joankiara

I've booked Sapphire ex Southampton round trip Baltics in Sept 2018, so I'll be a bit miffed if she ends up in Sydney that week :

 

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Well we are booked on the Sapphire Singapore/Southampton leg next March 2018 arriving in the UK early May.

Like others, I have been enjoying following this thread. We are booked 2017 on the Royal from Rome to Fort Lauderdale and then 20 nights around the Carribbean....the only downside is the long flight back to Oz at the end..but the wrong time of year to find a ship going down under. That should make a big difference opening up the central stairs as on the Regal it caused huge bottlenecks at the lifts at busy times...in fact all the time!

Enjoy your sea days and smooth sailing.

Cheers

Joan

I shall be following your trip with great interest...we are booked on the same cruise next year...having some slight anguish over weather patterns as we are doing 20 nights around the Caribbean straight after the TA....have been on the Regal and loved her...enjoy your cruise.

I send a copy of the most recent Dividend notice to my TA and she passes it onto Princess ...easy and works for me!

Well you are right, Easter Island and Pitcairn are off the agenda and now headed for Moorea...0800 - 1600 on the 16 th August then over to Papeete by 2000hrs and overnight there. Weather too rough down Easter Island and Pitcairn wY...we are all surviving though!

Cheers!

Joan

Wonderful pics again Stu, especially like the first one from Willy. I haven't been to Bermuda as yet, one day though.:D

The photos and videos posted have been just super...thank you from 'onboard'! Bermuda was so peaceful after all the hustle and bustle of NYC...and hot! We had been before and used the ferry this time - a very efficient cheap way to get over to Hamilton. At last we are into good weather and now 3 days to Cartagena and then the Panama.

Sea Princess now has 3 days at sea. They are on her way to Sydney (Cape Breton Island), Canada:

 

We Are into day 2 of the crossing and it is really dreary looking out there and fairly lumpy seas. Had the Captain's Welcome party last night...in and out quick as a flash....we are just shaking our heads...

Meanwhile I do smile when I notice the dedicated smokers out there on Deck 12 huddled up in big jackets, beanies and rugs enjoying their smoko!

Whoa, if you are out and about the ship make sure you are holding on.

Well it wasn't too bad and now berthed in Cobh with overcast skies and coolish.

Nice place there and the celebrations would be awesome.

BTW Cobh was the last port for the Titanic on her journey across the Atlantic.:(

We are looking forward to Cobh again too...last time they made it an "Australia Day"...meanwhile rolling along with some interesting swells??predicted to be 5m later.

Hi we are on the Sea Princess at the moment and yes we missed Warnemunde because of very high winds. The port closed and no vessels were allowed in or out. We are heading straight to Dover now for an extra day there. Angie

Yes I saw that on Angie and Paul's blog last night but too weary after tripping around Kent countryside to post on...have a good run around to Dover and we are so looking forward to boarding on Saturday. Made the mistake of visiting the huge Outlet Centre at Ashford yesterday and now have some more gear to ship back with us...thank goodness there is no weight limit!

Lots of people in port today. The town is very easy to navigate around without a guide if the miss out.:D

Agree it is easy to navigate around...we walked/scooted there and all was fine until we tried taking a short cut on the way back...those cobblestones and the multiple culverts in the pavements were dire for the Travelscoot...but loved the old town and we were the only ship in that day.....

Possibly, there seems to be a few other ships in as well so perhaps they hadn't secured a berth.

I was just thinking...how far ahead do they release these World Cruises...we booked way back in October 2014....and last year we sailed in and out of Stockholm...absolutely stunning...but that was on RCI Brilliance of the Seas on a Baltic cruise.

Good shots posted...thanks....

It was too windy (or whatever) to go up the canal on the 2011 Dawn Princess World Cruise so just went straight to Bergen ....wonder if we will miss any ports on the way back to Oz...Easter Island sounds to be a hit or miss with swells etc. Meanwhile enjoying a good old Scottish summer....at least no rain today so far!

They sailed up the canal and into Rotterdam today...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea and Royal Princess from Aida blu. Its a long walk to the port gates...:rolleyes:

 

Thanks for all the updates of the Sea Princess...the weather looks better than Edinburgh!

Bon Voyage. Where are you joining the ship?

 

In the meantime, enjoy Bonnie Scotland.

Thanks for that...and I might add it is drizzling and much cooler than Perth here in Edinburgh. We joing the SP 9 July in Dover through to Freo...yesterday it took us about 10.5 hours to fly from Perth to Abu Dhabi and just recently it took the SP ten days to sail from Freo to Dubai.

Some great webcam shots posted...looks much the same as 2010 WC...now let's see how the Panama project is this time around...and our bags are packed and off to Bonnie Scotland tomorrow for a bit before joining the SP 09 July...hope there are a few spots left for the 'incomers'...I know how territorial these long time cruisers become!

I agree, having been through the Suez a couple of times, nothing great about transiting the Suez IMO. Give me ye olde Panama Canal anytime !!

Quite agree, the Panama is much more interesting...should see some advancement on the new locks but don't think they are open yet...still waiting!

I wish some of that middle east hot weather would drift up to Scotland...I just checked and when we arrive this Friday it's going to be a heady 17 degrees - cooler than Perth...and we moan about mere 19's here!

Just had another of the many emails from Princess for our cruise on the SP...signed by Captain Gennaro Arma...presume he is in charge when we board in Dover. Great photos of alongside in Oman! :)

I bet they will be glad to get ashore!! :eek:

I'm sure there will be a stampede to get ashore...it will be rather hot there though - it was over 40 when we were there on the DP 2010 and the Gold Souk was so hot, it distracted me from the gold, plus he fact that my husband was melting in the heat, along with several others. Have also been following the blogs and there is one blogger who isn't restricted by internet usage! I keep on getting different numbers on how many are doing the whole voyage, unlike us mere mortals who only do it in halves...roll on the 9th July.

One issue may be filling the big ships.

 

However I predict that within a couple of years all three of Ye olde Sun class will wear the P&O badge.

 

And our Princess ships will be Diamond, Emerald and Golden, or something similar.

A few years ago P & O UK were going to use the AZURA for a world cruise (starting and returning to the UK) and many had already booked but as they did not reach the expected pre-bookings, cancelled the cruise. They now use smaller ships for their WC's.

Knew there would be something about the blogger getting a freebie! Good luck to her...she obviously caught the eye of marketing at Princess.

PS...we love the 'old' Sun class ships and won't hear a word said against them!!! Also we are actually paying to do half the current WC on the SP!! but on the home run.

Marlee,

Thank you so much for all the trouble you went to so I shall check up on Amazon.....in fact we have just today ordered a new Travelscoot for my husband - with reverse...yipee...but it won't be here for 4 to 6 weeks.

I really appreciate all the trouble you went to.

Best wishes

Joan

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Apparently the reverse drive model does not go as fast' date=' possibly only half speed. :mad: :eek:

 

Cato :)[/quote']

 

Wow, that sounds interesting. We are just back from a cruise and my husband used his 'scoot everywhere...including Ephesus....challenging in parts! The Grand Bazaar was a breeze though! Reverse would be great at times and let me off the hook....especially for hauling him out of lifts! More importantly, the thing we are looking for is some sort of wheeled travel bag as the one that came with the Travelscoot is the standard one and jolly heavy if you have to lug the whole caboodle any distance....before you can find a trolley or such like. I remember someone mentioned some time ago about buying a large wheeled golf bag...but that was in the US somewhere at a Walmart and meanwhile downunder, here in Oz, has anyone found any equivalent?

 

I cannot rave too much about the huge difference the Travelscoot has made not only to our travels but at home in the shopping malls, parks, wineries etc...it is just brilliant.

 

Grateful for any suggestions...

 

Joan

Yesterday we booked a cruise on P & O UK going from the UK to the Mediterranean then back to the UK....sounds great. During the booking process it was brought to our attention that as of March 2013 you will only be able to use mobility scooters (any kind including TS) if you are occupying a 'disabled' cabin. Our cruise isn't until September but no disabled cabins available for this cruise...we have still booked but asked to be put on the wait list if such a cabin becomes available. We can manage if need be without the TS around the ship but it just makes life so much more enjoyable for my husband.

Apparently this is a new directive from Carnival that UK travel agents have been sent affecting all Cunard, Princess and P & O UK cruises. If we wanted to pay double the standard balcony cabin price, we could have a mini suite 'disabled' cabin but this was not an option for us. Previously the policy was that you had to be wheelchair bound to use a disabled cabin, now it has been changed that if you want to use a mobility scooter on board you must occupy a disabled cabin regardless of your level of disability. We are pretty disappointed at this change of policy and wonder how others feel. My husband has used his TS recently on a short cruise and found it very liberating and we are certainly taking it on our South American trip in January. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of disgruntled TS owners when this information gets around a bit more!

Hi Joan nice to know there's a few of us from 'downunder'...:)

 

It has sold out very quickly, however, I would say as it gets closer to the time there may be some availability when it's time to 'pay up'.

 

It's a wonderful itinerary, one we've always wanted to do.

 

If you go to the Grand Princess Roll Call and register your name, they have a spreadsheet for everyone if you are interested.

 

Jilly:)

Thanks Jilly,

Yes, I will go and register...bit busy getting ready to go the UK to join the Dawn Princes for the trip (hopefully Dover back to Sydney) but will register before we leave. Joan