LokiPoki

We currently have Adrian Cristian listed for both Sea and Sun Princess, can anyone who has very recently traveled on one of these ships please confirm? Thanks you.

Will have to look back at one of our Patters to double check, but I'm pretty sure Adrian Cristian was maitre d' on Dawn when we were on her a couple of weeks ago.

Don't really drink either - very little wine and don't drink beer - but as far as beer goes, I can't recall there being any Aussie brands other than VB (might have had Carlton - but don't hold me to it). Otherwise was things like Corona, Heineken and Dos Equis ...at least one or two others but couldn't tell you what they were.

Wines - only paid any notice to the whites as it was all family members drank, but they had Nobilo, Seahorse Bay and McWilliams - mix of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon Sauvignon Blanc. Had Moscato too - think a Brown Brothers. Can't recall what the sparkling was - but not worth drinking (imo). Your profile shows Canada - but are you cruising out of Australia? If so, you might be better to find something you like in a bottle shop and pay the corkage ... unless you're looking to get the AIBP, I'd reckon that it won't cost you any more than buying on board (and might well cost a fair bit less!) and you'll probably get something far more drinkable.

I think they might be for cabins, it seems that a lot of the major cruse companies are following Royal Caribbeans lead and are providing tea/coffee making facilities in all cabins. They started doing it in the UK apparently due to customer demand. (see, they do listen!!!) I for one get up and turn the kettle on first thing, preceeded only by the call of nature. ;)

This lot weren't... they were in boxes with other confiscated items for collection at disembarkation (along with irons, cords, and other "banned items" ... a family member (not me!) had had something confiscated and could also see the list of items to be returned... Wish they would put kettles in though - I'm like you and almost the first step in the morning (and last thing at night) is putting the kettle on. Know I can get hot water on room service if I really wanted to - but I always feel guilty adding to what I'm sure is already a huge workload .

On cruises in Japanese waters every cabin has a kettle.

Nothing like being consistent :rolleyes: Guess it comes down to what the majority of passengers demand? (Though would have thought Aussies/NZ-ers were also fond of their tea/coffee...)

Cheers....will keep an eye out. Round trip would be just as good - and 35 nights is probably just doable with a bit of preparation. I've never cruised with the other three...but I suspect my mother would rather try swimming than get on RCL again!

Nothing showing yet for 2018/19 cruises (just one for April this year Sydney-Vancouver) but anyone know whether or not Princess do an Australia to Hawaii trip...and if so how many days approx and which ports are usually included?

Family wants to do a Hawaii cruise, probably next year, and I've been tasked with research ... Princess is our preference, so trying to work out whether they're likely to have anything when itineraries are released...plan would be cruise there and fly home (or vice versa) as I'm not able to be away from Australia for more than about four weeks at a time.

TIA

Veg (with no egg and very limited dairy) and gf here...

I found on our last cruise that whoever designs the menu has precisely zero concept of what constitutes "vegetarian" ... I know some vegetarians eat fish - technically that's not vegetarian in my book, but I'll leave that point be - so I'm never overly surprised if something like a vegetarian stir fry (talking about dishes actually designated vegetarian here, not just a vegetable dish) contains oyster or fish sauce, or Worcestershire sauce or similar... but I was served a vegetarian vegetable & bean soup that on tasting was clearly made with beef broth...and on checking the ingredients of a vegetarian terrine with our head waiter, found it was made with beef gelatine. Have no issue with them including such in a vegetable dish, but no way to my mind should they be calling them vegetarian... Think there were usually 3-4 vegetarian options each night (between entree & main) but didn't investigate the majority as they tended to be full of cream or cheese which I can't eat, or were not GF.

That said, I couldn't fault the food I did get...things like freshly baked or char-grilled vegetables, fresh made salads (usual salad greens, plus tomato, capsicum, avocado, walnuts, cannelli beans) ... had to request those the night before via our head waiter, who checked in with us sometime during each meal to help me figure out the following night...but they were very good.

I could see two whole crate things of kettles waiting for collection when we disembarked the other day ...so perhaps not, or perhaps just comes down to who screens your luggage? (As I can't imagine they'd all have been without a safety shut-off...)

I'm not really a drinker (odd sip now and then) ... only paid attention to the whites as that's what family members prefer - but there were a few Aus & NZ wines - Know they've a Nobilo sav blanc, think a McWilliams chardonnay and a semillon sav blanc, and some Seahorse Bay - definitely a chardonnay, maybe a semillon sav blanc. Sparkly stuff best avoided...sugary sweet headache in a glass is a generous description...

None cheap - from memory the Nobilo is around $40/bottle, the others around $30 - so if you've a preferred drop, you might be better as someone else suggested to buy your wine onshore and pay corkage.

A shame to hear...though not altogether surprised - we were on the cruise before you, and although our head waiter was excellent & nothing too much trouble for him, the others seemed to look on the majority of us like something nasty they'd just scraped off their shoes...

Dawn had it in the buffet last week. No idea what it was like though...I'm very picky about flavour balance in my hummus and only eat homemade. Doubt it would be low fat though... looked to be half swimming in oil, not just the drizzle you'd normally see on top.

On the Star recently they did insist that everyone going into the buffet and MDRs use the hand sanitizer. It was also out at the coffee place, the ice cream place, the pizza place - basically anywhere food was. I have a habit of washing with soap and water before I eat, but happily used the hand sanitizer whenever I walked past one. They are right there in your way. How sad that some people don't use them.

We've just come off the Dawn - no Noro, but we got a "health advisory" part way through as they'd had a much greater than normal incidence (though what "greater than normal" means in terms of stats, I don't know) of cold and flu. Hand sanitiser use was enforced everywhere, but there wasn't any supervision of what passengers were up to once they'd entered the buffet ...not for the first time, we watched people handling food with bare hands rather than utensils, even putting back food items they'd touched ...which is why I don't eat in the buffet...

Agree with you too sunsetbeachgirl... I've no choice but to use lifts, but always makes me very uncomfortable when people insist on packing themselves in like sardines, then proceed to cough, splutter and sniffle over everything in sight.

We're just off her this morning...hope you have better weather than we did...rained almost the whole way from Sydney to Auckland - though at least we got into all ports, gather some just ahead or going the other way missed a few :/

Safe travels.

Collapsible chair is the way to go - especially if you have tender ports and think you and your mum will want to get off. I'm sure some of the lightweight/collapsible scooter users will chip in with their tender experiences too - but with my manual folding chair I'm yet to have an issue, even in fairly windy/rocky conditions ...the mobility assistance guys are amazing

Depends I think on how limited her mobility is going to be... I'm a wheelchair user (my balance is appalling at present, but I can manage very short distances out of my chair either with crutches or someone holding me up ...or drag myself on my bum) and I'm currently in a regular mini on Dawn Princess - in part because I can afford the fare as third person, don't have a hope of affording an accessible cabin by the time I paid single supp as well - in part because at this point, I can cope without accessible. That said, we've a separate shower and bath, which i think only exist on Dawn, Sun & Sea - not the larger Princess ships? ... they put a shower stool in and toilet riser/frame, so I can manage okay for the most part. No way known I'd be able to get into a tub/shower combo though, and if I did by some miracle get myself into one, I'd be in need of rescue to get out again. I've also done a regular cabin - again shower, etc. are doable for me with my level of mobility, just a PITA because my chair doesn't fit through the door of a regular cabin (minis are a fair bit wider, even those that aren't accessible)

I've other dietary "restrictions" (am vegetarian by choice, limited dairy & fat by necessity) so can't really comment on deserts, etc. - I'm pretty sure there were GF muffins (sweet, as against English) and perhaps a slice of some kind - but I can't comment on what they might have been like to eat. They did do some nice sorbets in the MDR.

Bread was edible...that is saying something as I'm fortunate enough to have an excellent GF bakery not far from where I live, so my standards are rather high. Not as good as I get at home, but warmed and with a little salt was quite nice. In contrast to spiceyxi's experience - I tried pizza once, and it was truly revolting ... I try my best not to waste food, but I had to stop at one bite.

I tended to stick with the dining room for most meals - seeing passengers 1/ picking up - or worse - putting back food with bare hands and 2/ using randomly selected spoons, tongs, etc., is more than enough to make me steer clear.

MDR pretty good - no issue with things like swapping for a GF pasta, or leaving questionable ingredients out (e.g. a couple of Asian dishes where they couldn't tell me whether things like soy sauce or miso were GF) .... HW came and discussed options with us each night for the following night...if there was nothing on the menu I could eat - modified or not - they'd come up with something different for me.

What port was that? And did you carry on your case of wine or check it?

Sydney OPT - and we carried it on. They had a wee table set up just before we boarded - next step after checking in & getting our cruise cards ...they just checked the cruise card and corkage was added to the account as they do when you buy a drink on board, handed over - strip of stickers, and eventually came out of our OBC. We'll be doing the same again this year as it even paying the corkage on each bottle it works out cheaper...I don't really drink, rest of the family do - and they can quite easily pick up wine they like for round the $10/bottle mark ... whereas I think the cheapest stuff onboard started at around the $35/bottle mark.

I'd suggest maybe 3 hours (ish) to have a good look around the sanctuary - but that also depends on what you want to see, whether you're interested in listening to the "keeper talks", etc., which are spread out through the day ...pretty sure you can get that information on their website. Also depends on whether it's school holidays or not...school hols, be prepared for hordes of both kids and parents who push their prams everywhere without a care for anyone else ...and the likelihood that you'll see very little because everything has gone into hiding :o

I think the bigger wineries (Di Bortoli, TarraWarra, Yering

Station etc.) all have open cellar door/tastings through the week - though you might find you need to book if you're planning to eat a meal there as well. Can't comment personally, but family/friends have been to Yering and TarraWarra and enjoyed wine/food.

It's a fairly extensive list, so I've not trawled through it all - but might help - https://visityarravalley.com.au/things-to-do/wine?term_node_tid_depth%5B0%5D=256&&page=2 ...

There are buses that go CBD to Healesville Sanctuary but if you're wanting to visit a winery as well, I think you'd be better with a private driver (especially if you decide on one that isn't close to Yarra Glen or Healesville). Again, no personal experience (I'm from the general area - so tend not to do the local touristy stuff unless we've got overseas visitors) but I believe there are also a few private tour companies who do "wildlife and winery" tours ... that might be your cheapest option, especially if you can find one that's all-inclusive.

I'm assuming too from your post that you mean you're looking at doing all this on the day you're staying over? Otherwise I'd be a wee bit worried making it back to the ship...I'm not quite as far out as Healesville, but worked round Yarra Glen (next town as you head back toward Melbourne) for a wee while - and even ten years ago peak hour traffic wasn't a lot of fun.

I can't speak for Australian cruises but typically you get twice the bonus minutes if you purchase in advance compared to purchasing on board.

 

 

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The same for Australian-based cruises as far as I know...

Also no idea about kids clubs - but I think you'll have no problem getting wheat/gluten free... I can't tolerate wheat, am also very strict vegetarian, and Princess excelled ... their GF bread is actually quite edible (rare in my experience!) and had by asking the night before, I had no problem getting them to substitute GF pasta (I think maize based from flavour/texture, though not completely sure). Pizza place can also do a wheat free base with adequate notice, but I found it inedible...really odd tasting flour blend and horrible texture. Would probably avoid the buffet as I found the servers generally had little idea what was in the foods (Princess does warn of this) and passengers really have little care for what they touch with what (picking up with bare hands, swapping scoops, tongs etc. around) - so particularly if your allergy is a serious one, I'd not be confident that there hadn't been some cross contamination. MDR you should be all good.

Also can't believe it's been six years. Remember it only too well - several of our friends in Christchurch lost their homes, luckily none were seriously injured, but most have ongoing struggles with PTSD

For all it's damage - I was there almost exactly 2 years ago, don't know how much the repair effort has advanced since - I still find it a beautiful city.

Thoughts to anyone here who was affected, directly or otherwise.

I have taken wine in a glass to the MDR. I wanted to take the bottle that I brought on board to the MDR. I see people all the time carrying bottles of wine around. Is that okay?

 

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Yes, you can - but you'll likely be charged corkage (was AU$15 on our trip last year, as far as I know it's still the same). I'm not sure what the procedure is - we brought on a whole case - which was one free bottle for each of us, and corkage on the rest - so we mostly had bottles with the stickers to show we'd paid. Though as I said, we were not charged corkage on our "free" bottles (and asking the question, were told by our waiter not to worry about it) but that is against their official policy and I'm guessing is luck of the draw.

Now, Keith, don't question that poster's alternative facts. After all, you don't get to 79,000 posts by wasting time getting the facts right.

And you're not old; you're vintage.

I need a 'Like' button :D

To the OP - Princess' Alcohol Policy copied from their website - http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/bring.jsp

As outlined in our Passage Contract, on the day of embarkation, guests are permitted to bring one 750ml bottle of wine or champagne onboard per voyage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in your stateroom. Additional wine or champagne bottles are welcome, but will incur a $15 corkage fee each, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. Liquor, spirits, or beers are not permitted.

Any alcoholic beverages purchased duty free from the ship's gift shop, or at any port of call, will be collected at the gangway for safekeeping and will be delivered to your stateroom on the last day of the cruise. A member of the ship's staff will be at the gangway to assist guests with the storage of their shoreside alcoholic purchases while our Boutiques staff will assist guests with the shipboard alcoholic purchases.

*Princess Cruises is not responsible for any alcoholic beverages confiscated by shoreside security staff. Such items are not eligible for monetary refund or replacement.

Technically no - must have the sticker/stamp to show you've paid your corkage. Reality - I'd guess it depends on your waiter...we ran out of bottles we'd paid corkage on (family took on a few bottles to take to a bar or MDR, a few to drink out on the balcony) and took an unmarked bottle to dinner a couple of nights expecting to be charged the corkage fee, staff couldn't have cared less and no fee applied.

Agree with Clark about making sure you log off - we found it to be a bit dodgy in that respect. Speed-wise, we found it to be very dependent on location. Out on deck it was good, quite fast - in my cabin (an OV on Emerald deck), it was slightly slower, but more than adequate for keeping up with email and the like, but parents cabin - balcony, I think was on Caribe, they had near zero signal and so slow you couldn't connect.

Definitely purchase beforehand if you're going to buy a pack...I know you don't get as many bonus minutes buying onboard - could be wrong but I think it's only 50% of what you get prepurchasing.