arxcards

The Loyalty Islands have been seeking their own independence from New Caledonia, and I agree, will be in the middle of any unrest. Lifou is mentioned specifically in this report, although with more peaceful protests at this stage. Attempted prison mutiny, demonstrations ahead of New Caledonia constitution vote | RNZ News

Should be no gratuities. It is an $AU cruise, so even a sector linked to the US should still be $AU rules.. Easter Island was listed as a stop initially, with shore tours available but the more recent version of the itinerary is showing 4hrs of scenic cruising and no shore tours available.

Yep, a bit of history repeating. Or as P&O used to say when they were giving reasons for cancelling ports in the South Pacific - The natives are restless. Did you ever get to Ouvea? P&O cancelled calls there due to "restless natives" around 15 years ago but haven't been back since.

Pac Encounter is heading out towards Mystery Island at present, so should be OK for a few days. They are due to call at Lifou on the way back, so I guess that depends on whether they are New Caledonia or Loyalty Islands that week. Pac Adventure is also heading for Mystery Island & Vila and is scheduled to call in Lifou & Noumea on the way back on 20th May. Splendor departs to the Islands on Sunday. Noumea is the first scheduled stop on 22nd May, and they also have Lifou and a 2nd call to Noumea on the way back.

It is just a walk through to hand over cards at most, to keep people honest with their duty free allowances and declaration. Our last one around Willis Island on Majestic, we were given cards, filled them out, then shredded them we we got home. There was nobody to collect them, on what was otherwise a domestic cruise. Over the years, it has been 50/50 for us. @Astro Flyer Note that according to the Brisbane terminal page, arrival is 8am. If that is accurate, you have lost a bit of valuable time toward a possible late AM flight. https://www.portbris.com.au/cruise/cruise-ship-schedule

I have given up cruising on P&O.

It isn't always seamless. 20 minutes after being seated and all you have is menus, bread and a drink, they seat a group at an empty table nearby. You can then get caught waiting another 20 minutes while the waiters line up their orders with yours. Convenient for those moving into the empty space, but not always for the traditional diners that arrived for set service. That is why they try to keep both areas separate.

There are two types of anytime. You can pre-book for anytime on any day. You can book them today, or the same day as you are dining. If you don't want to use the app and prebook, just walk up (maybe join a line) at the designated walk-up dining room.

The ones they have cancelled are 19+ months away, so at least nobody is out of pocket for airfares. If something was to happen similarly for cruises in 2024, Princess will usually refund out of pocket expenses such as non-refundable hotel, airfares, transfers.

I dress up on formal nights and have plenty of variety. Black shoes & belt for formal & smart casual for me. I get that someone who suits yellow tones will need their browns, olives taupe and also need black for formal nights. I guess it is easier to pack for a cruise if you are a blue tone person.

If you can only afford it at a last minute price, I guess you can afford to wait. The 2024 last minute deal only came about because of a late decision to divert from the Red Sea. 2025 has already been altered, lots cancelled, plenty jumped on the newly available cabins. There will be bits & pieces available into next year, but I don't expect there will be anything cheap unless there is an Iceland volcanic eruption or a US civil war. I hope you can jump aboard, as there will be plenty of sea days for a chat or two.

Ahh yes, too true.

It looks like she is berthed on the dock. A bit of that going around today. The auroras are spectacular, but GPS has larger margin of error.

This pic gives an idea looking back to the ship:

When you look down, the width of the promenade deck and railing will be visible from your cabin, as the deck comes out to around the same width as the lifeboats & tenders. When you look out, you get something like this view of the life raft stations - a pic of 8408 from Adventure's previous life as Golden Princess