Sparky74

We’re down to 10 days before we leave. The dining room table still isn’t cleared but we’ve made definite progress. Other areas of the house are looking better but there’s still a way to go. DW is starting to empty the wardrobe in the master bedroom as I type. On the weekend we learnt that work colleagues are also on the transpacific. DW knows them better than I do. Now, what have I forgotten to do?

I don’t think this has been posted yet. I found it elsewhere.

Princess have some good prices on their "drop and go fares" for cruises sailing in the next couple of months.

I was going to add that we’re in Port Denarau on a Sunday so that may change things. Also I’m not sure if our sailing (Carnival Splendor transpacific) will be the first time a cruise ship has called at Fiji since the lockdown. 🤷‍♂️

Sometimes it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. 🤷‍♂️🤣 But forgiveness isn’t always forthcoming. ☹️

Welcome to Cruise Critic. The people here on the Australian and New Zealand board are a friendly bunch. Between us we have a wealth of knowledge and experience and are happy to chip in with our two cents worth. I see that others have already given great advice so I'll try not to repeat too much of that but I must echo @OzKiwiJJ's comments about the Coral Princess. Don’t take too much notice of negative reviews. DW (Darling Wife) and I sailed on her a couple of months ago and had a great time. Was everything perfect? Well, what is in this world? I'll also say that like @buchhalm, I’m a fan of Gary Bembridge's Tips for Travellers YouTube channel. Maybe start with this video. We love cruising. We took our first cruise in 2010 and a couple of months ago took our 19th. As we have more leave which must be taken this year we’re about to embark on a mad itinerary, jumping from ship to ship and line to line, visiting 5 countries and spending 43 nights at sea! There's such a variety of ships, cruise lines, and itineraries out there. As you’re probably aware, the industry is only starting up again here in Australia following a two year lock down, so things aren’t quite what they were at this stage but even so there is a wide choice. We (a couple in our late 40s with no kids) tend to sail on larger ships, those with 2,000 passengers or more, the mass market cruise lines. Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival, P&O, Celebrity… each has its own character and attracts a slightly different demographic. Having said that, the "feel" of a ship can change from sailing to sailing as the passengers change. Longer cruises TEND to attract a slightly older crowd and one expects to see more families during school holidays. For many who sail on larger ships, to a greater or lesser extent, the ship IS the destination. Certainly during the cruise ship lockdown even we got to the point where we said, "I just want to go on a cruise; I don’t care where it goes to." As we are on relatively low fixed incomes, we are attracted by the affordable price of cruising and usually sail in the cheapest available cabin. This is an inside or interior cabin (ie it has no window) and a guarantee cabin (you don’t get to choose which cabin). Location of cabin is important to some people, as is the natural light provided by a non-opening window of an outside or oceanview cabin, or the ability to step out into fresh air afforded by a balcony cabin. We find plenty of fresh air upon deck and don’t spend a lot of time in our cabin. YMMV. BTW, cabin = stateroom. Same thing just another term. 😮‍💨 The other thing I must mention about cruising (on larger ships) is that you don’t get a huge amount of time in each port. Often you arrive in the morning and have to be back on board by about 5pm. Sometimes it’s a later sail away, like 11pm. And occasionally a ship will even remain in port overnight giving you two full days to see a place. This was the case when we docked at St Petersburg on our Baltic Sea cruise. But generally speaking you really only get a taste of the port you’re visiting. For many this is sufficient but just be aware that it’s not like a road trip where you may spend a couple of days exploring an area. My Aunt (late 70s with plenty of money) tends to sail on smaller ships, less than 500 passengers. I understand that these cruises tend to be more destination focussed. Cruiselines include Oceania, Ponant, Silversea, Seaborn, Azamara. These are well out of our price range but you do you. I hope this helps you decide if cruising is for you. 😁

Not necessarily. If you’ve booked flights, paid for accommodation, or arranged days off work it could be dashed inconvenient! I'm not on this sailing; we disembark Carnival Splendor in Sydney on 30th September and board the Pacific Encounter in Brisbane on 1st October. If P&O brought forward boarding by 24 hours it would not work for us at all. (We need to return home between these two cruises otherwise our trip goes over the 45 day limit of our travel insurance.)

Apparently the 3 night cruise from Sydney on 2nd October is now a 4 night cruise starting on 1st October. 🤷‍♂️

the same site also has good prices on 7 nights to North Qld out of Brisbane on 10th September. $522 interior, $590 obstructed oceanview, $813 balcony. Prices are per person, twin share.

As part of what I’m calling our "Mad Itinerary" we are booked to sail out of Brisbane on the Pacific Encounter on 4th October 2022. This cruise is to PNG (Papua New Guinea). Smart Traveller is currently showing "Reconsider your need to travel" advice for PNG. As far as I can tell, apart from Silversea's Silver Explorer and Ponant's Le Soléal, both of which are small luxury vessels with less than 300 passengers, ours will be the first cruise to sail from Australia to PNG since the shut down. I'm preparing for an itinerary change and will be fine with that. I try to just roll with the punches. But what do you think the chances are of us actually getting to PNG?

There’s not much close to the BICT. The closest would be a pub, the old Pinkenbar Hotel, aka The Pink. It’s been rebranded as Trade Coast Hotel. Apparently rated as 3 star accommodation. @Jean C Recently had to find accommodation at short notice when the Coral Princess couldn’t dock due to the bad weather. She stayed at A1 Ibis Budget at the airport for the first night but was much happier when she relocated to the Holiday Inn Express at Wharf Street, Springhill for her second night in Brisbane. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2864919-warning-if-your-about-to-cruise-on-coral/?do=findComment&comment=63613776 (And happier still when she FINALLY boarded the ship! LOL) YMMV

Friends of ours have been touring the Canadian Rockies and were to board a 7 night Alaskan cruise tomorrow (his 60th birthday) before flying home to Australia. Unfortunately they'll be spending his birthday quarantined in their hotel in Seattle as they’ve returned positive RATs. ☹️ I do worry about us catching it again and wonder if we will end up missing part of our trip. I guess "you pay your money and you takes your chances!" as the man said. We may find out how good our travel insurance is. DW, Cathryn, is currently wearing a moo boot for the "grossly inflamed tendons" in her right ankle. This morning we cancelled the hike and bike excursion in Sitka, Alaska and have substituted a 4x4 nature safari instead. The countdown is on. 19 days to go!

Just for fun… RCI recently posted these pics based on Roger Hargreaves's Mr Men and Little Miss characters. Can you relate to any of them? 🤣

We only get 28 days leave in a normal year, and they have to be taken by the end of January the following year. We will have an extra 4 weeks due in 2025. 😁 We have booked a cruise on Quantum of the Seas for February 2023.

You get a gold star ⭐️ for spelling Cathryn's name correctly. 😁

I wonder why I thought HAL had guest laundries. 🤷‍♂️ I’m trying to watch the pennies. This trip is a bit of a splurge but we’ve not been able to cruise in Australia for a couple of years. Alaska is expensive but who knows if we'll ever get back again. We usually book an inside guarantee but have sprung for a balcony this time. 😱 I'll just pay the extra for unlimited pressing. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things but I’m aware that all the little things add up. I think it will be worth it. Thanks everyone for your helpful information and advice.

As we now live closer to Brisbane, I’d be happy to see a Radiance class ship home porting there year round, especially if they keep the prices low. 🤞😁

I’m guessing that there'll be a lot of people who aren’t happy campers, er not happy cruisers. 🤪 People (including me, I’m a people) often don’t cope with the idea of change. Whilst DW and I usually book a guarantee cabin, I know others book early to make sure they get a specific cabin on a specific ship. How do the ships compare?

My question really is, if I have the unlimited (wash and fold) laundry package and send button up shirts, will they send them back folded (I’m OK with that) or will they press them and charge me it. If they’re going to press my shirts anyway and charge me for it, I may as well buy the unlimited pressing but I’m happy to iron my own shirts. I presume there’s an iron and ironing board in the guest laundries on the Eurodam. 🤷‍♂️

Please excuse my ignorance; I’m an experienced cruiser but am about to embark on my first ever HAL cruise. The Unlimited Laundry Package is listed as including wash, dry, and fold. If I send items that would usually be pressed and hung (such as button up shirts) will they charge me for pressing or just return them folded. I wasn’t planning on purchasing the pressing package.

I was chatting with a friend on antisocial media. Her parents were booked on the 12 night cruise that was split into two B2B. They missed the first leg as there flight from WA was cancelled. They tested positive while on the cruise so were placed in isolation and missed Port Douglas. They were "upgraded" to a balcony cabin for isolation but unfortunately the weather meant they couldn’t sit out there! As the ship was delayed returning to Brisbane, they only had another 2 days of isolation which was done in a Gold Coast hotel. They are now back home.

DW just came home with the news that her parents have also booked the transpacific cruise! 😱

I doubt that changing airlines is an option at this stage. We got a very good price in the first place.