ceeceeDee

17 minutes ago, arxcards said:

My March 2026 Discovery cruise is intact - for now.

🤞

53 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Ouch. That is a shame for the Brisbane market, as it leaves them a ship short for their summer season. P&O, Carnival, Royal Caribbean. I was looking at a Brisbane cruise, so glad we hadn't committed. Making room for the new Star Princess? 🤣

 

Caribbean winters must be the go. Yet another ship relocating there.

It most certainly is a shame for Brisbane!☹️

Autumn in the Caribbean is not too bad either, if you are prepared to risk the odd hurricane. And the prices are usually pretty good.

2 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Grog is bonded. Smokes are not, as long as you take them back to the ship yourself. There is no duty free rule on this. P&O just won't let you take alcohol aboard, so it is bonded whether duty free or not. Cigarettes can be taken aboard, whether duty free or not. 

 

Fung Kuei will deliver back to the ship and you will see it again on disembarkation morning, so be sure to carry any cigs back to the ship yourself. P&O won't fish them out for you.

Thanks so much, Geoff. Really appreciate your advice. You're a font of useful tips.

Cheers

CeeCee

19 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Princess has been able to sell individual packs of 20 over the bar for $12, whether domestic or international. This was still true ex-Sydney last season. They were restricted to 1 pack per adult per day. Thankfully no longer required for us. I don't recall P&O being as cheap for us either.

Fung Kuei is the go. Cheaper, more choice, plus you can take them to your cabin and consume during the remainder of your cruise.

We haven't bothered much with duty free on our cruises, though I was aware that Port Vila duty free shops are pretty competitive. (Vila is halfway through the cruise, so a visit to Fung Kuei would be well timed). I was under the impression that if you bought duty free on land you were required to hand it over when re-boarding the ship and it was returned to you prior to disembarkation in Australia. Does this not apply to a carton of cigarettes?

We've done quite a few cruises, but are not big duty free purchasers so I guess I'm a bit gormless with the regulations and it's at least 6 years since the last South Pacific cruise.

Just now, arxcards said:

P&O can be weird. It could also be that WA and QLD have different rules in place. The funny part with P&O on international cruises is that "duty free" cartons are bonded and can't be taken back to your cabin, yet you can only disembark with a packet per adult.

Yes, that's why we don't bother to buy a carton. 😒

Possibly the rules are different in WA and Qld, as you say.

I'll be interested to see what the go is when we do the South Pacific at Christmas.

On 5/6/2024 at 9:17 AM, arxcards said:

No foreign port = no duty free cigs or alcohol.

Now I'm really getting confused............. We paid around $30 to $40 (or whatever the price is at 'home') for a pack of 25 over the bar when we cruised up the Qld Coast (with P&O) last June and the only 'foreign' port was Willis Island. We bought them prior to getting to the Willis sail by. That's what prompted my query about how far off the Australian Coast you have to be for the $15 price tag to kick in.

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Surgery went well, but due to being a reconstruction rather than just a repair, I will be in the boot for another 8-10 weeks.I have already been in it for 6 weeks and was hoping to be out of it in 4-6 weeks. It just means I am hobbling around on crutches still and sleeping in the boot is not ideal. Lots of reading and TV watching, which isn't too bad.My wife has been a Saint.

Hope your surgery goes well and your recovery is swift and full.

Thanks for the update, Mic. I can well imagine how inconvenient the boot is particularly for another couple of months!!! Hang in there cruising awaits you at the end.

21 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

cigarettes are $15 a packet of 25, Winfield or rothmans. thats bar price. I don't think they have them in the duty free shop

How far out to sea do you have to be for that price to kick in?

Or, make like a shepherd and flock off 😆

Looks like the issue/glitch (whatever-it-was) has been resolved. Celebrity has finally decided to leave me in peace today.

14 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

You can make it a stool by putting a pillow on it.

 Can you ask for a chair for the room?  Sitting on the bed without a back support is no good for many people.

It's definitely worth asking your cabin steward. In my experience they do their best to accommodate requests wherever possible. They may have a spare dining style chair which is what is used at the desk in the mini suites. As the old adage says 'If you don't ask, you don't get'.

4 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I'm on a different computer now, and having the dubious pleasure of constantly getting the NCL popup. When you cancel it, it just comes back again.   NCL are shooting themselves in the foot if they think this advertising campaign is going to get them bookings.

It may be a 'glitch'. If so I hope it is rectified soon. Doesn't make it any less annoying. Gotta love technology (not)!

Thank you. Most people on the CC forum try to be as helpful as possible. We all love cruising and sharing information is what it's all about. Having some idea of what you need to budget for drinks, etc. saves getting any nasty surprises. 🙂

Please post your thoughts on your cruise when you return. It's always interesting to get people's opinions.

In the meantime Bon Voyage!

3 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

I have just noticed that there is no chair what so ever in the room. what I thought was a chair under the dressing table is in fact a small coffee table 

Well, that only leaves you the option of sitting on the beds. Not ideal.☹️

BTW, if the coffee table looks like this, maybe it's a stool?

And the wines..................

Here is a portion of the cocktail menu. The prices look about the same as 12 months ago, so maybe the new prices haven't kicked in on the current cruise. However, if you allow maybe an extra $2 per drink you shouldn't be too far off the mark. At least you will have some idea.

1 minute ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

here's a few

You're amazing! Thank you so much!

Thanks so much for your observations! If you happen to have the time, would it be possible to post a photo of the cocktail menu/prices please? Would really appreciate it.

You are more than welcome. I'll see if I can get the current cocktail prices.

No winter getaways this year, but we thoroughly enjoyed the Great Barrier Reef cruise last June.

Right now, we're holding out for our Christmas cruise to the South Pacific. Have had it booked for nearly 12 months so far and it still seems a long way away.😒 Unfortunately work commitments preclude us from doing even a short cruise before then. 

5 hours ago, Bowm54 said:

I have to wait for a liquidation notice before forwarding the claim to ME bank.

We do also have Qantas travel insurance for this trip. It could all take some time but thats fine.

 

Is anybody else getting a norwegian popup covering 1/3 of the screen?

YES!!!!!!!!! That Norwegian pop up is driving me INSANE!!!!!! It's enough to put you off booking NCL in protest!😠 I don't mind if a pop up comes up once, but this constant repetition is getting ridiculous!

My browser is Firefox

Hi, just found this from someone currently on Pacific Explorer, so I believe these will be the new prices.  It's a beer price list in the Main Dining Room which I thought you may find of interest.

48 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

although this cruise is quite rowdy every one is very friendly and we have met lots of nice people.

this morning we did see a family wandering around insde deck 7 in their pajamas and slippers.

Good old P&O, you see it all.😂

I'm sure a lot of people would be very happy if you do.🙂

Enjoy your cruise.

As far as I am aware, as from May 3 the drinks prices are going up (at least the drinks package prices are) on P&O, so I don't think anyone will have an up to the minute price list yet.

However, judging by what is listed on the new drinks packages and the 'up to' limit of the basic alcohol package (which is fairly indicative of average prices of cocktails etc, though some cocktails for instance are several dollars dearer than the majority in our experience) the following will give you at least an indication:

P&O Drinks Package

This package includes selected 425ml draft, bottled and canned beer and cider, wine by the glass up to the value of $13, spirits up to the value of $14, and cocktails up to the value of $17.

So, on our last cruise (on Encounter, but the prices are the same across the three ships to my knowledge) a year ago with P&O, the price of most cocktails was $16 (which was the 'up to' limit on the basic alcohol package. Dearer ones were around $18). So I guess, the 'up to' limit on the new package is an indicator of what you will be up for.

Just for reference, below are the prices for the new 'plus' drinks package:

P&O Plus Drinks Package

This package includes our full range of 425ml draft, bottled and canned beer and cider, wine and Champagne by the glass up to the value of $19, spirits up to the value of $18 and cocktails up to the value of $20.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but hope this helps.