arxcards

The Grand is being pulled from Brisbane in 25/26. I have noticed this morning that Crown has been taken out of Sydney from 21st December till 21st March and relocating to Brisbane to somewhat replace the Grand season that was cancelled. Unless the game of musical chairs has ended, it does seem strange to only having one ship in Sydney during the summer. We had four ships in Australia this past summer (Royal, Majestic, Coral, Grand), three next season (Diamond, Crown, Royal), and now only Crown & Discovery in 25/26. The word I keep hearing is yield, and there are more dollars to be made in other markets.

Looks like it is back on the table - just a different table.

As I noticed a short while ago, all of the those itineraries are changing due to Crown relocating to Brisbane from late Dec 2025 for a 3 month season. Hopefully they will offer an Auckland to Brisbane itinerary when the altered itineraries are available.

There may be some more cycling about to happen. At this stage on the Princess site, there is a gap in Crown Princess itineraries between 21st December & 21st March. It could be that all of those cruises have sold-out (possible), but would appear to have been withdrawn from sale while they do a shuffle. Christmas/New Year cruises could well be sold out by now. However, on 7th March she is supposed to be departing on a 3 night cruise from Sydney, yet now also has a port booking in Port Douglas. It got me digging further. Dec 21st to Fiji RT from Sydney per the schedule, yet she is also booked in Brisbane on 24th Dec. There may be some altered itineraries to dual port, however it looks like Brisbane has lost the Grand but scored a few months of Crown Princess instead. The BICT page has updated. Grand Princess dates have been removed, while these dates are up for Crown Princess: 24th December 2025 4th January 2026 12th January 22nd January 2nd February 16th February 2nd March 10th March 18th March There is a booking for Newcastle on 20th March during her return back to Sydney on 21st March. Great that QLD is not missing out after all, and I am ready to book the 3 nighter for 18th March.

These are typical of $AU prices for lots of overseas Princess offerings. I don't know if we are being overpriced as Aussies, or if this is relative to what others are paying around the world. Even late last year I was looking at a cruise around the UK for June/July next year, and the prices are scary. It seems now that the base price has jumped, although the Balconies & minis have only gone up as much as the base price has and appear to be better value in comparison. Just a couple of randoms around the world for a similar date, Princess.com inside guarantee standard prices: 10 night, around UK Aug 25 2025 - $2582pp ($258pp per day) 7 night Alaska ex Seattle Aug 30 2025 - $1885pp ($269pp per day)

City Extra is an easy option with a broad casual menu. They do have the space that you can reserve with no hassle, and they do split table bills without any fuss. We have had a few group gatherings over the years with those sorts of numbers, but we were already connected with most in the group. The table layout upstairs isn't the greatest setup for mingling though. Drinks come to your table, so and doesn't really have an area where you can just stand up and chat - just across the table conversation. I guess it depends on if you want a sit down meal, or a bar area with easy food. Rossini's is a similar layout. If for lunch, I would recommend the rooftop cafe at Museum of Contemporary Art. Nice food and basic drink options, plus the bonus of watching the hustle & bustle of the previous days ship loading-up at OPT. Alas, they close at 4pm. Nice options already mentioned and a couple of others that come to mind, but I haven't considered if they would suit a group.

WiFi calling might be an option.

Thanks. I am sure it will be right on the night, and I had been thinking about the Ubank option for a bit. Yes, especially for bills ticking over at home and we mostly have DDs and Bpay set up for them already. I am mostly wanting to be assured of easily transferring from a debit card to zero the credit card from spending incurred during travel, which would include 2x credit card cycles.

Thanks. I will look a bit deeper. I have an app for my current online banking, but it is IP sensitive and will request MFA if they think it is a risky transaction. Great for security, but a pain to be getting sms verification codes overseas.

Take care Les. I hope you mend well.

How is the online services on this Mic - can you do online banking with this account while overseas? Looking ahead, that looks like the biggest limitation for my current visa debit due to rather stringent multi-factor authorisation options. Going to be away for 3 months next year, and it would be nice to pay our bills easily from the balcony.

When our daughter was younger, we always scored towelies on Princess. We still get the occasional one on formal night, but the effort is pretty much wasted on us.

As a side, Carnival has sensory packs available on request. Fair to say there is much more need to wind things back a bit on Carnival, but I can't see why Princess couldn't do something similar.

And here I was thinking it was the Galaxy on Orion's Belt.

Most in and around passenger cabins aren't that mysterious. Some are crew access/emergency stairs, some are steward supply rooms. Mid aft to aft, the void on all decks includes the exhaust stacks. In this case, the proximity to the Lotus Pool would hint plumbing systems and or pool/Lotus Spa supplies. No specific website, but I will always do a search for my cabin before booking it. If someone has had a good or bad experience, they will usually tell you the pros and cons, unless they are a only-pro influencer. Most ship cabins more than a couple of years old have a Youtube video done, and I find that more useful than the deckplan site these days.

No comment. 🤣

I am in your camp. Another spectacular view around the next bend.

Prices have been going up. Going by their price list, Brisbane to Cairns, concession is: Coach = $185 Sleeper = $334.50 But, try making a booking for late this month, and the original post is 100% accurate for QLD Rail for an ADULT fare. Even when entering a concession into their booking page, it returns an adult fare. To get a concession fare, you need to setup an account and validate your concession before you can get that fare type. https://queenslandrailtravel-booking.opendestinations.com/BookingSite/rail/search Personally, I'm still on the plane.

That is the Australian way - no smoking indoors on Aussie based Princess ships (and other lines). Just avoid booking aft starboard balconies to steer clear of the waft.

I am not aware of any broad changes around Conflict Islands. It looks like a longer stay in Honiara, and that may have driven the decision to drop Conflict Islands. We will find out soon enough - Pac Explorer is due in CI again the following week (30th May)..

Correct. Just asserting it as a slap in the face to cancel passengers embarking in Auckland, yet still having the ship in port on the same day.

That isn't quite how it worked. Princess originally planned to schedule a ship each for Brisbane & Melbourne, Crown Princess plus two summer ships in Sydney. In the end they split 24/25 season for Diamond between both home ports, and also removed a ship from Sydney. Of course Melbourne should sell out - what else do you have apart from a short season of NCL and P&O. Brisbane also has Royal, Encounter & Luminosa to compete with. Yes, a dummy spit with the Vic government, but with context, the same govt that waived most of VV's port fees that was insisting on all of the Carnival Corp brands copping an increase. Some would call that standing on principle, so some of the angst could be redirected to your government & port authorities. Grand may have been sailing mostly full, but they still weren't turning a profit. AHPPC held the cruise ban, and there was nothing our pollies could do about it. In the end, 25/26 both ports miss out. Not just the cities, but we all miss out on Melbourne & Brisbane departures, so it doesn't really serve them right if we are the ones that are missing out. Despite the recent spin of Aussie cruising breaking records, things are on the slide now that covid FCCs have been used-up. Less home based ships in all of our ports over the next couple of years, but hopefully our govts will let us all have a bit more pocket money in the years that follow.

$250pp OBC - phfff.

Greyhound is $350. I would go with the flight.