2022cruisey

Great idea. When we left Coral in June at 9am the taxi queue was a mile long. Our flight wasn’t until 8pm. In the taxi line I decided that I couldn’t be bothered getting a taxi in and finding somewhere to leave our luggage then picking it up and getting back out to the airport. So I rang the airport hotels and got a day room. My preference is for a city cat to Portside or city, somewhere to leave luggage then we could spend the day out and about in Brisbane.

If you don’t do the reef, the crocodile cruise at Airlie is wonderful.

The Princess one is four hours and doesn’t say anything about any other inclusions.

Checked out the cost of train journey - $299 per person on Princess excursions for our 2024 tour. That is $897 for the three of us - absolutely ridiculous. We have been on trains all around the world and nothing has charged that much for a four hour scenic rail trip.

Yes, have used it a few times. Sometimes have to wait and once you get someone online it is very efficient and you can screenshot for a written record of what has been said.

Agree, I’d love a mid winter cruise to the South Pacific or Indonesia/Darwin. Would definitely fly up to do it. Great change from Melbourne. Flew up to do Coral Princess Queensland 7 day in June but wasn’t that warm.

Look on the Australian and New Zealanders cruise forum - there have been menus posted in the coral princess threads.

Even in Australia where everyone picks up at the port, it only takes a couple of minutes.

Priced a cruise, roughly $7000 for a 6 day cruise for 2.. Looked much less but when you got to the next page, the lesser price was American dollars. I can get 2 of us on a 14 day cruise to NZ with everything included for that. No thanks Disney.

I paid AU$29 for speciality dining on Coral in June so it is possibly correct.

No because I don’t want to make anyone else sick or dead.

I was also commenting with the experience of wearing masks during a 7 day cruise in June. No problem at all for me or my teen children. I wear one all day at work to teach teenagers and I can tell you that they have no problem hearing what I teach them. It is a minor thing to wear, but after having covid twice for extended periods, it is an easy way to stop transmission.

If wearing masks means that the various state and country governments will let cruise ships visit, then wearing masks it is. It doesn’t hurt anyone to do it.

I only hope that you never become ill because your lack of compassion is dreadful.

On Coral we got snails when we ordered escargot in MDR.

We watched the second state of origin on MUTS in June. Fabulous way to watch, cruising out of Brisbane. Blankets, food and drinks delivered. Was one of our highlights.

Shuttle bus only works when DFO is open. We arrived at night and left early in the morning so no shuttle at those times.

We have stayed at Ibis Brisbane Airport after our cruise in June - excellent for price and comfort. Extremely quiet. Cafe reasonably priced and good food options. Walk to airport for flight so only transport cost was from cruise terminal. Picked a hotel in Hamilton prior to our June cruise - Airport International Hotel. Cheap and across the road from a major office/shopping centre. Room was clean and comfortable but not fancy. Unfortunately there was an evacuation siren/warning that went off in the office in the middle of the night for an hour. It’s also on the main road so not quiet. Cost about $30 to $40 taxi each way from airport and then to cruise terminal. Also stayed at Novotel Brisbane airport in 2017 - fancier and good price for Accor members. Need transport to/from airport - about a 5 minute drive but too awkward to walk to.

First cruise on Coral was the 7 nighter in June. Absolutely loved it. It was absolute value for money- you couldn’t get a holiday with all the inclusions for that price anywhere else. If I had a criticism, one thing that annoyed me greatly was the reliance on American products - the lack of fresh cream being infuriating and the taste of the Tennessee bottled water dreadful.

At Airlie, we did the Proserpine River crocodile cruise. Excellent and unable to be done that day with any other company so worth the money. They pick you up at the terminal and return you to the terminal in plenty of time. Includes morning tea and lunch. In Cairns we did the sky rail up and train down - booked direct. It cost $500 for 3 adults 3 kids which was less than half than if we booked through Princess. The company picks you up from the Pullman Hotel at 10.30 or 11.30 and takes you to the sky rail. You have time for lunch at Kuranda (not included) and then catch the 330 train back. You can easily walk or get a taxi back from the Cairns train station. Once again, a fabulous time was had by all. We stayed an extra day in Cairns due to conditions at Port Douglas and spent the day going along the Esplanade, shopping, going on the Ferris wheel near the lagoon and having a massage.

I went on my first cruise recently and really struggled with no couch. There were three of us in a balcony room and sitting in the room meant sitting on the bed or fighting over the desk chair, which isn’t that comfortable for 7 days. I have booked another cruise in a mini suite for this reason. It is for 14 days and I would not go without comfortable room seating for that long.

With the Medallion app, Ocean is the part of it where you book your dining. So the area where you book dining times has been migrated to the Ocean part of the app.