Zetta83

This is a very fast moving thread and I like to put in my 5 cents worth. I will be on the Majestic in Dec 23 on a standard fare. This ship does not have Slice so Alfredo is the only option for pizza. With kids, we do not want the 3 course meal, only pizza. Resolution in my opinion is: Look at the app and see if pizzas are available for order at complimentary. Pay the one time fee (USD14.99) and order unlimited pizzas from then on If pizza is not available, do Al carte pizza from Alfredo Let me know if you think my thinking is flawed. Thanks. The packages are not valuable for us as: - We do not drink alcohol - Soft drinks can be brought on (and this limits us to lesser soft drinks) - Premium Desserts are not required as we have suffice sugar though other means - No room service = more exercise - More exercise from previous point = no need for additional fitness classes - No gratuities in Australia as included in fare I understand casual dinner used to be part of standard fare. But will charging make venues less attractive, hence less crowded?

Took about 3 months for me. The offer I was given expires in Oct, when the first Royal ships sail into Australia for summer season. The offer did not highlight what it included.

Thanks all. This helps.

Thanks. I didn't think plastic bottles were allowed.

Thanks. Will risk 12 cans. If anyone else have successfully done this, do let me know.

Thanks. I tried searching in the Aus Passage and couldn't find one. So I had to ask if anyone done so from Australia. My assumption is either none or unlimited allowance.

Hi, new to cruising with Princess and a noob question. When cruising from Australia, can we bring canned soft drinks on board? If so, how many? I know most other lines allows 12 per passenger or cabin and the one I am after isn't sold onboard. Cheers.

Not a bad deal. The lowest I managed to get for the same itinerary is $45/day. That was for 30th June. Waiting for this to drop to that level.

Did you pay your trip with a credit card? If so, check if there is complimentary cover. Both my cards from ANZ and St George have cover, underwritten by Allianz. I filled up a form with Allianz and managed to print a cover for my trip. That was sighted and accepted by the embarkment staff.

As mentioned by @ceeceeDee, some do. But I generally wear a shirt and pants. For ladies, a black dress will do. The theme is mostly black and white.

Ok. So pretty much a year. Awesome and thanks.

Thanks. That is good info. Will ask the host before I play.

Hi All, Will be boarding Quantum from Brisbane late March 2024. This is my first Royal cruise and unfortunately it ends in Apr 2024 (not possible for me to attain Prime in 1 sailing). Hence I am targeting the 800 - 1200 points free cruise from Next Cruise. This brings about another issue. My cruise would be the final for Australian summer season and no Royal ships will be in Australian water until Oct 2024. My question is, how far out do comp sailings usually go? Thanks.

Slots give you a 1 point per every $5 of action. The outcome maybe you hit Prime and still won some money, or lose a theoretical 12.5k. ETG Roulette as I have mentioned, should required 1.3+k to farm Prime if such bets are allowed. Not sure, have not played that way and interested to know. So one is a gamble and the other is paying for Prime. Take your pick.

Taking from a mathematical point of view. Bringing $2000 and placing it on an electronic roulette table where there are 38 numbers, return of 1 - 36. You will reach 2500 points cycling through your money and be left with $678.27. Theoretically that is.

Phew, managed to read the whole thread. Personally, I have not sailed on Princess as I have kids and afraid they will be bored. Despite of this, I have decided to give Princess a go in Dec. This is when I found out the whole family is already at Plat due to sailings for P&O Aus (above 50 nights). Do I find it easy to attain? Yes. Am I pleasantly surprised? Yes. Will that irritate other? No doubt. As P&O Aus is a far cheaper line. Back to the topic, I do think a conversion to OBC is great. However, that would mean lesser revenue for Princess. In regards to the topic of annual status review, it is a line that needs to be treaded carefully. As I read 2/3 of cruisers on board are Plat/Elites. This will open another can of worms where credit cards will give you status upgrades or points. I do credit card churning and I know how easy it is to clock enough points for airline lounge and hotel memberships. This without flying a single mile/night with the airline or hotel. The 'Elites' onboard do not need to sail a night to achieve status.

Data point: V329 - Arrival 6.30am (usual) V330 - Boarding 2.00pm (first boarding - 2 hours later then usual) - Departure 8.15pm (reasons unknown - 4.25 hours later then usual) - Arrival 6.30am (usual) V331 - Departure 4 pm (usual) I will be on V330, so no sunset views out of the bay and 2 hours lesser onboard (no biggie). My slight issue would be 2 extra hours of waiting since my hotel check out time is 9am.

24 Feb 2024 I think. Syd to Sin.

Did some digging and it seems the last voyage X322N arrives at 12pm after disembarkment plus clean up, boarding can start at 5.30pm? Your cruise X323 departs at 9pm and arrives at 7am on , 8th of May. Yes, it does seems like you lost 5hours onboard on embarkment day.

There is a difference between boarding and sailaway times. Usually, boarding starts at 12 and ends at 3pm. For the sailaway, it maybe 4pm or later. For my next ride on the Adventure, sailaway is 8.30pm, but board is from 12pm. Unsure if it is due to tides plus other public transportation peaks. But as long as I get on board, the sailway time does not bother me.

Great outcome. Enjoy you 'Encounter' with P&O. I must say, I do enjoy it more than Adventure despite of it being almost the same. Maybe it is the crowd.

The earliest I got a gur room assignment is 20+ days. The latest was 6 days before after contacting P&O

I have only done P&O Aus and Carnival. These are all during school holidays as I have kids. The ship can get quite busy, borderline crazy at times. So my advice is to avoid those periods. These are more expensive anyway. To avoid kids, you can stay in the Oasis. To avoid crowds, get access to byron club by booking a suite product.

For boarding times, it is 60 days on paper, but seem to open 59 days. The earliest time I can see and booked is 12pm. As for boarding in Brisbane, in Sept/Dec they were not fuss about your allocated boarding time. Once checked in at counter we boarded based on allocated groups. Sydney this month was very strict on allocated boarding times for White bay.

Have to say that my last cruise 2 weeks ago on the Adventure was slightly ruined by teens swearing and behaving very obnoxiously in front of younger kids. The issue wasn't as obvious on my other 2 trips on Encounter last year. Otherwise, 99% of the staff tried to make my holiday as pleasure as possible. So, I would be a grumpy old man and fault the passengers, not the staff.