arxcards

For those staying in the Hamilton or airport area on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday night, Northshore Eat Street is worth the effort for a casual meal & drink. It has been a few years since we were last there, but are heading there from our Portside diggs in a couple of weeks time. https://eatstreetnorthshore.com.au/eat-drink-shop

They already are, but what do you do in November this year? Do you wait and see what is happening in the Red Sea in September and cancel your planned itinerary to go the long way around and lose a packet in cancellations? Do you cancel those already booked now and offer the alternate cruise knowing the Red Sea could be safe to traffic by then? Or do you just take the Red Sea out of the equation and go to the Caribbean instead, where there is more gold is to be had and the pirates are only in the movies. This is just the bookings for St Maarten, as mentioned by Springaussie at the start of the topic. All of the Florida homeports display limited public information that far ahead, so this is the only trail I can find at present. They could be just in case bookings, but the fact these were made prior to yesterdays announcement has me believing they are just rolling out the news one step at a time so that their call centre can prioritise. I hope I am wrong. The 24/25 Australian season, as mentioned, is currently unavailable. That is less of a concern, as they could simply be taken offline so their call centre can focus on all the cancellations, credits & rebooking of those affected by the rescheduling of the March relocation. But these port bookings are real.

Sounds fantastic. Enjoy.

The newer Princess ships have couches in some balcony cabins. That is a nice feature for sitting, but they are really there to allow for more 3 and 4 berth cabins via a sofa bed.

I like the Caribe balconies, but really like BE aft on Aloha - with easy access to those awesome tiered decks down to the aft pool. Ideally well aft, away from being under HorrorZone Court. The couch doesn't matter for us personally.

All of the above, plus it is no longer a boom market here. Cost of living pressures only has to drop 5% of cruiser numbers to take away cash from the cruise lines.

That is natural. Virgin wants a slice of the market, and existing brands will compete to protect their slice. Virgin thought it would be an easier nut to crack than they are finding. Princess & P&O now have itineraries released up to 30 months ahead to commit potential passengers, while Virgin is a year behind that and also made itinerary changes on the run for this season. While those established brands have itineraries locked in for April 2026, Virgin isn't 100% about what they are doing in November 2024. More competition is good for all of us, regardless of our preferred cruise line - but none of them are about to roll over for the other.

But no couch? Not something we have ever considered before.

We pay anyway. Just like everywhere else in Aus, taxes, fees, charges are just included in the ticket price. So, it is fair that the price you see when you book is inclusive of any service charges, and the menu price of any drink is inclusive of any service charges.

Awesome, welcome, nice pics, glad you had a good time. Don't be so hard on yourself. Wear your covid as a cruising badge of courage. I know dozens of people who's first dose of covid was on or immediately after a cruise, including ourselves. Washing hands with soap & water trumps hand sanitiser.

All ships that are skipping the Red Sea really have no choice but to head west. Personally I have no idea Chili, except I believe they are considering an alternative homeport.

We have only had a mini on deck 9 of a sister ship. We had a regular balcony on our previous Diamond cruise. Those on deck 8 are covered by the ones above on deck 9. The downside with a ME guarantee is that if you are allocated one on starboard, it could be in proximity above the promenade deck smoking area. Comparing cabin size or couch/no couch? The numbers I have places them as slightly larger than Junior suites on Ovation (354 vs 348 square foot). We have cruised in plenty of Royal balconies, mostly on the bump, and Diamond minis are certainly larger.

New itinerary following departure from Sydney = Eden, Fremantle, Port Louis, Durban, Cape Town, Walvis Bay, Praia, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Casablanca, Barcelona, Valletta, Santorini, Piraeus. Those doing all 3 legs will still get a cruise.

All mini-suites on Princess are nice and roomy, comfortable without being special. We also have a ME guarantee for our next cruise on Diamond. The "ME" is just a grade of mini based on location, with MA, MB, MC, MD considered to be in a more desirable lspot. We had booked a specific MD cabin, but found that combined with Black Friday sales we could save a motza by switching to a ME guarantee. At the time we followed advice here that all minis are on deck 9, but that wasn't accurate as some are aft on deck 8 - likely where your cabin will be. OBC can be used for tours, but not for pre-booking of dining. Never fear, you will be able to book Ultimate Balcony Dinner easily once aboard with your OBC. Most other passengers are the same, that they would rather wait and book once aboard and it will be unlikely that it will sell out. It has been ages since we have done one, as they were shut down for a bit post-covid. We loved it and would recommend it as something worth trying. The wines are drinkable, but in the main are cheap and cheerful bottom shelf - i.e. the price per glass is what you would normally pay for a bottle of the stuff. There isn't a great variety, and that is disappointing when you have paid for a package that allows you to drink every beer or 90% of the spirits/cocktails. This is pretty typical of "by the glass" wine across most cruise lines though, Royal included. $65 per day for plus, and it also includes internet and a few other bits you may or may not need. Cheap as chips compared to buying drinks or drink packages on other ships. As you have been loyal to Royal, everything you do with this cruise will relate back to how it compares with your past experiences with them. Only natural. We like Royal, we like Celebrity, we like Princess a bit more, all for varied reasons. Enjoy putting your plans together.

The 2023 wc on Coral managed to get to Easter Island. I am hoping the same for us in 2025 but am aware it is hit & miss. Good luck for those going this year, as yes, there are plenty enough sea days already.

The Cancer Council does not sell any sunscreen that has been certified as reef safe. Many snorkel & dive sites insist on wearing sunscreens that are non-toxic to to coral reefs.

Coral Princess world cruise has made a decision not to transit the Red Sea on their world cruise. That cruise departs Sydney on 30th April. Resilient Lady departs Sydney, returning to Europe on 27th March. Just 7 weeks away, yet no plan B announced. Considering this is being sold in legs to Singapore, then Dubai, then Athens, it could be messy.

There is lots of sea. World cruises tend to be like that.

Most of our supermarkets have an affiliated liquor store adjacent. Woolworths will have a BWS Coles will have a Liquorland. If you have a Dan Murphy's close to where you are staying, you will have maximum choice.

Contact HAL as far as the how you get around the US state. As far as I was aware, this was available to Australia. Checking their FAQ, it says: CPP Platinum is not available to residents of New York State, Quebec, British Columbia, Puerto Rico or the United Kingdom.

You are going to get bits of signal as you pass some of the regional centres up the coast, which works for SMS that will just drop into your phone during those moments you get a signal. You will need to be on an open deck, and reception is unreliable for calls. Leaving Brisbane, you will pretty much have reception up to Noosa, then just blips off Fraser Island, Gladstone, Mackay till approaching Airlie Beach. The following night, you will get a bit of reception off Townsville on your way to Cairns. The next night to Port Douglas might have good reception, but some ships go outside the reef overnight to make water, and you will have nothing. When you depart for Willis Island, you will be out to sea, and wont have reception for a couple of days. If you have Global Roaming, make sure it is turned off, or you will connect to Cellular at Sea - far more expensive than paying for ship internet.

Yes, 2 days of course. I love the layout of Coral but give me Diamond any day when it comes to getting a seat at a bar or walk-up dining. I expect Crown to be 3rd prize in comparison, so maybe we will have to upgrade to premier so we can do Salty Dog gastropub on the busy nights (I'm kidding, not paying overs for that).

Brisbane. Hmm, I thought it out loud as a probable option when thinking through the time lost, but it must be a tough call for them to make. Those that were boarding in Brisbane will now be boarding a day earlier in Sydney, and I wonder what Princess is doing to assist. If there any sectors involving Singapore or Dubai, that would get even messier. We are doing the 2nd half of that 2025 Crown World cruise. The Suez might be sorted then, but we might have to contend with a civil war in the Americas 😉 Compared with Diamond, I expect Crown to be busier, and that would be a more suitable comparison. Coral is just smaller all round, including dining and bar space, but that also gives it Panamax and the old locks of the Panama.

I think you can lock in Voyager. The cruise schedule bookings can be a bit loose with place markers and TBA's, but the operation pages have specific bookings. Nothing showing for Brisbane last time I checked, but Voyage had confirmed bookings for Airlie Beach, Yorkeys and Port Douglas. I get the same same stuff, but we didn't enjoy much about Voyager and loved Explorer. Similarly, we hated Pacific Jewel and enjoyed Pacific Dawn.

Thanks for sharing. Inevitable, but still would be a bit of a shock for those booked. Enjoy making new plans for the revised ports.