Aus Traveller

I haven't experienced any delays and have gone straight through but that doesn't mean it will always be like that.

In mid 2022 when the new terminal came into use, taxi drivers weren't familiar with it, but that has obviously has changed in the last 20 months. Taxi drivers aren't reluctant to go to there and they can't charge extra for the unattractive road. BTW, the road isn't in a state of disrepair, it is simply a narrow winding road through an unattractive industrial area. We have been on seven or eight cruises leaving from the new terminal and had no problems getting a taxi to go there. On one recent cruise when we left the ship there were probably two dozen cabs lined up waiting for passengers so the drivers obviously weren't reluctant to go to the terminal.

Last week I was told that the Chef's Table on the Coral Princess is now AUD$149pp. I cannot give details of the Balcony Dinner.

Because I was travelling solo, the transfer with Princess was much cheaper than a taxi. However, I regretted having booked it when it took so long. I suppose that is the luck of the draw. They had just one bus and it took close to two hours to do the round trip with loading and unloading. There were several disabled passengers who naturally took longer to get on and off the bus.

A taxi is much better. When I flew to Sydney to board the World Cruise I booked a Princess transfer form Sydney airport. It appears that I arrived just after a shuttle bus left so there was quite a delay. It took two hours from when I arrived at the rendezvous point until the bus left the terminal. I recommend a taxi. For two people it works out a similar price to the shuttle. If three people are travelling it costs less.

The taxi rank is very conveniently located just outside the door near the luggage collection carousel.

We didn't need passports three months ago so I don't think it is a new requirement. 🙂

No. All North Queensland cruises go past Willis Island so they can sell duty free, but for many years now, Princess and P&O have not required passports.

Princess doesn't advertise this but I have found this is the way it works on all my Princess cruises since COVID. 🙂 On these cruises I enquired at the Alcohol Collection Table and was always given the same answer - "one free and after that we charge corkage". When I posted this information on FB during the world cruise, I was ridiculed for asking the person at the Alcohol Collection table. In my opinion, this is the person to ask. BTW, the corkage isn't always charged. 😁 BTW, if you haven't enquired as I have done several times, you won't have encountered how it works in practice 😁.

That price is ridiculous!

I suggest the reason rwmiller is being told a passport is required has nothing to do with the itinerary. Rather, it is because he is from the US and the person he is talking to can only answer questions from that standpoint. Passports are not required for Australian citizens (assuming his cousin is Australian) for domestic cruises.

Thinking about it further - this is definitely correct. When we went on a Q'ld coastal cruise immediately after the COVID 'pause', this was the case.

On our 14-day cruise that ended, we saw only two little tables outside cabin doors. This could be from COVID, RSV or (less likely) Noro.

I believe the answer from the call centre is incorrect. I understand that Australians can cruise domestically using their driver's licence as ID. Someone else on this forum will be able to confirm. If not, I can check into it further for you.

The only time that a port-side cabin would be an advantage would be on the Fiordland day when cruising between Milford Sound and Thompson Sound. However, views of this stretch of coastline are much better in the afternoon rather than the later morning when your cruise will be there.

BTW, the blow-up mattresses I mentioned are surprisingly small, measuring about 30cm x 30cm x 5cm when they were in the box. I don't know if my daughter managed to compress them back to that size when she was packing everything!

We were on the same cruise. Maybe you were one of the couples I saw wearing masks! After we left our last port (Auckland) staff at the Guest Services desk wore masks. My daughter asked one of the staff there if the masks indicated that there was more illnes on board. The reply was that after the last port, people are more likely to report being ill.

It might vary on different cruise lines. I disembarked from the Coral Princess last Thursday. I saw probably three or four couples who wore masks on board. One couple remarked that it was for their own protection.

Angelos is excellent. Dragon Lady isn't for us!

John's advice is spot on.

Going by train will save you a few dollars, but I wouldn't bother. I would go by taxi or Uber both ways.

Additions to my review - Elite wine tasting - I don't always go to the wine tasting but it was my daughter's first cruise as Elite so she wanted to try it. When we entered, instead of just showing out Medallion (in the old days our Cruise Card) to prove that we were entitled to enter free of charge, we had to give our cabin number. We were then crossed off the list. A friend said that when he tried to go to two wine tasting events on a cruise three weeks ago, he was told he had to pay $25 because he had already been to one on that cruise. It was somewhat embarrassing for him. Library - There were probably a hundred or so hand-me-down books in the library - a welcome change from previous cruises when there were only a few.

Hah! Hah!

I don't like booking and pre-paying for transfers. On the few times we have done that in Sydney we have ended up waiting literally hours past the agreed time. Obviously on these occasions we phoned the company several times and were always told the car would be there in a few minutes. Yesterday a couple in the taxi queue at the Brisbane terminal were frustrated that their pre-paid taxi hadn't turned up. The Taxi Supervisor got another cab driver to enquire with the office and was told it would be another 45 minutes' wait. This was while there were several cabs waiting for customers. In Sydney I advise just going out to the taxi queue and getting in the first available one. It will be less frustrating and probably much faster.

There were more choices on the lunch menu, but still ..... the same menu for three sea days, then again for the three sea days at the end. I was hoping that at least the menu would have been different for the last three days.