LittleFish1976

Of course Laurent Perrier is acceptable to most of us. What I found on my last Cunard voyage in my cabin which I didn't feel was acceptable was a very cheap French sparkling (it may have been labelled champagne) which I was assured by some here was a perfectly acceptable drop. I chose to just take their word for it and left it in the cabin for the steward or the next occupant. That was in February of this year. The product is available at Aldi and retails for around $9 AUD from memory. That's around GBP4.50. Cunard's last season here in Australia did indicate that it had little interest in preserving the satisfaction or loyalty of its clientele here. This is something I find difficult to reconcile with my preference for Cunard when it's at its best. From the reports I read and pictures I see of what is offerred on Northern hemisphere voyages, it proves to me they are offerring a better product there. It does seem an odd marketing choice though to sully your brand with inferior performance in one region even if removing the product from that region in the near future.

I don't think Cunard is a real competitor to Princess. And I wouldn't have thought that HAL would be either having read reviews of their food etc. I've just had my first Princess short cruise and I didn't think the food was anywhere near as good as Cunard. And the drinks were expensive and not to my taste (cocktails). Too little choice in wine. The people were lovely, the staff great and I had some fun with the people I met but the food is a deal-breaker for me.

I didn't know that cruises in Alaska were cheap - I had thought the opposite to be the case. It's not something that I would ever consider doing so I haven't looked into it. Thanks for the information.

You're most welcome.

I can only speak to the location I've stayed in on deck 8 which was cabin 8090, midships, Q3. I had no disturbance at all from the Lido above and I'm not an early riser nor a very good sleeper in general. There was much less noise in that location than on deck 5 in a similarly positioned Q3 cabin which had a lot of mechanical clunking noises at random times during the day. Both those examples are from QE.

Which ship and which location? A laundrette mid-ships would be busier presumably than one located at either end of the ship. I've had a cabin located at the front of Queen Mary 2 on deck 10 almost directly opposite the laundrette and did not hear a peep from it. And it was very convenient.

The 'wine package' seems to be not so much a 'package' as a 'pack'. It's just a certain number of bottles of wine bought at an apparently better price than buying separately (or the selection of wines may be superior). Factor into the cost of the drinks package the water, soft drinks, other non-alcoholic drinks you may wish to consume when not in your cabin as well as coffee in the lounges and so on. As for champagne, there was one English sparkling on the wine list which would have fallen within the price range of the package but they had none on board. There'll be a bottle of champagne, of sorts, in the Queens Grill cabin for you. The wines available via the wine list are more than acceptable in quality. The package also is inclusive of the 15% gratuity which is otherwise charged to all drink purchases, thereby increasing its attractiveness as a proposition.

It seems they're also ditching the Queen Elizabeth's annual Japan season as well which would normally take place between Aust/NZ and Alaska. Apparently it's very popular (I'm already booked on it for 2024 and 2025) so it can't be that. Looks like they just want to do what makes the US market happy. They seem to like the QE for Alaska despite having so many other very popular choices for that region such as Princess. I guess they can charge higher prices per head in Alaska as it's such a niche market.

I don't believe Cunard are any more expensive than Princess. Having just completed my first Princess cruise, I would say Cunard is better value and much better food and drinks.

Hardly. Not at all rigorous.

I don't understand what's so disappointing about a gala evening not having a particular dress theme. When you do have a dress theme, some people will follow the suggestion and many won't. I wore a navy sequinned dress on a recent Black and White formal night, just because I preferred to wear that dress that night. It's no big deal. I doesn't affect the food being served or the entertainment, at all. I've not travelled with Azamara nor RCCL and have no particular desire to. Try to remember that your bad experiences with those lines have nothing to do with Cunard. Have you had any particularly good experiences with any cruise lines?

I'm the opposite. I'm sensitive to these gestures looking like charity which is why I would never ever give someone a gift card to a supermarket as a tip or 'gift for service'. To me, that's what you might give someone begging on the street if you didn't want them to buy drugs with cash if you gave it to them. Good to know that you would 'inwardly sneer' if someone tipped you $10 per day on a tour! I'd be pleased and think they must have been happy with my service. If someone gave me a supermarket gift card I would think they were making the assumption I couldn't afford to feed myself or my family. I'd be insulted if I was gainfully employed and proud of my work.

Of course anyone can tip as much as they like! I'm not suggesting they pretend to be doing it for anyone other than themselves (thus the wages point is not relevant to that). Not sure what you mean by that? Tipping culture has been here for donkeys' years. We do it very differently from the yanks though. When asked what the 'expectation' would be, it would be that an American tourist would tip. Of course the OP will get a range of opinions and it's up to them to decide what they will do. Doesn't matter to me at all what advice they follow.

I would think a tip is most certainly expected particularly from a tour group with US travellers. I would think $10 per day, whether US or AUD, would be appropriate. How much would you tip in the circumstances if you were in the US on a group tour? Do the same. I would be interested to hear if that differs from my suggested amount.

Thanks Sparky. I'll try again.

I disembarked the Grand Princess this morning. Just checked my photos and see I didn't take photos of the non-alcoholic cocktails. From memory there were only two or three - one was a strawberry one with some spicy element. Sorry, I can't remember the price - I think it was probably around $12? FWIW if anyone's interested, there were four red wines on the premier list, at least two of which were unavailable (I didn't enquire about one of them). The first image below is the premier wines and the other is the plus. I ended up mainly drinking the Henschke although the Pirie sparkling was fine. Oddly, they did have a French champagne by the glass in the premier package that wasn't available anywhere else on the ship. B6EAD867-E0B4-406D-88F4-399697AF8E3F.heic 778D0B11-7C62-4380-97D3-2374C9B49664.heic

Given that's their winter where would the cruises be going to? The Caribbean?

In Australia that's called a bribe! If the staff aren't interested in treating passengers well, or if they are too busy to do so, then those problems should be addressed. Yes, I know that's not a realistic approach to expect things to be 'right' but it's true. It's a pretty bad situation if you have to buy decent service with a bribe.

I leave the auto gratuities on. It doesn't feel right to refuse to pay it. I then tip, by cash and at the end of the cruise, my steward and main waiter if they've been very helpful. I don't know what the 'norm' is for Australian cruisers although I am one. I do know some people from other countries say they remove them (although not all of them of course). Each to their own but I always keep it low key and never tip at the beginning of the cruise as some people report they do, or on entering the restaurant or buffet which I have seen on a largely US-passenger cruise.

I won't include the text here for obvious reasons but follow this search link and read the summary of the Coroner's judgement. She unknowingly consumed drugs. They were administered to her by others. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=was+dianne+brimble+knowingly+drugged I seem to recall that P&O allowed the men to remove belongings and themselves from the cabin in which a forty-something person who was not registered to that cabin had died (one would not expect it to be from natural causes given her age). They cleared their phones of compromising footage and images - again, I won't mention what they showed. They allowed a massive compromise of the scene of an unexplained death.

I must have misunderstood then. I thought the corkage was for bottles of alcohol for which they have a limited amount of 'free of corkage' per person or per cabin but beyond that you are required to pay the corkage regardless of where you consume the stuff. I dare say you could purchase non-alcoholic wine for your family member in cans if it were to make a difference. I have recently purchased non-alcoholic cocktail-type beverages in cans (they were disgusting - I can do a review if anyone is interested 😉) ; it seems non-alcoholic drinks are very popular with young people these days so the options are growing. Given your family member has a legitimate medical reason for bringing on board what cannot be supplied by the ship, I think it would be extraordinary for them to refuse you permission or to charge you for the bringing on-board of such a thing. Did a quick search for you; https://sansdrinks.com.au/blogs/non-alcoholic-drinks/your-guide-to-non-alcoholic-wine-in-a-can

It's not really wine though. If they query you, get bossy and have them look up the definition of wine: 'an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice.'

Yes, she was drugged. She had done nothing 'wrong'. Pity those men did not get what they deserved by way of punishment.

I've bid for an upgrade. Doubt anything will come of it as I think the ship is chockers. I have an uncovered balcony - rookie booking mistake for a first-time Princess cruiser. It never occurred to me that a balcony could not be covered! Glad it won't be hot.

Getting back to the topic of P&O and to add to the nostagia of people's recollections of their first cruise on P&O... The first cruise that I was old enough to remember was on a P&O ship, back in the good old days before 'P&O Australia' was a separate entity. We had a family holiday on the Arcadia in 1969. We departed from Melbourne for a month-long trip through the Pacific to Honolulu and return to Melbourne or Sydney. The following summer, from December 1970 we did the same route on the Orsova from Sydney. Those cruises were such a wonderful introduction to being on a ship for a child. (get 'em while they're young) I had so much freedom - meeting and hanging out with other kids. Just lots of sun and swimming, and the daggy cruise ship games and entertainment in the main room in the evening. It's all about the ship for me - no problem with 'sea days'. That's what it's all about.