princess australia excursions

[azbirdmom]

7 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

I remember walking into Wellington in 2016 so the change to a mandatory shuttle must have happened between then and 2018 when I got a no charge shuttle. I wonder if the paid shuttle that was mentioned earlier was a ship shuttle that was put on for passengers who didn't want to walk into the city.

 

 

Hope you are well!  It was nice meeting you last month.

 

We didn't know how far it was to town back then but it was definitely a local shuttle according to the excerpt of the Patter that I posted earlier.  Had to laugh because the cost was $10 regardless of what currency you paid (we were on the Diamond which used USD oddly).

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, Yehootu said:

 

We booked this through Princess and I've booked through the Sanctuary the "Hold a Koala" picture option. After reading posts about the taxi cost and the upcharging on Ubers, we went with the ship tour. How was the crowds with the Princess excursion, is it worth gambling with an Uber? We will be visiting in April so was thinking it might be off season.

We (group of 6 siblings and spouses) did this excursion last April with Princess and all enjoyed it and appreciated the guided tours of the city to and from the Sanctuary including viewing stops along the river and at Mt. Coot-tha.  It was much more than just transportation plus the Sanctuary is amazing.  There were lots of school groups visiting but it never felt too crowded.  On that day (we were on the Coral Princess) there were 2 full size busses and the excursion sold out even before we boarded the ship 26 days earlier.

[Sarnia 432]

3 hours ago, capriccio said:

it worth gambling with an Uber

we went to the Lone Pine Sanctuary on our own last year.  We pre-booked an Uber for both directions and they both arrived right on time.  We book the platinum tour at the sanctuary and had a full day of fun, costly, but worth every penny.  The Princess tours weren’t there very long and we had a full day.

[PurpleTraveller]

6 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Hope you are well!  It was nice meeting you last month.

 

We didn't know how far it was to town back then but it was definitely a local shuttle according to the excerpt of the Patter that I posted earlier.  Had to laugh because the cost was $10 regardless of what currency you paid (we were on the Diamond which used USD oddly).

 

We are well and hope you are too. It was lovely to meet you as well. We had such a wonderful cruise.

 

It is interesting how things such as shuttles change from year to year. It shows how important it is to research each port regardless of whether you have been there before or a first visit.

 

How interesting about the cost of the shuttle. Definitely better to have paid in NZD. 😊

 

[peagreenid]

On 1/28/2024 at 1:02 PM, Thrak said:

 

Yep. I bought a Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary hat while I was there. When we were there it wasn't crowded at all. Lots of different animals there and we really enjoyed it. We found the Platypus interesting.

We are doing this excursion in April and I have pre-booked the "Touch a Koala" experience.  

 

[peagreenid]

While we are discussing Australia tours I need some suggestions....

We have some significant AUD Onboard Credit.  $1160 worth.  I have several excursions booked but we also booked some individual excursions.  We have the Premier package so I'm not anticipating a lot of extra charges.   I have always heard you can pull onboard credit by moving it to the Casino and cashing out,  but since the ship is operating on AUD, what does a US Citizen do with several hundred AUD$ when the ship ends in Japan?  Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated?  What do US Citizens do if they hit a Jackpot on an Australian Sailing?

[OzKiwiJJ]

23 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

I remember walking into Wellington in 2016 so the change to a mandatory shuttle must have happened between then and 2018 when I got a no charge shuttle. I wonder if the paid shuttle that was mentioned earlier was a ship shuttle that was put on for passengers who didn't want to walk into the city.

 

The change happened after the wharf was affected by an earthquake in November 2016. 

 

We visited Wellington in December 2015 on a different cruise line but I can't recall whether we had to buy the shuttle ticket onboard or from the bus driver. I have a feeling it might have been the latter. 

 

In February 2017 the docking position had changed and the shuttle was free.

[Thrak]

3 hours ago, peagreenid said:

While we are discussing Australia tours I need some suggestions....

We have some significant AUD Onboard Credit.  $1160 worth.  I have several excursions booked but we also booked some individual excursions.  We have the Premier package so I'm not anticipating a lot of extra charges.   I have always heard you can pull onboard credit by moving it to the Casino and cashing out,  but since the ship is operating on AUD, what does a US Citizen do with several hundred AUD$ when the ship ends in Japan?  Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated?  What do US Citizens do if they hit a Jackpot on an Australian Sailing?

 

What we did was to simply leave our OBC in our account. We did not move it to the Casino. (If it's already been moved to the casino don't panic. It will work the same.) When our cruises finished we had $657 AUD still in our account as refundable OBC. After a few weeks we received a check for $428 USD which was, at that time, the correct conversion rate.

 

We previously had OBC "stuck" in the casino on another cruise. We didn't realize the casino would be closed between Victoria, Canada and Vancouver, Canada. D'Oh! No worries. We got the full amount back in a check about a month later.

 

IF your "extra" OBC is "refundable" there is nothing to worry about. If it is "non-refundable" be sure to spend it (or pull it out however you can) prior to the last day of the cruise.

Edited January 30 by Thrak

[Torfamm]

5 hours ago, peagreenid said:

While we are discussing Australia tours I need some suggestions....

We have some significant AUD Onboard Credit.  $1160 worth.  I have several excursions booked but we also booked some individual excursions.  We have the Premier package so I'm not anticipating a lot of extra charges.   I have always heard you can pull onboard credit by moving it to the Casino and cashing out,  but since the ship is operating on AUD, what does a US Citizen do with several hundred AUD$ when the ship ends in Japan?  Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated?  What do US Citizens do if they hit a Jackpot on an Australian Sailing?

Your only option if you win a cash jackpot is to exchange the AUD for USD (or another currency you have a use) unless you have a way to spend them. If that happens you’ll also need to check on the rules for carrying large amounts of currency into Japan. Sometimes it’s possible to request that a check be mailed for large jackpots though.

Edited January 30 by Torfamm

[Yehootu]

18 hours ago, Sarnia 432 said:

we went to the Lone Pine Sanctuary on our own last year. We pre-booked an Uber for both directions and they both arrived right on time.  We book the platinum tour at the sanctuary andhad a full day of fun, costly, but worth every penny.  The Princess tours weren’t there very long and we had a full day.

Mahalo for the tip. Just pre booked our Uber to and from. That way we can be there when the Sanctuary opens and book a few of the encounters. Platinum tour looks great, just a little too much of a day for us.

[azbirdmom]

12 hours ago, peagreenid said:

While we are discussing Australia tours I need some suggestions....

We have some significant AUD Onboard Credit.  $1160 worth.  I have several excursions booked but we also booked some individual excursions.  We have the Premier package so I'm not anticipating a lot of extra charges.   I have always heard you can pull onboard credit by moving it to the Casino and cashing out,  but since the ship is operating on AUD, what does a US Citizen do with several hundred AUD$ when the ship ends in Japan?  Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated?  What do US Citizens do if they hit a Jackpot on an Australian Sailing?

 

If you have a big balance even after paying for the excursions and charging things to your folio definitely play some in the casino.  When you cash out you can use it for tips to the crew and if there's a residual balance on your account you can pay that off too.  Ending in Japan doesn't leave many other options.  One we've done if we are staying in a hotel in Australia is to pay part of the room charges with the extra cash from the ship, then charge the rest to our credit card.

[peagreenid]

9 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

What we did was to simply leave our OBC in our account. We did not move it to the Casino. (If it's already been moved to the casino don't panic. It will work the same.) When our cruises finished we had $657 AUD still in our account as refundable OBC. After a few weeks we received a check for $428 USD which was, at that time, the correct conversion rate.

 

We previously had OBC "stuck" in the casino on another cruise. We didn't realize the casino would be closed between Victoria, Canada and Vancouver, Canada. D'Oh! No worries. We got the full amount back in a check about a month later.

 

IF your "extra" OBC is "refundable" there is nothing to worry about. If it is "non-refundable" be sure to spend it (or pull it out however you can) prior to the last day of the cruise.

We don't sail until April,  I'm just trying to come up with a plan.  None of the onboard credit is refundable.  $250 used to be since it is military and although this has been booked since before the change making it non-refundable it appears they aren't going to honor that.  I thought I would be safe if there were leftovers I could just move it to the Casino and pull it out, that is until I heard that the payouts in the Casino are in AUD$.   (How did you manage to get a check from the Casino? vs a payout?)  We don't gamble much but I accidently left $50 in my casino account on a previous cruise and never received anything.  After booking the Princess excursions we wanted we have $640 AUD left.  We have the Premier plan and are booked in a suite so we have 3 specialty dining and unlimited everything else so I just don't see a lot of additional expenditures.   In the past, nice bottles of Scotch were purchased for gifts, but I'm not sure that I want to deal with that flying home from Japan. 

[PescadoAmarillo]

12 hours ago, peagreenid said:

While we are discussing Australia tours I need some suggestions....

We have some significant AUD Onboard Credit.  $1160 worth.  I have several excursions booked but we also booked some individual excursions.  We have the Premier package so I'm not anticipating a lot of extra charges.   I have always heard you can pull onboard credit by moving it to the Casino and cashing out,  but since the ship is operating on AUD, what does a US Citizen do with several hundred AUD$ when the ship ends in Japan?  Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated?  What do US Citizens do if they hit a Jackpot on an Australian Sailing?

When is your cruise?  Is it possible to remove the Premier Package and instead purchase it onboard using your OBC or will that end up costing you more money and/or OBC?

[peagreenid]

7 hours ago, Torfamm said:

Your only option if you win a cash jackpot is to exchange the AUD for USD (or another currency you have a use) unless you have a way to spend them. If that happens you’ll also need to check on the rules for carrying large amounts of currency into Japan. Sometimes it’s possible to request that a check be mailed for large jackpots though.

Do they exchange on the ship?  

[peagreenid]

1 minute ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

When is your cruise?  Is it possible to remove the Premier Package and instead purchase it onboard using your OBC or will that end up costing you more money and/or OBC?

We are past final payment date and I don't believe they will refund that now.

[PescadoAmarillo]

59 minutes ago, peagreenid said:

We are past final payment date and I don't believe they will refund that now.

No, you’re right. They won’t.  I wonder if anyone has been able to get non-refundable OBC earmarked for extra crew tips, though I don’t know how you could verify that it is actually going to get to the intended recipients. I won’t buy overpriced jewelry on board but have found that certain cosmetic and perfume items really are competitively priced, especially considering the elite discount I receive, and take up minimal space in luggage. I usually manage to use mine at the Clinique counter. We’ve even purchased after cruise transfers we were really not keen about just to use ours up. Or more nights of specialty dining. We don’t do the casino thing though I know others do

[Torfamm]

1 hour ago, peagreenid said:

Do they exchange on the ship?  

Not that I’m aware of. If they did, I wouldn’t necessarily expect the best exchange rate anyway. I’d exchange AUD after disembarking.

[peagreenid]

2 hours ago, Torfamm said:

Not that I’m aware of. If they did, I wouldn’t necessarily expect the best exchange rate anyway. I’d exchange AUD after disembarking.

We disembark in Yokohoma so I'm pretty sure I can't convert it there.  

[peagreenid]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

No, you’re right. They won’t.  I wonder if anyone has been able to get non-refundable OBC earmarked for extra crew tips, though I don’t know how you could verify that it is actually going to get to the intended recipients. I won’t buy overpriced jewelry on board but have found that certain cosmetic and perfume items really are competitively priced, especially considering the elite discount I receive, and take up minimal space in luggage. I usually manage to use mine at the Clinique counter. We’ve even purchased after cruise transfers we were really not keen about just to use ours up. Or more nights of specialty dining. We don’t do the casino thing though I know others do

I think maybe I can cash out at the casino and use it as extra gratuities for staff, that will help to get rid of some of it.

 

 

[Torfamm]

4 hours ago, peagreenid said:

We disembark in Yokohoma so I'm pretty sure I can't convert it there.  

Are you concerned about having time to visit a currency exchange while you’re in Japan? You could also do it after you’re home.

[PescadoAmarillo]

4 hours ago, peagreenid said:

I think maybe I can cash out at the casino and use it as extra gratuities for staff, that will help to get rid of some of it.

 

 

The crew doesn’t care which currency tips are in. In recent years, we’ve given all of our leftover local currency away in tips, especially in Asia where we had 4 or 5 different currencies. 

[Thrak]

18 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

The crew doesn’t care which currency tips are in. In recent years, we’ve given all of our leftover local currency away in tips, especially in Asia where we had 4 or 5 different currencies. 

 

I tipped our room steward on our Australia/New Zealand cruises with Euros I had hanging around from previous cruises. They are worth slightly more than USD and I know it's not an issue for the crew.

[robncruise]

Sorry if this question has already be answered. But to confirm that just this week the shuttle from the ship in Wellington was free - the same as it was the last time I did this itinerary in Feb 2020.

Dunedin/ Port Chalmers shuttle is $35 NZD return but public buses are available. Christchurch/Lyttleton - shuttle to Christchurch was $35AUD return . Shuttle to Lyttleton township free.

[PurpleTraveller]

16 hours ago, robncruise said:

Sorry if this question has already be answered. But to confirm that just this week the shuttle from the ship in Wellington was free - the same as it was the last time I did this itinerary in Feb 2020.

Dunedin/ Port Chalmers shuttle is $35 NZD return but public buses are available. Christchurch/Lyttleton - shuttle to Christchurch was $35AUD return . Shuttle to Lyttleton township free.

 

Wow, the shuttle from Lyttleton to Christchurch was only AUD15 return on my cruise in December 2023. That's a big jump in price!

 

 

[robncruise]

Oops Sorry  - the Christchurch shuttle is still $15 AUD .  Brain fog after long hot travel day after disembarkation yesterday !