reeves35

It is fundamentally a repositioning cruise so the per diems etc that Princess is earning will typically be less than a normal cruise so, in many respects, they want it over as soon as possible and have no interest in extending its duration any further. You should probably be grateful that they have chosen to do a cruise than tracks much of the Australian coast when the quicker option would've been Singapore-Bali-Darwin-Airlie Beach-Brisbane.

We are on the same cruise as you and have the same concerns about the overcrowding on Santorini. At this stage, it appears that Cunard have not released details of their own excursions so we will wait to see what they have available. Ideally, we would take one of their excursions where you bus from the alternative port and then we will walk back down to the ship on the path. Given we will be sharing Santorini with 5 other ships (VoyagerOTS, Wind Spirit, Celestyal Journey Costa Delizioza, MSC Lirica) on the day, queuing for the cable car is not an attractive option.

Has anyone done the al fresco dining option on QV? We are doing the Med on her next year and it seems a nice way to dine on a summer evening. Is it a fixed charge or al-a-carte pricing?

In many respects, dressing up in penguin suits for no reason other than the Daily Program said to could also be seen as a bit silly but, as a special event, it is a bit of harmless fun.

In a lead-up to her retirement and probable scrapping, Pacific Explorer leaves Sydney Harbour for the final time today. She now commences an Auckland season followed by short seasons in Melbourne, Adelaide, Melbourne again and Perth before leaving Australian waters permanently in February. Hopefully Sydney Ports give Dora a bit of a send-off today.

Dressing up for a special night is fun but it is just that, a fun night of dress-up, it is not reality. We're not living in Downton Abbey so don't pretend it really means much. It is a fun thing to do as part of your Cunard holiday just likes lots of other things you do on a cruise.

Until June 2023, the structure of Carnival Corp was split into 4 divisions, Carnival Cruises, Carnival UK (P&O UK and Cunard), Europe (Aida and Costa), Holland America (HAL, Princess, Seabourn and P&O Australia), In June 2023 this was revised to 6 divisions. Carnival, Carnival UK, Aida, Costa, Princess, and HAL. As part of this restructure Princess CEO became a direct report to the Group CEO and P&O Australia moved under Carnival in what can now be seen as a precursor to the brands "sunsetting." As you say, despite both operating as P&O and operating under the same company flag, P&O Australia and P&O UK have been very separate operations since the early 1980s. P&O Australia has always been a leisure based 3 star operation whilst P&O UK has developed into the multi-layer product it is today.

Dangerous sounds a bit strong. It is not as if the removal of jackets on casual nights is going to lead to outright debauchery or violence. It is just changing to what surveys are obviously telling Cunard management want customers want. As always, if you want to dress up every night, that is fine. Have a great time particularly if it makes you feel a bit special and make you happy. Some people seem to be spending too much time worrying about what other people are doing rather than enjoying their holiday. As I said way upthread, LIVE AND LET LIVE!

From the Carnival website...this explains the dual listing. Effective April 17, 2003, Carnival Corporation and Carnival plc (formerly known as P&O Princess Cruises plc) completed a dual listed company transaction. On most matters that affect all shareholders of Carnival Corporation and Carnival plc, each of their shareholders will vote together as a single body. As a mechanism to effect the new voting arrangements resulting from the DLC transaction, shares of Carnival Corporation common stock were paired with trust shares of beneficial interest in the P&O Princess Special Voting Trust (the "Special Voting Trust"). These are referred to as the "trust shares" (or in some literature they are referred to as "paired shares"). The trustee of the Special Voting Trust holds a special voting share which is the means by which the vote of Carnival Corporation shareholders is given effect at the parallel meeting of the shareholders of Carnival plc. Accordingly, each holder of Carnival Corporation common stock is also deemed to be the beneficial owner of an equivalent number of trust shares. The trust shares that are paired with the Carnival Corporation common stock do not give the holder separate voting rights. Separate certificates are not issued to represent these trust shares. Instead, the trust shares are paired with, and evidenced by, certificates representing Carnival Corporation common stock. The trust shares cannot be transferred separately from the Carnival Corporation common stock and have no separate value.

The Carnival UK business unit is not separate; it is just a reporting line. The head of Cunard Katie McAlister reports to Carnival UK CEO Paul Ludlow who reports to Carnival Corp CEO Josh Weinstein. It is no more autonomous than any other business unit. P&O Australia was not part of the Carnival business unit. It was actually part of the Holland America Group which includes HAL, Princess and Seabourn. P&O Australia was a member of Princess Captains Circle rewards program. Following the announcement of P&O Australia's "sunset", the reporting lines are changing so P&O Australia will report to Carnival USA along with the existing Australian based Carnival ships.

Change can have many synonyms such as transform, revitalise, reinvigorate etc. All of these are generally viewed as positive. Unfortunately, dumbing-down also means change but it is a pejorative and judgmental and probably a term best avoided. It is a common phenomenon that younger people like to dress up for a day at the races. We see it every year for the Melbourne Cup Carnival. They dress up spectacularly though by the end of the day many of the girls have discovered stilettos, alcohol and soft grass are a poor combination. Having said that, just because they dress up once or twice doesn't mean they want to do it every day. It's probably the same for most people on a Cunard cruise, dressing up is great fun as a special occasion but that doesn't mean they want to do it every night.

Cunard has to go where the market takes them. If Carnival Corp see Celebrity or HAL, both lines considered to be competitors, are achieving higher per diems and greater margins than Cunard, of course, they will change the product. This may mean changes in dining, onboard apps, entertainment etc. I have never really understood why people worry what other passengers are wearing. Sure, there should be a minimum standard but don't let it spoil your cruise. If you feel special dressed up, great, enjoy your night. Other people are enjoying their holiday in a way that suits them and that is fine. Live and Let Live! I probably think the level of gala nights is OK particularly as participation remains voluntary with access to other venues if you choose not to participate though I do concede that it is possible that in future years this may further change with one level of the MDR assigned for gala whilst the other level is still smart attire even on a designated gala night. The reason for this is, for passengers not joining a Cunard ship in their homeport, luggage is a real consideration. Sure if you're just driving down to Southampton from London, you can take as much as you like but, if you are flying, like many of Cunard's target customers will have to, then you are probably restricted to a single 23kg suitcase and loading up the bag with more than one formal suit/gown probably doesn't make sense.

Many of the river cruise lines selling to Australia are on a gratuities included basis meaning there are no unexpected upcharges once onboard. This includes Scenic (inc Emerald) and APT (inc Travelmarvel). Of course, it remains optional if you want to personally tip and onboard staff, coach drivers etc. We were onboard a Travelmarvel cruise last year that was disrupted due to water levels meaning we had to change ships at Nuremberg and be bussed to Passau. The disruption was handled very well with lots of communication from the cruise director. As we moved to an identical ship, we packed up in the morning and by evening you could have been mistaken for thinking you were still on the same ship.

The EU has mandated that, going forward, all charging of devices will be standardised using USB-C. Apple initially resisted but the EU did not budge hence the retirement of the Lightning connection from the iPhone 15 onwards. On the other end of the wire, both USB-A and USB-C persist though gradually USB-C is becoming more common due to its higher power capacity.

10 years ago, the lack of sufficent power outlets and USB-A ports was not something anyone would really comment on. Both are now considered key parts of cabin design and no newbuild or refurb will leave them out. There are some ships such as Sun Princess that have included both USB-A and USB-C but most people will be fine with just the former at the moment.

Hard to see unless Alaska legislate some sever cutbacks on cruise numbers. Currently, there is just so much money to be made for Princess in Alaska where it is the largest cruise line with preferential port and Glacier Bay access. I don't think an Australian winter denominated in the Pacific Peso could make economic sense.

I don't know that it was ever anything more than vaporware.

Back in 1987, I had a holiday at the now defunct South Molle Island Resort in The Whitsundays and Fairstar came in and moored off the island for 2 days. Passengers and guests got to share island activities but cruise passengers tendered back to the ship for meals and the ship went for a sunset cruise around the Whitsundays during its overnight stop at South Molle. Island guests weren't allowed onto the ship but it was cool parasailing beside the ship and looking down onto its decks.

If the Federal Government don't renew the waiver for foreign flagged ships doing coastal cruises, all of these cruises will disappear which will be sad for these cities and a further death knell for the Australian cruise industry. I can only assume it is union pressure on Catherine King that has meant she is delaying what seems like an easy question.

I think the table was based on an average 7 day cruise. Given the capital employed, making $500K in a week on a ship that cost around $1Bn isn't particularly amazing.

I'm pretty sure they had robes. I can't remember on the slippers but assume they did have the standard single use type

I assume RC has the same issues with summer operations to NZ that Carnival is complaining about and may be choosing to limit their exposure in the same way.

We would say "polish a turd" but we get the metaphor.

Whose Facebook page was this on? What it the Carnival site or just someone posting?

If you were trying to attract a turn-out from the media, you wouldn't do it in Cairns. You'd do it in Sydney or Melbourne. Media companies are very tight with their cash these days so aren't going to fund flights of any staff from southern capitals to Cairns and back.