tomb73

So, my wife and I have been considering a cruise/trip to Australia for a long time.   Sadly the Covid thing has complicated issues, but we are still hoping to do something for our 50th anniversary trip in 2025.     So, what is the 'best' time/season to do a cruise (we are looking at the around Australia one on Princess)?   We have a great cruise guy, and I think we are planning far enough out, just trying to understand the considerations.    We're retired, so don't have any issues related to school timing....    In fact would be OK going at the 'worst' time from a tourist perspective to reduce crowding and pricing.   Just trying to understand what the options are....   Thanks for any suggestions in advance...

My wife and I have really enjoyed Club class...    Would be interested in knowing if anyone has found a trick or way to search for cruises with available club class cabins....    Never hurts to ask...  

We too were very happy with the Regal.  Our major complaint was that they used the Atrium for things like dance classes, and other entertainment which was usually VERY loud, so you could not sit with a coffee and pastry in the AM, or just relax there in the evening.   We aren't complaining about the entertainment, the string quartet was pleasant and enjoyable, you did not have to shout over their music to have a conversation, unlike a number of other groups there, but many of the things that happened there made it difficult to enjoy a conversation.    We don't buy the beverage packages, the price does not make sense for our drinking habits, but do usually buy the coffee card.   The 'standard' coffee seems to be too much like 'instant' coffee to us, and the card lets us have something a bit better on occasion.  

Coral, appreciate your info, and pointing out that thread.   Just FYI, that seems to be the 'European' cruises, not necessarily the Transatlantic cruises.   I see the 'end', or European portion, of the British Isles Grand Adventure, which looks like cruise G018, but the full transatlantic cruise is G017, but don't see the transatlantic portions of those Grand Adventures....   But some very useful information in those spreadsheets and pdf files...   Thanks again!

Thanks, just looking at that thread now...   Looks like we need to be working with our TA to book something on November 8th...    Won't hit Elite status before this 2020 cruise....   Appreciate your speedy response!

Thanks, Coral!

We did a crossing a couple of years ago, and were big fans of the 'split' of Prosecco they had in one of the bars.   We essentially drank that one out of their splits, and they scrounged around the other bars to find additional inventory for us.   Just saying that while at sea or on the cruise it is difficult to restock, so some wines that end up being popular may or may not have sufficient stock for the entire voyage.   At the same time, we never found the diversity of options to be an issue...   Your mileage may vary, of course.

I see some very helpful folks posting 2020 cruises, was wondering if there was (at this point) a tentative transatlantic listing for Princess in early 2020.   We are very interested in the 2020 British Isles Grand Adventure, which I think is cruise G017B.   Anyone know when it will be available for booking?  We are not  Elite yet, Platinum at this point, but if we book this cruise, I think we will make Elite during it...   Just looking for the earliest possible date to book so we can secure the right cabin.

Thanks in advance!

Am also looking for the transatlantic options for 2020...   I see that some of the 2020 Europe options are already showing up, anyone have a listing of the transatlantic plans?

Here is the port webcam showing the ship docked:

http://www.portofhouston.com/cruise-information/live-cruise-terminal-cam/

Here's the terminal webcam showing the ship docked: http://www.portofhouston.com/cruise-information/live-cruise-terminal-cam/