Reina del Mar

We use Princess hotel and transfer packages if we are sailing from a port which is new to us..especially if we don’t speak the language (South America) .
 

If we are sailing from a port we know, we book our own hotel and take a private transfer or taxi.

You will find the Princess package much more expensive as the price is per person, but takes the stress away.

Booking your own is usually about half the total cost ( for two travellers) of the Princess offering.

Very impressed with the library on Coral Princess.

Haven’t seen anything like that on any of the newer ships. Such a shame !

I buy good condition books in Charity shops, then leave them after every holiday..cruise or otherwise.

Write Elite in large letters and request  cool wash on the outside of the bag.

Take a photo of everything you are sending for laundry.

You can request washer/dryer tokens from guest services if you happen to be passing. I take my own (Purex or similar- available on Amazon) 3 in 1 sheets.

Definitely bring what suits your hair. Tried using ship’s products in the past and hair was even more out of control than usual. I usually take bar soap , bar shampoo and bar conditioner…at the very least take a ‘heavy duty’ conditioner.

When we returned from our cruise around Australia, we spent a few days in Sydney before flying home. We had booked lunch in The Sydney Tower, and although I had some dreadful lurgy, we kept the booking. It wasn’t that expensive..a three course buffet lunch with a glass of wine was just over AUD 200. As we didn’t have a lot of time, we had pre booked. Views were spectacular. We first did the tower about thirty years ago and I had some nausea when we descended, but all was fine this time.

Priority disembarkation was for Elite status. Sorry I didn’t notice whether there were taxis available at the port. We did however use two different taxis to get us around in Darwin as we needed to visit somewhere which was a bit far to walk with knee issues. Taxis came quickly and were reasonably priced on both outward and return journeys. We used cash so not sure if you could use credit card.

I agree the library on Coral is amazing. Would hate for Princess to turn it into something else. However- as previous posters have mentioned- money talks and the library/ card room do not make extra revenue so not holding my breath!

We have always received our final folio whilst waiting in the lounge to disembark. After our last cruise, around Australia on Coral Princess- 26 days- we did not receive anything. Fortunately, I had printed out a folio before disembarking. Credit card bill matched what I’d printed out.

Surprisingly, totally out of the blue, I have received the final folio , by email, this morning. We disembarked on 26th. March and today is 2nd June. No discrepancies but something is not right for Princess to take just under ten weeks to send it !!!

Can anyone say what the usual tip might be? I know it is a personal choice, but some ideas would be helpful.

Thanks.

I would add..take your own ‘home pharmacy’. Costs of cough mixture and painkillers etc are highly inflated.

Also, don’t buy watches onboard. My husband buys a watch every year from Fossil..(unnecessary I know and keeping them all in batteries is ridiculous) anyway, he usually buys from outlets and has never had an issue. The only one he bought on a Princess ship, at full price,  died within a few weeks of getting home..it wasn’t just the battery but the watch itself.

Have never thought to pack a hairdryer in recent years but on our latest cruise (Coral) wished I had. Square, wall mounted hairdryer which was definitely not very powerful and quite noisy. Maybe a heated styling brush would have been useful.

30 minutes ago, 555 said:

 

Formal night I switch to my black jeans & Polo which was fine. 

Thank you- sounds great.

3 minutes ago, 555 said:

  

I often wondered what it would take to be turned away on any night? 😄

  Interesting.  We have seen someone refused entry to the MDR on Emerald Princess in the Caribbean, post Covid, for wearing shorts. Was quite shocked as they were smart, formal shorts. The man behind him was allowed in…he was wearing tatty, paint-splattered overalls !!! It was a smart casual night..but go figure !!

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Of course. My days of f hauling around formal clothes is long gone. At first after the restart I brought nicer slacks, long sleeve shirts and a sports coat. Then stopped all that   Many people do not wear ties anymore and very few wear tuxes and ball gowns. Much easier

 

Thank you so much..husband will be delighted. We take formal clothes for longer cruises or when it’s a cruise with no moving hotel to hotel. Must admit to not taking much notice of what others wear if I am honest…but don’t want to feel uncomfortable.  Thanks again.

4 minutes ago, memoak said:

I no longer own a tie and no longer take a sports coat or suit on cruises. I dress the same for casual and formal dinners. Crew pants , short sleeve shirt with buttons and slip on shoes

Yes ….but do you dine in MDR on Formal Nights ??

9 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Tie? On the Enchanted Princess in May I could probably count the number of men in ties on my two hands for both formal nights combined....

Thank you..we will be sailing Enchanted Princess…Husband will be delighted to leave ties at home.

18 minutes ago, wcook said:

What exactly are we talking about for casual shoes? Princess specifically has a rule against flip flops. I would ban Crocs-with-socks 🙂

Casual Leather shoes. Something like lace up boat shoes..definitely not Crocs !

Have done quite a few Princess Cruises (Elite).We have always taken formal wear previously.

Have just added a cruise to our Fly/ Drive in USA and trying to work out whether we can avoid taking formal wear. Would fit in our luggage allowance easily as we have done it before. (2x 23kg each) But as we get older do not want to lug extra things that would only be worn twice on cruise, out of longer 4 week holiday when we’ll be in and out of hotels every other night.

Question is…and I am totally aware of Princess’ suggested dress code…what do men wear in MDR if not hauling suits, blazers or Sports’ coats ???  Would husband get away with black jeans and a shirt with casual shoes ? Or will we be relegated to buffet/ speciality dining on formal nights ?

I don’t want to be reprimanded for suggesting such a dreadful thing, but would be pleased to hear from anyone who has used MDR on formal night without dressing formally….will be in Caribbean in July.

Thanks for your (helpful) comments.

Thank you very much for posting this..very interesting.

In March 2024., there was a shuttle offered by Princess. AUD 25, Return. Chargeable to your Princess Folio. Seemed to be regular shuttles and no one checking tickets. Quite a walk from Anzac Square where the drop off point is, into Main Street. I am waiting for a Double Knee Replacement Operation (booked for September) so found the walk quite difficult but plenty of benches to rest en route.

Princess Cruiselines show prices including port taxes and fees for UK market.

For us, showing taxes as extras is confusing, just as adding taxes onto other purchases is. Maybe my mental arithmetic isn’t as good as it should be !!😂

Not sure where you are from. Maybe worth speaking to the travel agent you are thinking of using, or even Princess..but their answers change depending on the agent you speak to.

In USA it seems passengers are able to re fare pretty easily before final payment….although more recently some have said it is not quite so easy these days.

In UK, we are allowed just one change to our bookings, at an admin fee of £100.

We booked an hotel in the Rocks district after disembarking.

Couldn’t check in straight away, but they stored our luggage till check in time. Lots to see within walking distance..Bridge, Opera House, Circular Quay. Hop On/Off Bus, Pitt Street Mall. Many restaurants.

Early morning taxi to airport the next day.

On 5/8/2024 at 1:06 AM, triplem67 said:

thanks Leigh @possum52
I was going to say it's better than docking across the River at the Grain Terminal, but I think you covered it perfectly.  👍

On 5/8/2024 at 1:23 AM, possum52 said:

Thanks Mel. I could have gone further with Rome, Florence and some of the Asian ports such as Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok. Yes the Grain Terminal is even further. We docked there in 2015 on Diamond Princess. 

What have these comments to do with the original post asking for information about Brisbane dock to CBD ???

13 hours ago, possum52 said:

I agree Julie. A forty five minute trip each way sounds over the top too. It is only 21.7 km from the East Arm Wharf to the CBD. Must have been very slow shuttles.

We can only discuss what we experienced !

It might only be 21.7 km but that’s how long it took. It seemed an extremely long return journey when the air con died on the coach and no substitute coach was sent. The lack of air con might have meant the driver needed to travel more slowly on the return journey, but not for outbound journey.

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