arxcards

For Good Spirits, we target one of those 8 stools at the bar, except for when it gets quiet later in the night. There are also times when you are drinking spirits when they will ask if you want a double. P&O are strict in every which way, but the Ocean Now delivery will not work on Princess if they followed the same guidelines. P&O also seem to be paranoid about sharing of drinks with non-package passengers and that motivates their strictness more than RSA. Their bars are reconciled every cruise, and staff are judged on their adherence to stock levels. That means if the cocktail lists Absolut vodka, that is usually the only option. Any other brand is rung-up as a sum of the parts, and if it goes 5 cents over you can't have it in the package. Nice that you can have a $23 cocktail with plus on Princess and pay just the $1 overs. You tried a few cocktails in 14 nights. What were your favourites?

P&O don't think they are a budget line though. They consider themselves the best in their field - cruising the Australian way. They may have had a box to stand on a few years back, but trimming costs to cruise to a price has turned them into a receding brand. The same is happening to Princess, but at a much slower pace.

Still one less ship. Sharing is caring! Yes, I like to have some degree of confidence that my cruise isn't going to change because of a change of mind. Have already lost 3 ports from our Dover to Sydney cruise next year - starting to look like a 57 night cruise to nowhere.

Not so much about being relaxed, but the practicality of the system. When app ordering to cabin, it is much easier for everyone if both drinks are ordered in the one transaction. The system just assumes it is one drink each, and applies it to your package that way. On the shorter Princess cruises, there are quite a few that are 3 sheets to the wind.

It was $AU cash only when we were there in 2018, which caught us by surprise. Being an island without a bank, card is so much easier for them - as long as they have power and a reliable eftpos link.

Indeed. And on cost, I have a hunch that the identical itineraries on Crown will also cost a grand more than the cancelled ones.

Sounds nice. Concierge lounge on Royal Class is a bit of an upscale compared to earlier ships. We quite enjoyed that addition to Princess' usual suite privileges. It would be nice to have a concierge lounge retrofitted into the earlier ships, and a must for our new Princess ship too.

It reads quite OK as food plan. There are plenty that sit there all day, so they must have a food plan.

Our next cruise to book isn't available yet, but I have sent the email request as a Mothers Day gift.

Thanks. Glad it was enjoyable. Coral has been based here for nearly two years, so the coffee should be Australianised by now. Staff come and go, and they don't really have a barista mentality when they make their coffees. We have had some good coffee on Coral, bland on another cruise, undrinkable on another. When busy, they tend to rush and work like a production line. We got good coffee at one of the bars last time, Good Spirits I think. Alas, they didn't open till 11am. What is that drink with the pink stuff sticking out of it? And are they crocs?

Yes, skimming devices. Not just Cape Town, although it appears to be a significant problem there. Bobs up in Australia from time to time.

How good would it be if you could use your cruise card to pay, and have it go to your folio. It would be doable.

It depends on your dentist.

I think much of this is that waiters/restaurateurs don't want to have to resolve arguments about who had to pay for what, and to leave it to the group solve their own disagreements. Especially true if someone in the group went outside "for a smoke" and just kept walking.

Conflict Islands is a highlight though. I hope your friend gets there at the end of the month.