Astro Flyer

Do you recall when disembarkation began for walk-off passengers?

Ozwoody & Jean C…thanks for your very helpful information. 🙂 There are many variables for us to consider before formulating our best plan. The port before we disembark Crown Princess in Brisbane on 4/14/25 is Cairns. And we board Royal Princess on 4/16/25 so unfortunately our time in Auckland will be limited. On a previous Sydney to LA cruise we took a ship’s tour from Auckland to a sheep farm & a BBQ. There is a 0930/1430 ship’s tour from Brisbane however there are no post cruise tours currently listed. That would give us enough time to take a cab to BNE for a 1830 flight however unless they allow us to take our bags on the bus tour we have no way to store them. Since it’s a roundtrip Brisbane cruise exclusively within Australia, would anyone know if US citizens will be required to go through customs & immigration during disembarkation? Jean C…thanks for the time change explanation. When using 3/31/25 the ANZ flight shows 1115; when using the latest date currently available (4/7/25) it’s 1215. I see that on 4/6/25 Australia changes to Winter Time & clocks go back an hour so that should benefit us. In 2009 from LAX/BNE/SYD we enjoyed ANZ economy & hope premium economy through Princess’ Flexible EZair on ANZ will be within our budget. Viewing video reviews for PE transpacific flights ANZ appears to provide the best experience. 😊 Pre-cruise we’ve booked Brisbane’s Royal on the Park and Auckland’s M Social post-cruise. Will also research Jean C’s suggestion about the Airport Ibis Budget hotel option.

Thanks John for sharing your insights. I know that in many ports disembarkation usually begins around 0700-0730 so making an 1115 flight might be risky. And to walk off requires handling our luggage which being away from home for nearly 2 months might be more bags than usual…although with free laundry hopefully not. Hopefully there will be other flights around midday before our BNE/AKL flight in 11 months. 🤞

@Mycruiseobsession In March 2025 we fly from the US to cruise on Princess roundtrip Brisbane circumnavigating Australia which will be our first time there. At the end we’ll fly to Auckland for 2 days before cruising Princess back to the US. If you have any experiences to share about Brisbane where we’re planning to arrive 4 days before our cruise it would be greatly appreciated. Looking at BNE/AKL flights they are limited…either at about 1800 or 1100. How was your disembarkation experience? Was it early enough to make an 1115 flight? Most flights are early morning (0500-0900) but we’re hoping that the 1115 flight might be doable instead of waiting until 1800. Catching the earlier flight would be dependent upon when we could disembark & how long it’d take to get to BNE. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. 🙂

You’ll find it on the Princess app’s first page. After clicking on your “VIEW WIF-FI PLANS” option you’ll see your options & can purchase it there.

Do those benefits remain if transferring a BoB booking to my TA within 14 days of the cruise’s end?

In my experience The Catch was much more difficult to get reservations than at Sabatini’s…as you wrote maybe it’s another system glitch. 🤔 I don’t think it would take months to make the swap since both restaurants’ venues are rather generic. We’ll return to the Mainland for awhile when you arrive…hopefully our schedules will be in sync in the future. 🤞😎

That sounds similar to the Oceania cruises we’ve enjoyed…think both are truly premium lines in addition to Azamara.

Maybe they have a “Cold Case” section to handle old cases like they do for crimes??? ☺️

Here’s one I took in Genoa…the large Sky Princess berthed next to their previous Pacific Princess which is an old Renaissance ship like Sirena & is now sailing for Azamara.

I’ve seen a lot of great deals particularly for shorter cruises. However most passengers would likely be from Australia because few around the world would be willing to pay the ever increasing airfares for a long international flight just for a short cruise. We’re flying one-way to cruise around Australia for 28 days and then 22 days back to LA. 🙂

Caribe deck balconies are larger (9’x9’) and are half covered & half uncovered however they are balcony cabins & not minisuites. I don’t know if having a larger balcony or a larger cabin is preferred by the author but they are options that could be considered.

On Discovery the TSE was viewable from the starboard side of the ship & being at 70° above the horizon it was also easily viewable from the open upper decks. I did not learn about which side of the ship would see the TSE until during the cruise. However I don’t think anyone will have a definitive answer about where to view it on the next TSE cruise. More knowledgable eclipse people might provide a more informed guess-timate but doubt if you’ll know prior to booking. Reading some of the discussions totality will last nearly half of Discovery/Emerald’s 4:26. Also read it will be much closer to the horizon as sunset is approaching. It was an amazing experience however for me it wouldn’t be as good in 2026. Although being a once in a lifetime experience for most of us the decision whether to book is a personal one & is not based on anyone else’s opinions.

Generally it’s the local time at their Santa Clarita CA headquarters…Pacific time.

Thanks…I always appreciate your informed insights.

I found the eclipse cookies in the buffet’s pastry shop. 😋

It might be for travel agents & VIPs which I recall happening previously when new ships arrive in the US.

Good to know…we never left our balcony & cabin but had read comments that people said it wasn’t crowded. 🙂 Indeed…it was a great eclipse & a wonderful cruise. 👍

Based on their press release it’ll be a day earlier: The Total Eclipse Sky Princess Voyage goes on sale May 23, 2024 If like previous openings for cruises to be booked for elite level passengers it’d be a day earlier on 5/22. One thing I like is there are 3 ports I’ve never visited…Cherbourg France, Bilbao Spain & La Coruna Spain.

Also The Catch by Rudi has it’s own kitchen & it was the best specialty dinner I’ve ever experienced. ’jbinbi’…as others have written the Princess specialty restaurants have their own kitchen and the food is not from the MDR galley.

If it’s like our Discovery TSE cruise it quickly sold out even without any real promotion. Now that Princess has discovered how popular the TSE cruises are it’s already being promoted before it’s available to book it. We immediately booked on the one day early elite level booking day. Now that Princess is aware of a TSE’s popularity prices are much more expensive. The beginning $2,199 price per day for an interior is 50% higher than what we paid for a balcony…sticker shock. With our cruise sailing roundtrip LA airfares for most were less than flying to London for the next TSE cruise…even cheaper for those of us who drove to the port. And the weather was much milder than the Iberian Peninsula in August. Even with these differences with the good press from the recent TSE & more promotion it will likely sell out fast due to there being more demand than the limited capacity resulting in these higher prices for what was a once in a lifetime experience for many of us.

It appears that this advisory is affecting more than “small craft”. ☺️

I’ve read posts from other ships that are having the same MTG notification issues…I miss the Captain’s Circle staff who were so much more reliable than the ONE staff.

In post #11 I listed some of the ports included in their press release.

On Discovery’s 10 day r/t LA cruise: Cabo overnight, Mazatlan, Manzanillo & Puerto Vallarta. We had guest speakers including a Q&A with Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak. Another difference from the European TSE is the length of totality…we had 4:26 but the next one is nearly half of that time at 2:18. It was an AMAZING experience & the sun’s corona was very bright, it looked like dusk & the temperature dropped a lot. Crowding wasn’t an issue because all of us on the starboard side could view it from our balconies with the TSE being 70° above the horizon…AMAZING! The small dot to the upper right of the corona in the second photo was a planet visible during totality but I forgot which planet.