arxcards

Charging $10 for eggs benny is just taking the peas.

There is a sensational spot, but you can only access it with a paid tour. It has been the same way since day dot. That is the only way to protect sensitive areas from being over-loved.

Online, you have to book the cabin, and the 72hr hold is a period to finalise payment before it lapses. It has been that way for a while. If booking with a good T/A or a PVP, you can get a longer hold, but even then, they have booked your cabin for you. As above, you aren't locked-in to having to pay a deposit and the "hold" lapses if you change your mind.

Carnival.com.au is as good as anywhere when there are just a handful of cabins. There have been a few cabins coming and going for weeks, as we were also considering booking last minute. So far, there is no last minute deals, and I am in no rush. When there are less than 7 cabins available in any given deck/location/type, all available cabins are visible. It may be possible to book a guarantee, but they are mostly covering the same cabins as all the guarantee allocations were done weeks ago. As of 10 mins ago, there are: 5 insides 5 Ocean view 17 balconies 0 suites/mini suites While those numbers remain, there won't be much of a price drop, and the buffet queues will remain long.

You would love next years cruise. The Dover to Sydney part is starting to look like a 56-night cruise to nowhere. 🤣

My guess is they are running low because they don't have much of a supply arrangement with the ports they have called at so far. Singapore would have been their original provisioning port. I hope they can tempt everyone with some reasonable European wines when you get a chance to restock. Perhaps the F&B Manager should tend to this personally.

In the past 2hrs it has gone from a net of 9 vacant cabins to 11. I think that most of those that cancel were those looking for an out for personal reasons but couldn't otherwise cancel. Losing Noumea x 2 stops and getting Luganville, I wonder if it will be closer to 1/50, with 1/5 unhappy with Carnival but still cruising anyway.

P&Os previous trip to the islands on Pacific Adventure also dropped two ports. I don't think many will cancel, as there no refunds, just a future credit. Just two weeks away, the lure is too close except for those that are only cruising to visit Noumea. As of 5 minutes ago, there are just 9 vacant cabins.

Luganville (Santo) is further distance than Noumea, so reasonable be to losing a port.

Luganville is extra distance, so it would require them to drop a port. I believe it should still be 3 ports though, and Mystery Island was doable.

Yes, in name only - but it will be even dearer next week. It is an Aussie Day long weekend though, and those ones are usually priced higher in Sydney too.

A bit of background that contributed to the unrest. The Times: Brutal French colonial history behind New Caledonia’s riots (news.az) The state of emergency has been lifted, but there are still plenty of restrictions. The problem has only been deferred, and there is lots of damage in Noumea. Lifou may have fared a bit better.

The first two I looked at for Sydney were sold out, so I didn't look further. I wasn't all that keen anyway, and the flash sale usually means they take away the OBC from the previous promo and take that much off the cruise fare. I can see one departure for Melbourne though - Aussie Day weekend. P&O Cruises 3-Day Sale* on now! | P&O Cruises Australia (pocruises.com.au)

These have been available to book via T/As or over the phone, but it seems someone forgot to flick a switch on P&O's web site. These are now available - P&O Cruises 3-Day Sale* on now! | P&O Cruises Australia (pocruises.com.au)

House wine on a cruise would be called Ship Wine? Silly buggers indeed! I gather you have consumed your Stellenbosch wines in the dining room. Do you have any plans for winery tours in your upcoming ports?

Pacific Adventure was due in Noumea today and as expected, they have bypassed their stop. It looks like they are just taking an extra sea day instead of a replacement port and heading on to their scheduled stop at Mystery Island tomorrow.

True. And they are still upgrading to be able to take most of the not so reasonably sized ships too.

Those English can eat. Was that just one meal?

+1 for HAL. For the Aussie part, it has QLD ports that offset the ports Azamara has in WA & SA. Also depends on whether you want to do pre-post cruise in Singapore & Auckland, or in Sydney.

It must have been triggered by a glitch onboard that kicked-off the error to start with. The non-refundable OBC should have been absorbed first by default, so the call centre bunnies are trying to justify the error in a way that they don't have to do any extra work to generate a refund.

Savanah was our CD last Boxing Day. Her approach was all Aussie, and I was unaware of her dual nationality. That makes sense of it all.

So can I. No family BBQ was complete without it.

Correct. OS seniors don't get a concession fare, so they may as well just tap on/off with their credit card.

Even some of the local higher-level staff had to move overseas to keep their jobs. Seems strange, no Aussie CDs on P&O, yet they have Aussie CDs here on Carnival. I think the short answer with why they don't have Aussie staff is very closely aligned with why the ships aren't registered here. Even P&O Australia is not much more than a sales & marketing office. Foreign owned, foreign ships, foreign staff, yet if they were Aussie owned, Aussie flagged with Aussie staff, very few of us could afford to cruise.

This topic is specific to Australian based cruises on Princess. The same also applies for P&O Australia and Australian based cruises on Carnival. It is not the same for NCL, or most other cruise lines where it is prepaid into your fare, or charged daily to your onboard account, depending on the cruise line.