Tips needed for an Aussie cruising O/S

[mum and son]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Have a look at cruises from Hololulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego around Christmas.  There aren't many, but they are available, mostly going to Mexico.

The airfares are going to be less to the US west coast, and shorter, of course.

I agree that I wouldn't think of getting a stand by fare in Peak Peak Christmas/New Year season.

Thanks (and thanks for the info on the drinks as well). I'm checking all cruises departing in the right timeframe. Sticking with NCL & Princess as best  can, and would consider RCI as well. I just don't think I'm a Carnival girl and Celebrity doesn't have a lot of options and they're too $$$. MSC and Costa don't look like the cruiseline for us but a perfect itinerary could sway me.

 

We'll probably push out our cruise booking and keep watching flights to see how we go 🤞. If nothing else it all adds to the adventure!

[MMDown Under]

30 minutes ago, mum and son said:

Thanks, yes, I do understand the risks. This is why we're looking at US cruises because we believe if we give ourselves enough days prior to the cruise that we should be able to get on a plane somewhere out of Aus to somewhere in the US. It depends a lot on status - years of service, why you're travelling etc. The A380 flies Syd-LA so it seems a reasonable backup and all flights are currently wide open. We can actually wait and book the cruise last minute too so that's our safety net.

 

We'll pay for the domestic flights we need. My friend actually worked in the international ticketing area at Qantas so understands the system pretty well. I have no issues with the return flight as it wouldn't matter to me if I was offloaded in Timbuktoo, I just need to get there pre-cruise!

You'll be fine with your attitude.  My neighbour told me it didn't used to be so difficult to get a single seat, as it became before her ultimatum to her husband.  They were happy to fly separately, but it was usually her who ended up in Timbuktu!  

[mum and son]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

You'll be fine with your attitude.  My neighbour told me it didn't used to be so difficult to get a single seat, as it became before her ultimatum to her husband.  They were happy to fly separately, but it was usually her who ended up in Timbuktu!  

Luckily I do have a laissez-faire attitude to travel. I'm lucky to be travelling, whether I get to my intended destination or not 😁.

[OzKiwiJJ]

18 hours ago, mum and son said:

I think even with the included drink packages, and included gratuities I'm looking at I'll still have to pay the service charge on drinks and purchases over and above??

On Princess if you have a drinks package you don't get charged the gratuities on drinks, it's built into the package. Ditto on HAL and Celebrity. 

[mum and son]

49 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

On Princess if you have a drinks package you don't get charged the gratuities on drinks, it's built into the package. Ditto on HAL and Celebrity. 

Thanks Julie. I'm getting more and more confused. I just need the perfect cruise to jump out at me, but at the perfect price! 😀

[Toryhere]

There is something magical about being abroad at New Year’s Eve. It gives you a fresh perspective, especially if you are on a cruise ship in the Caribbean with very few Australians about.  
 

Good luck with your quest to find a cruise. I’m sure you’ll have a fabulous time.

[clairebearinaus]

Princess also has a port in San Pedro in LA, if you want to do Mexican Riviera but don't fancy an additional internal flight to San Diego.

 

[MicCanberra]

On 10/23/2023 at 10:49 PM, arxcards said:

If you were flying with Alan, you could end up in Mexico with no luggage.

Qantas doesn't fly to Mexico though, so maybe you would get stuck at LAX.

[Blackduck59]

I think you may really want to sort the air portion of your trip. North America, especially the US is an absolute crap show during the holidays. Do not put your excellent vacation at risk by trusting you may get an easy last minute flight to your final destination.  For us the flights are the worst part of travel and we sort that out as early in the game as we can. 

[sayaguru]

On 10/24/2023 at 11:20 AM, mum and son said:

Thanks, yes, I do understand the risks. This is why we're looking at US cruises because we believe if we give ourselves enough days prior to the cruise that we should be able to get on a plane somewhere out of Aus to somewhere in the US. It depends a lot on status - years of service, why you're travelling etc. The A380 flies Syd-LA so it seems a reasonable backup and all flights are currently wide open. We can actually wait and book the cruise last minute too so that's our safety net.

 

We'll pay for the domestic flights we need. My friend actually worked in the international ticketing area at Qantas so understands the system pretty well. I have no issues with the return flight as it wouldn't matter to me if I was offloaded in Timbuktoo, I just need to get there pre-cruise!

Hi, based on past experience I would not book standby within USA. The flight looks great but anyone can turn up hours early for their booked flight and check in for a earlier flight. They get priority over you.  Had flights LAS- HNL. Told to fly to LA. No flights. Drove to LA. No flights. Overnight.

Internal flights are often not that expensive. Of course holiday period will differ. Good luck. 

I'm assuming you are booking Staff for cruises? Great last minute deals. You also have the option of removing or reducing the gratuities if you think it is too much. It is very expensive by the time you convert to $AUD, especially now with the low exchange rate. 

[mum and son]

18 hours ago, sayaguru said:

Hi, based on past experience I would not book standby within USA. The flight looks great but anyone can turn up hours early for their booked flight and check in for a earlier flight. They get priority over you.  Had flights LAS- HNL. Told to fly to LA. No flights. Drove to LA. No flights. Overnight.

Internal flights are often not that expensive. Of course holiday period will differ. Good luck. 

I'm assuming you are booking Staff for cruises? Great last minute deals. You also have the option of removing or reducing the gratuities if you think it is too much. It is very expensive by the time you convert to $AUD, especially now with the low exchange rate. 

Good advice. We wouldn't go standby on flights within the US. We'd book and pay for them. There are so many cruises leaving within a few days so I'm sure we could wait and try and grab something last minute. There seems to be quite a lot of availability. Just need to lock in my travel companion, that's the hardest bit 🤣. If he won't commit soon then I'll find something to do solo. I would love to try an NCL solo studio but we'll see.