Ondine

I've found that hitting the escape button it disappears straight away but I have to do it for every screen change. Not happy Jan

I tried to click the "Learn More" bit to see if the ad would disappear like when you are watching muster videos on ships but this came up. So back to square 1. I will just have to give up on cc if it does not go away it's driving me crazy.

Prices at the moment are the all inclusive prices of Free at Sea plus discounted fares and some OBC. Not too bad if you like a drink plus $50 toward shore trips, internet, some speciality dining etc. You can also purchase the coupon for $250 which gives you $500 off your fare "whatever they call it". I booked Melb - Auk and Auk - Melb when I first saw these sailings last January. Living in Melbourne I was desperate to sail somewhere when all others were deserting us. I am hoping to re-fare when they release the Sailaway prices (basic) which I believe will be around 6 months or less prior to the sailings. Compared to what I have to pay for the 2025/26 circumnavigation standard fares on Princess out of Melb they are not that much dearer but include far more.

Why does the name Titanic come to mind???

I am assuming that that Stockperks have access to Carnival's list of shareholders which should give your name and address and number of shares. I believe that this would be public property as I worked in the stockbroking business.

When I look at the app it lists all of the Carnival ship brands as being eligible for "redemption". Aida, Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Holland America, P&O UK, P&O Au, Princess and Seabourn. It does make it easier to apply not having to provide an updated certificate. Wonder if any other lines will follow suite. There are other varied companies listed which obviously give shareholder benefits.

I registered with Stockperks when it started (sometime late last year??) and received OBC for the cruises I had booked up until last month. I just attached a copy of my last holding statement. No bank details or anything else. I am with Comsec so people will probably know the problems we have with getting an up to date statement. On Thursday I decided to see if I could get OBC for my next cruise so just went in to the app and clicked on redeem and put in my next booking number and date etc. I didn't have to attach any proof so I assume they can run a check on the share registry since they are in the business. I applied on Thursday 11th and it was granted yesterday Friday 12th even though the cruise is 6 months away and it is a Princess cruise. So simple compared to the old way which applied the 3 month rule and always wanted an updated statement.

Just saw this. Looks like someone who couldn't make up their mind.

We watched the suitcases being taken ashore. Because of their thoughtlessness we were nearly 3 hours late leaving port by the time we got the pilot and tugs back and found another slot in the queue. No idea if they intended to skip ship or couldn't care less about consequences.

...

Early Feb on Pacific Explorer in Auckland, our last port of call before returning to Melb. We were minus 7 passengers at 3.30pm final boarding time. After 15 minutes 3 sauntered aboard. Another 15 minutes and 2 people had phoned ahead to say their taxi had trouble and was late and eventually they arrived. So still missing two. By now we had lost our place in the departure line, the pilot who was onboard had gone elsewhere to another job and the tugs also departed leaving us to sort out the mess. After another hour the call went out to get security to open their cabin and ascertain that these people had their passports with them and pack up their belongings. Their suitcases were duly deposited onshore with information for the ships agent. We were now about 2 hours late with a full speed trip back to Melbourne ahead of us. The captain announced that they had contacted police and hospitals trying to find them and also contacted their family back in Melbourne to tell them what had happened and we were leaving them behind. On arrival in Melbourne Border Force came aboard and wanted a report on why we had left these people behind (now illegal immigrants to NZ) and this delayed our disembarkation by well over an hour which affected other peoples ongoing travel plans. The consequences to the ship are immense with all the extra paperwork, extra costs for the pilot and tugs. The ship is responsible for leaving with the number of passengers it brings in. I have no sympathy for them. We all know the rules. You contact the agents if you are delayed. Try getting an aircraft to wait for you if you are late. I don't think so. It is the same thing.

eeeee Is this some new rule for getting on in Melbourne? When I sailed in Jan and early Feb we were still allowed to drive onto the pier. When boarding Virgin late Feb we dropped off our luggage at the gate but put this down to a Virgin thing since they do everything different to other cruise lines! I know that there have been hassles with frustrated lines of motorists when the "traffic cops" favour one line over another leading to very loud horn honking. You have my sympathy boarding in yesterday's heat. That's a long walk to get onboard. No shade either if you have to queue prior to getting through the gate. I join on Sunday for the Qld trip. I see that the blue lounges have been replaced by white/cream ones on the back pool deck. What was that passenger thinking sunbaking in 38 deg heat. Enjoy your cruise. Like following the posts.

Re my posting 12 months ago re the condition of Grand Princess. I was pleased to see when cruising on her this season that they have completely renovated the Vista lounge and it looks lovely now. All chairs have been reupholstered/replaced . The low chairs in Explorers appear to be re-sprung and although they are still low you are now at shoulder height not chin height. It is still a race to get the higher chairs when looking for a table.

In light of the fact that Brilliant Lady is now not expected to sail until at least May 2025 (originally forecast late 2023) perhaps Virgin might use Resilient Lady to do Brilliant's cancelled expected itineraries. Depending how much interest they had had in Brilliant it would make sense.

Son and I were on the inaugural voyage in December and "rearranged" the set up. He didn't quite fit in the bed along the wall and I didn't want his feet in my face and I wasn't about to give up the other single because one has a spring base while the other doesn't and is harder. They are both hard actually. We put the "U shaped table" at the end of the bed near the window then we put the chair in backwards so the back of the chair would act as a wedge. We put all the extra pillows on the "table" which brought it approximately to the height of the mattress. He grumbled a bit but it worked. We then brought one of the balcony chairs inside to replace the one we had used to make the bed. The metal chairs are awful and I spent most of my outside time in the hammock anyway. We are sailing again tomorrow using credits we got when they cancelled my 20 night b2b NZ cruises. And they wonder what went wrong. They can't seem to make up their minds what they want to do. How can you book in advance when you can't be sure what will happen? I will try to take a photo and upload it when I get back. We find that the cabin not being squared also plays tricks with your mind. It is around a foot narrower at one end.