arxcards

Do I detect a bit of a Richard Clapton vibe?

Ocean Now charge includes having something bought to you anywhere via the app. Yes, I get that anything on a longer cruise is going to suck - think of all that ice cream you are missing out on 😉 The casual dining bit sucks, but the only ones getting it fully inclusive are those who paid $95 per night. We won't be paying a cent for casual dining on any future cruise out of principle. We have 1/2 a world cruise on Crown with the current plus package, and I think that only gives us two "casual" dining sessions in 60+ days, and we will not get the $25 compo for that either - after paying an extra $15 per night each more than those getting zero casual dining.

They come from short stock, and they have a rather nagging finish. Be careful if you have one too many, or you might be tearing-off your clothes and dancing on the bar. Seriously, looks like good PR, but I can't comment on the quality or value.

Point is that Christmas & New Years cruises are normally sold out or only a handful of cabins available, and that isn't the case for Brilliance. If there is no money in it for them, they will find somewhere else until things pick-up again. It won't be my Christmas cruise. Onboard charges are way too high for me at present. Happy to jump on Splendor on Boxing Day for the super cheap cruise to use up my cancellation credits & OBC. No special pricing on that now, and but a handful of cabins left.

The pddly amount covers your Ocean Now charge for the whole cruise, whether it be 3 nights or 110. It would appear that is where they are targeting the OBC. On a short cruise, that is costing us $7.65 each per day. But yes, it still all seems so wrong.

A couple of others for Luminosa: March 3rd, 7 nights South Pacific $652 twin - $93 per day March 17th, 7 nights Qld $677 twin - $97 per day, which includes GST I have noticed though, that sub-$100pp/pd twin cruises are getting to be few & far between.

This season should be technically sold-out. There are still passengers using up old cancellation credits to help that happen. Brilliance is far from sold-out though. Final payment for Christmas & NY cruises is just about due, yet I could still book pretty much any category at a decent price. They used to hand over their shoulder season to charters, but after this year they have been lost to Carnival Luminosa. That doesn't help. They used to be able to fit 2 ships in Sydney. Now that Princess ships won't go under the bridge, it is harder to book 2 ships into Sydney and they don't want to be stuffed around. No 3rd cruise terminal yet - that doesn't help. The $AU is low enough that there is no value to spend our money aboard a $US cruise. Passengers leaving their cruise cards in their pockets doesn't make for a profitable cruise season - that doesn't help. Princess is dropping a ship in 2025/26. P&O usually operate 2 ships out of Sydney in the peak of summer, but now only have one. Things are getting tight out there.

I agree. Poorly conceived & horribly communicated to date. The first $AU cruise departed a few days ago, with passengers that will be aboard for a month. They may have tugged a couple of apron strings, as I have heard no mention of OBC on overseas cruises that had already departed with this arrangement. We are on the old version of premier in November, so at least our Ocean Now charge will be offset with the token olive branch OBC. We will leave Alfredo's for the current premier passengers. It will be interesting to see how busy it gets. Until now, we haven't been too bothered about using Ocean Now to our room. If we are paying that fee for a 3 night cruise, it is gonna get used a whole lot more.

Wow, they have been pushing this as a "sporting greats" cruise for months, so I am surprised it isn't sold out already. I am tempted, but Coral Princess beat them to the punch with a good price on a Feb cruise that we booked late last year.

A day job on a port day. Lazy if they leave it any longer than Honolulu to fix.

I think some are already booked

I am able to book the specialty restaurants for the Crown world cruise in nearly 2 years time, so it isn't a date thing. One other possibility - do you have a current credit card registered in the app, as you won't be able to book specialty dining without one. If you have vouchers, since the changes they are best sorted once aboard.

I hope you are having an awesome time Stu, and that it is nice to be back at sea again. AIS shows you cruising into a 21m/s gale in 4.7m seas. Seems to be a bit more exciting than usual for that part of the world, and no wonder they wanted to skip Victoria to take it slow. Hopefully it will be a bit calmer in the Golden Gate. A couple of ships have snuck away towards Australasia. Luminosa skipped their 3x Alaskan days to dodge a storm, and have made it to Japan early, spending the day in the alternate stop of Sapporo (Otaru). Brilliance of the Seas has just departed Vancouver for a direct run to Hawaii.

I like to look for some gems that can be leftover from the Alaskan season and a bonus of doing the first cruise of the season. Last year on Majestic, it was a premium variation of Jim Beam that you won't find at Dan's. One of my favourites from a few years ago was a Buffalo Trace bourbon cream. Baileys like but bourbon, I have seen it at a couple of places since but would never have looked for it if it wasn't begging at me from the duty free shelf - Radiance, I think. But I will agree with above, pricing and choice is usually pretty lame and not worth lining-up at the dining room on those ships that hold it till the last minute.

I found our menu from last year. Apologies that the capture included my volume bar, which blocked out some of the individual pricing when I was doing a screen capture. The important pricing is down the bottom. Last year, that was $54pp for 3 courses. It has gone up a bit since, and I am hearing it may go up by a couple more dollars soon. I believe that the menu has also changed slightly earlier this year. 3 courses gives you bread, oil & dukkah, a starter from "Salad & Things, a main/sauce/side. The sides are sharable. It might be nice to pay for an extra side, but you will struggle to get through it all. I would happily finish this with any of those three desserts. It is high-end, and has regularly been one of the highlights of our P&O cruises.

Just be aware that 26th October 2025 sailing of Scenic Eclipse II will not be AN all-inclusive cruise. Apparently, clothing is not included.

Also for us, our last Luke Mangan dinner was on Explorer last year. It is essentially a steakhouse menu, but still has plenty of choice, and a 3 course set menu is approx $70pp. Personally, I think it is a great meal, worth the money and at least on par with any other specialty steakhouse at sea. Whether it is value for money vs the included meal in the Waterfront, that is a personal choice.

The menu has a la carte pricing, but that is just if you want bits of the menu or extras. They also have complete 2 or 3 course set meal pricing, as they had previously.

Yes, Feb/Mar as planned. I say belatedly, as Pac Encounter cruised on her first summer here without them. Luminosa hasn't, and there are no current plans for them. There was an assumption out there that both ships were getting slides added. It makes sense, but it is only Pac Encounter that had them retrofitted.

Top notch entertainment has been sourced (sorry, not sorry)

I drive past a Shell/Coles Express each day and it is tempting to collect points, but I get fuel closer to home with no points but at least 5c/litre cheaper. A pretty basic example, but I know others that go for the points. I know a few tradies that fill up at that Shell for the points regardless of the price, as their boss is paying for the fuel. One mate uses his points for Virgin flights for the family holiday each Christmas, and his ears twigged when I mentioned cruises - too late for this year though. Those with flybuys/Coles affiliated credit cards will be gathering plenty of points, and that is the lure of having one. I ditched my linked NAB one around 10 years ago in lieu of 28degrees. Back then, we used to convert our points back to credit on the NAB card, but have since routinely cashed them in for ""free"" groceries at Coles. Good luck to those getting a cruise with their accrued points, as you have earned them.

Enjoy Stu. I hope that Starnet will be better for you. The latency should be heaps better, and hopefully the techie on the ship can point the signal in the right direction.

There are. To a small business, card is all transactional and the bank takes a cut from every transaction. Cash is all pooled into a single banking transaction. Beyond the points you mention, cash was always a target of theft, both from external & internal threats which made it a dangerous commodity at times. Times have changed. When accepting cards, you used to have to ring for authorisations and had to check the naughty list for invalid cards. The big advantage to card was that you could sell to people that didn't have to walk through your door. Now that everything is wired up around the globe, card payment is so much easier for businesses, except that every dollar you earn that way is routed via a bank. Back in time, it was only your profits that used to route to the bank, after using your cashflow to pay your wages and expenses. I am glad you receive the charge for your folio at the end, which can still be pre-paid in cash if you choose. Cash is indeed expensive for banks to handle and cards are way more efficient. It is just unfortunate that the institutions want a slice from each transaction.

Nice!! Do you have a residency?

Awesome. The Sydney round trip Edge cruise shortlisted in the first post (18 November) definitely doesn't go to Wellington.