spunkie4

20 hours ago, iq6000 said:

On another note, the cruise embarkation day 1st April is also Easter Monday. There are four days in a row of public holidays for Easter, from Good Friday to Easter Monday.  Also, the last day of the Queensland school term is the previous Thursday 28th March, so Easter is also the start of school holidays. 
So, beaches and family holiday spots may be busier, some places may be closed for the holidays, some prices may be different (public holiday surcharges in some restaurants for instance) and public transport will be running to a reduced timetable.

Just FYI for anyone making pre-cruise travel plans.

Thanks for the useful information!  It never occurred to me that Easter was involved.  

20 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Hawaii is a good stopover, if you want to break your long journey.  Over the years, I've stopped over at a number of South Pacific islands, with Air NZ.  Stopovers enhance the trip, but Depend on how much leave you have.  

Thank you for your input.  

21 hours ago, iq6000 said:

I would recommend staying at the nearby suburb of Hamilton. It contains a range of accommodation styles. Hamilton is convenient to both the airport and the cruise terminal. It is a riverside location, and you can easily get into the city centre by bus or ferry if you want to do some pre-cruise independent touring. There are also lots of places to eat nearby in Racecourse Rd or by the river. Cruise ships used to pull up in Hamilton which was really handy, but the new cruise terminal is out at Luggage Point near the mouth of the river in an industrial area.

 

Delta don't fly into Brisbane. Direct flights to Brisbane from the USA are currently Qantas (from LAX) or United (from SFO). Of course there are other routes, but they involve stops between the USA and Brisbane. I guess it really depends on what you prefer. I believe that Delta flies to Sydney.

I have never flown across the Pacific myself, so I can't personally recommend any particular airline.

Thank for your response.  I appreciate the information.

Can you recommend a hotel near the Brisbane Airport?  Also, we are die-hard Delta people, but seems American/Quatas offers the best route and price.  Do you have any thought?  

We booked this today.  Interested in comments re flying from the states (Florida) to Brisbane.  

Currently on board and haven't heard anything about getting back late so I'm assuming we are planning on getting back on time. Left Cozumel about 10 minutes early and currently cruising rocking along at 21.5 knots.

Thank you for responding.

Any idea for those who are flying and have Carnival transfer to the port? Will we just stay at the airport longer?

Speciality coffee is something I look forward to on a cruise. One per day. We each purchase a coffee card since hubby likes lots of brewed coffee. Having coffee and a snack from the International Café has become one of our rituals. We have always used the punches on future cruises. A per day cost would be fine it if wasn't exorbitant.

It's been some time since you've been on one of the R class ships of Princess. We have been on the Ocean Princess, another R class ship, over the last couple of years and yes, you could charge chips and casino credit to your onboard account. I see no reason why you couldn't on the Pacific Princess.

 

BTW, take care of her, we are boarding her in May.

Thank you for your response. You are correct, the last five cruises have been on the Royal, Emerald and the Caribbean Princess. You will board the Pacific on the day we leave to fly home.

Not to steal your thread, but we are on the Pacific in April. While on the former Royal, the casino only took cash. Does anyone know if the Pacific Princess has been converted to the use of sail and sign card? Thanks

We are on the full 27 days. Checked our excursions today, in hopes Belgium was listed. It was not. However, on the second call to Paris, we had scheduled Saint Michaels Mount. This had been removed. We have not received a notice of the cancelled excursion. So, check your excursions to be sure everything is as you wish.

What is the significance of 7500 points?

The cruise we see in the UK brochure for 2016 include a 6 day land tour. This includes an overnight in a hotel in Machu Picchu. The total number of days, is 20, the cruise being 14 nights. It's a long way from the UK to just go to Machu Picchu, so this is a good option.

Suzez:

Thanks for your response. We originally booked LA to Santiago and the seven day land tour. I kept thinking about cruising Cape Horn and we decided to change to the 31 days from LA to Rio.

We are considering the 72 hour Princess excursion to MP or booking this in early 2017 as a land tour from Peru.

Shirley

Just got off Golden Princess a couple of weeks ago - LA to Rio - 31 days. Great cruise and round the Horn was a great experience. Very cold and windy but seas were kind to us - not smooth as glass but OK. Interesting day weatherwise though - sunny, cloudy and overcast - 4 lots of hail in the space of an hour and a half - all between periods of sunshine. Many people seem to do this trip often but my attitude is to do it once and then get on and see the other places in the world. Would recommend it though to anyone.:)

We are booked on the Star for this cruise December 2015/January 2016. We are considering the excursion to Machu Piccu through Princess. I think it's three days. Do you do this or talk to anyone who did?

Seems expensive, so would welcome any comments.

Shirley

Thank you so much for this wonderful review! I have spent the better part of today admiring your pictures and making notes.

We are booked on the Sun Princess, leaving from LA in December 2015. We will depart the ship in Rio in January 2016.

Shirley and Winston

It's the top 20 cruisers on 4 day & less cruisers & top 40 on 5 or more days. I suppose they could increase the number if people ties for the last position but I suspect it would be a rare case to have both the same number of days and same number of cruises.

Confused about the "top 40 on 5 or more days." We just returned from the Coral repo LA to FLL. We were in the most travelled passenger group, but at the luncheon there certainly were not 40 people. In the past luncheons it's always been between 20-30.

Would you mind sharing the source of the numbers?

Shirley

How long is the longest you have spent at sea at one time, including back to back cruises? What did you like/not like about being at sea that long?

 

Our longest has been 15 day Panama, 15 day Hawaii, and 17 days total back to back Caribbean. We enjoyed all three and were not quite ready to come home.

 

This year we have booked 4 cruises back to back for a total of 28 days sailing. :eek:I am wondering if it will be too long, or if I am a true die hard and not ready to come home after.

42 days on the Emerald Princess in 2011. 32 days on the Royal Princess 2013. Husband spent 200 days at sea, thanks to Uncle Sam. Needless to say, he enjoys a cruise ship more.

We enjoy longer cruises as we can unpack and enjoy ourselves for many days.

Just returned from the Coral Princess, full transit of the canal, LA to FLL.

Leaving Saturday on Carnival Glory for a short, seven day cruise.

Shirley

We have booked several cruisetours with Princess. All have been wonderful. We have never experienced a price drop until after final payment. Then, the offer is for new bookings only.

Although expensive, it's well worth the price.

Shirley

After 54 cruises, elegant night is not on our agenda. We always good the steakhouse on the first formal night. There is a mixture of dress and you will certainly be fine in elegant attire.

We dress the same as other nights.....cargo and nice blouse for me and cargo and collared shirt for hubby.

Shirley

mine, too!

Shirley

You problem has probably been solved by now, but we always pay for the EB with southwest. Never have to bother with internet and always have a good boarding zone. Well worth the money.

Shirley

Finally working for me! It's been over a week, so don't give up.

Shirley

I can always hope!

We took advantage of the promotion last fall and cruised in January. We used the credit of our upcoming September cruise.

We are booked for december 2015 for South America. Would be nice to have a credit to apply to that cruise.

Shirley

Received an e-mail today and took the offer. We changed from a balcony on deck six to a mid-ship balcony on deck eight.

Shirley

Last fall, and through the early months of this year, Princess had the promotion where you booked a cruise and received the initial cruise fare off any cruise booked in the future or the amount applied to a current booking not paid in full.

Has anyone heard any "rumors" about this fall?

Shirley