Nang

In my experience OBC is just that, credit to be used once on board.

The bio hazard is apparently growing well on Explorer's hull .... P&O have just advised via email that the hull needs a partial clean before we are allowed into NZ, anywhere in NZ it seems. The clean is hoped to occur during our transit from Adelaide to NZ, weather permitting. If it can't be done there will further changes to the itinerary. We may end up having an Aussie port only cruise or an all sea days cruise. We can, if we wish, cancel now and get 100% credit. We will be embracing the uncertainty of this mystery cruise and not jumping off.

Just got another email about hull bio hazards. The hull needs a new partial clean before we are allowed into NZ, anywhere in NZ it seems. The clean is hoped to occur during our transit from Adelaide to NZ, weather permitting. If it can't be done there will be an announcement during the cruise of further changes to the itinerary. We may end up having an Aussie port only cruise or an all sea days cruise. We can, if we wish, cancel now and get 100% credit. We will be riding this wave of uncertainty and see where it takes us.

Note that this has also occurred for Cunard, Viking, Azamara, Oceania, Princess and perhaps others. Also its not just a one off, Cunard ships have missed the fjords on multiple sailings.

Just been advised by P&O that the Explorer will not be sailing into the NZ fjords next week. No real surprise although my hopes were raised when friends who have just completed an all at sea comedy cruise advised they had an unscheduled stop at Kangaroo Island for hull cleaning. Getting $50 OBC per person as compensation.

no news here either

They are also fine at night if not eating in the main dining room or specialty restaurant.

I am an Aussie and have refared a number of times with no penalty, same booking number, same cabin at a lower price with the most recent time being for a September 2023 cruise around the Mediterranean .

Yes. Copied below from the P&O specifications for your (and our) cruise. Guests are required to take a self-administered Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) within 24 hrs of boarding or a PCR test within 48 hours before boarding and carry evidence of the negative RAT or PCR result. Click here for more details.

Yes owned by the same group but I do not believe that your Princess loyalty level carries across to HAL except for 1*.

I have to agree with you about Celebrity staff. On my only X cruise about 4 years ago on the Solstice the outside and pool bar staff were just lazy. Very friendly but way too focussed on talking and joking around with their work mates to clear tables or empty ashtrays. On one boozy afternoon at the aft outside bar I had 6 beers. I had to to order every one personally from the bar and take it back to my table. After 2 1/2 hours when I left there were 6 empty beer bottles on the table. Other than that I quite liked the cruise. Food/cabin/ship was good (on a par with HAL) while the entertainment and Captain Alex were really great - way better than HAL at the time. Previously I had not cared whether I saw or heard from the captain but after being on board with Captain Alex I now know and really appreciate that a passenger focussed captain can add immensely to my cruise experience.

Need to get name marked off at an inside location. In The Boss's case at a bar which she thinks was their muster station but I would expect the actual station to be at a lifeboat. No lecture about procedure and she is not sure if she was supposed to watch a video on the cabin tv (they didn't turn the tv on once for the whole cruise).

You will see dancers to recorded music (no singing) who I believe have 3-4 different routines. Perhaps a comedian and/or magician for 1 or 2 shows and likely guest musical performer who specialises with an instrument and performs perhaps twice. No traditional stage shows whatsoever. By July I expect the classical group who currently play 6 nights a week will be travelling from one ship to another to perform a small number of performances on the main stage before moving on. There will be two piano players/singers working together and a rock band or BB Kings blues band that will play 6 nights a week (2-3 shows a night in a large bar area). If you look through the posts on this board you will see much discussion and debate about this topic.

I do not understand why folks would prefer aft views (although the lack of wind would certainly be a bonus). You see something interesting and it is too quickly going - photo opportunities are surely lost. When viewing from either side you can see a waterfall or whatever coming up and be ready for the best photo or viewing opportunity as it slides past.

Why do you want bluetooth connectivity? If you are looking for access to movies you will find that the Koningsdam provides a varied and numerous range of on demand movies on your cabin TV, even some recent releases.

The Boss and I are booked to NZ mid March on the Pacific Explorer and friends are keen to jump on board with us. The current deal is pretty good (base fare $1374pp inside guarantee with $150 OBC) but they were hoping for another flash sale in the next few weeks. Do these sales come thick and fast or will they have likely missed the boat?

Icing, what icing? You must have weird hot cross buns in Canberra these days. That cross is baked into proper hot cross buns. Not surprised Canberra hot cross buns are cross given their unfortunate icing.

You might want to post this in the Australia/NZ cruisers board rather than a board about particular ports. I expect you will get way more responses over there. Viking is a more upmarket line than Holland America, Royal, Princess, Cunard, Celebrity and P&O Aust and will be more $$$s. I would focus firstly on the itinerary and then choose which line. We are booked on a P&O Aust 14 day cruise to NZ in March and it is very cheap but only has 4 ports in NZ (plus the Fjordlands cruising) which I would definitely not choose if it was our first cruise to NZ. We do not get to go to Bay of Islands, Tauranga or Auckland but we do have a stop in Melbourne. If you are keen to stop at Christchurch make sure the port is Lyttelton/Christchurch rather than Akoroa which is a very long bus ride from Christchurch.

You might want to look into the possibility of loading a 28 Degrees card with cash prior to getting one. I have had one for over 10 years and used to preload with cash and then get interest free cash from an ATM but they now discourage that by charging 3% of the amount even if your account is loaded up with cash.

It seems they are still going https://tastethebarossa.com.au/

Us too. First time on P&O for me but The Boss (AKA Trudi) did a 5 day cruise out of Adelaide about a month ago and was keen to go again. She did comment that while shabby on the outside the interior was in pretty good nick.

On the Rotterdam in August I observed the lead bartender in the Rock Room bar being handed a cash tip by a passenger who thanked him for his service over the cruise. He thanked her and explained he would put it in the pool. The passenger insisted she wanted him to keep the tip for himself as he had earned it. Once again he thanked her and explained tips go in the pool. She was clearly not impressed, shrugged her shoulders and walked off. The notes were placed in a small open topped box next to the till.

Copenhagen, Barcelona and Rome are great cities to visit. If you haven't been to Copenhagen or Rome I would strongly encourage you stay a few nights before/after the cruise - its a long way to go for just an 11 day cruise. I would want at least 2 full days in Copenhagen and more in Rome (which is about about 75kms from the cruise port). There is so much to do and see in Rome you could easily fill in a week. Check out the ports board to determine a list of must dos for each port.

Yes, why are you hesitating??? I have previously read on these boards that the exchange rate HAL tends to apply is very generous.

I posted this on the P&O Aust forum but haven't got a response so I thought I would try here (its pretty quiet over there). Have just taken advantage of a flash sale and booked the Pacific Explorer to NZ in March 2023. I have never sailed P&O before and was hoping to get some very important questions (well, they are to me) answered ....1.Does P&O offer happy hours? Where and when?2. Can you buy buckets of beer? How many/bucket and is it a saving?3. Can you buy beverage or beer cards/tickets? Is there any $ advantage? I doubt I will get a drinks package but this information would remove any doubts that its not worth it for me.TIA