arxcards

Lots of conflicting information, as the ships are doing lots of conflicting things. East Coast protocols require you to test on your last sea day for your following cruise. Early doors, the few ships operating were doing that. Now some do, some don't, others test everyone because of elevated levels. I think that many passengers would not volunteer for a test for their B2B, especially if they are starting to get symptoms, and would prefer to wait till the 2nd cruise is underway before testing positive. I guess that depends on whether they want to be disembarked and return home.

Nice touch. Yes, your old cancel/rebook from Royal Princess would have come with a specialty meal voucher, as that was part of the deal on the original booking. You can pre-book on the app with your dining voucher. At first it will show a price, but at the next step it shows the credit and 0.00 charge. Or you can wait till aboard.

It must be an internal check. Circular Quay isn't really a great spot for underwater visibility.

Much to love. Good food and comfy cabins. Maybe a bit quiet, but not necessarily a bad thing. I would recommend having a Wang Wang at the Sea View Bar. Not sure if it is still on the menu, but they will know how to make them. If they still have Le Cirque night in Pinnacle Grill, we thought it was pretty special. Enjoy!! It is an awesome time to be at sea.

It is what it is, and the norm for so many cruising friends is they have skipped covid for over 2.5 years but take a cruise and come home with it. For all the talk of how prevalent it is, Majestic Princess is the only place the wife and I have caught covid. People are not testing on land, but also avoiding testing at sea. Not sure how they pale into insignificance though. 40,000 cases are from 8,000,000 population and includes those who test positive after returning home from a cruise. They say the peak is reached, and it will fall rapidly in NSW.

Sure does. The whole season, all lines has been a bit like an egg shell omelette.

Lack of takers for Singapore on Encounter - not so cheap flights home. I prefer to look at this version. $1074pp twin includes $75 each OBC and premium drinks package. I am not sure of the current drinks package price, but reckon when those two are added it more than cancels out the fare. The return 14 night cruise in Feb is an extra night for an extra $100, also with the same OBC and drinks packages.

1 - they arrived late in the day for the medevac 2 - Isle of Pines isn't currently allowing any ships to tender passengers ashore, for whatever reason.

We were on a tour from Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, and the driver did not shut up for the whole trip while narrating the tour to everyone over the mic, all about Aussies not leaving tips. After the tour, I told him I didn't want to disappoint him by leaving a tip, and his narrative was offensive, obnoxious and otherwise spoilt a great day in the national park. It is the only time I have never left an appropriate tip while travelling overseas. I sense that anyone speaking with an American accent while travelling in our capital cities or major tourist towns results in a heightened sense of anticipation of some extra dollars - also noting a preference of cash tips so that it is not declared as income.

Thanks for your awesome review. Covid is everywhere, but nice to see a much lower incidence on the ships cruising out of Brisbane. I have made a note regarding the stretch Hummer tour. Sadly, Princess stewards seem to have forgotten the art of towel animals.

Fair call, and I guess it depends on the seriousness. We have diverted past IOP and on to Noumea a couple of times on Royal previously, but it would be case by case.

You would be glad it is all over and bound for Sydney. Enjoy your sea days back.

Not IOP, but likely Noumea for medical emergencies - ironically one of the skipped ports that they were meant to be in today.

PNG is pretty clear that the islands will not be privately sold to a non-PNG entity and couldn't work out how it became privately owned in the first place. Money talks it seems and was seen as a real estate transaction. They are certainly not going to let a sovereign state own PNG land, as it would no longer be a PNG island.

She always seems to have a propulsion issue. I don't know what they have planned, but she is currently doing 16kn, which is fast enough not to be skipping 2 ports.

Something it didn't like in cached data, memory being hogged by another app. Lots of possibilities. My wife has a newer phone than me, but it is bloated with other stuff. Mine is quicker.

Unless you have a short cruise, where I would suggest biting the bullet if you want a reservation, just book as soon as you board and you will have no probs. Easy to apply your OBC that way.

For a suite or premier package, you can use those dining voucher credits as payment. OBC can be used once aboard, but not when pre-booking. Maybe worth a phone call, but you need to pay by credit card when booking via the app.

You need to click on "make a reservation", not explore dining options. Via the app today, the prices for Crown Grill (and the other specialty restaurants) are: $52.65 Adult $26.33 Kids This is for a cruise in late February, and another in November.

Only to things that I have at least 0.1% interest in.

It was a much nicer ship prior to then. It was the "ship of light", but they surrounded the atrium with extra cabins. Still a nice ship, but an age that regular crossings to Noumea and the across the Tasman are a bit much.

Maybe, but with more people booking premier packages, they are also having trouble fitting everyone in on some nights. Royal is still charging way over this amount, even for some basic Jamie Oliver tapas. People still book there.

Currently it is $US32, but the app can't tell the difference and you can pre-book via the app for $AU32pp. Once aboard, the menu pricing is $40. PS: That was the last time I looked. Drink packages are going up, so maybe these as well. I already have ours booked for Feb & November.

I don't feel that way. In comparison, the ingredients are better, the attention to detail is better, the waiter is far more attentive with less people to serve. And most importantly, it is voluntary. Yes, these were $20pp fifteen years ago, and considered a token amount. Considering all the other things that have doubled in price over the past 15 years (including quality cuts of beef), I still consider it a token amount. Now, $90+ pp for Chops Grill on Royal, that is definitely OTT, but people still pay for that too.

As far back as 2015, P&O were confiscating water & making people empty drink bottles at security. Even then, their policy was for loose cans only - no bottles of anything. Correct, Princess doesn't have these restrictions. The answer was in response to a P&O question on a Majestic Princess thread which is a pretty normal occurrence here. 😁