BulldustHHH

NZ had the option to join Australia at Federation, if I recall correctly, but opted not to. Probably made some remarks about us being a bunch of crims, or somesuch.

As to tipping ... not the custom in Australia/NZ, but service staff won't mind if you do. It will be quite unexpected. Personally I tend to drop smallish (by US standards) tips for personal services like barbers and drivers.

I'm not sure Kiwis mind Aussie dollarydoos, as they are generally worth slightly more (much like the US-Canada relationship). At the moment the Aussie is worth 9 cents more than the Kiwi dollar. Both are several million to the USD of course 😉

The Australian media is particularly keen to harp on cases on Princess because of the original debacle on the Diamond, followed by the other one on the Ruby, which was in Sydney. There's also the general dislike for cruise companies because of the foreign flagging and pay conditions etc (unions still hold a fair bit of clout in Australia, even if it is far less than it used to be).

A bit after the fact, but it seems the local businesses were happy to see you in Freo:

https://www.perthnow.com.au/business/retail/coral-princess-brings-economy-boost-to-fremantle-hospitality-and-retail-venues-c-8721534

Heads up. Last night only dipped to around 14C, but the forecast is down to 8C the next couple nights in Perth. Further south it is unlikely to be warmer. Albany may drop as low as 4C Sunday night. Rug up, winter ain't quite done yet, apparently.

On a lighter note, and seeing as the Coral is hanging around for another day, here's a few handy links for the Freo/Perth region:

That said, after the fine weather today, tomorrow's is going to be a lot sketchier:

http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/perth.shtml

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Those who lied about or faked rats might have been thwarted. 

Or they might be in the 20% of false negatives, which you expect to get with RATs. RATs will only pick up Covid once the virus reaches a higher threshhold than would show up with PCR. One could also be in the early (pre-contagious) phase and not be picked up by a RAT. If the case goes on to be asymptomatic (which is arguably not even a 'case'), there's no reason the passenger would know. There's a tendency to think these tests are a lot more effective than they are.

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That would have weeded out those people concealing their symptoms earlier so it would not have spread so much. Perhaps on long cruises like this there should be mandatory tests once a week.

The problem with blanket testing is the rate of false positives. RATs have a lowish false positive rate (2% according to an Australian health department video I just checked), but that means testing a lot of people, or everyone on board, will throw people into isolation who are not sick with Covid. We keep seeing 2,000 passengers quoted for the Coral Princess, so even ignoring the staff, that could yield 40 'cases' which are false positives. I would be cancelling my Xmas cruise with Princess right now (Majestic) if they suggested they were going to test everyone periodically on board. 

43 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

The headline of the article is Bull.

I resemble that remark! 😉

Don't worry, they are already ramping up the fear for the next port of call (bear in mind PerthNow is a total rag):

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/7-news/coral-princess-covid-outbreak-cruise-ship-leaves-broome-bound-for-geraldton-c-8651697

It will be a frenzy by the time they arrive in Fremantle... WA, State of Over-Excitement.

PS> The only thing that will relegate the story lower on the page will be if Tash Petersen gets her kit off again... 

A more nuanced article (perhaps) from Australia's ABC:

COVID-19 cases confirmed aboard first cruise liner to dock in Western Australia after two years - ABC News

The confusing part is Princess and State authorities pointing at each other in terms of whose protocols they are following, to wit (WA being Western Australia):

"WA Health has been advised of passengers and crew testing positive to COVID-19, and this evolving situation is being managed by the vessel operator according to its COVID-19 plan"

(emphasis added), versus:

"A spokesperson for the company operating the vessel, Princess Cruises, said a rise in COVID-19 cases aboard was being "managed effectively" in accordance with national and state protocols."

Perhaps there will be more excitement in the media when it arrives in Fremantle ... being Princess, and being WA, it's almost a sure bet.

Yup - had the same. It has expired. I imagine someone stuffed up.

52 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Correct - and same idea with Apple products.

Real smart move on their part to ensure a fraction of the customer base cannot use an app Princess considers important ...

Would I be correct in thinking this app won't install on older Android versions? It won't install on my Android 8.1 phone, but did on my wife's newer phone, and my tablet (android 12).

We decided to test on the morning of the flight out of Perth, as this is the safest (from the point of view of not being rejected by US authorities) timing as it would satisfy the previous calendar day from the Dubai departure to NYC criterion. Still frustrating that these things get changed pretty much on a whim, and people required to know about, or enforce, the ever-changing rules don't really know how to apply them.

While not strictly a cruise question, I feel others here will probably have an answer to this. As we need to fly from Australia to the USA before our next cruise, the regulations state that a Covid test is required within 24 hours of the trip departure. This means that if your flight were to go to the US from London, for example, and it leaves at one minute to midnight on a Thursday, a test result as early as one minute past midnight on the previous Wednesday would be valid - an extreme example, this is not my question.

From Perth there is no such thing as a direct flight to the USA. We will be travelling Perth-->Dubai, short transit (3 hours or so) and then Dubai--> NY. My question is whether the test has to be on the previous calendar day of the departure from Perth, or the second leg into NY, as this makes a difference. To play it safe, we probably should have the test on the day of the leg out of Perth, but I find it frustrating that the person at the US Embassy in Canberra (Oz capital) couldn't even answer the question. Anyone have experience with this issue?

Just saw the refund hit my credit card (even though I changed credit cards since I booked the original cruise 2.5 years ago). Always nice to have a credit card with a positive balance ... even if it only lasts another couple of weeks.

Wistfully I recall when according to science actually had gravitas...

That sucks - especially as they warn you not to follow up with additional queries. 

14 hours ago, whitingvo said:

May I ask how long you waited for the approval email after you submitted your request?

Just over a week. I submitted for refund on the last day (31st Jan).

I got the preliminary approval email for refund a couple days back, so hopefully it is the works. No doubt it will be a month or two before it is returned. Hopefully they paid attention to my comments regarding changed credit card accounts (same bank) along with the official letter from my bank stating the same.

How about, does the Captain realise her name is an anagram of Cut Me Cake? Then again, looking at her pictures, I don't think she tucks into a lot of cake.

In the end I went with the classic "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

Wonder if I will get the PUPs...

I ended up requesting a refund on the last day... in the process now. I am disappointed at how they played chicken with customers two years ago, so that I felt forced into settling for 1 to 1 FCC for real money. Then they inflated cruise prices drastically (understandable, but a kick in the proverbials for us). Then they told us the credit was expiring 31/01/2022. Given our location there is no way we could travel before now, and even now it is iffy... might not be allowed back into our state. Sure that isn't NCL's fault, but extending the FCC to the end of the year was the least they could do, especially for Aussies.

NCL apparently has seen the error of their ways and sent out a generic letter extending the FCC to 31/12/2022. This is the text:

Dear Valued Guest,
Great news! We've extended your Future Cruise Credit expiration date from January 31, 2022 to
December 31, 2022 - giving you an extra 11 months! Redeem your credit today and set sail on the
vacation of a lifetime. As a highly-valued guest of Norwegian, we want to be sure that you take full
advantage of all the valuable offers available to you.
With amazing deals on unforgettable vacations all over the world, there's never been a better time to
book a cruise with Norwegian.
Then some blurb about redeeming your FCC.

Got the refund request in... added wrinkle is the fact that the original credit card no longer exists, as I changed to another one with the same bank. The bank sent me an official letter to attach to the refund request stating the account change ... provided it in a few hours *shock* I know right, good service from a bank. Will wonders never cease? Got the auto-reply from NCL stating the request has been received. Now to play the waiting game.

10 hours ago, Math teacher said:

We went with booking the last possible cruise in 22 to Australia

Ballsy move. Australia will probably one of the last countries to allow cruising again. End of 2022 should be reasonably safe though. The cruise season doesn't traditionally start until later in the year (being summer down here), so hopefully they get things sorted in the middle of the year.