Princess ships for 2024-2025

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours 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.

Ask me again in November - we're doing a Japan cruise on her then.

 

We cruised on her in 2018 and liked the ship. She is the best of the Grand Class ships that we've been on so far in my opinion. 

Edited April 5, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[arxcards]

The Aussie afterlife for Coral isn't fully announced yet, but the rumours of being sold-off are not correct.

 

So far, the itineraries up to 27th September 2024 when she arrives into her Singapore drydock look to be confirmed.

Then drydock till 18th Ocober 24

The next listed cruise is a return to Fremantle on 30th October, which I am not confident whether it will still happen. It is still on sale though.

At this stage, there is a gap from 30th October '24 till 17th November '24, where she arrives in LA. So there is a yet to be announced relocation from either Fremantle or Singapore to LA, and there is a risk that it is still under wraps until the Singapore to Fremantle cruise is officially canned (19 nights is a stretch from Freo to LA).

 

November through till May '25, Coral resumes a more familiar itinerary, going back and forth through the Panama Canal between LA and Ft Lauderdale.

 

On 3rd May '25, she arrives in Vancouver, and I would presume an Alaskan season will follow.

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's going to be interesting to see how the 2025 world cruise on Crown Princess sells. It's a big jump from 2000 pax on Coral to 3080 pax on Crown. I would have thought they would have chosen one of the smaller Grand Class ships rather than one of the extended ones. They'll get the numbers for Round Australia and Hawaii/Tahiti itineraries but the world cruise? Hmmm! 

[arxcards]

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's going to be interesting to see how the 2025 world cruise on Crown Princess sells. It's a big jump from 2000 pax on Coral to 3080 pax on Crown. I would have thought they would have chosen one of the smaller Grand Class ships rather than one of the extended ones. They'll get the numbers for Round Australia and Hawaii/Tahiti itineraries but the world cruise? Hmmm! 

My T/A tells me it is being pretty well booked, and lots of international passengers doing sectors. It isn't like they have struggled to fill Coral while coming out of a pandemic. If they travel a few hundred light, it will suit me just fine, but I think it will be all but full.

[Relaxing Robbies]

How many of the ports on the World Cruise require face to face contact with immigration officials? In 2017 we did 2 sectors of a Circle Pacific on the old Golden Princess. A few ports required face to face immigration formalities and it was no easy task with all those passengers aboard. Sometimes passengers were processed by deck levels, and it was very stressful if you had an independent tour arranged and your deck was one of the later groups to be processed. It really cut into the available time at those ports.  It would be even worse with the extra passengers on the Crown Princess.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

How many of the ports on the World Cruise require face to face contact with immigration officials? In 2017 we did 2 sectors of a Circle Pacific on the old Golden Princess. A few ports required face to face immigration formalities and it was no easy task with all those passengers aboard. Sometimes passengers were processed by deck levels, and it was very stressful if you had an independent tour arranged and your deck was one of the later groups to be processed. It really cut into the available time at those ports.  It would be even worse with the extra passengers on the Crown Princess.

Good point. I will have to suss that out - one of the fun parts that is only slightly better than standing in line in an airport. At least there is no St Petersburg to contend with.

[wintrev]

On 4/28/2023 at 9:37 AM, arxcards said:

The Aussie afterlife for Coral isn't fully announced yet, but the rumours of being sold-off are not correct.

 

So far, the itineraries up to 27th September 2024 when she arrives into her Singapore drydock look to be confirmed.

Then drydock till 18th Ocober 24

The next listed cruise is a return to Fremantle on 30th October, which I am not confident whether it will still happen. It is still on sale though.

At this stage, there is a gap from 30th October '24 till 17th November '24, where she arrives in LA. So there is a yet to be announced relocation from either Fremantle or Singapore to LA, and there is a risk that it is still under wraps until the Singapore to Fremantle cruise is officially canned (19 nights is a stretch from Freo to LA).

 

November through till May '25, Coral resumes a more familiar itinerary, going back and forth through the Panama Canal between LA and Ft Lauderdale.

 

On 3rd May '25, she arrives in Vancouver, and I would presume an Alaskan season will follow.

Hello Arxcards

 

May I please ask where you got your information from about the Coral. I am asking because I am booked on that cruise from Singapore on the 18th October and was shocked to read it. I contacted Princess and of course have been told that there is nothing on the communication sheets to say that it is being cancelled. I did ask what is the ship doing between Perth and LA as no cruise is listed so does that mean it is sailing empty? The reply was “ I can not advise you on this”. Even asked who I could escalate this issue to and was politely told it could not happen. Explained that I didn’t want to spend money on airfares and hotel accomodation, as we were going to spend a week there beforehand, to find out that it has been cancelled. The rep even said that they could move another ship into the spot but with all the itineraries released can’t see how that can happen. Any information will be helpful in deciding whether to cancel and just fly both ways to still enjoy Singapore. Thanks.

[arxcards]

23 minutes ago, wintrev said:

Hello Arxcards

 

May I please ask where you got your information from about the Coral. I am asking because I am booked on that cruise from Singapore on the 18th October and was shocked to read it. I contacted Princess and of course have been told that there is nothing on the communication sheets to say that it is being cancelled. I did ask what is the ship doing between Perth and LA as no cruise is listed so does that mean it is sailing empty? The reply was “ I can not advise you on this”. Even asked who I could escalate this issue to and was politely told it could not happen. Explained that I didn’t want to spend money on airfares and hotel accomodation, as we were going to spend a week there beforehand, to find out that it has been cancelled. The rep even said that they could move another ship into the spot but with all the itineraries released can’t see how that can happen. Any information will be helpful in deciding whether to cancel and just fly both ways to still enjoy Singapore. Thanks.

Now that Coral is relocating to the US in late 2024, I just see it as unlikely that they will do a single cruise back to Freo. I don't know that for sure, but that is my gut feel.  It is just a matter of time until they fill the gap in her schedule, but I reckon that relocation cruise would have already been available if it was to be Fremantle to LA. Typically, there is a delay in announcing something when they have to "un-announce" something first. I think it is unlikely she will sail empty across the Pacific.

 

Carnival social media people announced Spirit was going to be based in the US days before they bothered to tell the passengers who already had bookings from Brisbane, so they should remain tight lipped about future plans until any affected current bookings have been advised.

 

Whichever way, it will be sorted soon (days, weeks), well before you will be able to book your flights. I hope it works out in your favour.

[wintrev]

18 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Now that Coral is relocating to the US in late 2024, I just see it as unlikely that they will do a single cruise back to Freo. I don't know that for sure, but that is my gut feel.  It is just a matter of time until they fill the gap in her schedule, but I reckon that relocation cruise would have already been available if it was to be Fremantle to LA. Typically, there is a delay in announcing something when they have to "un-announce" something first. I think it is unlikely she will sail empty across the Pacific.

 

Carnival social media people announced Spirit was going to be based in the US days before they bothered to tell the passengers who already had bookings from Brisbane, so they should remain tight lipped about future plans until any affected current bookings have been advised.

 

Whichever way, it will be sorted soon (days, weeks), well before you will be able to book your flights. I hope it works out in your favour.

Arxcards

 

Thanks for replying so quickly - it is appreciated.

 

Yes I am with you that it will probably be cancelled. This is the second time we have tried to cruise from Asia - first being cancelled with the dreaded pandemic and now this! Think I will forget trying to cruise there - lol. Will sit and see - luckily have a few months up our sleeves to still get a full refund if we cancel. We have friends travelling with us so will ask them what they want to do also.

 

Hopefully other people start asking Princess as well and it forces them to come clean.

 

 

[arxcards]

BTW, P&O released their 2024/25 itineraries today.

 

OK, settle down!! 😂

[Relaxing Robbies]

1 minute ago, arxcards said:

BTW, P&O released their 2024/25 itineraries today.

 

OK, settle down!! 😂

Just checked the list of cruises from Melbourne, hoping that they would have some good cruises to cover the poor Princess selection. Not much going on except very short cruises. We are really missing out down here.

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 hours ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

Just checked the list of cruises from Melbourne, hoping that they would have some good cruises to cover the poor Princess selection. Not much going on except very short cruises. We are really missing out down here.

There seems like there might be some sort of upgrade happening to Station Pier that season as there are very few cruises operating out of Melbourne then. I saw a list of port bookings a couple of weeks ago and the only ships booked after a certain date were the small luxury ships.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

There seems like there might be some sort of upgrade happening to Station Pier that season as there are very few cruises operating out of Melbourne then. I saw a list of port bookings a couple of weeks ago and the only ships booked after a certain date were the small luxury ships.

Oh well, maybe all the angst directed at Cunard, Princess and others over the past couple of months has been misdirected. Quite possible that when Virgin announces 2024/25 that they will be cruising there less as well.

 

And if not the pier, it could be the channel being widened. The pier does need a makeover though.

[OzKiwiJJ]

49 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Oh well, maybe all the angst directed at Cunard, Princess and others over the past couple of months has been misdirected. Quite possible that when Virgin announces 2024/25 that they will be cruising there less as well.

 

And if not the pier, it could be the channel being widened. The pier does need a makeover though.

They may have decided to remove the vehicle ramps that were used for the Tassie ferry, which would be a major deconstruction job. Possibly (hopefully) they might improve vehicle access to the Pier and refurbish the interiors of the terminal buildings. I don't think they can alter the buildings themselves - isn't Station Pier heritage listed?

[Yaya_in_Oz]

14 hours ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

Just checked the list of cruises from Melbourne, hoping that they would have some good cruises to cover the poor Princess selection. Not much going on except very short cruises. We are really missing out down here.

I like the look of the P&O Southern Explorer from Melb round to Fremantle on Jan 27 '25. I hope they let seniors on the water slide 😃

[arxcards]

10 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

They may have decided to remove the vehicle ramps that were used for the Tassie ferry, which would be a major deconstruction job. Possibly (hopefully) they might improve vehicle access to the Pier and refurbish the interiors of the terminal buildings. I don't think they can alter the buildings themselves - isn't Station Pier heritage listed?

Good point, but how handy would it be to have a car deck on Grand Princess. Embarkation would be a breeze.  I think there is some heritage, but they could do some work to improve flow in & out of the place.

 

[LittleFish1976]

5 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Good point, but how handy would it be to have a car deck on Grand Princess. Embarkation would be a breeze.  I think there is some heritage, but they could do some work to improve flow in & out of the place.

 

 

'Some heritage' - 🤣.

 

Nothing we love more in Melbourne than an old timber pier. I'm not even joking. The pier is protected, very protected.

I searched for any evidence on line the last time the redevelopment of Station Pier was being discussed here. There's nothing I can find to suggest anything in the next few years.

 

I'll add a link to the page for downloading their '2050 Port Development Strategy' which I downloaded and read (not every word tbh) when this was being discussed weeks ago. They are still in the consultation phase re expert opinions, forecasts and community engagement so I cannot believe there would be anything distruptive planned for 2024-2025 at least.

 

https://www.portofmelbourne.com/facilities-development/port-capacity-enhancement-program/

 

https://www.portofmelbourne.com/facilities-development/port-development-strategy/

 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

'Some heritage' - 🤣.

 

Nothing we love more in Melbourne than an old timber pier. I'm not even joking. The pier is protected, very protected.

I searched for any evidence on line the last time the redevelopment of Station Pier was being discussed here. There's nothing I can find to suggest anything in the next few years.

 

I'll add a link to the page for downloading their '2050 Port Development Strategy' which I downloaded and read (not every word tbh) when this was being discussed weeks ago. They are still in the consultation phase re expert opinions, forecasts and community engagement so I cannot believe there would be anything distruptive planned for 2024-2025 at least.

 

https://www.portofmelbourne.com/facilities-development/port-capacity-enhancement-program/

 

https://www.portofmelbourne.com/facilities-development/port-development-strategy/

 

 

 

Isn't the ferry car ramp outside of the Pier itself? It comes in from the main road to alongside what was the ferry terminal building. 

 

There must be something going to happen to cause all of the bigger ships to disappear early in 2025. Melbourne has been a popular embarkation port for several of the Carnival Corp lines for a few years now. Given both Sydney and Brisbane have limited capacity for the larger ships I can't understand why those cruise lines wouldn't be operating out of Melbourne during that time unless the Pier is going to have very restricted capacity for a while.

[LittleFish1976]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Isn't the ferry car ramp outside of the Pier itself? It comes in from the main road to alongside what was the ferry terminal building. 

 

There must be something going to happen to cause all of the bigger ships to disappear early in 2025. Melbourne has been a popular embarkation port for several of the Carnival Corp lines for a few years now. Given both Sydney and Brisbane have limited capacity for the larger ships I can't understand why those cruise lines wouldn't be operating out of Melbourne during that time unless the Pier is going to have very restricted capacity for a while.

 

I remember that the car entry to the ferry was on the left hand side but exactly how those structures interacted I cannot say.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

25 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

I remember that the car entry to the ferry was on the left hand side but exactly how those structures interacted I cannot say.

 

You can see it quite clearly on Google Maps. The Tassie ferry would have been stern in alongside the first terminal so the ramp would have connected nicely with the ship's vehicle entrance. Actually I can't see how removal of that could affect the Pier itself so there must be something else that needs doing.

[Ondine]

I can't understand this "new" release of itineraries for P&O  It actually came out last January.  On January 28th I booked a 14 nighter New Zealand - Melb to Melb for 15th Nov 2024 on Pacific Explorer which I was looking forward to.  However on March 30th I received an email that said due to "operational reasons" it would be cancelled and replaced with 4 short cruises.  I am still waiting for the refund of my $2 deposit.

 

As for Station Pier it is only Princess who have so far got a short season for 24/25.  Disney and Virgin are here for the whole season and are booked again for the 24/25 season.  P&O doing it usual thing spreading itself between Adelaide, Melb and Auckland.  Plenty of big ships visiting.  Not sure what will happen to the Spirit of Tassie part but they have the whole 7 months when we have no visitors to work on it.  I don't know how much of the pier is heritage listed.  Definitely the old gate house area.  If they could sort out the traffic problems the old terminus works well however there is the same sized area now vacant where Spirit used to dock.  Could somehow refurbish this for loading passengers from there.

[Ondine]

12 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

You can see it quite clearly on Google Maps. The Tassie ferry would have been stern in alongside the first terminal so the ramp would have connected nicely with the ship's vehicle entrance. Actually I can't see how removal of that could affect the Pier itself so there must be something else that needs doing.

Actually the Spirit came in bow first.  You drove on the back and drove off the front of her.  No turning around or backing out of the car decks.  At least I seem to remember her this way.  She was definitely in bow first.

Edited May 4, 2023 by Ondine

[Ondine]

15 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Actually the Spirit came in bow first.  You drove on the back and drove off the front of her.  No turning around or backing out of the car decks.  At least I seem to remember her this way.  She was definitely in bow first.

 

Ok I was partly right.  I just found this. It must have been stores that I saw being loaded from the stern.  Blame me for  having  a senior moment.

 

How do they load the Spirit of Tasmania?

 

The ferry arrives bow first into the berth, with vehicle access to the cargo decks via two sets of ramps – each at a different height. Deck 5 on the upper level is loaded via a door in the forward deck. Deck 3 on the lower level is loaded via a pair of doors in the bow, located just above the waterline

 

 

[LittleFish1976]

15 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Actually the Spirit came in bow first.  You drove on the back and drove off the front of her.  No turning around or backing out of the car decks.  At least I seem to remember her this way.  She was definitely in bow first.

You're correct that she docked bow in, and port side access to pier. And car access from both bow and stern.

 

[LittleFish1976]

Lots of photos here including a gallery at the bottom of the page.

 

https://ferriesoftasmania.com/spirit-of-tasmania-2/

 

The ramp to access the stern appears to be a metal structure which is articulated and moved as required for car access.

 

And the cars seem to be lining up for loading on the right hand side of the port entry not the left as I had remembered.

 

Helpfully, we know that unloading photos are in daylight while loading are (usually) in dusk or darkness due to her schedule.