PR-Texas

We booked a balcony for our 14 day NZ cruise for 2 reasons. 1. We will have 5 sea days plus Fiordland NP and wanted to be able to enjoy watching the water and scenery from our balcony (or out the balcony doors if the weather is yucky). 2. Just in case we get sick with something whether Covid/Noro/whatever we didn't want to go nuts looking at 4 walls. We're planning to take reasonable precautions and just have fun.

This type of question is why you use a TA. Discuss with them. It's their job to advise you about the best solution to achieve what you want.

I just ordered some Vacuum Storage bags from Amazon that come with a small hand pump. They have free returns so I'll see how hard it is to use the hand pump and how large it really is. I'm guessing that there are other things that we're packing that could be smished to take up less space as long as smishing doesn't cause wrinkles. Ordering now gives me plenty of time to test out what works and what doesn't.

Based on some recent threads Princess is changing how dining is done starting Sept 14. After that one MDR will have Traditional Dining (fixed times, tables, waitstaff), one with have DMW Reservations, and one will focus on Walk Ins. If I understand that correctly then which MDR will depend on what type of dining you prefer.

We are also newbies to Princess. My understanding is that you can't make dining reservations until final payment is made unless you're Elite or Platinum level. Some folks may also book and pay immediately so they could make reservations then. We're waiting to finish paying till close to the final payment date which for us is August 12. I figure if I have to cancel between now and August then money they haven't received they don't have to refund and it can earn interest in my high yield savings account instead of making money for Princess. We'll take our chances on reservations after we make the final payment.

For our upcoming 14 day cruise on Royal I want to dress up a bit at least one night. I told hubby he could wear slacks, nice shirt and either a sport coat or a tie. Last I heard he was leaning towards a sport coat. Besides if the DR is cold I can steal his sport coat to keep warm.

Glad you posted this and thanks for the workaround. I'll put it in the notes for our November cruise to Australia/NewZealand. Down under is a BUNCH of time zones away from Texas!

Some are called Hand Roll Up Travel Compression Bags that don't need a vacuum. It's possible they don't squish down quite as well as the vacuum ones but they come close. Others come with a small hand pump vacuum that wouldn't take us too much room to pack.

Unfortunately zip up pillow covers don't always eliminate the issue. I'll vacuum pack my pillow and be certain. Depending on how successful I am at packing lite, I may vacuum pack two of them so both of us have the right pillow.

What a great idea. I thought of taking my own pillow but never thought of vacuum packing it. That makes so much sense. Since we're doing a cruisetour with land portion in Australia followed by cruise to New Zealand my issue will be with the hotels on the land portion as well as the cruise. A roll up vacuum pack will solve that problem.

Thanks. Guess I just wasn't looking in the right place.

I tried searching but couldn't find anywhere that mentioned the content of the bed pillows. My head gets stopped up if I sleep on feather or down pillows or use down comforters. Does anyone know if the Pillows on the Royal Princess are polyester or foam or something other than feathers or down? We'll be in a Balcony cabin if that makes a difference. It's not something I thought to check on until last summer when we were in 5 star hotels on a tour of Alaska and I found down pillows on the bed.

You will note that I said I doubt our behavior changes MUCH. This is a once in a lifetime trip so we'll plan to go home with lots of great memories but hopefully no more weight!

Several questions need to be answered before you decide whether to get a package Does the math make sense for what YOU plan to use Will the package help you enjoy YOUR vacation more by lowering stress, containing costs, etc. Do you have perks from being Platinum or Elite that are the same as the package benefits Will getting the package encourage to "indulge" more than you should either in alcoholic or sugary drinks, too much time on the internet or something else that would cause your cruise to be less enjoyable or negatively impact your health Think about those questions and then make the decision that's best for YOU. For us, we got the package so we could pay it and forget it. That will let US enjoy our trip more. I seriously doubt we'll change our behavior much.

Whether the a package is cost effective also depends on whether you're a new cruiser or Platinum or Elite. Some of the things that are of value to us as first time Princess cruisers are free or significantly reduced if you're Platinum or Elite or if you've booked a Suite. The discussion is good to have so folks know the alternatives but each person should do what works best for them.

Quoting from this website:https://www.mpi.govt.nz/import/border-clearance/ships-and-boats-border-clearance/cruise-ships-and-passengers/ "Only commercially bottled drinking water, chocolates, confectionery, and biscuits are permitted to leave the vessel. Passengers and crew going ashore are requested to present their hand luggage, including backpacks for inspection if requested." Based on that info we will be taking some commercially packed snacks also. I read on a post somewhere on Cruise Critic that hand carry bags were being inspected and stuff confiscated. Maybe someone else can point to the specific post.

I'm sure we'll take 2 or 3 bottled waters each with us on every excursion since we're doing a cruise around New Zealand and won't be able to bring our reusable water bottles into New Zealand. That makes the plus package much more cost effective for us.

Thanks for the info. That's kind of what I expected but it's good to have it confirmed.

Thanks so much for the detailed review. We will be going on a similar cruise as part of our cruise tour to AU and NZ in November 2024. Especially thanks for including the daily temps and pictures of folks outside. That really helps our planning. We've booked Princess excursions in all the ports since this cruise will be a one time trip and there are things we want to see and do. Do you know how shuttles were handled for folks who were on Princess excursions?

We're sailing on a 20 day AU/NZ cruise tour in November. The main reason we're getting the plus package is so we can "pay it and forget it". It's probably a break even on cost but this is a once in a lifetime trip and I want to be able to surf the net at midnight or have sodas delivered to the room without worrying if I'm going overbudget. The plus package fits in the same category as the direct flight from DFW to Sydney instead of the considerably cheaper flights connecting through LAX or SFO. The key is this works best for us. Others should do what works best for them.

I just changed the flights for our November cruise yesterday. I'd been researching them for several days by clicking on the Manage Flights, then Change Flights and checking out several options. Nothing changed until I confirmed the changes I wanted to make which included the price difference.

According to the Qantas website the flight from Sydney to LAX is 13h 45m. The one from Sydney to DFW is 15h 05m Looks like an hour and 20 minutes difference. May not matter if you can sleep through it. I would make the decision based on the best schedule for connecting flights considering total travel time between SYD and CLT.

Absolutely. Overall travel time is about 6 hours shorter each way without the hassle of changing planes, etc. We won't get home as sooner as the Qantas flight leaves SYD later but we won't have to rush to get off the ship to get to the airport. Thanks for everyone's help.

DFW is our final destination other than an hour drive home so I think we'll be happy with our choice. The spelling shows how ingrained a U after Q is in my mind. I never noticed it wasn't there. Oh well. I learned something new.

Thanks for the info. The more we thought about it having a hassle free once in a lifetime trip was worth the extra cost so we booked Quantas. Also the timing of the flights with Delta or United with a layover in either LAX or SFO wasn't as good as the Quantas nonstop from DFW.