dannyr

My Fairstar cruise from 1990 was credited to my Princess account.  It took a fair bit of back and forth, but in the end the detail that sealed it was me sending in some family photos taken on-board and prior to boarding showing us with the Fairstar life-ring etc (you know, the standard cheesy photo you get taken as you board).  If you still have that in the photo album at home, it doesn't hurt, especially if it shows the date. 

On ‎10‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 3:57 PM, haircut4u said:

Do all P&O (Australia) ships' Dinner Menus show only three Entrees, three Mains, three Desserts and payment is required for all other choices?

Thanks Garry, Auckland

I can speak for Aria, having not been on any other P&O Ships.

In Waterfront there are some additional "pay for me" items after the 3-4 menu items, but in Angelos or Dragon Lady I don't recall seeing any options to buy other than drinks.  All options in those restaurants are inclusive. 

I'd also like to give a shout-out to the staff at the restaurants on the Aria.  My wife is coeliac and they were amazingly accommodating to her. 

Every day she was asked to visit the Monkey Bar before 4pm where she was shown that nights menu and asked which meal she'd like.  They'd then make a GF version of it. 

Likewise when we'd sit down (at Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner) in any of the restaurants (Waterfront for Breakfast & Lunch, obviously) they'd offer her GF bread instead of normal breadrolls etc.  It's those small touches that really help. 

As an update, whilst I still waiting on P&O to respond to my email I have received a response from Holland America. They escalated the matter up through the chain and I got a reply from the "Special Advisor - Office of the President".

They have tracked down for this ship that

"During the coinceremony, observed to bring good fortune, a Dutch guilder was welded to theforward mast of the ship"

[/QUOTE]

 

And they have even found photos from the ceremony to help my investigations.

 

https://i.**********/B5a7Diz.jpg

 

https://i.**********/rx5jmFI.jpg

 

I'm going to take the email from HAL with me on board and see if I can track it down!

 

 

 

We have cruised with Princess in the past, one cruise through Indonesia and another to Papua New Guinea. We really enjoyed our cruises and decided to go with Princess in Alaska. We have booked an Off the Beaten Path NB7 Cruise Tour starting in Anchorage on 15 May next year, on Coral Princess. I did heaps of research before booking and I think this will provide us with a great experience, and I think the Coral will be a perfect fit for us, having previously loved the smaller ship (Dawn Princess) when we did our other cruises.

I've cruised Alaska on the Island Princess, but if that's anything to go by you'll have a wonderful time.

 

Coming from Western Australia is a huge trip (both in distance and $$), and I don't sleep (at all) on planes so after a bit of research we have decided to fly via Hong Kong, with a 2 day stop over on the way to Alaska and 1 day on the way home. We also stop over in Vancouver for 1 night on the way to Anchorage.

Good idea! From Brisbane, whenever I've gone to Canada I've always gone that way too (via Taipei or Tokyo) and find it a lot less taxing on the soul.

 

... things that are high on our list are to see bears, whales and Orca... would love to walk on a glacier... learn a bit about the native culture and also the gold rush era... would like to do either helicopter or float plane fight-seeing...

....

2. Looking for suggestions on the best places to do and see the things on our list above...

 

 

I know that you've only got two days in Vancouver at the end of your trip, but if you can ever get to the Royal BC Museum on Victoria Island (BC), it's worth the visit. It is probably one of the best museums I've been to anywhere in the world.

 

3. We will also have 2 days in Vancouver at the end of our cruise before flying home, so suggestions for what to do there would be great as well.

I spent quite a bit of time in Vancouver a few years back when my SIL and BIL were living over there. I'm very much a fan of Granville Island, but if you've been to the Queen Vic Markets in Melbourne you probably won't get much out of it. It's same same but different!

One of my favourite places to go while I'm over there is Bowen Island. To put it into your perspective, it's the Rottnest Island of Vancouver. It's an island in the harbour that's used by BC Residents as a weekend spot. It's got shops, a lot of wildlife, and it's peaceful and lovely.

You get there by an easy ferry ride from the city, and is worth the trip.

Something to bear in mind is that Auckland Airport isn't the easiest location to access unless you have a transfer organised. Sydney Airport from the dock is a simple train ride away, but Auckland airport is in the middle of nowhere (compared to the Harbour).

You can get a taxi easy enough, but a taxi to the airport is going to set you back almost $100.00 NZD.

Wonderful ! Thank you very much!

On other ships and lines, the MDR (or at least one restaurant or buffet) is generally open on embarkation day, and wondering if the Aria is similar.

That is, after getting onboard can I head straight away and eat or does everything stay closed until departure?

Does anyone happen to know the location of the Coin on the Pacific Aria?

As outlined here , when a ship is constructed a coin is generally welded somewhere onto the ship. It's a good luck tradition dating back years. Royal Caribbean make a big deal of it and

I know that's it's often harder with rebranded and refit ships, but does anyone happen to know where the Aria's coin is?

I'm sailing on her in a few weeks time, and while I have sent an email both to P&O & HAL (her former owner), hoping someone may be able to clue me in as to the location on this ship.

Like others have said, it will depend on where you shop and also what type of tourist / traveller you are.

Personally I prefer to spend local currency where possible for a number of reasons

1 - It's fun. I mean, I love checking out foreign coins and notes. If you're spending AUD the whole holiday you don't get to experience that

2 - It's all about immersion. Again, I like to feel like I'm not just another cruise passenger, but someone that's in the city/town trying to learn something and be a good tourist

3 - Think about it, as lilly has said above, there are fees to pay. When the stall holder goes to buy milk or bread on the way home, what currency will they need to spend? Now ask yourself - if the stall holder has to go out of their way to change the money over from AUD, don't you think they're going to charge you a 10% premium for doing so? Of course they are! Whilst there's not going to be much difference in a lot of trinkets and stuff you spend at the markets near by the boat, every few cents you can save is good, no?

4 - If you only carry AUD you are limiting yourself to the tourist centric vendors. Maybe it's just me but I'm a wanderer, but when I'm in a foreign city I want to go where the locals are eating and shopping, not the other 400 people from my ship, and I purposely try to hunt down local stores and food markets. They won't accept AUD for the reasons above (they can't spend them without exchanging them).

Probably the best thing you can do is find someone who has been on a cruise or trip to some of these places before you and trade money at the cash rate from xe.com and avoid the bank fees.

We have a guide who is taking us to the main sites in Nha Trang. I am wondering if people have found the market worth a trip, what I can buy there, what I should buy there, and if there are other shopping areas that are better. Thank you for any advice you can offer.

I'm going to go against the grain here, and say that I found the Nha Trang markets to be one of the best. Ok, I'll admit that their souveneirs weren't as good as other places, but I found the fresh food area of the Cho Dam Market to be absolutely fantastic.

The people were friendly (at one stage my wife and I were watching a lady sort out....well I'm not sure what it was...so the lady cuts one open and hands it to us to try), they're happy for you to take photos (some markets where there is high piracy, such as KL's China Town, etc, we had problems taking photos of ourselves even because stall holders got funny), and the range of what they had there was amazing.