ccrain

Sorry that you had to cancel your cruise Renee & hopefully you get to sail the transpacific cruise. Not only was it a great itinerary but having to fly only one-way was great. :D

 

The schedule shows the Golden sailing LA/Sydney (9/23/18) and Sydney/LA (4/8/19). The April cruise can also end in Vancouver after LA.

The Golden 2018 schedule looks pretty interesting with a drydock looking gap in Singapore from 3/30/2018 to 4/13/2018 where she goes to Tokyo from Singapore on 4/14 arriving 4/27. Then on to Whittier on 5/12 where she will sail the Whittier to Vancouver routes for the Alaska season.

As previously stated she goes back to Sydney from LA on 9/23/2018 arriving SYD on 10/22, and MEL on 10/25. She does the typical Oahu, Kauai, Tahiti, Moorea, Pago Pago, Auckland, Tauranga, Akaroa, Dunedin, Fjordland stops along the way. Good Itin.

Once in Melbourne she does 14 day South Pacific (Noumea, Mare, Mystery Island, Vila, Champagne Bay, Luganville), New Zealand trips (Fjordland, Dunedin, Akaroa, Wellington, Gisborne, Tauranga, Auckland), a couple of 3-4 dayers (Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln).

On April 5, 2019 she leaves MEL for SYD (4/8) then to AUK (4/16) on the LA (5/4) and YVR (5/7) where I expect she does the 2019 Alaska season.

I'm really starting to get interested in this itinerary. Best part is I'll be retired so taking a month off won't be an issue. About the only concern would be our aging Golden Misha.....

 

Bob

We can sympathize with you on that one Bob. We have delayed cruising for the past 6 months due to Spook's age (Yellow Lab). We did not want to leave him. We did lose him last month at the age of 13 1/2. Still trying to put the pieces back together...

So the princess site has not been updated, but another commercial site has been - but we can't mention the name.

So I updated the unofficial princess schedule and sent it in to another site, which can't be named either, with updates on Sea, Sun, Diamond, Majestic and Golden - mainly for the AUS/Asian seasons to 2019 - but there was nothing past the present Princess schedule for the Royal.

Some really neat itineraries in Japan and Australia out to 2019 for sure.

It only goes out to April 2018 but is currently being updated.

Its as up to date as I can make it, with a little speculation on future ports.

Still waiting for the Princess site to be updated so that Majestic, and now these itineraries can be added to the spreadsheet.

Give me about a week after the Princess website is updated....

If the ship has ATM's they will only dispense USD or whatever the onboard currency is on your cruise. They also have currency exchange machines where you insert one currency and you will receive another currency. These are not ATM's. Be aware that the exchange rate and fees for these machines are very, very bad.

 

 

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On several foreign cruises these machines were restocked with local currency. As IECalCruiser says, the exchange rate is so bad they make money on it. I would avoid except for emergencies.

On another point IECalCruiser makes, local coinage is important for public restrooms, especially in the UK (pounds not Euros) and most countries on the continent (Euros). If you are part of a tour group, the guide will typically find restrooms that are free, but in between stops or if you are on your own, you will need the coinage to go....the good news is that these restrooms are very clean and safe as you typically pay attendants on the way in...and most of them do a very good job of keeping it stocked and clean.

We take local currency all the time. We took all the local currencies for our 2016 Northern Europe cruise and did not regret it at all. Yes, its a pain keeping track - separate envelopes for each type - but it pays off in stress reduction.

Here are a few reasons:

1 - ATMs get backed up with a line, or break. When you are running to catch a group or a bus, it can be a pain. We typically just walk on by!

2 - Not all ATMs in Europe may take your card. We spent a couple of hours in Bruges one morning getting Euro's - we had run out. It was actually fun for us, but not if we were part of a tour group.

3 - In St Petersburg, prices in Euro or Dollar were inflated, while Rubles (cash) were a better deal by upwards of 20%. This is common in street markets where cash is king and negotiations are the name of the game.

4 - I don't like using credit cards for small or quick transactions. Quick and easy local cash for that snack, bottle of water, ice cream cone, candy, bobble or bangle is the way to go.

5 - I don't like handing my credit card to just anyone who disappears and re-appears. Cancelling a card in the middle of a vacation can be a royal pain in case of fraud.

6 - We tip in local currency for tours. But we also tip the crew with all of our leftover cash at the end of the cruise. A multi-cultural tip if you will.

7 - I call it my 'bribe' stash. I take enough local currency to get us to the airport or embassy or a hospital if things go south.

8 - Keeps my blood pressure lower. In a foreign county watching a machine with strange writing suck your ATM card in causes a few more points on the scale until the machine spits it back out.

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 :-P

 

 

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Those are on the official schedule. She doesn't leave the UK for Singapore until the 21st of October...so you are good to go...

I presume that was a typo; 2018/19

Yep. it was a typo.

Interesting.

 

Does anyone know when the official information will be released? We're hoping to go to Asia in November 2018. Assume these itineraries will be released at the same time? Any info would be appreciated :D

Itinerary releases are staggered. I would expect the 2018/2019 cruise schedule to start releasing in a few months.

2017/2018 Alaska came out in December 2016

2017/2018 Europe released in December 2016

2017/2018 Asia was released in May 2016

2017/2018 Exotics, typically released last, were released in July 2016.

So by July of this year, everything for 2017/2018 should be released.

Get a few (30) Singapore dollars at the airport to cover taxi to hotel. Look for better rates on SGD, MYR & IDR once in the city.

 

You'll get a poor rate outside the country on Thai baht. I'm not sure about Koh Samui, but at Patong (Phuket) there are many money exchange booths along the beach road once you get ashore.

 

Use USD in Vietnam... and don't get stuck with Vietnamese dong (it's almost impossible to get rid of once you leave).

If its similar to our cruise, you will have the girls on the motor bikes following you. The best deals are at the last stop before returning to the ship. (Use US$.) You can bargain them down substantially at that point. They will have t-shirts, hats, kimono's, fans and various trinkets. If they don't have what you want, it will magically appear on their bike by the next stop! It's really cheap and make great Christmas presents to the family....

I guess the ship is in US dollars and I will take a credit card to pay our bills onboard.

 

We fly into Singapore so will take some currancey.

What about for Bali Malaysia Vietnam and Thailand.

Is there a decent exchange onboard

We will be doing shore trips and want to buy a few bits in each port.

 

Never had to worry about different currencies before 😀

 

Thank you for any help

Take local currency. We did on our Asia cruise and while it was a pain sorting out 10 different currencies, it was worth walking right by the que at the ATMs in every port, or by the broken or depleted money changers on the ship. And for the most part, you get a better deal off the beaten path for items in local currency rather than the inflated dollar amount. This is especially true if you go off on your own. But even on organized tours you do not want to be spending you time in line at the ATM while other people are seeing the sights...In Shanghai I was able to score some quick local snacks because I had local currency and they didn't take credit cards and didn't take US dollars.

Couple of Things:

For those of us sailing Princess for quite a while - the West Coast used to be the forgotten coast in terms of ships beyond Mexican Riviera. Sun class ships gave way to Grand, gave way to SuperGrands. Remember back in the day, the Island, pre-gutting, used to do HI runs while the Coral was in FLL doing 10 day PC's. Now we have 2-4 Grands and SuperGrand running around the Coast doing various itineraries. Sea was doing 7 day Mexican Riviera runs!

It has been worse - much worse!

The new cruise terminal in San Fran is pretty good, much better than the old warehouse, but its getting tiring dodging beggars 2-3 times every block downtown. We haven't tried the Star out of YVR yet for the HI runs, but we're anxious to try them since we really enjoy YVR.

And don't forget, the PVSA really limits itineraries. Round Trips US Ports (HI, Mexican Riviera, SFO, Seattle) must stop at a Foreign port (Ensenada, Victoria, YVR) while one ways between US ports must stop at a Distant Foreign Port (South American - Aruba).

Further: The Sydney cruise port schedule is more unreliable the farer the dates are in advance, I can say from experiences.

 

IMHO Emerald couldn't be an option for Australie, have a look here at Cruise schedule Los Angeles, where she is finally listed the 4th of Dec 2018, obviously her dep. date down to South America.

If she departed to Australia, than she would arrive at Christmas there at the earliest.

 

Ruby is also listed at Los Angeles throughout winter 2018/19, obviously for Hawaii and West Coast departures, see the port schedules of Hawaii.

 

For Australia the options in 2018/19 could be IMHO Sapphire (after repo to Singapore) or Diamond, Golden, alongside with smaller older ships.

Diamond is due to sail Japan up to Dec 2018, either she is taking over the Southeast Asian cruises from Singapore, or sailing to Australia after her Japan deployment - which would be a long way down...

You are correct. The Emerald is definitely double booked in both Sydney and LA. I would tend to agree with you that the Emerald would be doing SA given this schedule, but it does look like the Golden will depart LA in September 2018 in a transpacific down under...

Looks like either the Ruby or the Emerald is a candidate for the Tahiti run out of LA. Although there was some rumor on a thread last year that Princess was thinking about cancelling that run - don't know why - it fills up every year and doesn't get too steep a discounts and without weekly turnarounds, definitely reduces port labor costs...

Hi ccrain - from Sapphire 21st Oct 2018 rollcall.

 

Sapphire P cannot get to the Sydney schedule date - 3rd Dec. from Singapore.

This maybe from earlier planning - but dates in Melbourne via Fremantle look good for her in Australia 2018/19 summer.

This may effect Diamonds usual relocations Australia / Japan.

Sun & Sea often do long voyages over southern winter usually doing an over 100 day world cruise from Sydney, a Cherry Blossom to Japan & a 35 day Tahiti / Hawaii from Sydney.

If Sun & Sea also go to P&O there may not be any permanent Australian Princess ships.

 

Sydney port schedule is often amended at later dates due to congestion.

I looked at the current Diamond 2017 schedule and she goes from Singapore to Sydney in 12 days with stops in Bali and Darwin, so no way could the Sapphire get from SIN to SYD in 7 days, even with no stops.

So the next date on the port schedules for the Sapphire is Melbourne on the 4th of December, again no way, but Melbourne pops up on the 17th of December, so she could easily get from SIN to MEL by then.

What is happening with the Sun Princess after she sails from Fremantle to Singapore, departing 13 May 2018? It appears that Australia will not have a Princess ship until Sea Princess returns from her RTW on the 20 Sep 2018. :mad:

The Sun Princess shows up on the Darwin port schedule on 9/2/2018. Then Burnie and Hobart on 10/23/2018, then starts doing a lot of Sydney round trips from 11/20/18 to April 2019, then disappears off the port schedules completely.

One thing I forgot to mention. Port schedules out to 2021 are probably pure speculation to begin with, so I would not put a lot of credence in them, but port schedules do provide indications of at least the current thinking process of Princess management!

While detailing the new Diamond Princess itineraries for a not-to-be-named website and spreadsheet, I came across some really interesting port schedules in Australia with some really interesting ship names and dates. So looking at Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin and Hobart port schedules it appears that the Diamond, Emerald, Golden and Sapphire end up in Australia in Fall/Winter (northern hemisphere) 2018.

In fact, if the port schedules are right, the Emerald and Golden will do a trans-pacific to Australia from the end of the Alaska season with the following dates:

Emerald - In Seattle on 9/23/18 - In Sydney on 10/22/18

Golden - In LA on 9/23/18 - In Sydney on 10/10/18

These would be great transpacifics, but I wonder who would do the Fall 2018 28 day Tahiti roundtrip? Only the Grand, Ruby and Star are left on the West Coast. (Personally, I would suspect the Ruby since the last several years have all been on Super-Grands.)

Both the Golden and the Emerald wander in and out of Sydney on extended trips with very few stops in Hobart or Melbourne or Darwin, so I suspect a lot of New Zealand type round trips there. They stay in the area until the April 2019 time frame. The Golden is never shown as going back to Australia to 2021 - the end of the port schedules I looked at. The Emerald goes back to Sydney in November of 2019.

The Sapphire ends her official schedule in Singapore on 11/28/18 having come from Southampton via the Suez Canal, but according to the Sydney port schedule, she ends up in Sydney on 12/3/18 and then homeports in Melbourne until mid-2019. I cannot find where she goes after that, but she is never seen on any Australian port schedule up to 2021.

The Diamond leaves Tokyo on 12/6/18 and is scheduled to be in Sydney on the 14th of December. It doesn't look like she homeports in Sydney, but shows up in Adelaide, Hobart until April of 2019, not returning to Melbourne until October 6, 2019. So she probably transitioned back to Japan based cruises over the summer time.

The real interesting part is that the Sun and the Sea are heavy into Sydney, Darwin, Melbourne, Burney, Adelaide and Hobart until April/May 2019. Then they simply drop off the port schedules. I wonder if we're looking at another transfer to P&O for the final two ships of the Sun Class. But that will leave huge gaps in the Princess presence in Australia. And I don't see any ships filling those gaps - even though the Emerald and Diamond have port stops scheduled out to April 2021 on the Sydney and Darwin port schedules.

Interesting times.

With Princess getting new Royal class ships in 2019, 2020 and 2022 - some of those are going to have to go to the West Coast - putting at least some more Grand or SuperGrands in Australia...

Let the speculation begin!

Reconfirm everything once you board the ship. Think of the website as corporate and the ship as a subsidiary. Sometimes they don't get the memo!

Based on the rave reviews of UBD, I have booked and paid for the dinner, indicating the night the Regal is in port until 10:00pm. Should I reconfirm this when we board the ship? I am surprised that only four are allowed per evening.

 

 

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Reconfirm everything once boarding the ship. Think of the website as corporate and each ship as a subsidiary. Sometimes they don't get the memo...

If you sail in a full suite on Princess, you can have anything from the MDR menu delivered to your room every night for a balcony dinner. You can order from the full breakfast and lunch menus for room service deliveries. But it is delivered at one time on covered plates - they don't serve it to you like the UBD.

They will also deliver food for quests as well. We had an MDR dinner on the suite balcony at night in Bonaire with two friends a while back. Ordered a whole bunch of food and drinks.

It was all delivered at once, but no big deal.

I served. Had a great time. (But I didn't get a tip!!!!)

A UBD while underway is pretty special, but a UBD at dockside is incredible! We had one in Venice. Highly recommended. The service is outstanding, and while they don't hover, if you want they will stay and talk to you - we love interacting with the staff. They will also take photos with your camera as well. We like the group shots when the supervisor comes around.

One suggestion, double check the photos before the photographer leaves the room. Lots of glass and mirrors in the cabin can cause a lot of reflections. Our favorite photo was on the balcony under a full rising moon over Venice!

IMHO the UBD is a still a bargain and a better deal than the Chef's Table. Much more intimate, romantic, special, quiet, leisurely and FUN!

Found the thread, Talk about a blast from the past:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=671772&highlight=50%25+foreign+port+cpb

It was not lackluster sales that drove the two US flag ships out of Hawaii, but the fact that the other cruise lines added 500% capacity to Hawaii cruises from the West Coast, and could sell a 14 day WC to Hawaii for less than NCL could make money on for their 7 day cruise. The original intent of NCL's challenge to the PVSA was to simply force the foreign flag ships to spend a day in Mexico, rather than the two hour midnight "port call" to get the paperwork done that was the practice at the time. It was CBP who came up with the idea of forcing the 50% of port time to be foreign ports, not NCL or Sen. Inoyue, and when that was proposed, NCL argued against that amendment as it would have hurt their own Alaska itineraries. The upshot was to get what NCL wanted in the first place, that the Mexican port call is advertised as a port call, that passengers have to be let ashore, and the port call is a real port call, not a dodge around the act.

The midnight port calls have now changed to longer periods of time since the 15 day trips have been introduced rather than the 14 day trips - at least for Princess (4 hours in port for SFO cruises, 9 hours for LA cruises). So in the end NCL got what they wanted but it didn't help. I remember when the 50% rules was first discussed. Raised quite a ruckus here on CC due to the affect on all cruises from the US it would have - especially the lucrative Alaska market. I'll have to search and see if I can find that thread.

Glancing at pricing NCL is charging $2k+ pp for a 7 day balcony while Princess is charging $2500 pp for a balcony 15 day cruise. And the NCL cruise is going to have airfare, hotels in a relatively expensive destination. So NCL simply could not compete and make money on a 7 day cruise vs a competitive 15 day cruise on another line, and ended up having only one remaining Pride ship. (The high wages of the US crew, the US labor regulations and the lack of a casino probably didn't help either.)

Considering that CLIA has stated that it's member companies see no economic benefit to revision or repeal of the PVSA, I don't see any chance.

 

Also, realize that it is the Passenger Vessel Services Act, not the "Cruise Vessel" act. PVSA also covers every ferry, commuter boat, water taxi, dinner cruise, casino boat, sightseeing or whale watching boat, or charter fishing boat in the US.

It also covers aircraft as well. Had a very recent discussion with a Princess CD in which he quoted the "Jones Act" in forcing him to fly from San Francisco to Mexico City, then to Los Angeles. (Confusion between the Jones Act and the PVSA is rampant everywhere.)

Then I found out he was on Mexicana airlines - the airline that Princess booked him on. Mexicana cannot fly direct SFO to LAX without violating the PVSA. They have to 'change planes' in a foreign port - in this case Mexico City.

As to repealing it, because it applies to more than just cruise ships - no way. There was some talk several years ago, but that disappeared.

My big beef is how the PVSA was so 'successful' in 'protecting' the US cruise ship building industry - and the political machinations Senator Inoyue (HI) went through to get the three "Pride" ship experiment for HI off the ground back many years ago. (They actually had to use "pieces" of a trashed US built cruise ship in the new construction done in France I believe in order to "meet" the PVSA requirements for a round trip out of HI without having to go to Christmas Island.) But it effectively forces cruise lines to invest in foreign port facilities - Ensenada, Puerto Maya, BVI, Grand Cayman, etc., which could be invested in Coastal communities in the US. Would love to see some of the Gulf coast ports on a more regular basis.

See Rich. A lot of people care about you! (Now I can quit searching the Celebrity cruise schedule!)

However, you have to promise that as ED you will get out from that office and mingle with us on a regular basis!

Happy New Year!