Jean C

Hi, disappointing to hear fresh cream wasn't available for afternoon tea time scones in buffet, we usually indulge in them on the last couple of sea days and wouldn't bother if cream wasn't fresh - as you say, with brekkie, possibly a light lunch in buffet (unplanned but normally resulting in a small mountain on the plate) and a three course dinner, you just don't need it. Went to afternoon tea once and was underwhelmed, I guess I'm more of a coffee and Chocolate Journeys dessert person than a dinky sammies with tea person. Our cruise is just under two weeks to go and during the week I spotted Activities Timetable on the App (also email yesterday from Princess re Activities). Scrolling through you can bookmark activities you're interested in - the morning and afternoon tea events for your cruise are shown there.

It'll be hard to go back to anything less than a balcony after those cruises 😄 Our first cruise was a window cabin, the next was a good deal on a balcony and we've never looked back since 😊

Hahaha, I am such a weakling that when I check in a suitcase that is well under weight limit, and heave and heft it onto the scale, the staff do a double-take at the weight reading 😅

Congratulations, you did well. We're doing same 7 night cruise in just over two weeks and will take carry on luggage only - flying Air NZ so weight allowance is only 7kg. We usually hand wash clothes at the end of each day, dry as much as possible in pool towels and hang on the back if balcony chairs or in bathroom to finish off.

Hi, if you google Sydney cruise ship ports schedule you will be able to check where your ship is scheduled to dock.

Thanks for the tip 👍

Aha, so not useful ramblings 😄 On our last cruise pre covid you could each bring a bottle at port stops and they didn't charge corkage - this was while their website said one bottle per passenger on embarkation. No worries, will work around as we're flying in too.

Don't forget that you can also top up wine supplies from Cairns and Port Douglas supermarkets - both easy walking from the port🍷I don't actually know if Aus supermarkets sell vino, just presuming here 😀

PS, to boot, our upcoming cruise, as I am sure is the case for many passengers, is a freebie due to the generous bonus FCC Princess offered passengers at the start of Covid cancellations.

Slightly off topic but I think Princess is being very fair to passengers. I fully understand people's gripes about the quality of wines available, I like a decent wine but will happily go without rather than spend on cheap plonk. But back to my point, Princess fares are still very reasonable (except of course compared with same duration US cruises, but that again is a different issue). Have you looked at airfares lately? Air NZ have almost doubled their fares this last month, citing fuel costs, which make up one-third of airfare, and increased catering costs due to increased food costs. Princess have those same additional costs to bear but their fares don't hike at every available opportunity. I think Princess is doing a sterling job in the current climate and can't wait to get back on a ship in 19 days 🛳 🥳

Good to hear feedback on the Cairns Aquarium, when it's our turn to cruise (22nd - this month, yippee) we plan to walk to the Aquarium and then go for a dip in the lagoon, if it's not too cold 😀

If you stop at Auckland ships normally have a tour to the caves - absolutely well worth seeing, so good the glow worm ceiling looks fake at first glance!

For the future, if you use a Princess Vacation Planner you will have no problems and will have a single contact person. Like TAs, some are better than others. They will give you some additional OBC and say that should fares drop they will automatically apply lower fare to your booking, so best of both worlds 🙂

So bag scanning is both for alcohol as well as four legged friends, hehehe 😺

Hehehe, this really made me laugh, sadly I fully understand, I have a kitty who I haven't yet broken the news to that he's being left behind for a week 🥴. I joke about smuggling him on board and how we'll manage the cabin steward, hehehe, judging from the photos posted, kitty will love the food 😄

From what I can gather from other posts, that information shows on your Travel Summary, which you can print from the website. It also appears to Princess staff when they "read" your medallion.

Post 174 on Irene's thread Live reports from 16 June cruise 🛳 🙂

Thanks 😊 Have been keeping an eye on the shore tours bookings and available numbers still show 20 (figure they open up in lots of 20 as that seems to be a fairly standard number they use). If the worst comes to the worst and they cancel it for not enough numbers or we miss out, I have printed out a Google map of Airlie Beach showing the lookout point and lagoon so they will be our Plan B 😉

Thank you 😊 We're NZ'ers and went on a South America cruise eons ago so I got a lot of Aussie cash for it. We ended up with a ridiculous amount of OBC ($2,000 pp) so I ended up with a lot of unused cash. With border closures I haven't been able to travel and use it and have kept it aside awaiting an opportunity. I'd like to do the expensive Princess trip to Whitehaven Beach - we arrive too late for a private operator - so that will mop some of it up 🙂 💰

Thank you, much appreciated 🙂 🙂 💰

Mr Mexico 🇲🇽 😍

Thank you, you're wonderful 💖

Much appreciated, Irene, thank you very much 😊 Can you also please ask if we can pay cash onto our on board account? You're everyone's lifesaver for accurate information 🙂

Thank you, there's nothing in Personalizer. Travel companion sent an email enquiry to our (very average) PVP a couple of weeks ago but has heard nothing back. We won't be pushed for time so if there's a wait it won't be disastrous.

Won't have roaming on phone unfortunately 😕