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Aussie Gal

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Everything posted by Aussie Gal

  1. We got our Aft Suite on the Diamond for our 24 day cruise from Tokyo to Melbourne in September, 2024. We are happy with both the ship and the itinerary.
  2. We too are hoping to do the Diamond repo cruise in Sept 2024. We were originally going to do the return cruise to Tokyo from Aust as it would be cherry blossom time but we had already booked another cruise plus you would be going into cold weather. The September cruise from Tokyo starts off warm and hopefully stsys warm at least to Qld. Also we can finish in Melbourne which is a big plus for us.
  3. It depends on how many bottles you drink in a week. A bottle of wine usually lasts us 2 nights so for a week that would be 3.5 bottles a week. I am sure you can bring on wine at the various ports that you visit, as long as you pay the corkage.
  4. We too are bringing on board our own wines as we appreciate good wine and would prefer to pay the corkage than pay Princess the exhorbitant prices they want for inferior wine.
  5. I so agree. We like to have a coffee once a day at the International Cafe with our lunch and now at $6 x 2 =$12 x 17 days = $204 which is a lot to pay. We don't drink"sodas" so buying that card at $40 a day x 2 = $80 x 17 dsys is out of the question. Especially as the coffee is nowhere near as good as here at home in Melbourne. We will just have to resort to drinking tea at lunch.
  6. I understood he was looking for an hotel near the airport and cruise terminal so therefore my answer was correct being the nearest and best hotel to both! Otherwise if he wants to be near the city then he needs to ask about a city hotel. You cannot have both as the airport is not near the city.
  7. We spent a night at the Pullman at Brisbane airport and then took a taxi next morning to the port. We were able to walk to the hotel from the airport, going first of all through the carpark and following the footpath. It is a very comfortable hotel and we enjoyed our stay there even though it was still just starting to open up after coming out of lockdown. This was last July The taxi from the hotel to the port cost us around $45 and it is the nearest hotel to the Port.
  8. We were also booked on the little Pacific Princess, Sydney to Tokyo, until Covid reared its ugly head so that Princess in the end decided to sell the ship. We are going to book the Tokyo to Melbourne cruise on the Diamond for September next year. We have been to Japan twice before though this time the Diamond does go to a few new ports which is always a bonus.
  9. Obviously Princess doesn't count the 5 million people who live here enough to give us a ship for the whole of summer. I don't understand why Brisbane with their awful port get the best of everything.
  10. Princess also enlarged the ship from 2670 guests to over 3080 guests. I believe they ruined the ship when they did this.
  11. I believe that is the case. In fact I think you had to be a customer of a U.S. Agent for longer than 10 years. I can buy from my U.S. agent as I have the history of using her long before the rules were changed but as our dollar is so low, I haven't bothered booking with her for a few years as the amount you save is lost when it is converted back to our money. Also, when booking just Australian cruises, it is cheaper to buy here than what she could offer me.
  12. We have passed by Easter Island three times and each time it was too windy to go ashore. It is a tender port and quite rocky so the weather plays a huge part in whether you get to go ashore. If that is going to be the deal breaker then forget it as more ships miss it than those who manage to anchor there. It is a gamble and each time we didn't know whether we would get ashore until we had arrived at the island and then it is up to the Captain and the weather bureau on Easter Island.
  13. I don't think we have been given the U.S. pricing, only the Aussie and N.Z. prices seem to be the only ones released.
  14. It is a great itinerary. If you can get to Machu Picchu for a day or so, it will be well worth it. We did a side trip back in 2006 for five days and loved that part of Peru, especially Cusco and the Sacred Valley.
  15. Look forward to meetimg you in 18 months time!
  16. We too are going to be on this cruise. We will be disembarking in Melbourne. We have been on the Diamond before and especially love the toilets!
  17. It is the fact that you are visiting the U.S.where if you become ill, then the medical bills are exhorbitant. So the travel insurance companies load their prices accordingly.
  18. We have been to N.Z. countless times and were hoping for cruises to the islands, ie. Vanuatu and New Caledonia. We loved the little ships and they were sold, then the Sun and Sea went and now it looks as though the lovely Coral is going. We deserve better from Princess. We are loyal Princess cruisers but I can see us moving on in the future.
  19. This is very poor. Only 3 ships and such boring itineraries. When is this going to be released here in Oz? Surely there will be more ships to be added to these three. If not we will be looking at other lines including Celebrity, HAL and Oceania.
  20. As I mentioned in my post above (113), we were on an earlier sailing and we were disappointed with the food. In fact when I filled out the comments form after 10 days of cruising, I mentioned this and the Head Chef came to see me. First of all we found the menus were very limited so different to pre Covid and then the actual food was nothing like we were used to on cruises before Covid. Polo was still good but after our first night in Toscano, we cancelled our other bookings. We did not eat up on the Terrace so cannot comment on that. We found the food was over salted on a number of occasions and twice I just couldn't eat my main course. I am not a picky eater and usually enjoy all my meals. We have always held up Oceania as the best food we have eaten while cruising but we have changed our minds since this cruise and after cruising with Princess in July we feel that their food was just as tasty plus their fares are so much more competitive. We are trying Regent next and are hoping for an happier outcome.
  21. We were on the cruise from Singapore to Sydney that left on November 19th. We were told at boarding that we were going to miss two ports - Semerang and Surabaya and were to have an overnight in Singapore instead. No refunds or free drinks, we just had to swallow it. We could never find out the reason why they were cancelled. We heard rumours of course such as Covid and the earthquake but nothing substantial. We had previously been on the Regatta in 2017/2018 on the Round Australia cruise and we missed three ports on that cruise. Again no compensation or apologies. This time we were very disappointed with Oceania - it was our 6th cruise with them out of 38 cruises - as we found the food not up to its usual excellent standard and the entertainment also not as it used to be so we have decided to move on. We also think the Regatta seems to have a problem with cancelling ports. When we have cruised on Oceania's other ships, we have never had a problem.
  22. Thanks for all your helpful information. We are sailing on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth in February and yesterday I followed your advice and sent off an email to the Cunard address for Carnival Shares OBC. This morning there was an email from Cunard stating that the Share OBC has gone into our account. Just so easy and well worth the small amount we paid out for the shares. Jennie
  23. Our cruise is 21 days and is from Singapore to Sydney. We normally have a PH on Oceania but when we booked this cruise in January, they were all taken. We moved it over at the beginning of the year from the Marina Transatlantic Rome to Miami. We were worried about Covid at the time and decided to stay closer to home. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I will try and make sure that i go online just as the 60 days ticks over. I believe Oceania is in Miami, so I will work on Florida time. It will be around 3pm our time and also we are a day ahead, though we will be in Daylight Savings so I will have to adjust for that.
  24. Thanks so much. I did find the time date in my account and I have to wait until 60 days. We are allowed 3 bookings in each restaurant which is great. I just have to wait another 4 weeks until I can nook them! Jennie
  25. We are booked on the Regatta for a November cruise. I have been trying to find out when we can book our speciality restaurants. Can someone tell me how many weeks or months before we embark are we able to prebook them. Thank you. Jennie
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