Funkat

Yes, I would definitely refax the information. I sent mine using FaxZero over a weekend and the credit was showing by mid-day Monday.

If you are a U.S. citizen traveling to Australia for tourism purposes, you must obtain an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority). The ETA is electronically linked to your passport and in most cases can be obtained immediately upon your online application.

 

Apply for the ETA online using the official Australian government website, https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETAS3/etas If you use this website, you can be assured that the ETA you obtain is actually legitimate and you can also be assured that your personal information is protected. Many people go to 3rd party websites to obtain their ETAs. In some cases, they are charged more than the Australian government charges. In other cases, they are charged less. But in ALL cases, if you don’t use the official Australian government website, you can’t be sure of what you are buying nor can you be sure that your personal information and credit card information won’t be compromised.

Good point! We only paid a little over $5 US more on each ETA going through the government website than the one quoted by OP. It's worth more than that for security reasons.

Wow, this seems cheaper than what we did. We used the government website

https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETAS3/etas and paid $20AU each. However, I was amazed that within just a few minutes, we had a confirmation that our application had been accepted and we had a valid ETA.

My wife and I just a had a short two night cruise from Brisbane to Sydney last weekend. We were last on the Sun Princess back in September 1998 and I've got to say she is great shape. Maybe even better than me, 19 years later. Without getting out a magnify glass I couldn't find any fault with her. Just don't remember her being so small, but been on few giants since 1998. Crew seemed happy and very helpful. Neil the CD was everywhere and always acknowledged everyone he passed while walking around. Princess certainly do look after her older girls compared to P&O Australia. Certainly would have no hesitation on sailing on Sun Princess again.

 

John

Thanks so much for the post on the Sun Princess. We are booked on her 3/30/18 sailing. After some research on the ship, I was starting to rethink our decision due to her age. Your assessment of the current condition and crew have given me some confidence that we will enjoy our cruise.

In May, we sailed on the Radiance of the Seas. She is not as small as the Sun, but still one of the smallest ships that we have sailed on. Our problem with her was not her size but that she was definitely showing signs of her age and it was not hard to see evidence of lacking maintenance.

After recently dealing with a small & old ship, it was like dejavu. So nice to hear that obviously Princess has done a great job of maintaining the Sun. There is a certain charm to a small ship.

It may possibly be easier to seat the 8 of you together in traditional dining.

With that being said, we have never liked a designated time to eat every evening.

On the one cruise that we had early seating, we hated it. Especially when the ship was in port late, we felt it very inconvenient to get to dinner that early (with all the showering & changing clothes).

Here's a link to the deck plans of the Coral https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/Coral-Princess so that you can check it out.

People that are mean, nasty & inconsiderate are usually very miserable people. Just thank God that you are not that way.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We are sailing on the Sun out of Sydney March 30, 2018 and our cruise personalizer is showing only $6.95 (US) per day for the Soda & More pkg. I also would like to use OBC, but not sure if the price will be more onboard. Anyone know if this price will be the same on board? (Pre-cruise we are paying in US dollars, but onboard purchases are in AU.)

(y)

Funkat,

If you love this? You will love most of the people in my Family...:):):)

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

Sounds like you have yourself an interesting family. Must make for loads of fun.

I think that's what society has become nowadays. The internet has allowed everyone to be belligerent and get away with it and has translated into real life.

 

If the schedule says a 10:30 departure and we depart at 10:45 then it becomes a major incident with mandatory mega compensation and if you don't give me my way....we'll, you will be sorry.

 

Pool lounger hogs, buffet miners and my all time favorite- the people who don't let you out of the elevator... they just ram it in.

My tips for those types of passengers are to kill them with kindness. Once the other pax starts throwing f bombs, they have lost.

 

The best I encountered was with my 81 year old mom escorting her to the pool area. She slowly made her way up to the front row next to the pool. It was obvious that someone had just claimed about 10 chairs, spreading towels all over each chair.

My mom simply sat down on one of the loungers and laid back to enjoy the sun.

 

The nasty pool chair hogger walked up to my mom and very rudely told her that "I just put those towels down"!

Mom says "you did such a good job too be so kind and get me a gin and tonic please.

For the rest of the Hawaiian cruise she had a front row seat.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I absolutely LOVE this!!!

Teas are unlimited the coffee is a punch. (On the first cruise)

Following sailings a tea cost a punch.

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Forums mobile app

I must have misunderstood, I thought regular coffee was not a punch but unlimited only on the initial cruise that the card was purchased for?

Who cares if someone else gives them the "evil eye" ? Means nothing to many.

Guess I’m one of those many.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Also - a note about elevators. When waiting for an elevator, please realize that there will probably be people on the elevator when it arrives who will need to get off before you can get on. Don't stand right in front of the door when waiting. SHARE.

Yes, that is a pet peeve of mine. You would think that it would be a "no brainer" to let people than need to get off first.

Thanks for the info!! More $ is always good. :D

https://www.princess.com/html/global/popups/metas/sp/sp_suite.html

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks. I did see that but seemed there was some perks not available on the Sun.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have an upcoming Australia/New Zealand cruise on the Sun Princess that we booked because of the itinerary and the ridiculous price they had for a suite. I'm good with her being a small ship but, after reading some reviews, I'm wondering how old & dated she is. Also, with her being a small ship what perks we will actually receive as suite guests?

The 90 day limit doesn't show in this document but it does still appear on the request form.

I thought I'd try early and sent my request on 8th October. No reply by today so I phoned them and was told the 90 days still applies then I received a reply to my email which included this statement.

 

Thank you for forwarding your, brokerage statement. Unfortunately at this time it is too early to be applying the benefits to the booking. Please note a current brokerage statement should be no older than 3 months old from the day of sailing. As your cruise is not sailing until the 25th January 2018 we would require a new shareholder statement which is dated on or after the 25th October 2017.

My next statement will be issued on 1st January 2018 so it will be cutting it fine for a 25th January sailing when it takes 11 days to get a response to my application.

.

Wow, could they make it that much harder for Aussies? That's ridiculous!

I'm in the U.S., but used FaxZero to send my form, etc., in a few weeks ago for a March 30, 2018 sailing. It was sent in over a weekend, but my OBC was posted to my account by noon on Monday.

Seems they are creating an unnecessary hassle for you. Good luck.

I agree with others, there are rude people everywhere. It's a shame that you let it ruin your & your mom's cruise. For every rude person, there are probably a dozen or so that are lovely individuals that more than make up for the rude ones. Personally, I pity those that can't show compassion for others, especially the elderly or handicapped, as they must be truly miserable people. But I refuse to give these people power over my happiness, I just try to stay my distance & ignore them. Agreed, though, that more details are needed before jumping to too many conclusions.

The TA resolved this issue we have the Sip and sail back and Princess let us keep the $200.00 lower booking price .

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

So glad that it all worked out. Persistence does pay off. :)

Using the FaxZero option. Also will snail mail hard copy. Thanks for your information!

Your credit should post within a few hours, maybe even before you make it to the post office. lol

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

How about this for a change in focus: "How much extra should I tip the head waiter if he lets me smoke a cigar at the table on formal night?"

Yes. How could I forget the explosive tip subject.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Can only snail mail or fax. Sadly, I don't have a fax. It needs to be submitted more than two weeks prior to cruising. I ran mine to the post office today. Hate to miss out on a $250.00 OBC.

Did you see our posts above about using FaxZero? You fax from your computer. It’s as easy as email & free. Problem solved.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If they got rid of it, at the very least we wouldn't have to endure these contant "formal or not" posts! There would be nothing to discuss except for the initial, "We're not happy" and "We're very happy" posts. Then I suppose it would die down and go away. :confused:

lol. The focus would probably go towards the “smuggle or not to smuggle booze on a cruise” debate. js

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We partially agree with you, but find that the best deals come from shopping around among several very reputable high volume cruise agencies. The reality is that certain agencies seem to have special relatons with specific cruise lines....so, for example, the agency where we usually find the best deals on Celebrity (or any RCI product) is different from the agency we generally use for Princess, Cunard, or MSC. As to the actual agents, we use them when necessary but prefer to simply do most of our bookings online. In fact, our favorite discount cruise agency charges extra (I think its $50) for bookings made with an agent...vs just doing it online. And this makes sense since it costs them more to use a human....as opposed to a few clicks via computer.

 

 

 

When we decide what we want to book (and we do book at 70-100 days of cruises a year) we quickly compare offerings from among 3-5 cruise agencies (this usually takes me about 30 min) and then book with the agency that has the best overall deal. Just did this this morning for a last minute Princess cruise. Only one of our favored agencies even offered the deal we booked (which was only open for a couple of hours)....and it was an amazing deal. There is no harm in shopping around, and the results often pay off...sometimes in the thousands of dollars.

 

 

 

Hank

I have to ask, how did you know of the deal open for only a couple of hours? An email from a TA or Princess?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

per day or whole cruise?

pp for a 5 day cruise for an inside, not the $99 pp that was offered in the deal that some were offered.