Over from NZ

Any suggestions on excursions etc?

Just now, doghog said:

If you say so. Not our thing to talk number of cruises, cabins or tier levels, politics, religion and Cruise Critic. 😂

Exactly! 😁

On 5/11/2024 at 2:10 AM, doghog said:

We've never experienced any of that with Celebrity, RC or Princess with the people we speak with. Thanks for the heads up as I'll try and avoid you at the next CC HH as I don't want to hear you try to outdo others. Cheers...🍻😂

Cheers. I avoid those events.. so we won't bump into each other lol. I can't comment on Celebrity or RC.. but on Princess it's rife. Who cares how many times you've cruised. 😁🤣

4 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I agree, it may only be 1 or 1.25% for most credit cards or 3% for Amex, but it is an annoyance. It is a merchant fee just like company tax and such,it should be built in.

Originally started in businesses where cash was king and credit cards were not. Now nearly every business does it, even when cash was never really used and actually discouraged.

Yep. Yet you can go to the supermarket where they work on low margin, high turnover.. and they don't charge an extra cent if you use your c/card. Obviously the c/card companies are having their wicked-way with some retailers charging them up to 3% when they can charge the big retailers next to nothing. Time they were taken to task as a near-monopoly. 😁

1 hour ago, doghog said:

Different strokes...🤪

1 hour ago, doghog said:

Different strokes...🤪

Yep lol. I reckon it would as cringey as anything haha. All the noters trying to out-do each other as to who's more "elite" haha. But if that's your thing.. 🤣

7 hours ago, doghog said:

A dedicated lounge that is open all the time for Platinum and Elite members. Model it after the Diamond Lounge, now called the Crown Lounge on RC ships. 

Now that's something I would avoid!!! 😛

1 minute ago, Galesa said:

I think they've already got that covered. Gotta feel sorry for US visitors who keep being told Australia and NZ don't tip when every restaurant and cafe bill has a space for "Gratuity".

Yes, but you can (and should) ignore that on the eft-pos machine when it pops up. 

Yep, we're seeing it occur more frequently in the tourist hop-spots.. where the eft-pos machines are asking you if you wish to add a tip. The answer we want to give is - "hell no, do I sound like an American?". I think the poster above was right onto it though - the simple explanation that should be given to US visitors.. is just don't do it! If you want to offload your money - just buy more. Eat out more, upgrade whatever you're doing.. do extra excursions. I.e. spend more.. but don't tip a cent. Excellent service is what's expected for the base fare. 

A wrap-around promenade! Turn up the volume a bit on the MUTS for movies. Ditch smoking indoors (it's 2024 for goodness sake!). Make sure to include the Irish Bar! 

And while we're designing the ultimate Princess ship - can we chuck in a suggestion for the itinerary. Spend more time in the ports! This nonsense of 6-8 hours in a port and then slowly cruising to the next annoys me. Give us longer in each port.. or heck, even overnights in the ports! 🙂 

On 5/8/2024 at 10:16 AM, Kristelle said:

JJK2008, thank you. I have often thought the same.

Encouraging people to tip starts the slippery slope to expected tipping.

Life in general, not specific to cruise ships

 

At most, if anything - round up taxis and pizza deliveries to nearest round number - ie $47:50 - make it $50. Keep the change sort of thing.

 

and if somebody really does exceptional service, not just does their usual job - publicly say so - on Trip advisor,their Facebook page, write letter to their management,send flowers to their workplace etc

 

 

 

 

Well the good thing is that next to nobody uses cash anymore.. so you don't even need to round the bill up. When they hand you the tap & go or the eftpos machine.. it's going to be $47.50. Maybe with the demise of cash.. we can kick this tipping nonsense to the curb 🙂 

Last year, we used these guys - 

https://www.ephesusshuttle.com/categories/kusadasi-to-ephesus?id=1

They were excellent. The tour guide was Melis. Highly recommend. We did it as a group of 4 and it was only USD$84 each.  

Mykonos is very walkable. We had on our list to see the Wind Mills, the old Harbour, Little Venice and the Bougainvillea and white-washed stone streets from the picture-cards.. and they're all in the same general area. 

3 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Good old P&O, you see it all.😂

Out of Aussie; it's the same people on Princess.. just a generation older. 😂

On 3/15/2024 at 4:37 PM, LBlank1 said:

Is anyone doing the Sun Princess 7 Day Barcelona to Rome itinerary on June 1st? Starts in Barcelona, then Gilbaltar, Mariseille (Provence), Genoa, Florence/ Pisa (La Spezia), Rome. Two Sea Days. This will be our first cruise ever and our first time in Europe. We are new to this. Are these good ports? We are somewhat familiar with Barcelona, Florence, and Rome but not the other stops. I'd love some input. Thanks!

They're exceptional ports if you're willing to put the effort in! 🙂 We've been to them all twice. First time around we sold ourselves short in Marseille by not organising anything. Was our fault. Second time we went to the Palace of the Popes in Avignon and the Pont Du Gard. 

10 hours ago, mokiemokiemokie said:

Are the teen clubs free?  Can the kids come and go without parents signing them in or out?  Are they well attended or ghost towns?

 

We didn't take our teen when we did the Med (twice). However they were "ghost towns". Almost no kids/teens on the ship at all (May/June both times). I even took a pic to show him that he probably wouldn't have enjoyed it like he enjoyed the South Pacific cruises over holiday periods. 

Are you looking for best or cheapest? Taxi or Uber is by far the easiest. 

30 minutes ago, memoak said:

What ship and itinerary has more than 5 formal nights ?  Sorry dupe 

Many of them do. There's usually on average about 2 a week. It was a 21-night cruise in the Mediterranean. 

2 hours ago, cruisepest said:

There really is no dress code anymore. We just got off the Regal today we saw men and women in shorts and baseball hats at dinner in the MDR and in the Crown Grill and Sabatini's on formal and casual nights.

Yep. Our last Mediterranean cruise; after wearing a suit to the first 5 formal nights.. I duly presented in the MDR in shorts and Polo-shirt for the 6th like so many others I had observed. I enjoyed the food as much as the first 5. I did feel a bit self-conscious.. but that was all in my head. Once I got over myself and realised that nobody cared what I was wearing.. I was fine lol 🙂 

15 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

I am curious about this also. I loved traditional dining and would definitely do that if it were an option. I also wonder if it means Princess might bring it back on some other ships?...

We really used to enjoy traditional dining and taking that away was a negative. Be good if they brought it back on other ships too. 

21 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

I am interested in details about the new dining room on the Sun Princess.

The new dining room concept looks amazing.

Has anyone done the Traditional early/late seating?  How has that worked out?

Trying to decide whether to book Traditional as to be on that main floor.

Of course, Canadianburger mentioned motion there in the very Aft.

Has anyone felt that as an ongoing problem.  (of coarse, that is where the huge windows are)

Wouldn't that motion be felt on the Wakeview Terrace area, and pool?

Traditional dining is long gone.

Difference in motion will be negligible. Worrying about nothing 🙂 

8 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Formal nights?  They went away except for Cunard some years ago.  Think of what you would wear to a nice restaurant at home.  DW wears a dressy blouse, nice jewelry and long silky pants.  I occasionally will wear a dress shirt and once each cruise a tie.  I bring a sports coat if cruising or visiting cool places.

Cruises in the Med tend to be dressier. Alaska and the Caribbean more casual.

If you want more answers simply do a search on Dress Code or Formal.  Hundreds of threads.

And yes a very few will be in gowns and tuxedos or kilts 

In the Med.. shorts and Polo shirts will now suffice for formal night. 

It must be rough & ready in Alaska & the Caribbean then!! hahaha. 

1 hour ago, watsonbeau said:

Yes just the one day.

Gotcha. We had 4-nights there last year. Purpletraveller's post sums it up very well. We did all those things. We also had a trip to Mdina (about 30-40 min bus-ride) because the wife is a GOT fan (and it was a great wee medieval walled town!) and a day-trip (similar bus-time) to Marsaxlokk where we saw the traditional Luzzo boats and had a ride in one to the grotto. However if you're just there for the day.. would look at Purpletraveller's recommendations. We enjoyed Fort St Elmo.. but even just wandering round Valetta admiring the old buildings, city walls etc was great. 

Are you just there for the day? 

On 3/16/2024 at 12:42 AM, cruisemom42 said:

Since you already are familiar with Princess...

 

For many years now Princess has offered some very well put together "sampler" itineraries in the Med. I used to recommend them to a lot of first time Med travelers as a way to get a broad taste of the region. 

 

I don't know when you're planning to go, but in 2024 Princess has their newest (and largest) ship, Sun Princess, in the Med and offers some good 14-day itineraries that cover a lot of ground. For example, this one would provide you with stops in Spain, Italy, a couple of Greek islands (Santorini and Mykonos) and even Istanbul, Turkey.

 

It starts in Barcelona and ends in Athens, giving you a chance to extend your trip by a day or two on either end and see these two places as well. (Fair warning, without an extra day or two, you will have VERY little chance to see anything of them....)

 

 

 

The biggest weaknesses of this particular itinerary to me are that you only get one day in Rome (which really deserves thee at a minimum), and you don't get to see Venice. But Venice is a bit of a hassle these days by cruise ship, as the ships are not allowed to dock anywhere near the city. (The options for larger ships are all about 2+ hours away from Venice itself.)

 

This other itinerary (also Sun Princess, 14 days) is also a good option. You get to start and end in Athens and Rome, which I like better. Still get Barcelona, and you can see a lot there in a day. You lose Istanbul, but gain Kotor (which includes a scenic cruise through Kotor Bay), another lovely Greek Isle (Corfu) and a stop in Sicily.

 

 

These are just a couple of ideas. Many other lines offer similar cruises but I've always thought Princess does a nice job of picking some of the highlights. Anything less than 14 days probably won't get you from one side of the Med to the other.

 

Good luck, whatever you decide!

 

Easy solution. 

That particular itinerary can start and finish in Rome. Fly into Venice.. spend a few nights there and train to Rome. Then do the 21 night round-trip, Rome-Rome. 

The mighty dollar talks.. for now. 

Cruise ships are not exactly endeared by the public in NZ.. and I'm sure many would like to see them gone altogether. Reading the article and seeing just how bad they are.. does make me cringe a bit and I'm obviously guilty of having partaken. You might find at some point.. a country such as NZ with a green-coalition and not as much invested in the industry, says.. 'nup.. no more'. But I can't see countries with big dollars invested in the cruise industry turning them away. I think they're too big of a thing in Aussie to get rid of. I don't think the writing is on the wall for cruising.. nowhere near it in the near-future. For now they can get away with virtue signaling..  but it's going to have to change at some point in the decades to come. At some point as global warming etc ramps up and the bigger economies get more serious.. the cruise industry has a major problem coming. I wouldn't be buying shares in them for the long-haul lol 🙂 

Wow. Without fact checking any of it.. if that video is correct.. that's a horrific indictment for cruise-ships. It's just horrible. But horrible enough to make us all feel ashamed?