possum52

Glad you were able to go on Puffing Billy Gae and that the rain didn't stop you. It certainly did rain! Did you stop at Portland?

Leigh

Glad you are enjoying your cruise. My husband and I were on the Pearl the cruise before yours. We didn't find that most of the tv shows were British, quite the contrary in fact, it was only the news which was. All other shows were Australian or from the US.

As for keeping up with Australian news, we picked up the daily newspaper each morning from reception which had a good mix of local and overseas news plus sporting results.

Leigh

We were told early Tuesday morning (15th) in an announcement by Captain Herriott that due to the rough seas (strong currents as well) we were encountering and would continue to encounter that it would be extremely unlikely that we would make it to Sydney on time to dock at OPT. Tuesday night and through the early hours of Wednesday morning it was quite roller coaster conditions. If you were told on the 14th, evidently the decision was made earlier than we were told that PP would dock at White Bay. It was a slight inconvenience for us but why spoil a great holiday by sweating the small stuff?

We are just off the Pearl today and had to dock at White Bay as we were an hour late arriving in Sydney due to rough weather caused by Cyclone Ita. As there is a curfew evidently on ships docking at OPT between 7am and 10am due to the peak time for ferries arriving at Circular Quay, the decision was made to to go to White Bay instead otherwise the earliest next time the Pearl could dock would be 10am at OPT. I would assume that this decision was made so that the many interstate passengers could still make their flights on time.

Gae, we are on the cruise before you. I've heard the new cruise control (diary) has many blips and has not really worked properly since it was implemented. When I first tried to book our shore tours, it came up with the incorrect dates so I went in through the Daily Schedule instead of Shore Tours. I was concerned that it hadn't worked and contacted Alison who is sometimes on the P&O Facebook page. She was able to confirm our tours were booked. Try this address - cust.relations@carnivalaustralia.com and and mark it Attention Alison.

Hope you are able to sort it out.

Leigh

Thanks The_Big_M and rkmw. We probably won't arrive at the OPT until 11.45ish, so hopefully we won't have a long wait.

Leigh

Good morning,

A few questions for those who have recently sailed on P&O from the OPT. We embark on the Pacific Pearl on this coming Monday and our boarding time is from 1pm - 3pm and wondered if boarding starts earlier than 1pm. Also how quickly do passengers board? Is it a long waiting time or relatively quickly?

Thanks,

Leigh

Good morning Wisiddship,

You have probably received an upgrade because the 'no upgrade' box wasn't ticked when you made the booking. It seems to be pot luck if you receive an upgrade or not, no rhyme or reason to it. Not sure if you can request you stay where you originally were or not.

Nine days to go!

Hello Wisiddship, hope you enjoy the cruise. We are certainly looking forward to it. Hope the weather is kind to us. We didn't consider the back to back as my husband wants to be back home before Good Friday as he organises our local fire brigade to collect for the Royal Childrens' Hospital Good Friday Appeal so we will fly back to Melbourne in the afternoon after docking.

Leigh

After two months of nobody being able to help, I got a person at CarnivalAustralia to make two reservations for me in July 2013 for April 2014 cruises. Everything went fine until now. You can't complete their registration as it is designed for Australian and New Zealand only. You can't enter personal data, emergency contact info, reserve shore excursions, or pay the invoices as they are all geared to Au and NZ. My contact at CarnivalAustralia is now not answering my emails and we are down to less that 90 days and I can't get my E-Ticket even though I have paid the invoices. Very frustrating.

exvpcbss, if you are not using this email address - cust.relations@carnivalaustralia.com

try it and attention it to Alison. I have her to be very helpful and she seems to answer the queries on the P&O Australia Facebook page. Good luck.

I hope you enjoy your cruise.

Thanks rkmw and gaechann for your replies. It will be approx.10.30am as we arrive in Sydney from Melbourne, so hopefully the trains will be past peak by then! But I must say your thoughts certainly have us thinking about what we will do. Perhaps we will play it by ear and see what happens come the 7th April. The towncar does sounds a great alternative.

Thanks again,

Leigh

Thanks for the information rkmw. We will have a suitcase and backpack each. Hopefully we can manage. We have used Sydney trains quite a bit on our previous trips there and have caught the train to Circular Quay. I'm assuming that there are lifts from each platform? We used the escalator last time and didn't take any notice of lifts.

Do you think we will manage or would it be easier to take a taxi?

Thanks again,

Leigh

Thanks Fredette,

Sorry for the delay in replying. I think at this stage we will use the train from the airport to Circular Quay but your suggestion re the shuttle is one to keep in mind.

Yes, it will be more convenient to sail from Circular Quay but if it is White Bay so be it. I hope if there a change we have plenty of notice as I like to plan ahead.

Hope you and your family enjoy your first cruise.

Leigh

Thanks rkmw for your reply. I guess if it is changed to White Bay, we take a taxi instead of the train.

Leigh

Good afternoon all,

My husband and I are cruising on the Pacific Pearl departing April 7th next year. The Sydney Ports website has that the Pacific Pearl is departing from the OPT which will suit us well as we plan to fly in early in the morning of the 7th from Melbourne and catch the train to Circular Quay. My question is it possible that the departure could be moved to White Bay? As we have only sailed from Brisbane before, we're not sure if that would be a possiblilty.

Regards,

Leigh