BON VOYAGE Coral Princess World Cruisers 2024

[NSWP]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I have 250 teabags of my favourite Dilmah Ceylon Supreme tea with me. Based on our Japan cruise on Diamond last November I was prepared for a shortage of Twinings E.B. but I didn't expect them to replace it with rubbish tea. If it looks like I'm using more than expected of my Dilmah I'll buy some Twinings in Dover.

You could stock up with English Breakfast Tea at Freo.

[MicCanberra]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Possibly but the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise just before the world cruise had the later times and the demographic isn't much different on that one.

Expected demographic, not necessarily the actual demographic.

[Cbtours]

22 hours ago, Witchymob said:

Looking forward to following along from home with great interest.  We have booked Dover to Sydney for 2026 so will be looking for info on ports, all of which we haven't been to and ship board life.  Have a wonderful time.

I would be interested in that cruise too, fly over and see family in Uk then sail home. 

[Cbtours]

8 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Expected demographic, not necessarily the actual demographic.

Maybe they thought we were cruising on it, as we hike up the demographic wherever we go (well one of us does 😁😜)

[ekka49]

41 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I have 250 teabags of my favourite Dilmah Ceylon Supreme tea with me. Based on our Japan cruise on Diamond last November I was prepared for a shortage of Twinings E.B. but I didn't expect them to replace it with rubbish tea. If it looks like I'm using more than expected of my Dilmah I'll buy some Twinings in Dover.

We have our Timings with us as well. We will stock with more in Fremantle Then in Dover as needed. 

[Cbtours]

14 minutes ago, ekka49 said:

We have our Timings with us as well. We will stock with more in Fremantle Then in Dover as needed. 

Just thinking these could become valuable commodity! You could sell them to fellow passengers craving a good cuppa and recoup some of your $$$ 😁

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

You could stock up with English Breakfast Tea at Freo.

Why? I already have 250 teabags with me. At two a day that should last the whole cruise, with a few extra for days when we have lunch in the buffet and I want a cup of tea there. However if I have been drinking more tea than expected then I can decide whether to buy more.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I am NOT HAPPY again! We just spent the whole afternoon trying to sort out the expected discrepancy in the shore excursion prices charges to our folio. The person we spoke to, after waiting 45 minutes in a queue, told us we had to provide copies of the emails Princess sent us confirming our excursion bookings but the only emails we received at that time showed only confirmation of the credit card payment, not the actual excursion bookings. However I had noted the price of each excursion as we booked it in my spreadsheet. 

 

I tried to forward the payment confirmation email to Princess with some added information but the email isn't going through. Grrrr! Edit: the problem appears to be with Optus! I managed to send it via my gmail account.

 

I guess we'll end up spending more time sorting it out. The overall discrepancy is $840! Not peanuts!!!

Edited May 1 by OzKiwiJJ

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Some webcam capture of the Coral Princess departing Sydney last night:

 

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I am NOT HAPPY again! We just spent the whole afternoon trying to sort out the expected discrepancy in the shore excursion prices charges to our folio. The person we spoke to, after waiting 45 minutes in a queue, told us we had to provide copies of the emails Princess sent us confirming our excursion bookings but the only emails we received at that time showed only confirmation of the credit card payment, not the actual excursion bookings. However I had noted the price of each excursion as we booked it in my spreadsheet. 

 

I tried to forward the payment confirmation email to Princess with some added information but the email isn't going through. Grrrr! Edit: the problem appears to be with Optus! I managed to send it via my gmail account.

 

I guess we'll end up spending more time sorting it out. The overall discrepancy is $840! Not peanuts!!!

Wow hope it’s sorted soon

[OzKiwiJJ]

Other than the excursion price hassle and the crappy tea we've had a good day. We did well in morning trivia, not so well in progressive trivia but the question were harder.

 

I was relieved to discover that Coral hasn't, so far, switched to the new style lunch menu currently in use on Majestic. That one is more American Diner than Luncheon in the MDR, which would have become very boring on a cruise of this length. Today it was the traditional style lunch menu with plenty of choices. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, Cbtours said:

Wow hope it’s sorted soon

What they've done is actually illegal - increasing the price after something has been paid for.

[Cbtours]

Just now, OzKiwiJJ said:

What they've done is actually illegal - increasing the price after something has been paid for.

Definitely agree. Hope you get the emails evidence 

[mr walker]

42 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We did well in morning trivia, not so well in progressive trivia but the question were harder.

 

Is progressive trivia going to be every seaday as it often is on other cruises? That's going to be an awful lot of questions with what 70+ sea days on your trip 😮 Maybe a few repeat questions?? 🙂

[ceeceeDee]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I am NOT HAPPY again! We just spent the whole afternoon trying to sort out the expected discrepancy in the shore excursion prices charges to our folio. The person we spoke to, after waiting 45 minutes in a queue, told us we had to provide copies of the emails Princess sent us confirming our excursion bookings but the only emails we received at that time showed only confirmation of the credit card payment, not the actual excursion bookings. However I had noted the price of each excursion as we booked it in my spreadsheet. 

 

I tried to forward the payment confirmation email to Princess with some added information but the email isn't going through. Grrrr! Edit: the problem appears to be with Optus! I managed to send it via my gmail account.

 

I guess we'll end up spending more time sorting it out. The overall discrepancy is $840! Not peanuts!!!

Ouch!!!

[mr walker]

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

Ah, these days I can only dream. At least in my retirement apartment here I have a balcony with river view and a shower cubicle with a grab handle just like a cruise ship shower, I say. lol. I just pretend I am on a Princess cruise ship, going nowhere, lol.  But not complaining, I have done a lot of travel/cruising since I retired aged 55, 20 years ago.

I reckon the drinks are a lot cheaper in your place than onboard mate, so that must be a plus 🙂 

Yes, you did make the most of the time you had travelling - good luck to you. I know you have some great memories.

 

Cheers

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

Is progressive trivia going to be every seaday as it often is on other cruises? That's going to be an awful lot of questions with what 70+ sea days on your trip 😮 Maybe a few repeat questions?? 🙂

Yes, every sea day but I think they are breaking it into sectors so after Dover it starts from scratch again. At the moment it's at 12:15 but for some of the days it will be mid-afternoon so we won't go to those as we'll be basking in the Sanctuary. However if they have Dover to NY as a sector we'll go to all of those as we're not planning to go to the Sanctuary much on that part of the cruise.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

On Coral Princess 2nd sea day she is about to cross the Great Australian Bight:

 

[sewgood]

14 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I was relieved to discover that Coral hasn't, so far, switched to the new style lunch menu currently in use on Majestic.

 

Good to hear, I hope they keep to the old menus for the whole cruise since we get on in Dover. 😃

 

14 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Luncheon in the MDR, which would have become very boring on a cruise of this length.

 

Especially when there is a run of six sea days.

 

Edited May 1 by sewgood

[OzKiwiJJ]

We're noticing some slight motion - just enough to let us know we're on a ship. Hopefully it will stay that way. 😊

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, sewgood said:

 

Good to hear, I hope they keep to the old menus for the whole cruise since we get on in Dover. 😃

 

 

Especially when there is a run of six sea days.

 

Exactly! 

 

So far the meals have been very good. I had one of the best cream brulees ever last night. Coconut flavoured, which made it a bit more interesting, and the brulee topping was perfect - dark and super-crunchy 

 

[NSWP]

Princess always made a good creme brulee, that one looks tops. Enjoy. Try a scoop of icecream on the side.

Edited May 2 by NSWP

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, NSWP said:

Princess always made a good creme brulee, that one looks tops. Enjoy. Try a scoop of icecream on the side.

Why would I ruin a good creme brulee with ice cream? Especially Princess ice cream which is very ordinary.

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

On Coral Princess 2nd sea day she is about to cross the Great Australian Bight:

 

Watch for whales

[MicCanberra]

I think the best creme Brulees don't have cream