lolo11

Thank you so much, BoopTennis.

Thank you all for the great posts. If anyone on board could upload a picture of the white wines available on the ocean now or stateroom/roomservice menu, I would appreciate it. Enjoy the cruise. 

We departed from Sydney on October 23rd. There is no longer a requirement for covid testing. They scanned the qr code on the medallion app, checked passports and gave us our medallions. Well organized. We dropped our bags off at 10 am but check in did not begin until 11am.

I've read that an esim will not work with a Canadian Samsung galaxy s20/s20+. Has anyone tried with these phones?

On 7/30/2023 at 10:02 PM, CPT Trips said:

It is more than semantics. The Australia app takes the picture “automatically” when you get everything positioned correctly. For us, the app opened the camera in selfie mode. It took me a while to get everything positioned correctly for my photo. A real PITA. DW is short and she couldn’t get the camera far enough away from her face. Fortunately i could change the camera and take the photo for her. 
I had similar problems, as well as glare issues positioning things to scan in info page of the passports. 
Once I took the phone case off, there wasn’t a problem reading the chip. I also discovered that both the phone and case needed a good cleaning. 
One last suggestion, use a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees when paying. 

I was able to take my photo but struggled with taking my husband's in selfie mode. Then I remembered this post about your switching the mode to take the photo. Problem solved. Thanks. 

37 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Canadians can start ordering medallions to ship September 25th!

Thanks for posting!

11 hours ago, yarramar said:

It depends which gate you arrive at but there are travelators. Have not seen golf carts, only wheelchair assistance.

https://www.sydneyairport.com.au/info-sheet/need-assistance

Thank you. I'll look for the travelators.

I've been having trouble walking long distances and I'm concerned about how far it is to walk from the arrival gate to immigration. Are there any moving sidewalks/walkways in the terminal? Or assistance by golf cart? I don't need/want a wheelchair. 

45 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Turned to Blue Lane overnight from Green!  Being Canadian, Medallions are pier pick up.  We have Priority Embarkation, but doubt if that’ll make much difference.

Same

2 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

I'm not happy either. We have four cruises booked with Princess, not nearly as many as some here. When I booked these, to my mind I was buying a "product." Some parts of that product were Alfredo's/Gigi's at no charge, room service at no charge, and the daggone medallion functions for drink and food deliveries that they so strenuously marketed at us. Now, they've changed the product. I expect prices to go up, and I certainly haven't been surprised about that, but I don't expect that a purchase I've made will change into something else. I'm not saying I wouldn't have booked these cruises if the switcheroo happened before I booked, but I will say that I'll be looking long and hard at other options for three out of four of the cruises we have booked.

Exactly 

23 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

From today’s webinar:

From the personalizer 

1 hour ago, tothemall&beyond said:

 Nope. No more free items for Standard fare. It's prix fixe @ $14.99 for the 3-course meal or a la carte for everything else. It literally says so. The addition of new three-course, pre-fixed menus gives Plus and Premier guests more food options than ever before without any extra charges. For those who prefer sailing on Princess Standard, the casual prix fixe dining will be $14.99 and individual selections will continue with a la carte pricing.

As far as Alfredos goes, it still (at the moment) is not described on the Princess website as having an additional charge, while Sabatinis for example is clearly described as specialty dining and "additional charges apply." We love Alfredos (and the fact that it is free) so much that we always choose  a ship that has one. Not happy that our upcoming cruise on the Royal will be subject to new charges after we booked. 

I wonder if the plus/premier "fares " which include wifi will be available to purchase on board or if it will just be the stand alone beverage packages? And the cost? I was planning on purchasing the full plus (wifi, drinks) on board. 

36 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

 

CA is included in the base cruise fare, for all cruises originating from AND returning to an Australian port.

 

So, even without a package, there is NO Daily Charge for CA  🙂

 

(somewhat similar to you, the package is not cost effective for us, or maybe borderline; so really knowing if we'll be charged daily CA is an important factor in deciding about a package.    In this case, clearly we will go without a package).

 

Best,

Mary

 

 

That's great, but I wonder why there is the option to prepay CA (gratuities) in the personalizer under the payment section? 

I have the same question. I assumed they would apply the going exchange rate usd to aud.

10 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

My opinion of this new plus/premier package stuff is that it has put passengers into a 2 class system. Those on the plus are reduced to beggars asking “can I please have a GOOD glass of wine?”  “Can I please have a good wine glass?”  We are sent scurrying around from bar to bar. Deck to deck trying to find a decent not even great glass of wine included in our plus package. 

Very true. Almost every bar had the Canyon Road chardonnay for $9, but for me it was literally undrinkable. I had to work hard using the app (no luck there), scanning qr codes (the bars didn't always have the wines listed), and asking the bar staff for "anything " better than the Canyon Road. Very disappointing. 

2 hours ago, rocklinmom said:

Hi again! One more question, you posted this as the outdoor smoking area at the back of Lido deck. Do you recall if there were also smokers allowed in the Horizon Court outdoor eating area? I am looking at some aft Marina deck cabins right below that (where you walk outside from the buffet) on the port side and want to avoid the smoking side.  

The outdoor smoking area is on deck 17, 1 deck above the Horizon Court, aft. Packed. Actually, it's above the Outrigger bar, which is the outdoor seating area for Horizon Court, aft.

I would love to know about the white wine selection in Vines, if anyone on board happens to go there. Also, what are the generic white wine offerings (brand) in any other bars? Thanks. 

I have the same course of vaccines as you do, and I am going on a cruise in September. My understanding is that you need 2 doses of a covid 19 vaccine. Mixed vaccines as described in your post are acceptable. The fact that we have a third booster dose is not relevant as it is not required. I have to admit, I had to read the rules carefully, but we are in fact okay to travel.

9 hours ago, cruisintoddler said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-vaccine-effectiveness-data-delayed-doses-mixing-matching-covid-19-vaccines-1.6205993
 

Finally: two studies with good news for mixed vaccines.  
 

And there were US researchers involved. 
 

And they have sent the info to the US for their review re travel. 
 

I'm SO happy to finally see this !!!!    Much better than the article I shared a day ago!  Maybe we'll be able to travel to the US for work and vacation soon!  
 

(also when did this Canadian section start up??  I just noticed it a few days ago! ) 
 

 

Thanks for posting!

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Ah, but there is a catch for Canadians.  Our governments implemented a huge delay, beyond the science and any other country.  How many Canadians got their mRNA shot within 12 weeks of AZ?  Might not have been possible in many provinces if you were among the earlier vaccinations.

Here in BC, everyone I know got their Pfizer/Moderna within 8 to 12 weeks following their AZ.

On 7/15/2021 at 7:35 AM, ceilidh1 said:

I hope I am not breaking any rules by posting this, but I just found it out yesterday and thought it important for other Canadians who may not know!

 

If you received a mixed dose for your vaccination, please be sure to check the FAQs on Princess to see if you are considered fully vaccinated. I was about to book a summer sailing to Alaska for a client and am so glad I read every piece of fine print. Princess are not accepting those with Astra Zeneca followed by Moderna/Pfizer. This could potentially impact MANY Canadians who were "urged" to accept whatever vaccine was offered. (On further investigation, I have found that NCL and Carnival also have similar restrictions).

 

Sorry if this is old news...I hadn't heard/seen it before yesterday!

Thanks for posting. This changes my plans to cruise in October unless something changes by then. So sad for all those who've already booked and can't travel now.

We have 1 cruise in November (Queensland) and 1 in December (New Zealand. ) Fully expected this. We will rebook for 2022.

8 minutes ago, RecliningPanda said:

ha I’m due to go on the ruby in a few hours and embarkation has been delayed five hours. I’m super worried 

Please keep us updated. Fingers crossed.

On 10/14/2019 at 1:18 AM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Once you go through the security screening you'll see a table in front of you where you declare your wine, pay the corkage and get the stickers. You can't miss it.

Does anyone know if this is the same procedure in Auckland on Princess?