arxcards

The other option is not to try too hard. Good if you are able to switch your body clock to the time zone of the destination, but otherwise just try to relax and go with the flow.

The Captain does very little in the locks. The mules keep the ship on an even keel.

Getting beaten by less than a goal is becoming a bit too much of a habit.

She has only just dropped her Sydney pilot, so is running fashionably late. Perhaps they were able to accommodate some of the delays into Sydney today. I haven't heard about if Brisbane is OK or not, but that would require borderforce and terminal staff for luggage and check-in at short notice.

It looks like the last traditional transit for our WC ship, at least for now. I would gladly see Coral return to Australia any time they want. New locks for us next year on Crown. Well done Stu.

Parts of the public areas are really looking forward to a bit of dry dock love.

From cruise control, you can identify any food allergies to alert the restaurant staff as to your needs. Not all ingredients are listed, but all can be accommodated - usually better at sea than places on land. My wife can have a severe reaction to mushrooms (not on P&O's list), but we either advise the ship or confirm the ingredients of any dish we are unsure about. After boarding, touch base with the maitre D or head waiter that has been assigned to look after specific allergies and dietary needs. It is also best to try and arrange to dine at the same table each night so that your waiters are fully aware of your meals. In most cases, you will pre-order the following nights meal and they will be prepared at a dedicated area of the galley. Yes, some of P&O's customer support is falling over somewhat, especially the online stuff. They are no longer responding to questions on social media, as the brand is being wound down. Ring their switchboard for any specific concerns.

Just starting to pass through the Colon area 😉

Transferring from HAL to a T/A, yes easy to do, shop around and dish it to your preferred T/A. Swapping from T/A to T/A, not so easy. You will need to cancel with one, which will usually lose your onboard booking bonuses in the process of rebooking with another.

Dependant on your cruise line.

My ability to sleep on a plane is reliant on all the other restless souls around me.

Or create a Crowdstrike bug. 🤣

The spirits make it home, and sometimes the beers. The softies and water are refreshing on our 3hr jaunt home.

Not that it will matter for much longer, booking via P&O's website lacks flexibility. I want to know our cabin options before we book, not to even have to pick from a list afterwards as P&O offers. If booking direct with P&O, I would recommend doing it over the phone. Personally, we email our T/A and will give him a block of cabin numbers to pick from. The difference in price between Go and Value is mostly absorbed with OBC, so "value" is usually worthwhile. I am glad you got it sorted. I don't think it is a case of false advertising, but an inability to deliver on a promise. Not deceptive, just incompetent.

Is that NSWP Les?

A goon bag.

Aft on deck 12 is one area that has been retrofitted. Balconies on both sides (A7xx) on Star Princess were twin cabins. 127xx on Encounter are 4 berth double deckers.

Thanks. I went searching for a link to the Lelepa page last week, and figured the same. Gavin might need the shovel to officially bury the project. A shame. Seems there is no aspirational money about, and there is no way Vanuatu can offer any concessions.

Barb has long hair - long, long hair. Yes, cruise ship hair dryers are a bit meh, but she seems to manage OK these days. I don't know what her secret is, but she hasn't packed a hair dryer for years. She has a mini travel straightener that she packs on longer cruises, but she would rather pack extra jewellery & shoes than her hair dryer.

If must be known, since Plus came around our stash of mini spirit bottles is growing. They are small enough not be an issue to carry off the ship, and we will consume them whenever. Between water, soft drinks, and beers - whatever is left is pretty much consumed on the train on the way home. The photos are representative, and doubled in a suite. We have been getting 8 x mini spirit bottles. If you get an early cruise in the season from a recently relocated ship, we scored Alaskan Brewery beers on Majestic last October.

I just vote with my feet. If I have a choice between doing it their way and avoiding queues, I will adapt or book a different line. Carnival has tried to improve their open seating MDR dining via the app, and it has been well accepted by a large majority of their passengers. Same with registers. If I don't have to queue more than a couple of minutes, I prefer the checkout chicks/guys to scan & bag my groceries - but will use self-serve if the checkouts are busy. A true Luddite would take a baseball bat to the self-serve machines to make sure nobody else could use them either. Some that choose not to use self-serve checkouts are among those saying that Coles and Woolies are gouging their customers. They are an efficiency measure, so yes that is for shareholder profit, but also affects what you pay at the register. Staff in these stores are now under more pressure to deliver customer service for next to no additional cost. As a child, I recall the groceries being on a wall behind the counter, where the grocer would climb a ladder and bring it over to the counter, often weighing and bagging much like the woolies/coles deli does these days. Then you would line-up to repeat at the fruitos, and the butchers, and the Co-op for milk & bread tokens. My mum would spend 4hrs every Friday getting all of the shopping done.

Up till next March, you can still do it how you usually would on P&O, without an app. Beyond that, they are planning to do it the Carnival way with their Hub app.

There are posts on this board, but you might need to dig. Typically, the mini bar is made up of mini spirit bottles, soft drinks/mixers and some beers. We have had mosty generic Euro beers, but have some various US beers and VB. If you want to change out any items you ring room service and they will try to accommodate your preferences. That would include cans of whatever beers are available on the ship.

By my recent cruises, most seems the vast majority are happy to use the app, as it knocks down any appearance of queuing. I am also happy to do it the old way - on Princess, Royal, HAL and others.

They haven't changed owners/management at this stage, as that doesn't happen till March. We haven't hit a snag like that, as we nominate cabin numbers in the area we want, and our T/A books them that way. My understanding was that you made the booking, then logged into your cruise control to choose your cabin. How long ago did you book? If you booked recently, the value package would be difficult to deliver with a late booking. It is likely you will still get a cabin that fits your booking, minus the promise of choosing it. If you booked late, there would be too few to choose from. You should, at least, be assigned a midship cabin. Sorry, I can't help with specific contacts. They are not easy to get to, and never have been.