arxcards

Maybe, or the ship decided there were too many hoops to jump through and not worth the effort for those who are still healthy enough to go ashore.

I don't have a definitive answer, and it may depend on which ship you are on. Quantum allowed passengers to smoke in-cabin for those quarantined on the crossing from the US last month. Australian rules are a bit more restrictive around smoking indoors. Even for anyone with a balcony, I can't be sure if they allow you to even smoke there, officially at least. My wife couldn't smoke while she was in hospital last year, so had to manage with patches. I am guessing on an official level, the same will apply to Aussie based cruises.

That is for those countries to decide though. Some islands have made that choice, others need the tourist dollar to grease their wheel.

Cool pics. That is P&O Pacific Adventure ahead of you (former Golden Princess). Like Quantum, Majestic will not fit under the bridge.

Considering the size of the village, it is a surprise they don't already have a pontoon for supplies and tourist traffic. I guess the timing would depend on whether they want to attract visitors or not.

Lots of cruises/ships are disjointed around covid, and it must be really frustrating to travel that way. Hopefully the $2940 pending card transaction is just the security hold, and it disappears in the coming days when your bank reconciles it. I hope your missing pre-purchased stuff is refunded, but sucks that you didn't receive them on the ship. Did they cancel your 4th cruise on you, or did you choose that? Feb will be here before you know it, so fingers crossed they have got their ship together for when you next board.

Yeah, it probably was just that. Just travelled a couple of kms closer to the beach than usual.

Quantum is showing as much closer to the Sunshine Coast than usual. I hope everything is OK.

Good luck!!

No, not as such. There were some California rolls in the buffet, N/C. I don't know if it was every day. They have a basic pool deck Asian noodle bar with some basic Asian dishes at no charge. The deck grill has lobster & brioche rolls, for a charge.

Fair to say that is something that won't change in the current climate. To tighten those rules would just be paranoia, wouldn't it. 😉 Also, being the first Australian based cruise, the number of passengers arriving from overseas on the previous cruise not being asked to do a RAT for the 2nd B2B leg. You have done a few B2B's this year Julie. How many on those following cruises did you have to provide a negative RAT? They are pushing their ship uphill if there are already passengers with symptoms on day 0. Quite a coincidence that Majestic numbers also went boom 2 1/2 weeks after she arrived here, similarly for Grand as well. At present, if your cruise is longer than 2 weeks, look around at the 8 people nearest you. Numbers for QE, Majestic, Coral and to a lesser extent Grand, have gone from apparently 0 infections to 1:8 infected within 2 weeks. The ships won't voluntarily test anyone, only someone presenting with symptoms and their cabin contacts, or when required by their next port when numbers are elevated. Whether it is passengers or the ship not take adequate measures, it isn't working as it was meant to. Now the ships are trying to push the cost of anti-virals off onto travel insurance, lets see what the premiums look like next year.

No so much turned away, but told not to come before the ship left Darwin.

Yep, I spotted the Mystery last week. Unless some of the P&O passengers trashed the cannibal pot, I think you were fobbed-off with a BS excuse. Tender wharf broken - no. Tender wharf inadequate for Ovation/Quantum numbers - quite possible.

Quite a few on the roll call for your cruise.

Long cruises = ships going to tier 2 numbers, then having to test everyone to find they are actually at tier 3. The thought that it was OK to open up to longer cruises seemed like the time was right, but the recent surge has put things back the way they were in June/July when they were chopping-up itineraries to keep the numbers at a lower level. A shame for those aboard.

Yes, work always gets in the way. It is nearly a month since we disembarked a cruise, and I would like to be back aboard.

Surveys are hit and miss from Princess these days. Of the 3 cruises this year, we only had the opportunity to return one survey.

Get well, and hopefully you can get some time out of iso before the end of your cruise. You will get credited for your days in isolation, so a much cheaper way of not being fed. It concerns me when they can't keep up, as it hints there are quite a few in isolation that they have to try to look after. It all seems to be ship by ship, as I know people that were blowing-up deluxe about the way Royal's Quantum handled isolation passengers last month. In the main on Princess, at least your get to keep your cabin vs being moved to a quarantine block of inside/outside cabins. As bad as it may be, I don't think any ship is worth catching covid on. We were given the luxury of getting to take our covid souvenirs home. Yes, we got to have a nice holiday, only to feel like crap a couple of days later. No credits for us, even though it felt like we hadn't just had a holiday.

I can relate to all of the comments from those that have recently disembarked. My memory fades for some of our distant past cruises, but Majestic was well up there for a least favourite Princess ship too, but in mixed ways. We found spots that we loved, but others spots we generally avoided. The ship is definitely large, and a bit impersonal in places. It becomes easier to navigate if you have a cabin handy to the lifts/stairs. We found a bit more to love about Coral, but also have 2 short Majestic cruises booked for next year, having just made final payment on one yesterday. We are looking forward to both, knowing we have better located cabins, have figured our way around the ship for the bits we like, and have made a few connections with staff that will be nice to rekindle. But yes, if these itineraries were also available on Coral, we would be jumping ship.

No. $AU

Just an assumption that all cruisers are American.

On Majestic Princess last month, we could have taken a ship ticketed shuttle to Anne St in the city. The return price was $30+pp, and we didn't use the service, so unable to confirm any more than that.

In time, private operators will get their act together to provide a more seamless way of connecting the city to the port. Unlikely that public transport links will ever be developed. OPT is one of those rare exceptions where the wharf is right next to a public transport hub. As a comparison though, Sydney's other terminal at White Bay has now been in operation for nearly 10 years, and no public transport links have evolved. Coming from Central station, the airport or the city all require a similar connection via shuttle or cab. We can travel nearly door to door to OPT via 3 trains from Newcastle, and yes, it is really convenient except for the 3hrs of travel each way. It depends where we want to cruise though, as Nth Queensland and Pacific Island cruises can both be done ex-Brisbane for just 1 weeks holiday which isn't possible from Sydney. For those times, we are more than happy to fly to Brisbane and take a cab to the terminal.

Also occurred a couple of months ago with 2 x P&O ships, Explorer and Encounter. Next double-take in more ways than one - Coral Princess and Island Princess berthed end to end on 23rd February.

Lagerphone