although we walked to midships, through the arcade, to use the atrium lift to go down to 5 if we were eating at the waterfront). For these reasons I would suggest 8091 - you won't have the lift issue (and it doesn't have the 3/4 berth which means you won't have head room issues. Although I note you have 8074 / 8079 down which are obstructed view vs all the others being interior. You might want to consider these as having a window - even if it is looking at a lifeboat can be psychologically better for people. I know this is a slightly different location but here is a view from our window - which was tinted so it didn't let in much light (and gave you privacy - not that anyone could look in - in our whole cruise only one person ever walked past it was a restricted area and they were washing the window). Regardless I am sure you and mum will have a great time!