arxcards

Did you see what was hanging on the cat's collar? 😝

Allocation of dining preference while booking your cruise no longer applies. Dining reservations are now done via the app. You can do each day individually, or book the same restaurant/time for the whole cruise.

I would like a re-imagining of the old Sun Class - smaller, less passengers, alternate ports that can handle a smaller ship. My only must haves would be Crown Grill, Crooners, Good Spirits and a slightly expanded International Café. Add an aft pool, plus a comfortable cabin with a glass screened shower. More importantly, the medallion MKII. Slightly modified to sense when you are just about to get thirsty, then orders your favorite tipple for you.

Correct. Nice balcony size, but no overhead cover.

Yes, that has all changed since 2015, which was what I was replying to. Similarly the other way, we have also been processed at sea by NZ authorities when cruising the other direction - also 10 years ago. What has become evident the past two seasons - any ship carrying passengers that embarked at a foreign port faces the full letter-of-the-law disembarkation procedure from borderforce. That is unavoidable for a ship full of passengers on a relocation, but a major inconvenience for the sake of a few hundred passengers cruising from a dual-port embarkation in Auckland.

They certainly have. We have even had our entry processed at sea between the fiords and Hobart. Back in the BC days, some judgements were made on Ruby being assessed as low risk, but now borderforce stick to the rules.

25/26 is a bit far away to tell, but it appears that there are more people who are holding-off on booking anything. As for 24/25 in Brisbane, that is a little over 6 months away and Diamond isn't selling as well as they hoped. In addition, there are two other Carnival Corp ships in Brisbane that aren't filling-up either. Brand loyalty aside, they are all doing similar itineraries to generate revenue to the same shareholders.

It takes away a risk. If there is a chance that they could alter an itinerary away from NZ because of a dirty butt, it is made much more difficult if they are scheduled to drop-off passengers and embark new ones in Auckland. The other issue with embarking passengers in Auckland is that the disembarks in Australia are much more complicated than for loop cruises.

That would mean dropping from 3 ships to 1 in a single season, which seems unlikely. Anything is possible, including musical chairs. So far, Discovery in LA is just an old crumb that hasn't been swept away. It is still looking like there is more bad news to come though.

Rhapsody & Grandeur. They have been up for sale for a while.

They call them Cruiselings, and they advertise to attract them.

Strange. I can't think why they would do that.

My March 2026 Discovery cruise is intact - for now.

Grog is bonded. Smokes are not, as long as you take them back to the ship yourself. There is no duty free rule on this. P&O just won't let you take alcohol aboard, so it is bonded whether duty free or not. Cigarettes can be taken aboard, whether duty free or not. Fung Kuei will deliver back to the ship and you will see it again on disembarkation morning, so be sure to carry any cigs back to the ship yourself. P&O won't fish them out for you.

Ouch. That is a shame for the Brisbane market, as it leaves them a ship short for their summer season. P&O, Carnival, Royal Caribbean. I was looking at a Brisbane cruise, so glad we hadn't committed. Making room for the new Star Princess? 🤣 Caribbean winters must be the go. Yet another ship relocating there.