arxcards

The easiest boardings are when there are no lines. That is either being in front of the lines or after them. If they say earliest boarding is 11am, get there 1/2 hour before and hope they are having a smooth day. For Sydney, there are lots of things you can do to fill in an hour if they are delays. Brisbane's BICT doesn't offer that luxury if there are any delays.

It is good to see that the ships are considering the elevated risk, and putting extra protection in place above the current government requirements. The general consensus among Splendor cruisers when the ship arrived here was let's not wear masks, and there was a government mandate at the time. Everyone has their own risk level, and it is unfortunate that so many only think about their own without considering the risks to those around them. Like most other cruises, they will have signs up and make a couple of announcements each day, but also not confronting passengers who choose to ignore them.

Da Vinci used to be split back when we cruised on her, but that was pre-medallion.

Milkshakes and smoothies at the ice cream hut - no. It does include mocktails, Some of those are milky, but not made with ice cream. Fresh squeezed orange juice - it did until a couple of months ago, but sadly no longer. Processed juices are included. Everything from the coffee place is included, which includes hot chocolate.

We didn't have the same issues with the MDR when it came to being allocated a table upon arrival. With the reserved times in 20 minute intervals, we just showed up 5 minutes early each night, which works a treat except for opening time. A couple of times we had to stand to the side for a minute or two while awaiting an available waiter to escort us to our table, but otherwise an improvement over the fixed 5:30 MDR scrum. The whole technology has a few bells and whistles, but most of it isn't much more than good marketing. I see it from another angle. Whenever a company spends money on new technology, it is usually for an efficiency that saves them money. The systems will likely continue to evolve, and hopefully maintain a service quality along the way, but it is surely driven by bean counters. eg, If a chunk of drink orders go directly to the bar via an app, you need less waiters walking around looking for drink orders as they become more of a drink deliverer. If they can jigsaw their dining room to leave no empty seats at tables as there would be every night with fixed dining, they can leave sections empty and need less waiters for service. If people do their own reservations electronically, they need less crew to do reservations in person or over the phone. If they can save 10% of the time it takes to check people in at the terminal, they can complete check-in 10% faster - or more likely save money via the terminal employing 10% less check-in staff. We have had MDR orders taken on a tablet already on P&O, so that isn't a stretch to see that becoming more common. We have dined in casual restaurants where they prefer you to order and pay via a QR code at your table, but I hope that never becomes an option on a ship. As to the original question, I think Holland America and Cunard are likely to remain the most traditional, and will pick-up cruisers from the other lines who prefer a personal touch.

AH yes, true. I misread the Auckland Ports schedule and saw Ovation there - departing in the afternoon of 31st, so didn't read QE on the line above. Not sold out, and better priced than next year.

Nothing this season End of 2023 - Cunard Queen Elizabeth is overnighting in Auckland to see in 2024. 14 nights - New Zealand - December 2023 - Cunard End of 2024 - Most lines are yet to release itineraries for the 2024/25 season

It would be nice There is only one place on land that programs the medallions, and it is in the US. Apart from there, they are all programmed on the ships, so unavailable until they deliver them from the ship to the terminal on embark morning. They don't want crowds either, even pre-covid they hated it. Any time boarding is delayed by an hour, it is inevitable. On their preferred day, check-in opens 1/2hr before the boarding A time, and a queue never gets a chance to form. We have had a couple of those for Coral, but only because check-in opened earlier than the boarding slot times. I hope you have one of those days on [edit] Sunday

Our embark for Majestic required medallion collection first, as you did with Grand. By their logic, collecting the medallion made the check-in part of the process quicker, as you only had to tap your medallion and all your details were there. It would be just as easy with the green lane boarding pass, but as half the passengers have not had one, they felt the other way was slowing the check-in. Boarding on first day for Majestic was a mess, but because of delays with disembark for a first arrival + a very pragmatic and understaffed borderforce. It was also a mess for the 2nd turnaround day because of our world class covid levels aboard. I believe Grand was also delayed for your boarding, due to being their first arrival into Australia. I was near front of queue for our delayed Majestic boarding, so did not in up in a queue snake. Green lane boarding pass meant nothing to the medallion keepers, as they had no scanners at collection. Medallions were stored according to cabin number, and lots of people had to fumble through paperwork to find their cabin number, slowing the line that was forming behind. Have your cabin number handy, and they will love you for it. If check-inopens before the queues begin to form, it will still be pretty slick. Hopefully Majestic will have little covid aboard, and she is also returning from a domestic cruise which should speed-up disembark considerably. Our medallion collection was quick, check-in also very quick (except for the assistant that briefly turned me to yellow status, and I needed to show her where the error was), then straight through X-Ray and on the ship. The time from walking to medallion collection to promenade deck was a bit over 10 minutes, slightly less than it was for us on Coral. For Coral we had a brief wait after check-in till boarding was ready.

Once upon a time when s ship had a toilet issue, people on lower decks scored a surprise when the system overflowed. Seems the newer ships are a bit more "clever" and the toilet won't flush while the system is under load. We had some issues on Majestic - sometimes flushing instantly, sometimes 10 minutes later, other times a few hours. Whichever way, having a toilet that doesn't suck really sucks, and it should happily flush underturd when you press the button. Thanks for your review. It does give us some extra insight to what we may expect on Splendor next year. I was pleasantly surprised with Carnival food a few years ago on Spirit, but disappointing it has slipped. Hopefully Luminosa will improve with the first cruise out of the way.

Or cookie cutter sister, Queen Elizabeth. St Martinique, the tug operating for her push out, is not a Switzer tug, and I would expect her to be operating on Friday for Majestic Princess.

I figure this will be the case in many ports, as Switzer is not the only tug operator. As to which ports could be affected more than others, I don't know.

Nice to see that Celebrity Edge isn't just here for the one season.

Not just the asymptomatic. The coughing & sneezing was evident by day 3 and increasing by the day. But, if passengers don't think covid is present, why would they get tested? Yes, anyone with any cold or flu like symptoms is supposed to get tested, but that clearly wasn't happening early in the cruise. I wonder how much of the new wave is being generated by the ships themselves. I feel as if I am near the front of the new wave. Majestic --> ME --> work mate --> 3 of his family, and that is all we know so far.

When they set a new pinnacle for infections of anything on a cruise ship, they make themselves a big target. P&O copped a bit of a bash in July as well, and as you say, it is a long season that is barely underway. Most ships will get a turn, as it is a passenger problem, not a ship one. The masks, even though only surgical ones, were free on demand but useless if passengers are happy to keep wearing the same mask day after day - or in the case of Majestic, not require anyone to wear one until the code red is sounded.

Majestic for us only took a couple of days to realise that something was starting to do laps, but no way of knowing it was covid. Fair to say with hindsight, it was. A small number were starting to test positive around day 7, likely contracted around day 3. Quite a contingent of B2B passengers following the transpacific.

The joy of technology. Via pre-booking, I know what I am having for dinner on 4th November next year, but not a clue as what I will be having tonight. The convenience or having so many options to tailor your cruise is great, but I liked the old ways too. For dinner, I would definitely prefer to have a nice, printed menu in my hand vs a phone or a disposable piece of paper. Mobile phones of any type don't have a place at a dinner table, but people call them cameras these days too I don't like it that those with technology get in for first choice vs those without, or those choosing to do it the traditional way. Even before the apps though, each cruise line had their own ways to shortcut booking once aboard, and it was a pain when anytime dining was only truly anytime if you got in very early after boarding. In the end, if an app will make something easier on the cruise, I will use it. Medallion was much better than the old way for room service, contacting the service desk for removing incorrect charges, alerting the steward we had a bag of laundry to collect, finding where my missus had gone.

The majority of ships are capable of docking without tugs, but most of the ports won't allow that to occur and require a brake tug plus another secured to the ship to protect port infrastructure.

Even the scandalous channel 9 were saying that the ship was arranging private transport for infected passengers - must be true. 😉

The grog cabinet has lots of special medicines, with particular focus on a bottle of Benedictine tonic. A bit tough while at work though. Generally, thanks for the get well wishes. The bounce of symptoms was a shorter and less vicious version of the original, and I am now through that. The fatigue is not directly covid, but how my body can react to a decent dose of a virus. I had a dose of a significant virus 40 years ago, and those fatigue symptoms sometimes return in response to flu, or even a flu jab. Seems the same applies to covid. If past history is anything to go by, it should gradually disappear over the next couple of weeks.

For a domestic cruise it can be either. If visiting a foreign port, you need an international one - as simple as adding your passport details to your Medicare account.

Maybe. They have 2 cruises paired under the same itinerary on their site, one for 14th December, the other for 4th January. The 4th January one is in reverse order.

Yes, that does make sense. For everyone doing the south half, they will be happy to match it with someone doing it with the north half - but would prefer to sell the whole lap.

Princess, and I presume others, continue to assist people to get home or isolation accommodation. Even though NSW no longer mandates isolation, I believe the cruise lines still have a requirement to assist their passengers until the 5 day isolation period has been completed. - Anyone with their own private transport is able to drive home if they feel well enough to do so - Princess provides private transport to anyone within (2hrs?) driving from the port. - Princess provides hotel accommodation to anyone further than 2hrs drive from home/next destination for the remainder of their isolation period. I don't know if they assist with flight or other transport changes, or if that falls in the lap of travel insurance.

As most would be aware, Carnival Australia president Marguerite Fitzgerald has confirmed the 800 number as real, plus a small number of crew. That is a staggering number to reach after 10 days of cruising. I hear there is always something to contend with on a ship, and covid is no different to the other bugs they have to deal with from time to time, and the cruise lines can handle it just as effectively. Even then, we stack-up very well against other major outbreaks of the past. It would have to be some sort of pinnacle for communicable illnesses in Australia, and this is as bad as I could find for anything else in the past 25 years. Cruise Outbreak Was Among Worst in 20 Years, CDC Says (nbcnews.com) Most of the protocols are defensive responses designed to mitigate a significant outbreak. It would seem that these kick into gear a day or two late and relying on passengers coming forward for testing is just another one of those honour systems that seem to work better overseas.