Aus Traveller

My comments to the OP. Since cruising restarted there have been changes (another word for cut-backs). They don't now have the little bag of toiletries, pen, paper or tote bag for any passengers. I don't know if this was in your cabin or not, but on our last couple of Princess cruises we have had a sheet on the desk that outlines Elite events (evening drinks event, wine tasting, cocktail party). Because this is usually placed under the sheets that outline safety etc. it would be easy to miss. If your name was on the screen outside your door (and it would have showed elite), I am pretty confident that your room steward would have placed the proper paperwork in your cabin before your arrival. We have received a paper copy of the new version of the Princess Patter every day on each of our recent cruises. BTW, if you have a refundable credit balance on your account at the end of the cruise, you should receive an email notification in a month or so advising you how this can be forwarded to your bank account. This message isn't a scam.

The Italian restaurant on the Coral Princess is called Sabatini's. I have heard good reports, but after the recent price-rise, it mightn't be good value for money. We had a voucher for a specialty dinner on the Coral and chose the Bayou Cafe. The atmosphere was OK, the food was quite good, but the service was abysmal. The restaurant wasn't even a quarter full and our waiter had only six people to serve. Even so, it took two hours for the meal. I have to confess that our main course took so long coming that I asked the head waiter if we should go to the Horizon Court for dinner. The people near us commented that they hoped we would get our meal by midnight. Maybe if I hadn't made my remark to the head waiter we might have been there that long. He brought our food personally. My only excuse is that we had finished a full bottle of wine (more than we usually drink) while waiting for our main course. We had only had a few nibbles of food with all that wine. Our main course was served around 1.5 hours after we arrived. Other people had a similar experience although I don't know if they made any remarks to the head waiter! We certainly wouldn't pay to go to the Bayou after our experience. If we have another voucher, we might try Sabatini's. Otherwise, it's the MDR for us.

If I am looking at the correct cruise (Pacific Explorer on 11th March) your first 'port' in NZ is the Fiordland National Park. On this itinerary the ship usually enters Milford Sound very early in the morning (around 7am). At that time it will be cold so I suggest you have a warm head covering as well as a warm jacket and long pants. For the entry into Milford, I suggest it is worth going to a deck where you have a view forward. It will be breezy, but the views are superb. After the ship enters the Sound, you might prefer to go back to your cabin if you have a balcony. Otherwise, stay on an outside deck on the port side (left-hand side of the ship) for the best views. If your balcony is on the other side, it could still be worth relocating to there because you will see both sides of the fijord anyway. What you don't see on the way in, you will see on the way out! Have a great cruise.

AUD$47 is great. Princess is going to charge us US$60 (AUD$88.63) - nearly double what you were charged.

You will probably be going on another Princess cruise prior to the 2024 world cruise. Maybe it would be worth asking someone in authority if you can check in cartons of wine and pay the corkage on board, either when you retrieve them from Security, or when you take bottles to the dining room. Although, it's possible that whatever you are told, won't necessarily be what happens on a later cruise.

What did P&O charge you? AUD$50?

You could take a couple of cases when you board in Sydney and buy a couple more at Dan Murphy's when you are in Brisbane. Then stock up a bit more at other ports.

On P&O we were a bit surprised to find the Waterfront open for lunch on port days where tenders were used. It was on our fairly recent cruise anyway.

Maybe I take my own wine as well as my own wind, but I don't get charged corkage on the wind. 🤣

They are not even Australian phone numbers.

P&O has another flash sale. One special is a 7-night cruise to Port Vila from Brisbane 16-23rd September. The price on a balcony is $849pp.

I agree - two separate spots. I suspect the towel animal has fallen down and the cabin steward hasn't cleaned the corner sufficiently to see it. I would like to know if this was brought to the attention of a Housekeeping Supervisor (I would have) and what the response was.

the OP will have to come back on and explain where the mess was. From the photos it appears to be in the very narrow space between the desk/dressing table and the balcony doors. I have come to this conclusion because of the glass shown in the second photo and the curly cord (probably from the hair drier) shown in the top photo. If I am correct, this is a space where no-one would normally look and certainly no-one would walk.

Julie, I have to caution you. 😁 We aren't wine experts. I agree that you will get value out of the Plus package at $30pp.

Did you need a visa for your visit to Indonesian ports? I am getting conflicting information on this with regard to a visit on a Princess cruise. The P&O website refers to 'visa-free' entry to Indonesia, not Visa on Arrival that has a fee.

I hope they keep it at $36 for our next two P&O cruises booked. 🙂The Blue Sand was recommended by our waiter last year. We found it quite good.

The prices shown above are more reason to take your own wine and pay the corkage. The Blue Sand Pinot Grigio that is $51, is $36 on PO.

After reading Chengkp75's post above, I think you should feel reassured that the mess wasn't caused by rodents.

You obviously have more experience with rodents than I do. 🙂 I won't challenge your expertise. 🙂

The photo demonstrates a serious break-down in the Housekeeping Department. I would like to know what the response was when this was brought to a supervisor's attention. I can't see anything in the photo that looks like rodent droppings.I haven't had rats or mice in my home, but a Google search indicates that rat droppings are 12ml-18ml shiny black and pellet-shaped while mouse droppings are very dark brown pellets somewhat smaller. I feel the photo looks more like crumbled particle board or crumbled wood.

On our two cruises last last year on the Pacific Encounter, our cabin was kept clean and we didn't see any maintenance issues.

My guess is that the reference to 18% gratuity is something that doesn't apply in Australia.

A fly net definitely isn't needed when visiting Cairns or Darwin. In the centre (Uluru/Ayers Rock) flies can often be a problem during the day.

They still have the Elite/Platinum lounge every evening. We have only been once and that was to try it out. BTW, the Captain's Lunch is superb but since cruising re-started after COVID, the Captain and his officers make an appearance but don't host the tables. The Captain does 'work the room' by talking to everyone.

I feel that there would be more people doing the Alaska Land and Sea tour compared with the Australian one, and therefore more likelihood of blogs. Another point to consider is that this is the Aust and NZ section of the forum. It is highly unlikely Aussies would go on a Princess land tour in our own country. This is different from an Alaskan trip that is to an area distant from the contiguous states of the US and where the majority of people on the tour would be from the US. You might be able to get the information you require by posting your question on the general Princess Cruises site.