fvandewouwer

thanks again to all of you who made some time to clarify my questions

I ' just read, the it manager ' managed to see prices on the Princess.com website 'US'

as we are not allowed in Europe to see those prices 'which I find extremely stupid'

Princess ….. here we come :)

have a marvellous day everyone

Resume, if we want to check prices and see which cabins are available need a way to find to log into the US website as the one I have says : contact a travel agent

Need to buy stock for extra obc

Balcony room on Caribe deck is the best for the Emerald

To who has done this cruise will the weather be any good in februari

,some websites say a lot of rain during

Jan/Feb

Thank you all

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Thanks appreciate it a lot

:)

can we book this cruise through the Princess website ?

I cannot manage to see any prices on the Princess Website neither book on it a cruise ???

 

It may because you are in Belgium. Normally cruise pricing is available on the web site and you can book on the web site. At least those of us in the US can

 

if we use our TA ( who is from the US ) will they adjust the prices before final payment ' they do this for us now but we need to check the price ourselves'

 

Yes, you should be able to adjust the pricing as the prices drop

 

looking at a balcony room between room floors mid ship any bad rooms / room location and why ?

 

Sorry. Can't help you with this. Never been on the Emerald

 

we became diamond plus members of RCI wished we could do similar itinerary with them for the benefits but …

is there any possibility we can keep our status ( as they are all under the Carnival management ? )

 

RCI is not under Carnival management.

 

 

I have been reading mixed reviews, Princess customers are stiff and a bit posh I have been told, will we fit in ?

 

Not true

 

we never dress up fancy ( husband does not even has a costume ) love to eat whenever we like and whatever we want ' so normally we go to the self service restaurant ' we would do this cruise for the itinerary

 

Not a problem. I have friends who are Elite on Princess and never eat in the dining room and never dress up.

 

and yes we love sea days love to talk to people and watch the ocean go by, evening we go to the show and spend some time walking around or loose money at the casino

 

 

You'll be fine on Princess

Hi,

we are looking for the first time to do a Princess Cruise

Emerald 28 days from LA februari 2020

we have done RCI ( 25 cruises ) Carnival and NCL so this is new for us

some questions, hope you can help us

can we book this cruise through the Princess website ?

I cannot manage to see any prices on the Princess Website neither book on it a cruise ???

if we use our TA ( who is from the US ) will they adjust the prices before final payment ' they do this for us now but we need to check the price ourselves'

like to compare price ' TA with the website ' before we book this one

looking at a balcony room between room floors mid ship any bad rooms / room location and why ?

we became diamond plus members of RCI wished we could do similar itinerary with them for the benefits but …

is there any possibility we can keep our status ( as they are all under the Carnival management ? )

I have been reading mixed reviews, Princess customers are stiff and a bit posh I have been told, will we fit in ?

we never dress up fancy ( husband does not even has a costume ) love to eat whenever we like and whatever we want ' so normally we go to the self service restaurant ' we would do this cruise for the itinerary

and yes we love sea days love to talk to people and watch the ocean go by, evening we go to the show and spend some time walking around or loose money at the casino

all ideas and tips for us are welcome

thanks

thank you all, what is clear for me is to take the Emerald Princess and not Island Princess so if we book this cruise it will be the one leaving LA on Februari 2020.

We have been to LA about 20 years ago and to Hawaii in 2009 'we did spend one week on each island and loved it ' but this cruise is for visiting and snorkelling Polynesië, and yes we do love see days.

About those shares you are talking about, I do follow the stock market yes also the Nyse but what I've heard is that you cannot combine OBC you get from having shares of Carnival with the OBC you get from your travel agent, and I do book my cruises with a travel agent in the United States not in Europe, so I get OBC.

Anyone can clear this for me if that is true ?

Related to this cruise, as I am not familiar with Princess ,is there a good time to book this cruise, for ex the WOW sale of RCI is a good time to book a cruise. I will take a look at their website off course but in case you know please tell me your Princess booking secrets :)

again thank you all for your time

wishing you a wonderful day…. or evening

" Griller, may I ask what your language is " ?

have sailed RCI ( diamond + ) / NCL / Carnival ( also in this order of favour )

have seen the itinerary from LA to Hawaii / Bora Bora ….back to La

love the itinerary and it is our 40 wedding anniversary in 2020

Emerald Princess going in February 1 and Island Princess going in April 11(2020)

the itinerary is the same, we love to dive / snorkel / hike and adore nature / wildlife

which one would you pick and why.

we like all kind of ships ' big or small' we like eating when we want and whenever we want,we like all kinds of food. we like a drink or 2 before dinner but we can live without alcohol, we like to walk around go to the gym enjoy watching the ocean, see a good show, loose some money in the casino and interact whenever we like. what is important is that we want a quiet and peace full cruise, we hate to hear loud music and lots of noise during night time. so a good and quiet room is also very important.

is there a member program that we can link to Princess ?

(if we could do the itinerary with RCI or Celebrity we probably would not choose Princess just because of the benefits)

thanks for the help to decide which one to take

have a great day

Grand Pacific and the Peninsular Excelsior are both mid range hotels right in the centre of Singapore within easy walking distance of The old areas like Raffles, Chinatown and Orchard Road as well as the newer shopping malls. They're not flash but are clean and the rooms are a decent size. Miramar and the Holiday Inn Express at Clarke Quay are located a bit out but it's a nice cafe society type of area. The HOHO stops right outside Miramar. We've stayed at them all over the years and have booked through booking.com, expedia, agoda and wotif.

thanks will check them out

Singapore hotels?

The Fullerton for old world charm.

The Marina Bay Sands for the latest bling.

The Ritz Carlton for top service.

The Regent (Four Seasons) for sometimes outstanding deals (and wonderful service).

The Amoy Singapore for unusual design.

Hotel Vagabond. Boutique hotel with quirky art and a very louche flair. Highly unusual.

Not sure about tour packages.

Singapore is compact as you know. The HoHo bus service takes you to all sights.

your taste is quite expensive and wished we could afford the Marina Sands just for the swimming pool and view which much be outstanding.

any websites or is this inappropriate to ask ?

In Katoomba, we stayed at the Metropole Hotel, which is walkable from the train station and at the top of the hill, and near the bus station that goes to Echo Point and Scenic World. From here, you could take the train to Leura or the bus to Leura.

The Metropole is a old world charm, funky hotel with continental breakfast. You will have to walk up and down the stairs to your rooms because the elevator is so slow and tiny. We liked the the place and left a great review on trip advisor for it.

thanks, we have booked a b&b in Leura.

Hi Frieda

We seem to have chatted about your trip to Australia over a few different threads. Buchhalm has more expensive tastes than us and I can suggest a few cheaper properties in excellent locations in Singapore if you're interested. And we would love to help you finalise your journey to get the best out of everything. Just noticed a friend request from you. Does that mean we can chat offline?

HI sorry was out for a while, yes always interested in finding good hotels with great deals, chatting would be hard as we probably have a time difference of many hours ?

still searching on 3 nights in / around Sydney and our hotel in Singapore

have a great sunday

to Sailco and buchhalm and everyone who has more ideas about hotels in/near Sydney

NO we are NOT SKI-ing We are ELWL :) ( we enjoy life while it last )

I've booked a nice b&b in Leura called Broomelea, not far from the trainstation and we can perfectly walk up and down hills with our luggage which will not be that much as we only can take 20 kg pp

the b&b had nice reviews on TA and they stock up our fridge which is nice as we need a decent breakfast before we take off.

Singapore : the main reasonwe stay for a couple of days is to adjust time difference / climate butwe have been there 25 years ago and are very curious how it changed duringtime. Sentosa did exist back then, thanks for tips about food and what not todo ' guess every city has it's tourist traps, once payed 50 us for 2 beers anda coffee in Barcelona useless to argue but learned my lesson.

any hotel ideas for Singapore ? ' location ? ' do need to check TA for this part of our trip. perhaps we can buy a package with excursions included ?

we will stay one night near the airport arriving Sydney and I guess we just see whatever is available for our other separate nights in Sydney before and after cruises and flights.

tips on websites to check for hotel deals ?( have found wotif)

yes we do stay 3 days in Uluru it seems a magical place ( we start one night near AS drive to Homestead for one night take the Mereenie Road to Kings Canyon one night drive to Uluru for 3 nights then fly back to Sydney. )

Enjoy Abu – Dhabi ( the mosque is stunning ) must be very hot now, we are also familiar with the Arabic Emirates they are all so different and unique in their own way.

thanks again for your time

wishing you an amazing day

from Belgium

Frieda

At Sydney Airport you can cross the road from the international arrivals and walk about 200 yards with your luggage trolley to Rydges Hotel. It is expensive though. An alternative is the Holiday Inn Sydney Airport. It works out much cheaper than Rydges even if you include a full breakfast and the shuttle. The shuttle is $6 per person each way and it runs every half hour.

thanks will take a look at both

For the Blue Mountains in particular, it would help to know what time of the year and what days of the week you are thinking of. we will be there from March 5 till March 8

Weekends are generally A) spectacularly expensive and B) the good places are booked out weeks and sometimes months in advance.

How many people in your party? 2

You are asking for apartments/ condos in the CBD (Sydney, I assume? yes)

Order of travel?

Arrive in SYD. yes but at the port not the airport Next day to the mountains? Then city stay after that? see explanation it is a little more complex :p

 

Sydney CBD (especially when arriving late at night) is only 15 or so minutes from the airport by taxi.

If you are taking the train to the mountains ( at least 1 per hour, for only a few $ for the 2-hour trip to Leura (nicer than Katoomba) or Katoomba (aka K-town) , which is much larger than Leura, then stay at one if the many hotels around Sydney Central Station. ' it will be Museum Station '

There is a pretty good HoHo bus in the Blue Mountains. Runs reasonably frequently and will drop you to the major sights.

 

Secret tip: GOVETTS LEAP lookout in Blackheath! Spectacular. WOW A few excellent ( but not for people with vertigo or the faint hearted ) from there. DO.TAKE.WATER.!!!

explanation our trip

Belgium to Singapore ( 4 days also need advise but believe that is for another board ? )

arrive from Singapore international airport very late ' airport hotel ?? '

cruise from Sydney to your beautiful islands Lifou / Fiji / Vanuatu …...

arrive back in Sydney from the cruise on March 1

booked an apartment for 3 nights near Museum Station and hope to visit all major site seeing by foot ( or ho ho bus ) have a day at your zoo a day to walk from Bondito Coogee and to bike Manly …..other ideas ?

then

train to BM for 3 nights Leura ??

I did find a b&b in Leura walkable from the trainstation which is probably a good idea ? ' called Broomelea '

want to go to Gordon Falls after we arrive ?spend one day at Echo Point / 3 Sisters / Scenic Skyway so in Katoomba

spend one day to do the charles darwin walk and the Jamison Valley

( there is a train that brings you back up ??? ) so Wentworth

help we are missing one day to go to GOVETTS LEAP lookout in Blackheath!

train back to Sydney

to board a ship that brings us to NZ ( from all the Sounds to Auckland )

arrive back early morning and have a day to walk around ….. need one night before our domestic flight to Alice Springs.

( we will drive to Uluru spending time in between in 6 days )

flight back to Sydney arriving late afternoon need one night before we have our last cruise to Singapore ' visiting Brisbane - Airlie Beach - Cairns - Darwin

flight back home from Singapore to Belgium

I have tried to put 3 cruises and some spare time in between together this is our first trip to Australia

we wanted to visit Sydney with all it's tourist stuff but

we love nature, adore wildlife and beautiful scenery

so

we decided to divide our spare time into something close by such as the BM and we did pick the red central part for the unusual scenery we do not have in our country

also driving left starting from Sydney airport / cruise port seemed not appealing

we do miss a lot of Australia and the same for NZ but this was a great opportunity to see a bit of both

thanks again for your help and advise

have a great weekend

from hot hot Belgium

blue mountain 3 nights lodge rental home hotel or b&b

quiet / clean and in the middle of all walking tracks and amazing nature

any ideas ?( we do not have a car and we do need a good breakfast )

would love to explore Leura / Katoomba and the Wenthworth falls.

we also need one night near international airport (we arrive late and will be very tired so we just need a good night rest ) which airport hotel would you suggest ? ' quiet and clean'

and

any CBD rentals ( apartments or condos ) for only one night ?

quiet would be nice but that seems hard to find ?

budget whatever is necessary but it needs to be reasonable

thanks for your time

F

thank you all for your responses

Good day,

will be visiting these ports in Oktober Snowbird migration cruise Adventure of the Seas

love to be independent therefore like to hire cars wherever it is possible

love nature, hiking and walking in a lovely city, strolling in fishing villages is always nice to do.

bus tours are not our cup of tea so if we can avoid them ….

but a local buss that goes to … not a problem.

I do thank everyone for there suggestions as I am starting to plan a little late due to personal circumstances and I am starting to get really nervous we get stuck in between ports

all private tours ( roll call ) are fully booked and those offered by the ship are getting more expensive as we wait

( plus they have a lot bus tours )

so my main question is : can we rent a car with shuttle service at the cruise port ( price does not matter )

for these locations :

Charlottetown(Prince Edward Island) / Canada ( fishing villages and beaches ? )

Sydney(Cape Breton Island) / Canada ( cabot trail )

Halifax / Canada ( Peggy's cove )

SaintJohn (New Brunswick) / Canada ( Bay of Fundy to check out the tides )

BarHarbor (ME)* / USA ( Acadia National Park Cadillac Mountain)

Portland(ME) / USA

Boston(MA) / USA

arriving Port Canaveral ( love to visit Kennedy Space centre and have time enough to drive around )

if renting our own car for a day is a problem , all suggestions are welcome

( no need of fancy restaurants shopping or busy bus tours )

thank you for your time to write me back

best regards from Belgium

Frieda

seems you have a better plan as I have, sorry about all those questions, also would love to make the best itinerary possible. do you mind sharing your complete itinerary ?

thanks again

best regards from Belgium

Frieda

We're planning 7 days/6 nights. 3 nights at the Ayers Rock Resort will give us 2 full days to do all the walks, sunsets and sunrises at Uluru and Kata Juta and enjoy the Field of Light. One night at Kings Canyon, then 2 nights in Alice Springs with a full day to explore the West MacDonnells. This could be done in reverse of course.

 

We decided on the itinerary for two reasons. We may never get the chance to return to Central Australia so we want to see as much as we can, and we've never driven a 4WD. The thought of the Mereenie Loop Road and the loose sand on the Gosse Bluff road helped make our decision.

thanks for your help, we feel the same way about never having the chance returning to this lovely spot, and we also have never driven a 4wd.... what worries me the most is driving from Uluru to Kings Canyon takes about 3 hours, arriving there early afternoon so too hot doing the rim walk. the day after we can do the rim walk but then we need to drive all the way to AS which seems to be a very long ride even wen you take the Hwy… that was our major problem I seem not to get it fixed. I wonder again how you solved this issue … thanks again for your time to help out.

Edited because I realised you wanted to start in Alice. We've chosen to start in Uluru and spend as much time as we need before heading back to Alice and the West MacDonnell Ranges. Good luck with your choices.

would you please share your thoughts, at this point all is open for us as we did not book our flights yet

thanks

My husband and I were on a recent cruise that was supposed to arrive in Sydney at 5:00 a.m. We ended up arriving at 8:00 a.m. due to strong ocean currents and we barely had time to make our international flight at Sydney airport that was due to leave at 12:15 p.m. We got to the gate as passengers were boarding and it was a very close call. Just our recent experience.

 

Barb

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I received a message from Susan to skip the Mereenie Loop Road would love to know why but I cannot find this post to reply on.

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thank you all for your help.

to Wishfulone : I want tosend my special thanks to you for your time to comment our plan.

a little more informationis

we fly from Belgium toSingapore stay a couple of days ( have been there 25 years ago, need to see howit has changed over the years ) and fly to Sydney. ( one overnight )

then we go on a cruise toyour Islands ( Lifou, Fiji, Vanuatu …) after that

we have a week ( to checkout Sidney and the blue Mountains ) before we go on a cruise to NZ. After that

we have another week beforewe cruise back to Singapore ( and check out the GBR and a bit of Northern AUS ).

That week in between wewanted at first to go to Tasmania but then we saw a documentary about your redarea and immediately we switched over to see that particularly part as it wouldbe for us something we have never experienced.

So we started our plan buttime frame cruise entering and leaving did not match the flights to Uluru neitherAS.

There are only 2 direct morningflights ( both around 10 am )

Why we want to start fromAS is not only because of the groceries.

I checked out on a map timedriving time from Uluru to Kings Canyon and driving time from Glen HelenHomestead Lodge to KC. If we want only one night at KC resort and do the rim walk early morning we only havethe option starting from Uluru as doing the Mereenie Road would take us a wholeday of driving ??? or is that a mistake ?

I understand this lovely RedArea of Australia is very familiar to you and we only can visit it once in ourlifetime so we want it to be perfect.

That is why we wanted totake the risk after our NZ cruise trying to fly that same day to Uluru or ASand have an extra day at the scene ….. but we also hate to rush things and yeswe love to have a relaxing day in between.

Flying to Uluru instead ofto AS would be a little bit cheaper but I found it hard to make a gooditinerary seeing as much as we can of the West MacDonnells.

If there are many more choiceswe dit not see I thank you already to help me out.

Wishing you a very lovelyday

From Belgium

Frieda

again thank you all for all your advice

My husband made following itinerary ( starting from AS )

please take a look at it ( we could do it also reverse starting from Uluru as flights from Sydney are the same )

fly to AS March 22 Friday ( morning flight ) arrive around noon pick up our 4wd and do some groceries drive to Squeakywindmill Boutique Tent B&B ( one night )

March 23 Saturday after breakfast drive to Glen Helen

visit on our way Standley Chasm and Ellery Creek Big Hole spend the night at

Glen Helen Homestead Lodge

March 24 Sunday drive to Kings Canyon using the Mereenie Road stay at Kings Canyon Resort

( could we visit the Ormiston Gorge and Gosse Bluff before we take off to KC ? )

March 25 Monday do the Rim Walk ( 3 hours ) and drive to the Desert Gardens Hotel

March 26 Tuesday Need to see the Sunrise up Uluru and do the Base Walk

( or do the camel Tour with breakfast )

evening field of Light with diner ??

March 27 Wednesday Kata T Sunset , Wapa Gorge / Valley of the Winds

( we can drive back to AS ???? )

March 28 Thursday after breakfast turn in the car and fly back to Sydney from Uluru

need again another hotel near the cruise terminal or ??? ( because we cruise to Singapore on Friday March 29 )

we can do this trip vica versa starting from Uluru/ ending in AS

please take a look at this plan and thank you for your help / comments

Thanks Marion for theadvice and hotel De Vere would never have thought about staying in that areaand it seems lovely.

We have decided to take theflight the day after our cruise as it would be too much hassle and stressleaving on an early flight after a relaxing cruise.

We have an itinerary tohire a car and drive in 6 days from AS to Uluru or visa versa.

Not sure yet, which routeto take. Hope to find more information on cc.

Have a great day :)

Flying direct to Uluru is the better option. It is a long drive from Alice Springs to Uluru and many car hire companies do not cover you driving between dusk and dawn.

 

I would take a direct flight to Uluru a day later. I would stay in Sydney, rather than near the airport. I have just stayed in a reasonable priced hotel, De Vere, at Potts Point overnight prior to an overseas flight the following day. You can get a shuttle to the airport from the hotel for $14 per person, or get an Uber like my daughter did. Potts Point has lots of restaurants with good food, from inexpensive to expensive. You feel like you are in Sydney when you stay at Potts Point, rather than near the airport.

It is possible to catch a domestic flight around 10. But it's not optimal, especially if there are no later options that day, so you risk losing other bookings and don't have a fallback if you miss the flight. ( you say it's the only direct flight, but then imply you don't want to take any of the non-direct options.)

 

You _usually_ can get off by around 7:15 a.m, as a walk off. Usually, Customs will be quite quick at that time as they won't have so many people going through with luggage. i.e. I'd expect you can go out around 7:45. Allow 45 min to walk to the quay, buy a ticket, wait for a train, and the journey to the airport and that's about 8:30.

 

The timing above should be achievable if everything goes smoothly i.e. it doesn't require you to know every step of the way, or run between places to meet it, or be unlikely to be achievable.

 

Allowing 45 min to boarding, your target is 9:05 a.m. so you can see that does meet the time, and gives you a very little contingency. But not a lot so if there is some greater issue - none of which are likely, but still possible - then you've missed the flight.

 

Basically, your call. I probably wouldn't take the risk in this scenario, but everyone has their own preferences and tolerances.

The other flight directly is to Uluru at 10.20 also a close call and yes we know a lot can happen which makes it all very stressful.

Better to fly the morning after we arrive any suggestions where we should stay overnight? Around the airport seems not appealing.

Thanks again

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