arxcards

It is just a Swirls etc deal, so far at least. The only desserts in the dining areas are the usual menu fare, with no extra pay options. The fresh juice/smoothies is already a pain for the bars that have it. They are already busy enough, and now they are cubing pieces of fruit to feed the juicers. I meant to get a photo of the wine menu, but got sidetracked. The app seems to cover most of it. Many of the staff are in the dark about the changes. They thought the caps were the same, but were noticing $21 cocktails were still coming up as $0 on their POS. The ones partly in the know were given brief training 2 days prior to this cruise.

Yeah, who needs cruise critic! 😉 Wine caps from the app. I will get a menu photo soon at dinner.

There is only one thing worse than getting wines by the glass on the package - buying them on the ship.

I have done some screen captures for uploading later. Julie is on the mark, and I have cocktails & beers as well.

The chopper came from Wollongong Les. We have 3 nights to get from Sydney to Brisbane, so just need to speed up a bit to cover the diversion.

The specialty restaurant prices have just gone up. All departures after 20th February have the new price, unless they were booked before Christmas.

It isn't just you. Lots more this season. We are quietly moving south and will rendezvous with a helicopter from the rescue station in Wollongong at 3pm. No helipad on the ship, so the patient will be winched from the aft deck.

I will get to the requests if I can. We have recently turned for a medevac

Thanks Les. Smooth embark. Check-in open at 11ish, a short pause in the embarkation area, then on at 11:30ish. Couple of drinks, pizzeria lunch, mustered and settled in by 12:30. Time to kick back and ride some waves. The old version of the packages has the Bar staff confused with the new version already. Some of the $16 cocktails are now $18, so have gone up to match the new package cap.

As far as I am aware, the crew are paid in $US around the world, so that is convenient to them. Sure, if you already have Aussie currency, it will give them some easy spending money. That also depends on the individual crew member, as some send most of their money home, some spend in port. I

Welcome back. We will be in her shadow in a few hours.

Do you have Princess Plus or Princess Premier packages as part of your fare? Some versions of these have included "Crew Appreciation" as part of the fare. If you have these included, they will show on the personaliser for your cruise on the Onboard Services page. Other than that, Princess is very different in Australia, in a mostly tip-free society. We still pay, but with higher fares.

John Heald is Carnival's Brand Ambassador, globally. As a past cruise director, he is now Carnival's face on social media. Good news about the printed version. The dailies are one of the few souvenirs that we like to keep to remember our cruises.

Hi Anjo, I can't specifically answer for those cabins. One thing that hasn't changed since her Dawn Princess days is the cabins. New bedding & carpet but the rest of the cabin will seem very familiar. There may be a bit of sound spilling, but the cabins are above the bar and there should be no major speakers directly below those cabins. The plus is that Black Circus is quiet for much of the day.

The waterslides are open year round, excepting rough weather. P&O doesn't do upgrade bidding, well not yet at least. You may get a complimentary upgrade, but some of these can be to a less convenient location on a higher deck.

And its never over until the fat lady sings.

That is great advice. Not all upgrades are really genuine upgrades, and generally for P&O and others, often just moves you a couple of decks with a coin toss for the location. If you pick a cabin for a specific reason, check the No Upgrade box, or request it with your booking. Great that you got a better result with your request yesterday, but that doesn't often happen.

Sounds like last time, and for cruises we have taken on other ships as well. Many people initially wear masks diligently to avoid spending a cruise in iso but aren't so concerned about catching it in the days before disembarking. If everyone disembarks in Sydney, we will start again at 0. Well, in theory anyway. Majestic is yet to update to NSW authorities, so I hope it is only at tier 1 when they do. I have had a busy week, so haven't had much time to think of getting back on Majestic. RAT and pack tomorrow. Enjoy your last couple of days.

I should add, urgently ring your T/A or Royal if you booked direct. You can't just show up and swap at the pier.

Generally, this would be a yes with a possible small name change fee. A couple of issues though. It is so close to boarding day, and that could prevent a change. Also, some of those cruise credits from past cancellations will only transfer to the passengers that were originally booked.

Hi Anne & Allan, Depending on the time of day, concession travel is free for the train. The new airport line should be a major plus, switch trains at Perth station for the run down to Fremantle. Once there, it will be a cheap cab fare to any hotel in Fremantle.

Inseparable. Coral after turnaround day, Island after a day at Tangalooma. Both are headed for another meeting at Cairns on Thursday - Coral via Willis Island, Island via Airlie Beach.

Your only other alternative for your anniversary if cruising from Sydney is Carnival Splendor. I would consider Pacific Adventure to be the more relaxing of the two. Short cruises (comedy, cruises to nowhere, Moreton Island etc) tend to be busier than a cruise to the islands, where the majority of passengers will be more relaxed on holidays than making the most of a short break. Dinner time, theatre shows, any activity in the atrium gather a crowd, but for much of the day the ship absorbs passengers. Pretty much the same across most of the main cruise lines.

Funny, that page was a dead link this morning. The first tier 2 in quite a while.