Porky55

19 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

With Princess abandoning Australian/NZ cruisers by cutting the sailings down to the bare bones it has left me searching for alternative options.

 

I have always looked at Holland America itineraries and they seem to have some unique itineriaries. Maybe its time this Princess cruiser move or maybe considred another line.

 

Anyone else looking at alternative lines. 

we are also looking very seriously at Silverseas Australian itineraries 🤔

9 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

It does and the shows are not as good as some other lines but the itineraries do tend to vary more.

You are right there Mick.

We loved the Music Walk on HAL ships when we cruised before Covid. Choice of rock music,  blues, or classical - as well as their theatre shows, which you choose to go or not.

But, the Music Walk has been dropped 🥺 very sad.

Rose

What I find tempting with HAL, is the opportunity to do the Syd to Hawaii cruise now that Princess seems to have dropped this off their future cruising.

Yes, we would have to fly home, but it would tick a bucket list item. Either on the coming to Aus or returning to US itineraries.

Rose 

We have cruised on HAL 3 times and have Westerdam booked next Feb.

If I could compare HAL to anyone it would be Princess; smaller pinnacle and vista class ships (the older ones) that have promenade decks on older ships; dark wood and lovely artwork throughout ships, wonderful beds, showers over bath like PCL mini suites (which I don't mind) and fresh flowers everywhere.

Food was always good and crew very much like Princesses. 
 

Saying this, we have cruised on Zaandam, Noordam, Koningsdam and will be on Westerdam in '25.

"I'm looking at a couple of cruises out of Singapore Dec/Jan. I have heard that HAL skews old but that doesn't bother me so much."

Didn't find much difference in passenger demographics from Princess to be honest 😏

23 hours ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

Yes the best coffee I found was at the casino cafe. But again if that was the only negetive I think I did pretty well!

Thankyou for that … you made my day 😆 That is exactly what it is, but for diehard Princess cruises the cafe you are referring to is a very poor imitation of the Princess International Cafe ( just in case you go on a different Princess ship one day and can't find the Casino Cafe👍).

Glad you enjoyed your cruise 😁

2 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

I bet there will be a limit on numbers that can choose reservable. That option would be problematic at times to try and staff if people have weird variances. 

 

We tend to be late dinners and not in any rush (like some people to run down to dinner at 6 pm on the dot).

Agreed, as it was rolled out on a large ship, will be interesting to see how it is handled on say; Coral. 
 

It's more the reappearance of "Traditional" that I found amusing.

Princess is bringing in new Dining Options fleetwide, what do we think about this??

Following the recent implementation aboard Sun Princess, Princess Cruises has announced that passengers will have three table service options for main dining available fleetwide.

The three options -- Traditional, Reservable or Walk-in Anytime -- will be available in separate dining rooms. Traditional consists of an early and a late seating every evening; Reservable allows passengers to reserve preferred dining times; and the Walk-in option offers open seating at any time. 

The trio of dining formats debuted aboard the new Sun Princess, which offers a three-story dining room with one floor dedicated to traditional dining, another one devoted to flexible reservations and a third for anytime walk-ins.

7 hours ago, suzyed said:

Yes, I am on the Singapore sailing!  So right before we sail?  Yay!

 

suzyed - that looks right, arrives Singapore from Perth on the Sep 26 then the next cruise is Oct 17 (yours?)

Not sure what you are expecting, but we did the 23WC on Coral and I know she had and has had a lot of mechanical problems (one that was repaired in Dubai) so assume this dry dock will be to do major maintenance to the ship - wouldn't expect anything cosmetic.
 

She is a lovely little ship, very clean, great Captain (which makes a great ship imo) you will have a fabulous cruise. 
 

Take care of her over there (USA) because I've got a feeling that we will see her back here in the next few years flying the P&O Aus banner 😉
 

cheers, Rose 🌹

3 hours ago, suzyed said:

Do you know when the dry dock is?

Coral leaves Australia for good in September this year and heads to Singapore for her dry dock (sad to see her go 🥹) then continues on to end up in Alaska and the Carribean. Crown is replacing Coral downunder 🤔

Rose 🌹

On 11/15/2023 at 5:04 PM, springaussie said:

Voyager can dock in Cairns and be used on around Oz cruises.

 

 

 

Voyager is 311m long, so I think she would tender from Yorkies … am I right?

1 minute ago, icat2000 said:

I noticed that its on Curnard website either. I guess they took it down while they make the adjustments.  I guess there would be some unhappy campers. 

 

But I'm still looking for Christmas or NYE cruise. And I might look at this one rather than do Crown on 29th. I haven't commited to anything yet. 

Perhaps you could grab a bargain if those that are disappointed choose to cancel? Keep an eye on Cunard or grab a good TA - always a Silver lining 🥂

20 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

It is a great itinerary (we're doing something similar out of Brisbane for Christmas). However, I think I would be a trifle disappointed (verging on annoyed) if I had booked for N.Z. having not cruised there before and having done at least 3 cruises to the South Pacific in the past.

Exactly what is being expressed by those who were booked on those dates going to NZ ……… all very interesting don't you think???

39 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

That looks like great itinerary. Is this Christmas coming up?

Yes … but those on Cunard that booked the original dates aren't happy, I think it was going south to Tas then NZ etc. On the Cunard website, these dates aren't even there now 🙄

Its more about the reason to not go to NZ at all anymore … …… or so it's rumoured 🤔 

We all got to Easter Island last year - 2023 and it was wonderful. 
 

Hope the next Worldies get there too 🤞

Just saw this notice and wondering if anyone knows the reason for the change with Cunard cruising to NZ??
 

49 minutes ago, guy01 said:

We have a Reserve Collection mini-suite and used the priority boarding lane at the OPT (although it wasn’t listed in the priority lane sign) on the ship within 15 minutes of arriving at the terminal and that included picking up our medallion. 

Agree with you guy01 - we book Reserve Collection mini suites all the time now and we had Priority boarding - now we have reached Elite, this no longer matters, but we DID receive priority in Reserve/Club Class. 👍

Yep, we've done it, off Celebrity and personally we loved it. Read the details and decide if it's something you would enjoy. We were really well looked after and saw places we would never have thought of visiting … so, we highly recommend it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

cheers, Rose 🌹

On 2/11/2024 at 6:56 AM, tashaaa said:

Will they release more cruises for Australia and New Zealand? I see them only until beginning of 2025, so actually I am waiting for the cruises 2025/2026 or am I missing something. 
 

Haven’t cruised with Azemara, but it looks really good. 

This is the reason I asked originally, particularly for our Australian season - so was after our 25/26 summer season for downunder.
 

Will wait till March and see what comes out then.

Rose

Just aside from SPF50+ sunscreen, if you are going into the water on the barrier reef anytime from November to May a stinger suit is highly recommended - our sun can burn you, but our stingers will make you very ill.

Anyway, enjoy your visit, Rose.

50 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Usually September. But it can vary a lot.

Thank you 👍

Hello all,

May I intrude to ask a "newbie" question?
When do Silversea release new season itineraries?  For example 26/27?

Regular cruise lines it's around March each year, is Silversea the same - looking toward the mid to end of 2026 to 27.

Thanks in advance

Rose 🌹

Hi all, a Newbie question if I may.

When do Azamara release new season itineraries - ie 2026/27?

Thanks in advance

Rose 🌹

On 1/29/2024 at 4:07 PM, possum52 said:

Interesting that Celebrity are calling their excursion Premier Class - the most expensive class on the railway is Gold which for one way is $99 and includes the following -

Gold Class inclusions:

• Dedicated attendant service
• Individual seating in comfortable lounge-style chairs
• A spacious heritage style carriage for travel that offers the ambience of the romance of rail
• Kuranda Scenic Railway gift pack including a Kuranda Scenic Railway pen and postcard
• Souvenir trip fan
• Stop and disembark at Din Din (Barron Falls) railway station, with stunning views of the Falls
• Refreshments featuring a selection of Queensland and local produce such as Gallo Dairyland Cheeses, Skybury Coffee, Wondaree Macadamias, Licks Mango Sorbet, a selection of Australian wines and Great Northern Brewing Company Super Crisp Lager
• Welcome tropical mocktails are served in the pavillion area of Freshwater railway station from 9.35am
• For afternoon travellers, welcome drinks are served onboard the train at Kuranda railway station from 3.10pm

The Skyrail is $62 one way. I guess you have to add in the cost of transfer from Knobby's Head return but that surely would not add up to too much more than $200 give or take. That is really ripping off passengers.

Exactly my point, so at the stops on our Qld cruise, we will be entertaining ourselves.

Rose

Just reading this thread and interesting to see now, due to World circumstances, Cbtours - you may have multiple choices of itinerary's to South Africa, with the Suez so unsettled.

Just read QM2 will be going that way this year 🤔

Rose

15 hours ago, paulvdb1 said:

A few tours would have been nice but MUCH cheaper to book on land. 

We have a cruise booked on Edge in December. Have been looking at excursions on a Qld itinerary and WOW 😳

Compared same excursion with Princess prices and Edge are triple the price for exactly the same excursion … criminal actually. the only difference I can find is the train seating is "Premier" and includes a glass of wine 🙄
 

So, we will be doing our own thing, as the ship is the destination for this 10 day cruise and we have done the sector a few times. 
 

Rose