arxcards

I have put in bids for Majestic next month. Not holding out much hope, as all the higher cabins have been showing as sold-out for ages. I think they still use the information from these dormant bids to know what to expect from bidders on future offerings.

How were the quesadillas?

Awesome. You have 40 days to fill us in on the last batch of cruises. 😁

I have one of the old version Plus packages to try out on 24th Feb. My understanding is that the cap on drinks will adjust, so it is status quo to what we purchased, but we will not be entitled to nasty desserts, smoothies and gym classes with the older version of the package.

The ship left a bit later than scheduled. Hopefully no beetles were harmed.

Well, sort of. Tendering was very slow due to it being a bit rough at the tender jetty. Not all passengers made it ashore. Slow tendering and larger ships aren't a great combo for these tender ports. The bigger the ship, the more perfect the conditions need to be.

Someone is talking with a forked tongue. Sadly, it is the passengers that have to suffer the fallout.

Are these beetles just a Royal pain in the butt? Pacific Adventure spent yesterday in Vila and are just about to arrive at anchor off Mystery Island.

Sadly Julie, I think we are stuck with the current range until the season ends. The new pricing of Plus, Premier, Specialty dining etc. comes into effect for cruises departing from 20th February. They might change it up a bit on the wine lists, but I am not inclined to give them benefit of the doubt yet. We will be on Majestic on 24th Feb, and I expect there to be confusion between old and new versions of plus, as well as differences in price caps from the old to the new. I am prepared to get as many pics as I can in 3 days. Coral also has a departure on 20th Feb, Grand on 23rd Feb.

Ouch!! Not a great start. New waiters finding table numbers seems to be a hazing exercise across so many ships. Stil one of the funniest things I have heard while in this situation, a new waitress asking a couple of waiters at a station where table 165 was. The tongue in cheek response was - between 164 & 166. Good to see the dining is a bit better in the following post.

They will be. Everything is going up in February, and I expect the bar prices will be no exception.

I think this is due to the cruise originating in Sydney on 24th February, and just being a "port day" on that itinerary. There will only be a partial turnover of passengers, with those doing Syd-Bris as a 3 nighter disembarking, and those starting from Brisbane for the hybrid itinerary embarking. It should be an easy embarkation and could just be open boarding with check-in from around 11am.

For ex-military, I wonder if this will apply here? Nah, probably not.

Personally, the premier package is only of value on the shorter cruises (the specialty dining and photo inclusions are per cruise, regardless of the number of nights). All of the extra bibs and bobs that have recently been added don't appeal to us, but maybe they do for you. For the wines, it does open the per glass choice a bit, but if you have the plus package, you only need to pay the extra above the plus price cap for those wines. The per glass prices will almost certainly be going up in February, as the cap in the packages has also been increased.

@Lauale Here goes

Which ship? We like the minis on Princess for the bit of extra space, and reasonable value vs balcony cabins. We rarely use the bath though. There are wine lists in an earlier thread with the per glass package wines listed. I will see if I can find it when I get a chance. The general consensus is the package wines for this season are largely bottom shelf offerings. These may change for next season, or maybe not.

Walking down is also hard on the legs. Next time we will do the cable car up & down separately, then take a level walk around to the gardens via the Beehive.

and hopefully the tag stays on your bag until it finds your cabin. 😁

Around 15 minutes from gangway to the foot of Queens Wharf.

Gee, you were right about the early arrival. Welcome Back!! Thanks for your liveish posts

I have to remind my wife that just because it says 15, it isn't a challenge. I do like the packages as they were. For us, it is not necessarily about maxing value, but not having to look at your watch while using internet or not checking your folio to decide if you are going to have another cocktail or coffee. I hate budgeting and rationalizing while I am on holidays. I am not a fan of the new packages, which are just bloated with imaginary value. Yay, eat an exorbitant dessert, then show up for aerobics the next morning to feel better about yourself. Yay, get prime seats for a 2nd rate show. That said, Plus is still really good value for us, and for all the dissatisfaction about the new pricing of Princess specialty restaurants, it is nothing compared to what some of the other lines are charging now.

How good do you think these reservations will be? 15 minutes before show time, or when the other seats are full, there will be a free-for-all for them. I find it hard to think they will have a premier seat Marshall in place to safeguard the seats and check the credentials of passengers claiming them.

It is a predicted tropical low. At 988 hpa, it has a way to go, and it should slowly weaken as it heads toward colder ocean temps. All the same, the ocean is predicted to be somewhat bumpy. They will make every effort to avoid the worst of the weather and make the crossing as comfortable as possible, but you will be cruising with a crosswind & swell. It will be much calmer when you get to the shallower water around the islands. Current extract from Tropical Cyclone Outlook for The Coral Sea (bom.gov.au) Potential Cyclones: There are currently no significant tropical lows in the region. A surge in the monsoon is expected to move into the northwest Coral Sea on Thursday and a tropical low could form offshore from Cairns. If a tropical low does form it will move southeast and away from the Queensland coast and is not expected to develop into a tropical cyclone.

The chance of catching it aboard this past week was less than the weeks preceding. Hopefully next week will be even better.

Milford Sound was never on Orion's itinerary, and also not part of their next 4 AU/NZ cruises. I find that even stranger than this whole butt scraping saga. They missed Napier, Christchurch, Dunedin & Hobart, and only have a short service call in Melbourne, so call that a miss as well. I guess if you are cruising for the ports, a partial refund is not going to make up for any of the disappointment. For those that just want to enjoy the ship no matter where it goes, they could be well satisfied.