Ozwoody

Yes Princess notified us of the change for our cruise on the Crown in Oct. We rather like the traditional dining style, we have never had bad table mates. Only on one cruise did a couple not turn up for any nights. What was annoying was when they were asked to give their seating up, they said no we might decide to use it. So their seats remained empty the whole cruise. On longer cruises traditional dining is a great way to make cruise friend, we have people we still catch up with years later.

I think anything from about 12:30pm would be a safer bet. For interest below is a jpg of location of BICT to Brisbane airport.

The Brisbane International Cruise Terminal (BICT) is about a 15 minute taxi trip from the cruise terminal to the international airport terminal. Usually they want you there 3 hours before an international flight, don't know how strict they are with that time, you may be able to be allowed down to two hours prior? But you would have to clear customs at the latest around 8am I would think to allow for getting a taxi and getting to the terminal. Regards John

Hi @cruiser3775, ass @ceeceeDee said some people can focus on their negative experience as they see them. I did on one cruise but later on consideration realised it was not as bad as I felt at the time. I did a review of a being a Princess bolted on, as new P&O cruiser here if your interested. here https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2971326-po-pacific-encounter-cruise-review-13th-oct-–-20th-oct-2023-–-north-queensland/?do=findComment&comment=66345780 I tried to just be non-biased and fair as I could, P&O was not my favourite line, but its not a bad one either, just different to what I am use too. A tried to be a bit like @Mycruiseobsession but in reverse. Regards John

Great review, thank you. We agree budget plays a large part in what cabin we select, if we can get better than an interior for roughly the same cost we go for it, otherwise we don't spend a lot of time either in the cabin, so interiors ok. Hil prefers the room pitch black, I love the light streaming in, but generally I'm up early so does not really matter.😄 Thank you again. Regards John

Do you ever wonder why you don't get notifications for a thread you post, but when you check in just to see what's happening, and there are multiple posts? Well I can tell you one reason, It pays to click the follow button!🥴 Thanks guys, great suggestions, wadding through looking them all up. Regards John

Thanks guys, working through the suggestions. Regards John

Thanks Mic, will check it out, that is the type of thing I was hoping for, some where not to noisy. regards John

Hi Looking for ideas/recommendations for a pre-cruise meet & greet, near the OPT in the Circular Quay/The Rocks area. As the cruise is on a Saturday, it will be on a Friday night, which is obviously not a great night for one. But thinking if a suitable small location for around 25-30 people, may be able to be booked early. Looking for somewhere not too expensive, that also caters for vegetarians. I’ve googled some nice places, but they all have bands, or seem like noisy popular place, which I would imagine would be difficult for a M&G, understandable for a Friday night. Most of the main restaurants that pop up, have very expensive menus. Yeah I know its Sydney, everywhere is expensive, but hopefully there are some reasonably priced ones where people can meet and be able to talk to each other. Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks, Ozwoody

At a guess, it would seem to me to be related to the Spa facilities above.

Further to @Relaxing Robbies re cruises going in the wrong direction, yes in reverse as a Queenslander, I would rather head south in the summer for cooler weather, not further north for more humidity.🤷‍♂️

Could not agree more. I don't think they understand Australians, I feel we are different from Americans due to our geography, and life styles, basically we think different, I can't explain it, but I believe our mind set is different.🤔🤷‍♂️ I just don't think they get us?

I don't know, we have done the Diamond Syd-Auck twice 2010 & 2015 it was full both times, and evidently on the return trip to, as we looked at doing the reverse trip fly there and return by ship. Customs did not strike me as much different. Maybe times have changed?

Hmm, that seems to me, like they don't think NZ worth the effort? Wonder if hull cleaning is getting too difficult, with no all weather location to do the cleaning, making cruises there a bit hit & miss?

Is it just the cruises out of Auckland that's cancelled, or to other NZ ports also?