BobTroll

My wife was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 1984. Since then we have completed many cruises with Princess and several other cruise lines.

Princess are usually very good at catering for special diets, so I will try not to repeat all of the previous advice.

Some chefs go beyond the call of duty to provide a wide range of appetising GF options - and will happily modify items from the main menus. Incidentally, Princess do not use wheat flour to thicken any sauces or gravies.

I recommend that when you pre-order meals for the following day, always specify the detailed items you require. Otherwise, Princess have a tendency to omit parts of a course that would normally contain gluten, but without serving any substitute. So for instance, if you order a main course that includes croquette potatoes (rolled in breadcrumbs), you must specify a different type of potato. Otherwise, your meal will probably arrive without any potatoes. And although they are not listed on the printed menus, steamed vegetables are always available.

Desserts cause more problems, because many of them are gateaux or have pastry bases. So if you fancy something that does not appear on the printed menu, ask whether it can be provided. My wife can recommend the gluten free soufflés, which were produced to special order. Seasonal fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.), are usually available.

On sea days, the afternoon tea service in one of the main restaurants might include gluten free sandwiches, scones and cakes.

Sliced bead is available in the main restaurants and in the Horizon buffet - but not bread rolls. The kitchens use dedicated toasters, which avoids cross contamination. Princess do not offer pre-packed biscuits and crackers (for cheese). So take your own crackers, if you enjoy cheese and biscuits.

The ships restaurant and catering staff are not responsible for any meals during shore excursions. Consequently, you should always go to the shore excursions desk at least two days before each excursion and ask the staff to advise their suppliers ashore. We have never experienced problems.

We have just returned from a cruise on Crown Princess and unusually, the chef was not very cooperative. In the unlikely event that you experience similar problems, do not hesitate to contact the Maître d' or the Food and Beverage Manager. For further information, please see my review at www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=582103.

My wife must adhere to a gluten-free diet. She experienced no problems with the range of options on Seven Seas Mariner - and one of the sous chefs in the buffet restaurant even volunteered to prepare a special gluten-free lasagne (which was superb).

All cruise lines have a separate kitchen (or section) with a dedicated chef, to cater for special diets and avoid cross contamination. Regent is no exception. However, some of their ordering procedures are slightly different.

With most cruise lines, a head waiter should visit your table during dinner, with printed menus for the following day. He will invite you to pre-order - and can discuss with you which dishes are suitable for your diet. For coeliacs, the head waiter should also explain which dishes are either naturally gluten-free or can be modified.

During our last cruise on Seven Seas Mariner, they delivered the menus to our cabin - and asked her to mark her preferences and return the menus to the restaurant before 9:00 am on the following morning. That provided no opportunity for a face to face discussion and caused a few problems, because a Regent include many complimentary shore excursions. Consequently, we went ashore most mornings, with some very early starts.

When my wife returned to ship on several occasions, she received voicemail messages, advising her that some of the dishes she had ordered were unsuitable.

We resolved that issue after a few days, by requesting one of the head waiters to take her order personally, every evening.

 

Incidentals

We received free internet minutes on the first leg as well as a free laundry for as much as you could fill the small laundry bag. The laundry came back folded, pressed and on hangers for the shirts. Very nice. I have no idea why we got this free perk. We received an additional 85 free internet minutes on the second leg since we were now part of the Le Club Voyage.

You probably received free internet and laundry, because you had previously earned loyalty points with Celebrity Cruises or Royal Caribbean.

Azamara is an offshoot from Celebrity Cruises so although it operates its own loyalty program, Captain's Club points count towards Azamara's Le Club Voyage - and vice versa. That might change in the future but at the moment, past and future points count towards both loyalty programmes, when you sail with either cruise line.

The tiers on Celebrity and Azamara are:

2 - 149 points = Classic tier with Celebrity / Adventurer tier with Azamara

150 - 299 points = Select tier with Celebrity / Explorer tier with Azamara

300 - 749 points = Elite tier with Celebrity / Discoverer with Azamara

750 - 2999 points = Elite Plus tier with Celebrity / Discoverer Plus with Azamara

3000+ points = Zenith tier with Celebrity / Discoverer Platinum with Azamara

There are also reciprocal benefits between Le Club Voyage and Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society. Although a Royal Caribbean cruise does not earn points on Azamara or Celebrity (or vice versa), Crown & Anchor members qualify for equivalent status on Azamara, once they have reached one of the higher tiers on Royal Caribbean. See http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/our-ships/le-club-voyage/member-benefits/reciprocal-benefits

Azamara's benefits package will change from January 2015 but even so, their benefits are still more generous than Celebrity. Once you have reached the Explorer tier (Select on Celebrity / Platinum or Emerald on Royal Caribbean), your "goodies" will include:

• a bottle of sparkling wine in your cabin on arrival (until December 2014 only)
  
• free Internet minutes (85 minutes per person in 2014 / 60 minutes per person from 2015) and
  
• one free bag of laundry, per stateroom, per seven-night voyage.
  

For full details, see http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/our-ships/le-club-voyage/member-benefits/benefits-glance.

I have had a zero cabin account twice.

The first occasion was on a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, operated by the Australian company, Scenic Tours. The price was all-inclusive, so we did not have to pay for gratuities, specialty restaurants, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks (at any time) or the internet. Shore excursions were offered free of charge at every port. Consequently, it would have been difficult to rack up any other expenditure, because we did not send anything to the laundry and we did not make telephone calls from our cabin. There were no unexpected costs or other nasty surprises. However, we did pay indirectly, because the all-inclusive nature of the cruise was reflected in the price. Although it was not cheap, the cruise was superb - and good value.

The second occasion was a cruise on Azamara Journey from Mumbai to Athens. Azamara promote their cruises as "more inclusive", so there was no need to spend a lot on board. We chose not to purchase photographs or use the casino, although we did pay in advance for several shore excursions. We could have purchased premium drinks or paid a supplement to dine in the specialty restaurants. However, there was no hard sell, and those aspects were optional.

This raises the question of whether cruise lines overcharge for drinks, photographs, shore excursions, etc. I accept that ships must make a profit and as a shareholder in Carnival, I am happy to receive their regular dividends. However, wine prices on many cruise ships are outrageous and it is difficult to justify a price of $30 or more for a bottle, which the cruise line can purchase for around $3. Similarly, how can they justify charging $25 for a 7 x 5 photograph?

I am usually happy to pay for good value, but I object to being ripped off. So if prices are excessive, I prefer to go without. I wonder whether cruise lines would sell more and generate higher profits, if they reduced some of their prices.

I have one observation. As far as I can see, all of the previous replies are from residents of the USA. If you live elsewhere, the situation may be very different.

For instance, if you book a cruise through a travel agent in the UK - or directly with the cruise line's the UK office, the deposit is always non-refundable (irrespective of any reason for cancellation). Furthermore, UK booking conditions stipulate that all passengers MUST arrange travel insurance from the outset - and you must provide details to the cruise line. If you don't arrange adequate insurance, the cruise line will not allow you to travel.

Cruise lines and travel agents generously offer to sell "tailor-made" travel insurance. It is no coincidence that they receive substantial commission from the sale. However, it is rarely a good idea to purchase from a cruise line or travel agent, because premiums are often uncompetitive and you can usually get a better deal by shopping around. Provided you have no serious pre-existing conditions, an annual policy can be much cheaper than a series of single trip policies (depending upon your age and whether you arrange more than one vacation within the 12-month period).

But as with everything, cheapest might not be the best. It is essential to check the cover, particularly with regard to medical expenses, repatriation costs, and cancellation. Equally, you don't need to pay extra to insure your bags and personal possessions against loss or damage, if you have worldwide cover for these items under another insurance policy (such as your household insurance).

A basic travel insurance policy might only pay for cancellation due to serious illness or death of the traveller and his/her travelling companion. More expensive policies should pay for cancellation caused by a much wider range of circumstances, such as serious illness or death of a third party (a close relative or business partner, etc.), destruction or damage to your home by fire or natural disaster, loss of your employment due to redundancy, or being called-up for compulsory jury service.

However, no policy will pay out, if you cancel because you have changed your mind (defined as "disinclination to travel").

Celebrity did give some people bonus points, but the bonus points did NOT put them in a higher loyalty category.

That may well be true. However, the Celebrity website said, "you were so close to Elite level, we moved you up by awarding you bonus points". Most people would interpret "moved you up" as meaning they had been promoted to the Elite level.

However, I had not expected to reach that level, so I am not too disappointed. In any case, my wife and I are content with the Explorer benefits on Azamara, which include 150 minutes of free Internet (per person) - plus one complimentary bag of laundry per week (per stateroom).

The Explorer benefits on Azamara are almost as attractive as the Elite (top) tier on Princess Cruises. Princess top tier benefits include between 150 minutes and 500 minutes of free Internet (depending upon the duration of the cruise) - plus unlimited laundry and dry cleaning.

However, Princess passengers must have completed 15 cruises (or 150 days) with Princess and/or P&O, to qualify for the Elite tier. Azamara passengers qualify for the Explorer (middle) tier after only 5 cruises with Celebrity and/or Azamara.

I hope Celebrity's captains have a better grasp of mathematics than their Captain's Club.

I had previously earned sufficient points on Royal Caribbean ships to qualify for the Royal Caribbean Platinum tier. Consequently, I qualified for the Captain's Club Select tier and the Azamara Explorer tier - on a reciprocal basis.

I have also earned 7 credits from cruises on Celebrity and Azamara ships. Those points place me on the Captain's Club Select tier and Azamara's Explorer tier.

Celebrity have multiplied my 7 credits by 30 = 210 points. Then, they added 30 bonus points because, according to their website, "In the conversion, you were so close to Elite level, we moved you up by awarding you bonus points." 210 + 30 = 240.

However, the Select tier covers the range between 150 and 299 points, so I am not particularly close to the Elite level. Furthermore, the Captain's Club website does not show my status as Elite.

It follows that I must earn an additional 60 points, before I can qualify for the Elite level. I expect to earn 34 points next year, from a 17-night voyage on Azamara Journey (in an outside cabin), departing from Mumbai on 15th April.

We'll be in Rabaul next March on the Royal Princess and would appreciate any first hand info on the town and area.

Where does the ship dock relative to town?

Has anyone used Paivu Tours? What was your experience?

What's worthwhile seeing?

Thanks in advance.

My wife and I will also be on this cruise, sailing from Sydney to Hong Kong. I cannot provide first hand information on the town or area. Having researched via the Lonely Planet Guide, there seem to be three local tour operators, which include Paivu Tours and the Rabaul Hotel.(http://www.rabaulhotel.com.pg/). The hotel is owned and managed by an Australian couple.

I emailed both of these operators and within a few hours, I received the following helpful reply from Rabaul Hotel.

For Rabaul, all of the ship's excursions are wait-listed. In any case, my wife and I prefer to "do our own thing" and we only book ship's excursions, if they offer something "special" and/or there are security problems at the particular destination and/or there is no alternative.

There are local buses at Rabaul, but there are no timetables on the web and I believe the local infrastructure is rather basic. PNGK360 is about GBP95 or CAD176 - and according to Lonely Planet, the additional "site fees" are inexpensive (around PNGK 5 = GBP1.35 or CAD2.5 per site). I was impressed by the speedy response from Rabaul Hotel and having read the Lonely Planet review, I am attracted to the concept of reserving a car with local driver (through the Rabaul Hotel). Consequently, my wife I would be interested in sharing a car or minibus with like-minded travellers.

Unlike Tripadvisor, there seems to be no way of sending private messages via this forum. However, I would like to establish direct contact with you. Please email me at "nospam dot lucas at tesco dot net" (change "dot" to "." and change "at" to "@"). This is a temporary email address, to deter junk mailers.