konatyme

There is a county park (Kahalu'u) a mile or two from downtown Kona that has a small beach and is great for snorkeling because it's protected and also is a marine preserve, so there are lots of fish. Because it's protected, it's a good spot for beginners, but we snorkel every day when we're in Hawaii and often see something new every time we go here. There are usually several turtles around. Don't miss the great shave ice at Ululani's at the King Kam, which is very close to the dock.

I thought from another thread that on a closed cruise around Oz, standard fares INCLUDED CA. Sorry if I misunderstood your post, Steelers36.

So glad you actually talked to the PVP about this, Mary. It sounds like you got the definitive answer (at least as long as Princess doesn't make any changes!). Now we will have to do some re-figuring and decide whether or not to keep Plus on the round-Australia cruise.

So in all this discussion about currency conversion, I'm still looking at what Mary Loves To Travel originally posted in this thread (i.e. "Although Crew Appreciation is listed as part of the Princess Plus package, on Australia and New Zealand voyages Crew Appreciation is already included in the cruise fare and therefore all guests, regardless of whether they book the Princess Plus package, will receive Crew Appreciation and no substitution or refund will be provided for such part of the package.") I guess we are to assume this is an error on the part of Princess since they don't say that it only applies to cruises booked IN Australia BY Australians?

Almond croissant and/or egg bites for breakfast, brie sandwich (toasted) for lunch

Sandia en Fuego at Good Spirits

We did an around-the-British-Isles cruise in 2014 and LeHavre was our last port of call before returning to Southhampton. We did a private excursion there. From looking at my journal from that cruise, it looks like it was Bayeaux Shuttle. They picked us up at the ship about 8:20 and we drove about 1 1/2 hrs. to the German Cemetery at LaCambe. We then went to Grandcamp-Maisy, then Pointe du Hoc. We walked around that area which was really interesting and had gun emplacements that appeared in the original "The Longest Day" movie. We were able to go into one of the German bunkers there. We left Pointe du Hoc and went to Omaha Beach. We had lunch at a little lunch wagon there, then our guide took to the beach and told us everything about it. (It really helped that we re-watched the original "The Longest Day" just before the cruise--it made it easier to visualize what happened there.) After Omaha Beach, we went to the American Military Cemetery. Such a beautiful, impressive place! After leaving there, we went to Arromanches to see the remains of the artificial harbor built by the British. We returned to the ship, arriving about 6 PM. It was an amazing day and one of the highlights of a wonderful cruise!

We were also on the June 1 cruise. One of our favorite crew members on the ship was Ricky, who is a server in the Piazza (IC, Good Spirits, the rest of the Piazza). He was super! Also, the assistant cruise director Nick was so talented, funny, and friendly. Enjoy!

Thank you!

We will be in Cairns in Oct. 2024 from 9A-9P on the Crown Princess. In looking at timetables for the train and the gondola, it seems unlikely that we could make either for the morning trip up. Since it's too early yet to see any excursions posted on the Princess website, I'm wondering whether anyone knows if there's likely to be a ship's excursion to Kuranda which will have different boarding times.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

@ThrakAlso, I'm assuming from the talk of OBC, my husband's military credit of $250 will be changed to Australian dollars. Will this be true even if we use it to pay for an excursion we book on the Princess website well ahead of the cruise?

@Thrak I'm slightly confused by the discussion about AU and USA fares and crew appreciation. We have an around- Australia cruise booked for Oct. 2024. We used a Future Cruise Deposit and that's all we've paid. For now, we chose the Plus fare, but want to put numbers to it to decide whether to leave it or change to standard fare. After reading the above discussion, I'm not sure whether the fare amt. includes crew appreciation, drinks, and wi-fi or whether all that is even covered for Australia under the Plus fare shown. I hope this question makes sense; as I've said, I'm confused!

@kenexxIt was neat to see a post from you. I thought I recognized your "name" and when I checked your list of cruises, it confirmed that we met you on the Dawn Princess in Sept. 2008. What a great cruise that was!

On our Med. cruise last fall, there were no t-shirts, but we still got a recipe card for each of the drinks we tried--and in 21 days, between the two of us, we tried all 11 that were offered!

@Steelers36 And thank you!

@ThrakThank you!

@Steelers36 So if I'm understanding you correctly, I can look at our dining reservations, choose "Edit", look to see what's available, but not lose my current reservation unless I actually choose one of the new choices?

@Thrak Thank you, Thrak. I thought I had done this, but after I added our friends, at some point, it changed to "shared table"; hadn't checked that part of the app for awhile, so didn't notice it til yesterday.

Thanks so much for the kind words of encouragement. I really appreciate it!

I don't know whether or not anyone else has had this same problem, and I doubt there's an easy answer, but I'll give it a try. We are scheduled for a round-trip cruise to Hawaii on the Emerald, leaving June 1, 2023. We booked the cruise at the end of February and within a day or two, I went on the Medallion app and made dining reservations. We are traveling with another couple who are in their mid-80s and very hard of hearing, even with hearing aids. I added them to our dining reservations within a day or two with the intention that we would have a table for 4, because it's very, very hard for them to be at a table with more people--they can't hear the conversations, except as a lot of "noise". I went on the app yesterday to check on some other things and saw that our reservation says "shared table". I got on Princess Live Chat and was told that means not that we are sharing a table with our friends, but that it means the four of us will be at a table with other guests. 😟 I'm afraid to go in and try to edit our reservation because I'm afraid we might lose it altogether and have to start over. The Princess rep suggested that I wait and go to the dining room as soon as we get on the ship and talk to someone about the problem and see if we can keep the same dining time, but at a table for 4. Any thoughts on whether I should try to change it on the app or wait til we are onboard? (I realize that no one is going to know for sure, but thought I'd see what your opinions might be.) Thanks!

Good question. One of our traveling companions is also unable to stand for long periods of time, so hoping our 6 PM reservations for every night will keep this from happening. But who knows? On the Regal last fall, we were able to just walk in (we'd asked for the same table, or at least same waiter every night, and got that).

I think my confusion resulted from the posting mentioning buying a one-device plan once onboard.

I'm a little confused. coo359a2 says they are cruising with the Plus package, yet talks about paying for MedallionNet. Isn't that included in the Plus package? Am I missing something?

I don't think I knew about the sales tax charge if a drink is ordered while still in port at LA. So if we have the Plus package and order a drink before departure or even at sailaway, we'll be charged sales tax?