Aussie Gal

We have boarded in Sydney many times and apparently there is a rule that is issued by Australian Immigration that once on board you cannot go ashore. It is a different matter if you are in transit but if you are joining a cruise, it is definitely not on.

Why don't you fly into Sydney a day or so earlier and stay near the Rocks area. Our favourite hotel for boarding a ship especially if it is leaving from Circular Quay is the Four Seasons.  Otherwise, there is the Marriott near by and if you do not want to pay those prices then there is the boutique Russell Hotel which is right in the Rocks.

https://www.therussell.com.au/

If you stay at those hotels, you do not need a taxi to get to the ship.  We trundle our cases down to the ship around 10.30am and leave them with the porters, then we have quite a few hours to fill in the time.  Checkout at the Four Seasons is 12 noon so once we have checked out, we go down with our carry ons and board the ship. Otherwise, you could leave them with the hotel and go off and explore until 2pm or later.

We love the Rocks market which is on a Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. It is fun to peruse and perhaps buy a few things.  Enjoy, Sydney is a great city.

Jennie

Tomorrow here in Australia, as we are Elite, we can book the cruises that the Pacific Princess is offering to us down here.  One is an 80+ day cruise from Sydney to Sydney around South America quite an expensive cruise. We are interested in the Tahiti back to Australia cruise on the 4th December. 

The Pacific Princess does have Club Class which we always book, so we are very happy about that.  We love the small ex "R" ships and we try to cruise on them whenever we can. 

The scheduling of the Pacific down here makes up for the fact that we were booked on Oceania's Sirena to visit Cuba next March which has now been cancelled.  So you win some and lose some in this world.

Jennie

10 hours ago, BenMurphy said:

Hi Jennie

we're flying from U.K to L.A to pick up our Christmas cruise on board Sirena , back from Miami !  Last year we flew to N.Z via Singapore and back from Austrailia( spent a couple of nights on the Ghan) via H.K.  Then thrilled with excitement we sailed the Amazon on board Sirena. I was dizzy when it came to Christmas. I suppose that we are lucky where the U.K is situated ............right in the middle! 

I know what you mean by long flights and getting older,and I know that they'll be a time that we don't want to do it.

It will have to be Europe if they still want us after this fiasco ( less said the better!)

I hope that you find something amazing to do

Best regards

Josie xx

Have a wonderful time.  Last year was the first time in 24 years that we haven't flown to Europe or the U.S.   We have done so many of those flights, often two in a year.  We too have been up the Amazon.  We did it back in 2006 when we flew to Vancouver and boarded our ship.  It went down the coast of the U.S and Mexico, through the Panama and up the Amazon. It finished in Tampa, Florida.  Over the years we have done some wonderful land  and sea adventures but we are starting to slow down a little now. Though this year, we have already been back to Vietnam in March, Phuket in May and we are now here in Bali. Life is for living and I believe that we should enjoy each and every day.   Have fun.  So glad that you have seen a little of our wonderful country.

Jennie

2 hours ago, BenMurphy said:

Hi Jennie, we did a land tour on Cuba, it was was most interesting 

 

I know it would be fantastic but from where we live, it would take us over 30 hours flying from home to Havana. It is just too far and too long.  We have done longer flights but that was 20 years ago and we are that much older now. 

Our daughter and son in law visited Cuba last year and loved their visit.  We have wanted to visit for quite some time and we have booked three times over the past three years to do a cruise but had to cancel the first two cruises for different reasons.   We were thrilled when Oceania came up with their wonderful itinerary.   Oh well, it wasn't to be and we have resigned ourselves now to not seeing that country.

Jennie

1 hour ago, StanandJim said:

ca·reer
/kəˈrir/
 noun

An occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life  most often with  measured opportunities for professional advancement during the tenure.

 

However much you may wish to call what the Cuban Guides were doing a "career", Webster tells us that their very recent jobs simply don't qualify.

 

This is a matter of words having specific meanings.

 

 

You seem to be very hung up on the word "career". In our Oxford Dictionary, the word means "a particular area of work" or in Collins Dictionary it states that "a career is the job or profession that someone does for a long period of time". Isn't that what the Tour Guides were doing and hoping to continue with for as long as the cruise ships were visiting Cuba

Picking me up on a word that I used to describe what our Tour Guides were doing in Cuba is extremely petty on your part and going to such lengths to discredit me when I was just mentioning that we felt sorry for the guides that we have to cancel.,  

Not only Cuba missed out on us spending our money but your country also missed out on us spending thousands of dollars as we were not only going to visit Cuba but we also spending time and money in the U.S.  We have now lost our desire revisit the States. We would rather spend our money in a country where it is appreciated.

5 hours ago, StanandJim said:

Career is perhaps too strong  a word if they have only been doing it for the few years that USA travel has been permitted.

 

If they were acting as guides for Non USA folk before then, they will surely go back to doing that again.

It was still a career for them. Cuba is not like our countries where you can find work if you really try. I am sure they were all trained to become guides as they are in most third world countries. . They are all so proud of their country and it brought in good money for them. With the loss of so many cruise ships, there won't be enough land travel to keep most of them busy.

You may not agree with visiting Cuba but we were so looking forward to doing it by a cruise ship.  You probably think and say why don't you do it by land if you are so keen but we are not young and a land trip is just too hard, plus having to fly via Canada, Mexico or a South American country makes the journey impossible. 

7 hours ago, Crosboro said:

It wasn't our Government--it was the repugnant Trump!  We're very disappointed too--have been thinking about Cuba for 3 years and had finally found a cruise that was ideal.  

I don't believe that C.C. should be a political forum.  it is meant to be a place where we discuss cruising. Therefore, that is the reason why I stated we are not getting to Cuba. A law has been passed.  I don't want to become embroiled in an argument about your President.

On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 9:59 AM, HokiePoq said:

I don't think you'll have any problem with the deposit.   The air I can only imagine what might be involved.   We are visiting your wonderful country in October.  After booking I hurt my back and had the choice of dropping our circumnavigation or upgrading the air.   I upgraded so have some idea of the amount you are talking about.   I had already had to cancel one trip due to my back and didn't want to miss this long awaited return to Australia.   Keep us posted how things go.  Good luck!

Well after a couple of busy days we are all sorted out. We did receive from Oceania the copy of the new itinerary that Sirena is doing on the 8th and we weren't interested.  So I phoned Air N.Z. and we received most of the return air fare back minus $600.  We have put in a claim for that amount to our Amex Insurance and we may be lucky and get most of that back.

I then phoned Oceania this morning stating that we weren't interested in the new itinerary and the lass said just send an email to us asking for your deposit and it will be returned. I sent off the email and within a few minutes, she said it was all sorted and the credit would be back on our card within a couple of days.

I have cancelled the hotels that I had booked so unfortunately, we will not be making the journey to the U.S. next year and of course to Cuba which is our biggest disappointment. I just have to send emails to the three guides I had booked in Cuba.  I do feel so sorry for these guides as their careers has just been taken away from them through no fault of their own.

6 hours ago, HokiePoq said:

You have put my $500 in airline tickets in perspective.   You have a big investment here.   Hope you have trip insurance that covers it.   Mine doesn't kick in until the cruise so will be stuck going to ports I don't want to go to.  

We never take out Travel Insurance until we pay the cruise in full so the hardest part will be trying to either get our deposit back from Oceania or trying to find a cruise that we can move the deposit on to. We also had a cruise credit that was given to us by Oceania after a not so good cruise on Regatta last year.  I am sure we will get most of our air back from Air N.Z.   We are not talking of a few hundred dollars but a Premium Return ticket for two to L.A.  If not, I will try going through our AMEX and their insurance.  Just some of the joys of travelling but then we are so lucky to be able to do it only. 

Jennie

11 hours ago, jo-b said:

Aussie Gal it may be worth checking non USA lines or even maybe land based holidays with non USA companies if you really want to see Cuba?

 

We can go to Cuba if we do a land based tour but the big drawcard was spending each night on board the ship. It was a great itinerary.  We have decided that after 3 tries we will give Cuba a miss. It is now in the too hard basket. We don't want to fly to either Canada, Mexico or South America to get there. We are tired of the long flights though we were prepared to do the long haul to Miami just one more time.

Jennie

We are booked on Sirena for March next year so I very much doubt that we will get there now unfortunately. We certainly do not want to do a Caribbean cruise as Cuba was the drawcard. Hopefully we will get our deposit returned from Oceania. As we have already booked our flights on Air N.Z. to LA and return, that is another credit I will have to sort out.  We are just so disappointed that your Government has changed the rules.

Jennie

We usually take the longer cruises of 34-35 days on Oceania and we have only seen a couple of small children on board and a few teenagers who were very well behaved.  They seemed to only appear when we were in port so am not sure where they spent their days when at sea. At there aren't any kids clubs, Oceania really doesn't cater to children.

Jennie

We lost our deposit of $1000 when we had to cancel.  Apparently in Australia, there are different rules for Viking deposits than else where in the world. No way would we book another Viking cruise. Oceania is now our cruise line of choice.

Jennie

14 hours ago, thisislou said:

Hello

 

Last few cruises, I sent an email to Craig Blish  "cblish@princesscruises.com"  . He is always very helpful finding the correct contact and/or setting it up himself.

 

Lou

Thanks for that. I will send an email to him and see if he can pass it on to the correct person.

Jennie

11 hours ago, denmarks said:

I am  not sure this is current since it is from a few years ago.

 

Princess Contact List

Sapphire, Grand: Jenny Streeck (661) 284-4444
Streeck@princesscruises.com

Ruby & Coral: Berna Grayr (661) 284-4448
bgrayr@princesscruises.com

Royal, Sun, Dawn: Stacey Anderson (661) 284-4333
sanderson@princesscruises.com

Regal & Diamond: Lawrence Andrada (661) 284-4445
landrada@princesscruises.com

Emerald, Island & Majestic: Rosanne Pennucci (661) 284-4443
rpennucci@princesscruises.com

Crown & Star: Jodi Rudolph (661) 284-4450
jrudolph@princesscruises.com

Golden, Pacific: Jan James (661) 284-4452
jjames@princesscruises.com

Caribbean & Sea: Coleen Reyes (661) 284-4447
creyes@princesscruises.com

Diamond: Diana Hall (661) 284-4449
dhall@princesscruises.com

Thanks so much for this list. Even it if is out of date, I can send an email to one of them and they will forward it on. This is what I was after.

Jennie

14 hours ago, voljeep said:

a couple of months before boarding ? - kind of surprised there's not already an established roll call ...

 

what's you ship and date, if you want, and maybe someone can link a roll call if there

We already have an established Roll Call and all I want to do is to organize a time and meeting place for us once on board.

Jennie

It is a few years since I last organized a get together of our Roll Call. Back in those days, we had a representative for each Princess ship with whom we liaised regarding the meeting area, how many would be in attendance etc.

Yesterday, I sent an email to the only contact I could find and that was the Public Relations of Princess regarding our Roll Call get together and the reply I received was for me to see the Cruise Director once on board our ship which is the Sun Princess.

That is not how it used to work and I am wondering if anyone has the email contact for either the Sun Princess representative or one or any of the other ships so that an email could be forwarded on to the correct person. I used to have a list but I must have sent it to the delete file a few years ago. Perhaps the whole process has changed, if so please let me know the new way of organizing a meet and greet.

Any help would be appreciated.  We do have a couple of months before we are on board.

Jennie

Thanks Dani.  We love the International Café and we usually have our lunch there on sea days.

Jennie

We have just booked a 38 day cruise from Singapore to Southampton (UK) for March 2021 so the Grand will still be with Princess at least until the end of April in that year.

One question, does the Grand have an International Cafe?

Jennie

7 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

Jennie, I emailed Blexie to remind him about your request. He apologized for the delay .He has been very busy leading tours and has responded to you . Check your spam folder if you haven't seen his response yet.

Norris

Norris,

I did hear from Blexie yesterday and we are very happy with what we are doing on our first day in Havana. I cannot thank you enough for your wonderful report and the great information that I found in those pages.

Jennie

Hi Norris,

I still have to hear from Blexie Tours. Both Fernando and Yoe sent their regards and were thrilled that you had mentioned them in your review.  We will be seeing the new Oceania style when we cruise on Sirena. At the moment all the other little "O" ships are still in the old "R" mode.  We love the beautiful Marina which is so very tasteful, so we are hoping that the Sirena will be like her when she comes out of dry dock.

Jennie

A friend from Perth sent me the link to your wonderful review as she knew that we were going to Cuba next March. Thanks so much for the fantastic photos and the excellent  review as well as the recommendation of your guides. I have emailed each of the three companies and have already heard from two of them and have booked tours with them.  We are going with Oceania as the itinerary is excellent and we like their product.  We will be on Sirena and have already cruised on her six times when she was the Ocean and Tahitian Princess. She is our favourite little ship, though we have been on Azamara's Quest,  Pacific Princess and the old Royal Princess before she went to P & O U.K.,  plus Oceania's Nautica and Regatta so you can see we have a love affair with those ex "R" ships. Thanks for all the details of your cruise including your hotel in Miami. We are tempted to stay there though we have been to Miami once before and this time we are thinking of being closer to the port and staying at the Intercontinental.

Jennie  

Thanks to you four for being so prompt and giving me the correct advice. I am so glad that C.C. is here for us to ask questions and get the correct answers.  We are so used to everything running smoothly here in Oz that I wasn't going to ask. We left our ship a few weeks ago at Circular Quay in Sydney at 8.25am.  We were at Sydney's Domestic Terminal for Qantas at 8.50am and we were checked in and through security just after 9am!  We had booked an 11am flight so we had two hours to wait.  You can see why I was a bit wary about asking!   I will definitely book the later flight. 

Jennie

We are doing a Cuban cruise on the Sirena and we arrive back into Miami at 7am. Is it feasible to be able to book a 10.50am domestic flight from Miami to Philadelphia or should we make it later which would be nearly 2pm?

Jennie

David,

I will certainly let you know.  We are having a warm day today of 37C and it going to be in the high 30's until Sunday. I don't envy you the cold weather.  The coldest we get here in Melbourne is around 12C in the middle of winter though it can go down to 0 overnight.  I love summer and tomorrow is the official first day of autumn. Autumn is a beautiful time here but we know that daylight saving will end in a month and the nights will be drawing in!

Jennie