Gnomey
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Posts posted by Gnomey
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Bizziecruzer, that's one option I hadn't considered. We will probably do a small boat glacier cruise on a local boat before we set sail though, so there are still lots of swings & roundabouts to negotiate yet. Island P. is fading a little as it is not reviewing well after its recent refit. I'm beginning to think that one week on the ground in Alaska in a motorhome will be nowhere near long enough!
Steve.
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Thankyou for your comments folks, it is all useful and interesting.
Steve.
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Hello all. I've talked the DW into a modest 6 weeker in North America which will include land time in Alaska, Canadian Rockies and Vancouver as well as Colorado and the American Rockies. Included in all this is 7 days on a ship from Anchorage. I want late season for Autumn colour which leaves us with Island Princess on 6 September, Coral on 9 Sept. and Star on 16th. I'm open to thoughts and suggestions from all you knowledgeable forum folk as to which ship might be better and budget sensitive side trips as well. I am currently favouring Star Princess as it is the latest departure.
I know you're thinking.....he should visit the Alaska forum and I have indeed been living there for a while, but I would like a southern hemisphere view as well.
Thanks in advance and I'm looking forward to some discussion. :D
Steve.
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Just got off the Jewel and it was all Pepsi in the fridges. Coke was available if you spoke to the "right" person but most just said no, we don't have any more coke.
Steve.
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We had a mini on Dawn Princess and it was quite lovely. They are popular and usually sell quickly. I hope posting this link to a picture is allowed.
Steve.
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I've seen the driving in Vila :eek:. How there are not more crashes is a miracle!
Steve.
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It is interesting to hear other peoples comments on the "Sun" ships. It would seem logical that the Sea and Sun will be sold off as they are getting on a bit and if they're anything like me, they wont be getting better as they age!
As for replacements, once the new Panama locks open and the bigger ships can transit, it would free up Coral and Island to come to Australia and that could be good too. If we can fill the larger ships we may get one or two of those too.
If Carnival are still ordering the "Vista" size ships for Holland America, they could always build some for Princess. They seem to be a good size.
Steve.
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I was distressed to read some quite poor reviews of Sun Princess recently and, most notably, after her recent trip to dry dock in Singapore. We were on Sun in November and she seemed in pretty good condition, though we did notice some public toilet failures (& leaks), most of which were tended to quickly and in particular we found the air conditioning generally too hot ship wide. We just figured that the thermostats were set to Queensland temps as the trip left from Brisbane.
We followed that wonderful trip with the "somewhat sub-standard" inaugural cruise on Pacific Eden. And before I get flamed for that comment, this has been admitted by P&O and we have received a credit to use on a future cruise as compensation. Apart from the trip being more of a crew training cruise than anything else (which was quite expected), the ship was in quite poor condition for something that had just spent weeks in dry dock. The failure mirrored what Sun is suffering now with Lifts broken/slow/unreliable, toilets everywhere failing, tenders failing, "fluid" leaks, unreliable/non existent hot water, air conditioning failures etc.
Now my curiosity has been triggered with the question, just what are they doing in Singapore dry dock if the ships are effectively coming out in poorer condition than when they go in? :confused: The failures that are occurring on the ships post dry dock are things that really should not be happening, I would have thought.
Over to you good folk for discussion. ;)
Steve.
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Thankyou for the replies, my curiosity has been satisfied! :)
Steve.
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I have just watched Dawn Princess arriving at the OPT. They will be tied up around midnight. Did something "interesting" occur on this trip or was this the intended arrival time? Bit unusual for a cruise ship to arrive at midnight I would have thought.
(most curious) Steve.
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She will be going in to dry dock as P & O have plans to alter her quite a bit. P & O will indeed put in many extra money making areas and they are planning to have their Pantry up at Horizons, probably with a toll box at the door! :eek: As for the staff, we were on Pacific Eden's "first" cruise, the less said about that the better, and only very few staff stayed with the ship. Seemed like all the maintenance people were new and that didn't help with the numerous issues at all.
From what I have seen, it seems the US maintenance schedules are not as good as ours as they ships usually are in pretty poor nick when they arrive down under.
Steve.
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Hey "Gut", we must catch up on Emerald in December!
As for Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island though, there really isn't much there. If you can manage the tender ride, lunch at the pub on the top of the hill overlooking the bay is very pleasant. Probably no better than what you can get on the ship while overlooking the bay though! :D
Steve.
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We did two weeks in February on Dawn. It's been some years since we travelled on her but I though she was in great order, being well looked after. The only thing I noticed was she creaked and groaned a bit more this trip, like we all tend to do as we age. If Billy London is still the CD, he gets things hopping entertainment wise too.
Steve.
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We just did those ports in February and there were no visa charges. Still needed a passport though to get out and into Australia.
Steve.
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I did a cruise around New Zealand with a broken ankle a few years ago on Sea Princess. We took our own wheelchair and the ships crew looked after me so well. I was not so great on the crutches but could hobble around a bit. I was good enough to get on the tenders also, but when the ship was rocking I wasn't too keen on the crutches! He will be slowed down a bit, but will still enjoy the cruise, I certainly did enjoy mine.
Steve.
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We had a Baja mini on a recent Dawn Princess cruise and it was lovely. Basically the size of two ocean view rooms with a beaut bathroom and a shower with glass door. The balcony holes are a larger size on Baja.
Steve.
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We docked in Burnie and they provided shuttle buses into the visitor centre. Everyone tenders at Kangaroo Island and there is not much in town so you need to either reserve one of the few rent a cars or book a ships tour.
Steve.
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I agree with fellow world cruise stalker Gut, the prices do stay quite steady. One thing I have noticed though is that there seems to be quite a bit more on board credit if you book early.
Steve.
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Ah yes, Captain Paul Slight. Well spoken and a thorough gentleman, runs a good ship.
Steve.
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I've got to put a vote in for Billy London, currently on Dawn Princess. We've seen him a couple of times, he even remembered us on the second cruise - imagine that. :eek: He is witty, friendly and always happy for a quick chat as he runs about the ship.
Steve.
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I just thought I'd give a "good report" on Insure & Go. I've bought a few cruise policies from them in the past because they seemed to be a good product and the price was good. One always wonders what would happen if you had to claim and now I've done that too after an injury that required visiting the ship's doctor.
I can report that our medical claim was promptly settled in full, minus the excess. Our cruise was in February and we submitted the claim about a week after we got back. We did have telephone contact with the company and all our dealings with them were quite painless, no complaints from us at all.
Steve.
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I have just been full circle with Insure & Go. Their web site is straight forward, advice was good and policy was a good price too. Due to my own stupidity I had to visit the Doctor on board ship with a nasty cut which needed removal of coral and stitches. Several trips later and the bill was over $700. Like most people I didn't read the "fine print" and medical costs of over $500 had to be cleared by ringing the help line before treatment. This was two lines about halfway through the policy booklet. We though Oh bugger, but the claim was hassle free and paid in full, minus the excess.
Most of us hope to not make a claim, but it is nice to know that good service continues past the initial sales point.
Steve.
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I can't tell you what time they open, 5am is still sleepy time for me! However, I was served high quality coffee at the Blue Room bar and also at the Ocean bar. The cups weren't large and sometimes I needed two to fuel me up, but the quality was tops. Unless they have changed it, the self serve "coffee" in the Pantry was horrid, that was a few months ago now though.
Steve.
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Some good advice in comments here. I tend to agree that Caravan Parks and motels in Australia are generally way over priced, some parks are nice but really $50 to 60 a night for a bit of power and a shower? Motor homes are a great way to go and, if it fits in with your timing, a relocation is always a good deal. East coast v west coast is so different it may as well be different countries, one generally travels further between "viewing points" in the west! If you go the camping/motor home route, do seek out a camping guide like the Free Camps books, they list most of the available camping areas. Also, Australia is not like North America. You usually have to park some distance from the scenic area and walk in to view,often over unpaved tracks. Enjoy your travels here and watch out for the drop bears! :D
Steve.
Another push for a terminal for Newcastle
in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Posted
Well, I think we have a partial solution here if I can piece all the suggestions together. New Cruise terminal at Newcastle, replacing all trains with steam trains because they were quicker. Move the navy out to Port Kembla and put in another facility at Garden Island and/or.....thanks to the generosity of cruise critic forum members who have graciously donated their spare extension leads, cruise ships can turn off their diesel generators at White Elephant Bay easing the pollution problem. If we all donate an extra lead, they might even fit two ships in at a time! :eek: And now my rather excellent suggestion (humble me!) rather than raising the harbour bridge to fit in the bigger ships, why don't we just drain a bit out of the barbour whenever they pass under the bridge. Stormwater runoff will soon replace what we drain out anyway. :D
Aren't we all such a clever lot. All the Government has to do is pull some steam locos out of the museum and put in some decent parking/access to White Elephant Bay and the new terminal at Newcastle. Hmm wonder if they'll need some extension leads up there too?
Steve.