arxcards

The table is not a daily value. It is not defined very well but would appear to be profit per passenger per cruise. CLIA says the average cruise length is approximately 7 days. So, Viva will generate a net annual profit (before some degree of ebitda) of around $US27.5 million on an asset that cost them over $US850 million. +1 - not an amazing raking

When it comes to booking early, maybe they would prefer anyone who wants to lock-in a time for the whole cruise to be selecting fixed dining, and those with flexible bookings need to book each night individually, and even after boarding.

Underpaid by $300 = excess? Most travel insurance is just a badged product, underwritten by just a few companies. The emergency assist is much the same, a central call centre that is used by several insurance brands in Australia and around the world. It is fair to not want to use the same emergency assist again, but that is harder to do when several competing insurance brands are sub-contracting to the same service. I hope it has all worked out in the end.

No idea for us either. I had thrown in bookings on a few cruises, but I can't see if they are still active either. No rush for us, as nothing till February. There is a little heart in the top right corner of the dining screen, and that will likely show where your bookings are when this is all sorted - if they are still active.

It does mean there will be no passengers embarking or disembarking.

With no passengers aboard, it will cost them next to nothing to dock. They aren't docking for PR, but to allow trades & materials to come and go. A drydock is only required if they are doing maintenance below the waterline, but there will be a bit happening inside the ships.

If you depart Australia for a foreign destination, including on a cruise, there is also a federal $60 tax for anyone 12 and over - passenger movement charge. This goes up to $70 on 1st July. I wonder how many passengers are aware their governments have charged them more than $100 before they can even board the ship. https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/crossing-the-border/passenger-movement/passenger-movement-charge-(pmc) That is also part of the issue, where cruise lines and or passengers can be levied with a combination of Federal, State & local council charges.

They lead by 3 wins, then 2nd to 12th are covered by two wins (8 points)

Current charges for Sydney, including some quirky ones. https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/media/jl2c3nis/z_port-authority-schedule-of-port-charges-fy2324_final_v3-0_6nov23.pdf It also confirms why sailaway party doesn't start close to White Bay terminal - a $12,100 "good neighbour" charge that is rebated if they comply with noise restrictions.

According to a recent story in Cruise Passenger mag, the NSW (Sydney) passenger tax is now $44.72 per passenger. Yes, it is over the top, but it is built into your fare and not an extra expense born by the cruise lines. It has been in place since 2012, was $30 in 2015 and has been indexed since then, so is well and truly established as part of the overall problem. The follow-on is that if we have less money to spend, a cruise becomes less attractive when the hidden taxes/charges are putting the prices up. The cruise lines are trying to resist those pressures, so lose in their profit margins. The basis of the taxes was to fund new terminals. They upgraded OPT and built White Bay terminal, but they can't find a place to put the next one which is sorely needed. Offset from that, they also demolished a perfectly OK terminal so that they could develop Barangaroo. The governments' cash cow is being over-milked. Carnival Australia's 2016 submission to the NSW government about fees & charges for Sydney https://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/online_submission_-_carnival_australia_-_s._olsen_-_6_may_2016_000000000.pdf

They are still planning short cruises on domestic relocations. A month or so ago, Princess canned the Brisbane season for Grand, and is relocating Crown to Brisbane for most of the Sumner. That includes newly available 3 night relocations in each direction. Multi-porting from an overseas arrival, as with Discovery, looks to be more problematic. Princess has taken multi-porting away from NZ cruises, so they have dropped the option of 5 night Auckland to Sydney/Brisbane legs from their NZ loop cruises. At the time, I thought it was because it complicated customs requirements (arriving as a local departure vs an overseas departure). It may be that the exemption has been altered and having an effect. There are still plenty of sector options on around Oz cruises. P&Os structure is a bit different, and it is possible that as an "Australian" brand, they would be unable to operate under any new restrictions. They could well be part of their demise, but you would think Carnival Corp would be vocal in saying it our governments fault. I had read the CW article, but can only presume the exemption has been extended, for now.

Melbourne doesn't miss out after all. 😉 Updated bookings show that much of the rebranding for both ships during March 2025 will be accommodated at Station Pier. They are both in Melbourne for 9 to 10 days, departing for a day here and there to make room for other ships that are scheduled in port.

Definitely slow out of the blocks again, but nearly lapped the Crows in the end.

Is that a black hull? I can't help but read it as Necronyx.

Oh well, there is an afterlife for Dora after all.

A bit late for an answer, but I have a question of my own and didn't feel it warranted a new topic. From what I gather, the price showing in your cruise control is the price you pay, and there is no discount for Explorer. The Titanic moment is being at the bow of the ship to spread your arms for a photo opportunity with a ship photographer. We have booked a final P&O cruise, and are also interested in a Titanic moment photo (need an updated avatar). We went to do one on Pacific Eden 9 years ago, but Barb was travelling with no enclosed footwear and we were declined. Back then, it was mostly paying per activity, of which they only had a few. The passes were added later to get passengers more engaged with Edge. P&O does say that you can still pay as you go for activities, but I wonder if that is dependent on availability and for only certain activities. Can anyone confirm if you can purchase the Titanic moments individually, and the price?

Even if it was, it is a word that truly reflects the occasion. Barking mad to be in the queues, Passengers not understanding how things flow are barking at check-in staff, All the bark marks in your new suitcase when it finally makes it to your cabin, All those 100% declared healthy passengers with a barking cough, And then there are many woofing it down at the trough.

The only travel benefit for seniors is very cheap fares on our public transport networks. That would get me to the cruise terminals cheaper. For Carnival, and some others?, at 55 you can get a discounted fare on selected cruises.

Like Princess, the upgrade bid offers are available to bid on, even when they have no spare cabins of those grades. If there is an available cabin, you can snag it but on most occasions for Byron minis and above, they are booked solid and are just circulating the upgrade bids in case there is a late vacancy.

I thought you would have a cabin on each ship by now.

Cabin B752?

My point was to buy them on their merits, and not just for the OBC. Carnival shares have increased in value since the $8.05 bonds but only at the same rate of capital growth as the Dow, so there are plenty of other shares that would offer the same capital growth and also pay dividends. CCL could shoot up in value, but another act of aggression could also change the face of travel again. I had $20K worth of shares in the company I work for, under their previous ownership. They would ordinarily be worth around $35K today, along with two nice franked dividends each year. They went from that value to the price of a cup of coffee within a week, and a month later I went from shareholder to unsecured creditor. Not all shares go up over time. Do I think Carnival is a fair deal - yes. Do I think they will surge in price and outstrip the market - no. As for your point about changing the goalposts for stock ownership - possible. At the current value they are much easier to commit to owning 100 of than they were at the time the OBC arrangement started.

We used to get Hillier's chocolates on P&O. I am pretty sure we had them right up till covid, as we had an Aussie Day cruise on Explorer in Jan 2020. Our only P&O cruise since covid was the first one back, and there were no chocs for that one.

And your local shopping centre. Once upon a time, cruising used to be for the privileged, now most of us are privileged to be able to cruise. Most ships will have other passengers that see things in a different way, and not just P&O. If you pick on a shortish Aussie cruise in school holidays, you are going to meet plenty of cruisers that don't know how to be cruisers in the traditional sense. As long as they paid their fare and can abide by the rules of the ship, they have every right to be themselves and enjoy the cruise on their own terms.

On today's price, you are looking at around $AU2500 to get the minimum number of 100 CCL shares. Dividends and growth aside, that is 50 short cruises to recoup the value in OBC. That is also money spent, not saved, although it does reduce your onboard spend if you were always going to spend that much regardless. I have recovered a lot of my $1400 spent, but technically they haven't made me a cent. It will be nice to see some small dividends returning in the next year or so.