RayWitt001

As we all had new passports for our trip last month I was hoping for a few stamps (Australia, Vanuatu and New Caledonia) but none. Not even leaving or entering Australia - they just swipe the chip. I wasn't game enough to use the stamp in Noumea at the Info desk due to reading about voiding the passports (I think that info was sent with the passports). It is a shame they don't stamp them for cruises :( We didn't see any immigration staff at any stop, just the ship staff scanning cruise cards.

I can't get an Aussie plug into the 220v universal.

 

There are also 2 US points 110v.

I managed to - with a bit of wiggling and a bit of force. It doesn't look or feel like it should but it does work. I still used our US adapter in it with 1 plug and 2 USB slots because the other one was hindered a bit by the light switches.

Edit to add: they are still in the process of installing these outlets so don't bank on having one already in your room. Our room's was installed while we were onboard and apparently the full rollout will take some months.

Spirits are between $7AUD and $10AUD on the most part (the main popular ones). Soft drink cans were $2.55 each from memory. They had the B1G1$1 from 3-4pm and 9-10pm each day, and for those drinks that are prepackaged (stubbies, cans, piccolos) you can ask them not to open them and take them to your room for 'ron. You can also drink slowly and take your second to dinner with you - I did this with my new favourite drink - Beverly Hills Iced Tea. 2 strong drinks for $15 is a winner for me and was enough to keep me "happy" all night! None of the staff care where you take your drinks because it's not like they are competing for your business - in the MDR they send out to one of the bars for mixed drinks anyway.

After our recent cruise we decided you would need to drink a heck of a lot of alcohol every day to make $60/day worthwhile. On a 10 nighter like we were on, that would be $1200 in drinks for the 2 of us. Between the 2 bottles of wine we took aboard and happy hour specials, we only spent about $150 in drinks the whole time.

P.S the water was totally fine to drink on board, and if you must have bottled, grab a slab or 2 just before you board and stick a luggage tag on it. We did this in preparation for our days ashore but due to missed ports we ended up drinking half of them the last day on board so we didn't have to carry them back off again!

Hi, I'm hoping someone on the Diamond can answer these questions.

Can you access the 240 power point under the bed and plug a power board in with an adapter? Or does an Australian laptop with an adapter run ok on the US 110 plug by the desk? I know it won't damage it but I'm wondering if it'll run too slowly.

Thanks

We were on the previous cruise in C204 (forward, deck 10) and they were in the process of installing "universal" powerpoints in all of the cabins. They did ours while we were on board. It seems to take all sockets and is rated at 220V. It is directly above the desk and doesn't have any light switches to block the outlet (like the one on the side wall).

I tested it with an Aussie plug because I wasn't sure it would fit, but it did with a bit of wiggling and a bit of force. One of the electrical guys we passed in the hall a few days later (when we commented that they were still working) said they would be working on it for the next 3 months so maybe ours was one of the first?

I think as long as the plug says 110-240V or something similar you would have no issues as it accepts 110V at minimum.

Once it was installed, I swapped our US adaptor (plug plus 2 USBs) into the universal point and it worked fine for my camera and phones (despite saying 220V only).

Photos from above:

Mum crossing a stream on the way up.

Mele Cascades - view from the hut at the top.

Lookout

Tanna Coffee

We just visited the Mele Cascades this month with my 74 year old parents. Entry is $25AUD adults and $15AUD children. Dad made it to the very top, and mum to the hut just before the top. Both of them are in reasonable health and very fit. It does require crossing streams on the way - which can be rather slippery with mossy weed in the water, but there are ropes to hold onto. Just be prepared to get your legs wet. We were wearing sandals/thongs but I would recommend wearing reef shoes - ones that can get wet but have good grip. The stairs at the start are quite big steps (and uneven heights), equivalent to maybe 3 or 4 flights of stairs, then the rest is dirt tracks like bushwalking here in Australia with dirt steps with wooden board edgings. One thing I did notice was some of the rocky areas near the stream crossings had become slippery with mud from people trudging through. Our driver was our guide for the day, so we asked him to accompany us to the places we went. Here's a photo of mum being helped across one of the streams.

Also, I don't know how many people know about it but at the top of the formal stairs there is a track to a lookout over Hideaway Island and if you look closely, and you have better weather than us, you will see your cruise ship in the far distance (assuming you arrived on one).

Just on the town side of the Cascades is the road that leads to Hideaway Island and not far down that track is the Tanna Coffee shop, where they roast their beans - and which makes a great Iced Coffee! Entry is free and coffees are about $4AUD each.

Everywhere we went accepted AUD - the Cascades, Tanna Coffee, the Duty Free shop (we went to Paris Shopping), and the big market in town - our driver told us you would probably get a better price here than at the wharf markets along the road.

Port Vila was my favourite day of our whole cruise.

... sorry working on the photos...

We were just on the Diamond on Caribe and loved the balcony. We liked that it was half covered because even when we had rotten weather (rained 5 out of 10 days) we could still go outside and have a look, or open the door for a bit. We actually felt sorry for the minis below us because they wouldn't have even been able to open their door in the rain as it is completely exposed. On 2 of the port days we ordered room service breakfasts and the 4 of us sat out on our balcony taking in the new port we were about to discover.

Agreed. We would have liked it better to have an overnight in Port Vila. Sunday in Noumea the tourist places were open (we managed to catch the tail end of the morning markets and then head to Lemon Bay but the weather was terrible) and all the retail shops were shut, then Monday the reverse (we walked through town in the morning admiring the pearls then decided to use up our converted Francs with a trip to Duck Island for the afternoon). We loved our first cruise, just a shame about the weather.

A sweater, shawl or wrap if it getts chilly.

BTW: aren't cardigans passé and old fashioned these days?:p

Really? Most women's wear stores here sell them pretty much year-round. I didn't know I was so out of touch at my senior age of 33. I would have thought a shawl more "old fashioned", but then I do own a couple of those too...

P.S I won't make my husband wear a cardigan - but then he doesn't own any anyway, plus he's warm blooded and has been known to wear short sleeves in the middle of winter.

Thank you for your replies. I think I will be safest taking a couple of cardigans or wrap to wear over tops. Living in Melbourne I am used to layers. Didn't want to waste baggage space on something I wouldn't need, but seems they may come in handy.

I guess if they suggest men wear tuxedos or suits for formal nights they can't have the temp too warm or they would all melt.

Just wondering what the temperature is like in public areas onboard (i.e. while eating in the dining room) as to whether I need cardigans, or short sleeves will be fine. I assume these areas have air conditioning?

Ship: Diamond Princess to South Pacific - if that makes a difference.

Thanks.

^ Monday when we board [emoji1]

Maybe the fact that I always have a balcony that protects me from it, and that I basically only cruise Aus.

I guess that's one way to guarantee a chair 😂

That's my biggest objection to the whole tipping thing, whoever throws the most money around gets service anyone else can go fly a kite.

Agreed.

I guess in our culture we expect that if you are employed in customer service or sales, you would be required to give good service - that is your job. Should you need to be bribed to give good service? Hardly seems fair.

I wonder if the staff on board get paid Australian award wages while they are in the Australian cruise season?

 

 

 

I personally would think $5 for a pizza a bit more than I would give for room service, but if you are happy that you want to give that amount because it feels right, then go with what you want to do.

 

 

 

Often tip threads get untidy very quickly! :)

I can't remember where I read about the pizza - it may have been more of a surcharge than a required tip. I have never been to a country with mandatory tipping - the closest I get is rounding up the bill but it's always easier with cash and paying cash is increasingly less common.

Agreed about the tips discussions - there are some wildly different views on who, how much, how often etc. My question was more so we don't offend if we don't tip every time or at all. Maybe I should collect a stash of gold coins in the next week or so.

Thanks for the replies.

As we do things a little differently in Australia and it is not customary to tip on top of your bill, I was wondering what the protocol is for ships doing Australian cruises - we are on the Diamond Princess? As the daily gratuities is not added to the onboard account do we still need to tip?

The main one I am interested in is room service. Would it be required that we give a tip each time the steward brings us an item? Would it differ for drinks vs food? I think I remember reading something about a $5 charge for a whole pizza which is fine, but wondering what the etiquette is considering I wouldn't normally tip someone bringing me room service in a hotel.

Thanks.

Yay! I better get packing then ☺

Thank for the replies.

For those who make copies, do you take the same security precautions for carrying them as you would a passport? And in the event of an emergency, what value would a copy have apart from photo ID? If you were left behind, would you be stuck in the country until another passport could be issued?

Also, what do people do with the cruise card while in the water? Wear a pouch/lanyard/leave on the beach?

Just trying to weigh all the options.

Just wondering if we will/won't be required to carry our passport on us when we get off the ship in New Caledonia and Vanuatu?

We plan on snorkelling at multiple destinations so if we have it on us, it will mean leaving it on the beach with my mother (a non-snorkeller). On the other hand I don't like the thought of being in a foreign country without it on me (in case we get stuck for whatever reason).

Also, for buying duty free (Port Vila), do we need our passport or just travel documents?

I'm sure someone knows the protocol for this :)

"Bacterial spores can last for decades, while virus spores are much more fragile, and generally only last days."

I thought the opposite was true. Viruses are not living; they infect a hosts cells, which is what they use to reproduce. Bacteria are living and can reproduce themselves (in the right conditions). Bacteria without the right conditions will die off (I.e raw chicken 'juice' left on a kitchen counter to the point it is dried completely for a few days will have all the bacteria gone because the bacteria need moisture to reproduce and survive - the toxins produced from the said bacteria remain though), whereas the influenza virus that someone sneezed onto the same bench will stay in it's little protective envelopes until they infect a cell to reproduce more of themselves.

I agree hand washing doesn't kill viruses but it can help limit the spread. Every little bit helps.

I could be wrong but we booked a 4 berth cabin and had to list everyone's ages. The kids (6,10) were slightly cheaper than the standard 3rd and 4th passenger fare due to being children (it was roughly $100 less each). It may depend on ages though (I.e under 12?) or number of children on board - we were told Princess limits numbers to that which can be accommodated in the relevant kids club.

Excuse my ignorance, but are there toilets located near/in the main eating areas of cruise ships? Would it be possible to call past and do a proper wash immediately before sitting down to eat?

I have never been a fan of hand sanitisers and would much prefer a soap and water wash. I know it will likely be inevitable that we use them on the cruise though, but for my own peace of mind I would rather wash than rub.

Is there any proof that the alcohol based ones are not as effective? From what I read Benzalkonium Chloride is effective for bacteria, but not so much for viruses - i.e. Norovirus.

RE FARING ....I always book Princess cruises direct with Princess. 6 weeks ago I booked Diamond Princess, 23 Jan to and from NZ for my wife and 17 year old grand daughter (graduation present!) Original price was $1859 pp for Cat OV partial obstruction. Yesterday I checked prices and found Cat OV had been reduced to $1629. So I rang Princess and requested the re fare, got it no problems, saving $230 pp. Total $460. I have not paid final payment yet, so they did the re fare.

 

 

 

So it pays to monitor prices and book direct.

We were able to do this with our travel agent last week. Hubby though he would just check to see how the ship was filling and noticed a considerable price difference. Just saved us $1100 on our already booked cabin (2 adults + 2 kids). I was sceptical that we would be able to change anything as we are sub 100 days to our cruise, so we were prepared to forfeit our deposit of $500 to rebook at the newer price (we thought the price when we booked was good!). Our agent liaised with Princess and we got the updated pricing, no loss of anything (except the new OBC value is $55 less than our original booking). That saving will pay for a few drinks on board [emoji5]️

I haven't read through all the replies yet but we booked flights through Jetstar return to Sydney from Avalon (Tullamarine was $20 more), 4 people, 2 checked bags each way for a total of less than $400 when they had a recent "take a friend for free" sale. You have to jump on them though or they sell out fast. Yes we had to fly early or late in the day, but to us the savings were worth it.

Also, most people either don't know or can't be bothered but you can avoid the extra charges by doing a direct deposit instead of credit card. It is very simple to do - like any other BPay banking transaction.

I only found this site recently (via Google) when we were looking to book our first cruise. Had never heard of it before but likely that is because we weren't cruising. I like to read up all I can about a destination before I go so I think I found it searching for info on the South Pacific ports. Now every time I hear the ad on TV for a certain European river cruise and it says something about being voted top river cruise by Cruise Critic I smile.

I needed to ask too many questions to just lurk. [emoji5]️