SinbadThePorter

Would that would be Man O'War Steps, which is a very historic landmark in its own right?

Not anymore, it's all credit card now. The problem with using AUD instead of Kina is that on the smaller islands it's often a problem for the locals to exchange money. Besides a lot of things are 5 Kina, if you use AUD it will be $5 which equals 10 Kina.

Diamond is not so bad and she is coming out here Sept 2024. But I know what you mean, I've been on Encounter twice and it's just too crowded, especially when trying to get into the Encounter Hotel where most of the activities are held. I really like the P&O itineraries, but to get the budget fares they have just cut too many corners. I'd pay a bit more for for better food and less crowding.

If you cruise is like any of the others I've been on to PNG, at Alotau the local bank will send some people on board just after docking to exchange currency. As for Alotau township itself, I'm hard put to recommend getting off the ship.

I've always thought Nhulunbuy could be a candidate. A deep water port a good stopping distance between Cairns and Darwin. On some of the most scenic parts of the Arnhem Land coast. Town in the doldrums since the refinery shut down.

Keep an eye on the prices over Black Friday and also Christmas. The cruise lines often have specials pop up.

That might be a conflict of interest since they currently sell cruises for most cruise lines.

I suspect that Virgin might be more flexible with prices than Disney. We'll have to see what they do with unsold cabins when they get close to sailing date.

After. It is a strange booking process. It's essentially a guarantee cabin, except you get told what cabin you have up front at booking.

Has anyone tried to change their cabin assignment?

They sent me an email without a key and then another email 2 hours later with a key. Booked the 6 day 1st Feb cruise to Sydney and Hobart. We'll see what all the fuss is about. 😎

Weren't they fitted last March?

Don't we get enough politics outside of CC?

Not only is there no duty free, we have to pay GST on local cruises. 😢

That way madness lies!

I seem to recall that Norwegian did a departure from Port Kembla, but I can't find the proof.

My first time to Broome by cruise ship will be next year, but from what I gather docking large vessels there is currently limited by the tidal range. "The existing Port of Broome consists of a fixed jetty that is at the mercy of some of Australia’s biggest tides, reaching off the coast into a sea that can rise and fall by 10 metres in just six hours. This has presented challenges when loading and unloading vessels, particularly for live cattle exports to Indonesia, gas rig tenders for the Browse Basin, and cruise ship passengers wanting to visit the historic pearling town."

The seas in the south are generally better in March than October. In the north March is still in cyclone season, October is not.

I (along with many others) have often decried the lack of facilities for cruise ships around the Australian coastline, but now it looks like Broome is stepping up with a new port facility called the Kimberley Marine Support Base. https://www.kmsb.com.au/ With a deep water anchorage and a huge floating dock, it should be able to handle almost anything. Building to take place during 2024 and planned to be open in 2025.

He was a gentleman and a scholar. As he goes off on the Long Cruise, may his ship be merry, his seas smooth and his ports always sunny.

There are buses and ferries nearby in East Balmain if they could just allow an exit from the cruise terminal.

Edit: I finally found a deck plan of the old Star Princess and it has the same deck 11 layout as Pacific Encounter, but I still think the Owner's Suites on Grand should match the Owners Suite on Encounter. I'm pretty sure that Grand, Golden and Star Princess had the same cabin layout. If that's the case then it looks like the Princess Owners Suites on deck 11 were kept as Owners Suites by P&O. Except that one Penthouse Suite (B748) and one Owners Suite (B750) on deck 11 were combined by P&O into one Grand Suite numbered 11748. That only left one Owners Suite (ex-S2) on each P&O ship, which is cabin 11751. So the Grand Princess cabin B750 should be the mirror image of 11751 cabin on Pacific Encounter. Link to video of Grand Princess B750. Grand Princess Deck 11 Aft. Pacific Encounter Deck 11 Aft

I'm not sure what you mean, the link works for me.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/different-departure-port-city Apparently the email contact at RC is emergencytravelteam@rccl.com.

I think this cabin should be very similar.