arxcards

Depends. If you booked a complete world cruise, you still get 4 x cruises credited to your Captain's Circle. The 11 night combo I am planning is being sold as a single cruise, so I doubt it will be worth two credits when booked that way. Some might be inclined to book it as 2 cruises, a 7 nighter and a 4 nighter. Others will just go with the 4 nighter, thinking 7 is too big a number to be fast tracking a cruise credit.

The writing was on the wall when they switched away from having to be in the lounge to get your included drinks.

Plenty have Sparky. These little 2 nighters between Sydney and Melbourne or Brisbane have lots of passengers ticking boxes. Also the 3 night cruises to nowhere on P&O are rolling over the completed cruises. Plenty have grabbed elite from doing less than 50 days that way. And to answer the topic title - if you reach elite on a segment of a multi-leg cruise, you will be get elite benefits for the following segments.

It will be interesting to see the prices. A junior suite with Star Class, now that would be something. 😁

Out of Brisbane (is the departure port important), most ships that hit Noumea first arrive in the PM. This is pretty much the default bog-standard 7 night P&O/Carnival "Week Fantastique" itinerary that has been around for 15 years+. Some cruises call at Noumea on the way home, and that would be more useful but also less frequent. Isle of Pines is yet to see a large visiting ship since the pandemic shutdown. From 1st January next year, there are a few ships booked to visit, but I don't think the Carnival brands are confident that they will go ahead - they are waiting till the following season to schedule any ships there. 12th January 2025 on Luminosa is one of their first itineraries going there - yes, that also has a 2pm arrival in Noumea. This is the only local cruise scheduled to visit Isle of Pines in December '24/January '25. 29th December 2024 - this does Noumea on the way home, but it is only 7am till noon. Also no Isle of Pines. Quantum of the Seas has full day stops in Noumea on 4 x cruises during Dec/Jan. You guessed it, no Isle of Pines. There are other options from Sydney, but none are calling at Isle of Pines during those months. Carnival Splendor has full day stops in Noumea on cruises departing on 19th Dec & 30th Dec plus 12th Jan. There will be other ships that may have full a full day in Noumea, including Ovation of the Seas.

No up front commission, but an ordinary conversion rate.

From what I can recall, the other shortie is Sydney to Brisbane. The other 3 cruises out of Sydney are music charter cruises (Bravo, Rock the Boat, Flash Back). Not available via Carnival, but via the wholesaler or your T/A of choice.

Yes, booking them separately is $160 dearer, so not worth it for the extra $50 of OBC. Both Barb and I have the same Captains Circle number with a different letter on the end so I don't think I would try to pull the wool over their eyes.

Correct, or at least it should be. Just that if I book this Diamond cruise as the combined 11 night option I should only expect one setup. If I book the split 4 night and 7 night cruises separately, I should expect two mini bars.

The room service pizza is something I also want to confirm prices with too, now that Alfredo's has a charge. I suspect the medallion pizza is connected to the "Slices" menu, as the last menu I saw only had a four or five basic pizzas to choose from. Room service for pizza via the app was "free" earlier this year, and I can't recall seeing a charge being added apart from the overall medallion service activation charge.

There is also one each year to Fiji. I hope the link works. Cruise Search | Find Cruises for 2023-2025 | Carnival Cruise Line

For now, Luminosa isn't here in the winter. She arrived a few days ago and departs again in April. They do very few cruises longer than 1 week. Yes, there is at least one NZ cruise, and there is an 11-night PNG cruise. There are some clues that Brisbane could have a year-round Carnival ship in 2025.

Yep, I like Royal, really I do. I just find it hard to book anything other than Princess at present. Note that premier also includes 2 x specialty meals (nearly $200 worth on Royal) plus internet, some photos, and other bits & pieces. Maybe a point of difference like an oasis ship or Lepela could grab my attention, but they seem to be turning their back on those.

Alfredo's is now geared as per person cover charge, which I recall is $22 or $23 per person. The cover charge is for a starter/pizza or Pasta/dessert. Given that charge is a pp cover charge, it seems like it won't work for your needs. You can also buy just a pizza at ala carte pricing. It has been $US12 per pizza, so likely $19 in Australia. You could share a pizza this way. Slices is free. I think Alfredo's is better, but not $19 better. Alfredo's has more choice of toppings, but slices are nice enough, endless, and nearby to compliment with burgers, chips etc. We have done minis on Coral & Majestic this past year, and Grand has pretty much the same number of power outlets and USBs. USB outlets are USB-A, so make sure you have an A to C cable for charging current phones. I can recall one Aussie outlet and at least 1 US outlet. If you have a US to AU pin adaptor already, throw it in for an extra outlet. I just can't remember how many USB outlets we had. Can't help you with the milk shakes, but thought they were a bit dearer than $3.

Thanks. I have since read your info earlier in the thread, which I have half caught-up on now. We are already booked for half the world cruise in 2025, so one booking number instead of two sectors. I was curious how it works, as some benefits work by sectors, but not all. I am looking at a Diamond Princess b2b (7 + 4 nights) which is also sold as a combined 11 nighter. It will work out $50 more OBC and an extra mini-bar to book them separately, but the fare will also cost us $160 more.

Thanks Bob. It is one of Princess' worthwhile features, and surprising that others haven't caught up. Oh well, Princess is Princess and Carnival is Carnival. Would be nice though. I seem to remember that we were getting these from Princess more than 10 years ago without any outlay - when aboard, a free letter for the asking with no deposit required for the letter. Reduced deposit & OBC applied when you booked with the letter.

.... somewhere in the Paciifc

Hi Julie, Curious as I figure you would know in regards to your world cruise next year. There is $250 OBC for long cruises. Is that $250 for your world cruise, or is it $250 per sector?

I have decided to join the Carnival shares crowd. Interesting to read back through the thread and prices are cheaper now than when the thread started, but that is purely for outlay as short term pricing means nothing when it comes to the reason for owning. At todays price, I will get a pineapple in change for $AU2000. Now the question. We don't have any bank affiliation (bank with a building society), so are looking for an easy to use interface/webpage/app that provides the required holding statements to apply for OBC. Commsec is mentioned here a bit. Is that the way to go, or is there another platform that I should be checking out?

Cool. Looking to take every possible advantage for a Diamond Princess cruise in 2024/25, and if the price is right, also looking at doing a Luminosa shorty split by a night in Brisbane. I don't suppose Carnival has a similar FCD scheme?

I hope it is all good from here, and the ship is adjusting to her Aussie crowd. For a lively bit of entertainment, Cassidy Rae has a great voice and is garnering quite a reputation.

It has been a while since we have had Princess (or any other) FCD's. Good news that they appear to be largely unchanged. A couple of questions: Are they still $AU100, or have they jumped in line with everything else? Are you able to get FCD's on the cruise, and also use them to book a future cruise while still aboard? If OK, is there any benefit

Much of a delay? I am pretty much expecting we will endure the same for Majestic in a couple of weeks time. Like last year, the first Majestic cruise of the season, we were notified of a 60 minute delay - half hour after our boarding time had passed by and everyone was lined up waiting.

Welcome home Stu. Thanks for the ride.

One of my faves. Who needs tenders when you can swim.