arxcards

It isn't just about the money, but also about finding the truth. I would also be cynical about the whole process, but there are people that just wanted answers for the loss of a partner or family member.

Thanks @Chiliburn. I will watch this in full a bit later. There has been quite a few itineraries that have been lengthened by a day over the past handful of years. The standard 7 night P&O Pacific Island cruise from Brisbane used to always visit Port Vila, but Mystery Island is closer and less fuel burn. Quantum on a similar itinerary is already at 8 nights, and there are many more slow speed cruises to nowhere than ever before. The cost of fuel is also a driver, and new LNG ships across the fleet will also help to offset their numbers. It prompts a few of questions: Has Royal taken the ship away so it can cruise somewhere else where it will burn less fuel, sacrificing our market so they can operate "as normal" for most of their fleet? It isn't just about fuel burn, but carbon emissions. Why are they taking away the GTV ship? Will the cruise lines need to cap their number of ships, as they seem to be building plenty? Will older and "dirtier" ships be retired early? Can much of all this be achieved just by using cleaner fuels? Could they just end up charging each passenger a levy for carbon offset?

Disembarking for us in Brisbane usually means flying home on a PM flight, so we just book the ships' airport shuttle and work out our day around the meeting time & place. For Sydney, we are happy not to be rushing off. We will keep our cabins as long as they will let us. That usually means a leisurely breakfast, then back to the room to pack our remaining bits and stroll off when we are ready. There are plenty rushing for AM flights, or even going straight to work, so we are happy to stand back. Once we have vacated our cabins, I am not a fan of waiting around in a designated lounge, so we try to have a disembark time that will fit in with that. If the allocated time is too late for us, we politely ask for for an earlier slot at the pursers desk. Disembark time is purely about your luggage being in the terminal. When they announce your disembark slot, it is already confirmed as being there. Given that it will take you 15 minutes (Brisbane) to walk to it, keep an ear out for the slot that is two groups ahead of you, and stroll off then. By the time you get there, it is sure to be there. As for a 2nd terminal - one day I guess. It will be in an inconvenient location like the current one. Portside has been repurposed, and anything on the city side of the Gateway bridge is unlikely due to the turning basin that would be needed. A 2nd one would need to be put where there is spare wharf space somewhere in Pinkenba, Lytton or Fishermans Island. I am sure the day-visit ships would love the option of a berth at Mooloolaba, which would free-up BICT a bit.

I am going with Snopes on that. Hard to find pictures of said cups & bowls. They would have to bob up in auction catalogues once in a while.

Yes, it can. You can claim TRS on a Willis Island QLD Coastal. It is more problematic now though. You used to be able to claim during embarkation in Brisbane, but now you need to do it at your final domestic port prior to Willis Island.

Correct, but in making a decision whether to embark the cruise, they could have screened if they wanted to. IMO, they are not negligent for deciding not to screen, but it was an option. Had they chosen to temperature screen, nurses in PPE would have scared the beejeezus out of the passengers and it would have been a logistical nightmare. Head office wanted the ship to embark, and only government intervention would have stopped it. Temperature testing only became a screening tool when government authorities decided when/where it needed to be undertaken.

For those QLD coastal cruises going outside Willis Island, you can claim TRS. It is impractical for alcohol as you only get to claim GST back (1/11th of the item cost). Given alcohol is taxed with a whole lot of extra taxes, TRS won't make it duty free.

I agree Mic. Princess was supposed to be lacking in their risk assessments and somehow had to connect what was happening on Diamond & Grand, even though the passengers and ports were totally different. When Ruby returned to Sydney several days later NSW Health, armed with all their up to the minute knowledge, treated the situation as low risk too. They decided even those with "flu like" symptoms were unlikely to have covid and thus didn't require swabs to be processed before disembarking the ship.

Yes, when trying to get a grasp on what was unfolding on your upcoming Diamond Princess, they were temperature testing to screen/triage who needed to be swabbed.

I would have a beer for you on Majestic next weekend, but no way I'm drinking that gluten free stuff. Most martinis are GF, so that will have to do. Sounds like it was an intervention you needed - take care Les.

They haven't come up with a surrogate island to cruise around and qualify for southern itineraries for duty free. For QLD and Willis Island it works via a long standing agreement, as it doesn't meet all the rules either.

You have lots in common, just like the movie 😮

I have seen those queues Barry, and P&O does queues at least as good as anyone. 😁 Bigger ship/more passengers doesn't help, being P&O doesn't help, the jumble of post-covid with insufficient or inexperienced people involved doesn't help, marginal conditions for tendering days doesn't help. On a good day it can be frustrating, on a day where you get all of the above it becomes unbearable. I am not a fan of tender ports on big ships unless I can have access to front of queue from loyalty or cabin type. P&O does lots of tender ports though, so should be well practiced. Alas, they continue to find more straws for their camel. In keeping with this topic, I like that some cruise lines are looking to regress their ship size. Bigger isn't always better, especially in ports that you can't just walk off. Brilliance of the Seas will be in Newcastle tomorrow, and they will be relying on a free shuttle to get around to Queens Wharf like Pacific Encounter does for Noumea. I would expect the only queues will be while the gangway is being readied, but can't really know how much is due to the port and how much is due to the ship

It nice to see it being consistent across ships. The activities timeline has filled in for our cruise next weekend on Majestic. They also have shows at 7:30pm and 9:30pm.

And lets not get into version #3 - pourboire, which is giving a discretionary reward (usually cash) for over and above service.

I sort of picture a Vision/Radiance hybrid with a bit of Royal WOW under the bonnet. But I wonder if anything under 200K GRT is a medium ship to Royal.

Lol. P&O has visited Lifou nearly every other week (lockdown aside) for at least the past dozen years. The container dock in Noumea is nothing new either. The key there is the number of buses. P&O might scrimp on that, or it could be just a post covid shortage of drivers. We haven't ever had to join long queues in either place on various other lines. For Lifou though, the main bottleneck is the tender wharf on the island. The bigger the ship, the longer it takes to get ashore there.

How big is mid size?

Great response from Carnivall. I emailed the request yesterday afternoon, and received OBC confirmation just after midnight. Not as quick for Princess, but will be happy if we get it before we sail.

Happy Trails Julie & Rolf. Do you have anything planned for your pre-cruise in Yokohama?

Ours is also Guest Onboard Credit of $25 each. This differs to the booking OBC which is Onboard Credit Promotion. Both credits are non-refundable.

Earlier in the thread, there seems to be a general Carnival Australia email to cover Australian brands. I didn't read the fine print at Shareholder Benefit | Carnival Corporation & plc correctly. Who wooda thunk that Carnival Australia doesn't administer Carnival. The email for Carnival shareholder OBC is shareholders@carnival.com

They did, but perhaps they are getting ahead of it now to stop people from ringing them up. We do have an extra $25 each that has gone on in the past few days. While it could be shares OBC, they are in my name and I would expect it would show as $50 to me instead of $25 each. No email for me though.

I expect it will be the sound of crickets, especially on the longer cruises. It is still the thing that bites - was inclusive when we booked, we have the old premier and it still isn't good enough to be an inclusive item. Looks like we will just have to slum it in the dining room.

That comes with the next change to the $75/$105 packages.