Princess ships for 2024-2025

[icat2000]

3 hours ago, Ondine said:

 

 Positive the day after getting off (coughing for the last few days on board but tests were showing neg then).  So on first and last cruise for the season (Nov and Mar) both picked up an unwanted visitor.

Six months until I give it another go in Oct.  Just saving my money over winter.

Sorry to hear about you picking up the lurgy. We were on the same cruise and the cruise before but we both fine. We were tested by Princess prior to the second criuse (day before). All transit passengers were.   Had to have a negative RAT to proceed to next cruise. Tests were provided by cruiseline.

 

Though I did suspect some (who were also wearing masks) were a little bit under the weather (maybe it was the alcohol), but then again the second cruise demographics seemed a lot older than the NZ cruise prior.  However, it was pretty rotten weather some of the days.

 

We got the drinks package for the second cruise. Pete wanted it and I wanted to see what value it was to us. We might take it on some cruises but not others. Depends on itiineray. 

Edited April 2, 2023 by icat2000

[icat2000]

Okay. Who booking the Diamond Repo cruise. I'm thinking of booking one of them. Which do you think is the better one?

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

41 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

Okay. Who booking the Diamond Repo cruise. I'm thinking of booking one of them. Which do you think is the better one?

 

 

If one is From Australia and the other is To Australia then I always think it's better to fly first and cruise home so would choose the To Australia one unless there was a significant difference in ports on the other.

[Aussie Gal]

We too are hoping to do the Diamond repo cruise in Sept 2024. We were originally going to do the return cruise to Tokyo from Aust as it would be cherry blossom time but we had already booked another cruise plus you would be going into cold weather. The September cruise from Tokyo starts off warm and hopefully stsys warm at least to Qld. Also we can finish in Melbourne which is a big plus for us.

[Ondine]

2 hours ago, icat2000 said:

Sorry to hear about you picking up the lurgy. We were on the same cruise and the cruise before but we both fine. We were tested by Princess prior to the second criuse (day before). All transit passengers were.   Had to have a negative RAT to proceed to next cruise. Tests were provided by cruiseline.

 

Though I did suspect some (who were also wearing masks) were a little bit under the weather (maybe it was the alcohol), but then again the second cruise demographics seemed a lot older than the NZ cruise prior.  However, it was pretty rotten weather some of the days.

 

We did b2b also and passed the transit test.  I took pkt of 5 tests with me and after feeling exhausted and out of sorts at Port Lincoln started testing myself but all came back negative until day after we got home.  I was suspicious because drinks started to have a metalic taste and I started to cough at night.

Agree that weather was pretty rotten after a beautiful day in Adelaide.  Most of the last day was like being in a fog for all we could see. 

As they say a bad day at sea is better than a good day on land.  Am now having to cook my own meals and make my own bed.  At least when I was in isolation last November I was looked after although I was climbing the cabin walls toward the end.

[Ondine]

2 hours ago, Normanville said:

Same as you Ondine, we also got of the 8th March Grand with a "respiratory illness ". So all that scotch, Flo, Dettol wipes and Glen 20 and masks didn't work! We were unwell for the last few days of cruise and made sure to wear masks everywhere. When I got in lifts and people remarked " I thought we were over that" I had to hold my tongue to stop  yelling, " I'm doing this for you". All RAT tests negative but all symptoms the same, mind you got off the Ruby Dec '19 with same thing. I just called it the Ship Cough. Covid may have been around longer that we all thought.

We got good value from the Plus package as Scotch drinkers and very glad to have it for future cruises but can see why you would question it for the wines.

We are off to Queensland for the winter then back on Grand 26th October.

Juls

 

I am booked on the Grand ex Melb from 23rd Oct for SA and then Nth Qld cruises.  Gather you are getting on in Adelaide.   Enjoy Qld.

[arxcards]

On 3/31/2023 at 7:20 PM, woodscruise said:

Geoff, looking at Sydney Ports it seems that QE is homeporting in Sydney.

Yes, more departures from Sydney, but no Melbourne departures. As with the reduced Melbourne season for Diamond Princess, QE not cruising out of Melbourne has been lamented earlier in the topic..

[icat2000]

Ugh the more I look at the 2024/2025 release for Princess the more I hate it. There is virtually nothing on the schedule I would consider booking except for one of the repos.

 

This really has been a crappy release. 

[aussiecruiser66]

I agree!!!

Has anyone else noticed that they are not offering the usual 35n Hawaii Sydney return cruise on the 24/25 brochure to be released tomorrow. They usually have 2 per year.

I jumped on and booked the March-April 2024 35n Hawaii cruise from Sydney yesterday. Not many decent cabins left, but picked up a nice balcony on Caribe deck.I think it must have been from a cancellation.

We were considering the 2025 WC, but the US travel insurance premium and the sail by Easter Island, had us rethinking.

[icat2000]

8 minutes ago, aussiecruiser66 said:

I agree!!!

Has anyone else noticed that they are not offering the usual 35n Hawaii Sydney return cruise on the 24/25 brochure to be released tomorrow. They usually have 2 per year.

I jumped on and booked the March-April 2024 35n Hawaii cruise from Sydney yesterday. Not many decent cabins left, but picked up a nice balcony on Caribe deck.I think it must have been from a cancellation.

We were considering the 2025 WC, but the US travel insurance premium and the sail by Easter Island, had us rethinking.

Yeap picked that up. Also no 10 day Coral Coast cruise out of the Perth. Also no PNG cruise. Not may Island crusies. Maybe they trying to force Australian market onto Carnvial or PO. 

[aussiecruiser66]

I think some strange (strategic) decisions have been made- not for Aussie cruisers benefit 🙄

Princess has such a fan base in Australia, they had better watch what they are doing!!

[arxcards]

36 minutes ago, aussiecruiser66 said:

I agree!!!

Has anyone else noticed that they are not offering the usual 35n Hawaii Sydney return cruise on the 24/25 brochure to be released tomorrow. They usually have 2 per year.

I jumped on and booked the March-April 2024 35n Hawaii cruise from Sydney yesterday. Not many decent cabins left, but picked up a nice balcony on Caribe deck.I think it must have been from a cancellation.

We were considering the 2025 WC, but the US travel insurance premium and the sail by Easter Island, had us rethinking.

The 35 night Hawaii cruise also requires US travel insurance coverage. 

 

I hope the sail by of Easter Island is just an error. Seems to be a waste to be so close and not try to land some tenders.

[arxcards]

31 minutes ago, aussiecruiser66 said:

I think some strange (strategic) decisions have been made- not for Aussie cruisers benefit 🙄

Princess has such a fan base in Australia, they had better watch what they are doing!!

I agree. They wouldn't want us to .....

 

[aussiecruiser66]

I hope our ANZ complimentary travel insurance will cover Hawaii 🤞. Will have to check.

Also we will only be away 35n (allowed 90 days away). One of the big issues with the WC was that our ANZ insurance would not have covered us because of the 113 days away.

I fear that EI is a sail by- very disappointing!

[arxcards]

16 minutes ago, aussiecruiser66 said:

I hope our ANZ complimentary travel insurance will cover Hawaii 🤞. Will have to check.

Also we will only be away 35n (allowed 90 days away). One of the big issues with the WC was that our ANZ insurance would not have covered us because of the 113 days away.

I fear that EI is a sail by- very disappointing!

The 2023 & 2024 WC's are scheduled to tender to Easter Island, so I would hope that is still the case for 2025.

[Busy Mum]

1 hour ago, icat2000 said:

Ugh the more I look at the 2024/2025 release for Princess the more I hate it. There is virtually nothing on the schedule I would consider booking except for one of the repos.

 

This really has been a crappy release. 

Totally agree, it sure has been a crappy & very boring release! The repos are generally good value too, doing one in 2024 so not really looking at the 2025 ones! 
 

Come on Princess give us more ‘exciting’ itineraries! Many years ago, it was either the Sun or Dawn Princess, cruised from Perth to South Africa return, would love to see that offered again! Not holding my breath though. 😫

[icat2000]

5 minutes ago, Busy Mum said:

Totally agree, it sure has been a crappy & very boring release! The repos are generally good value too, doing one in 2024 so not really looking at the 2025 ones! 
 

Come on Princess give us more ‘exciting’ itineraries! Many years ago, it was either the Sun or Dawn Princess, cruised from Perth to South Africa return, would love to see that offered again! Not holding my breath though. 😫

They offered one to South Ameria too once. I believed that sold well too. 

[aussiecruiser66]

I remember the South America itinerary- it was fantastic. We would definitely do that one if it was offered again. It included Panama Canal,Antarctica and Easter Island- lots of bucket list destinations.

I think it would sell very well if it was offered again.🤞

[kenexx]

7 hours ago, aussiecruiser66 said:

I agree!!!

Has anyone else noticed that they are not offering the usual 35n Hawaii Sydney return cruise on the 24/25 brochure to be released tomorrow. They usually have 2 per year.

I jumped on and booked the March-April 2024 35n Hawaii cruise from Sydney yesterday. Not many decent cabins left, but picked up a nice balcony on Caribe deck.I think it must have been from a cancellation.

We were considering the 2025 WC, but the US travel insurance premium and the sail by Easter Island, had us rethinking.

We’re on this one in a suite.  I was surprised to see when I checked a couple of days ago they still had suites on a guarantee basis.  

[Kaylacool]

Not to impressed with the Brisbane offerings either.  Next to nothing to the islands, mostly longer cruises.  If you are wanting to do a 7 - 14 nighter for example there is very little on offer

[arxcards]

I have flipped back and forth over the past few days - super keen, then also a reluctance that this could still be rona affected two years down the track, and that it would be even better on Coral.

 

But .... we are all but booked for Dover to Sydney in 2025. In the end, the itinerary wins.

 

And probably a 60th birthday party on Diamond as well.

Edited April 4, 2023 by arxcards

[martin jenkins]

On 4/3/2023 at 7:08 PM, Kaylacool said:

Not to impressed with the Brisbane offerings either.  Next to nothing to the islands, mostly longer cruises.  If you are wanting to do a 7 - 14 nighter for example there is very little on offer

yeah agree, i just booked the 28 day round australia for march 2025 about the only decent one i could find from brisbane.

[Aussie Gal]

We got our Aft Suite on the Diamond for our 24 day cruise from Tokyo to Melbourne in September, 2024.  We are happy with both the ship and the itinerary.

 

[d9704011]

I'm not an Aussie but I'm sure the board thread contributors won't mind me asking a question; earlier today I booked a B2B on Diamond Princess for late December, 2024 to early January, 2025 (14 day NZ and 10 day Tasmania).  What might I expect on the Diamond as far as condition of ship, service, entertainment, etc...  I know this can all change at the drop of a hat but there must be some opinions from recent experiences.

[arxcards]

34 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I'm not an Aussie but I'm sure the board thread contributors won't mind me asking a question; earlier today I booked a B2B on Diamond Princess for late December, 2024 to early January, 2025 (14 day NZ and 10 day Tasmania).  What might I expect on the Diamond as far as condition of ship, service, entertainment, etc...  I know this can all change at the drop of a hat but there must be some opinions from recent experiences.

I haven't heard much from Diamond lately. They were one of the last ships to resume, and I don't see much Japanese interaction on cruise critic. As for what condition she will be in 20 months from now, that is a lot of drops of the hat. I have felt that generally, the Mitsubishi built Princess ships (including Diamond) are lasting better than the Fincantieri builds.

 

 Our entertainment is generally bland but watchable, pretty much the same as North America. Since Princess resumed here last June, most ships have been struggling to get adequate staff, so service has slipped a bit in some areas, but not significantly. I would expect a typical Princess experience, with some awesome Aussie & New Zealand ports thrown in.