Nebr.cruiser

Thanks, I appreciate the thought! I was being facetious when I used the word Survive! I'm not even that fond of the sweet coffee concoctions, so I won't feel deprived at all. Of course I will buy one if I feel like it though.

Well, I'm cheap so I almost never buy coffee from shops, except sometimes when out with granddaughters, who are addicted to Starbucks, etc. So I'll probably never buy a specialty coffee. It's really not a big deal to me. I mean, I get along fine with instant! Or the ships regular coffee. We'll enjoy our pop and water!

After much difficulty and too much money, we have our Australian and New Zealand visas--I think. I printed out the paper version. Is that enough. I can't seem to access our visa on the Aus. ETA app: it just says enter your passcode. I don't have and don't think I ever had a passcode. I haven't downloaded New Zealand app. Do I need it? As stated, I have paper copies of each. Hope that is sufficient.

Thank you. I was pretty sure they wouldn't trade for one coffee card and pop. Since my husband doesn't drink coffee and I've managed to survive over 40 cruises without specialty coffee, guess we'll go with water and pop. They will be getting buy cheap with us--doesn't feel like a good trade.

Of course this letter is a rant and too long; unlikely to get a response, but he does make many valid points. We've been on two Princess cruises within the last year, with another coming up, our first as Elites. There have been many down-grades, mostly in food quality and variety. Also, on our last cruise, the entertainment was pretty bad, in the theater. Two very old and outdated shows, one really mediocre comedian, one better comedian duo--but they were on twice--and one Prince imitator--who was also on twice-- and not everyone's cup of tea, for sure. Far less quality in entertainment. The medallion worked well for us, but we only use it for boarding and cabin entry, basically. Hated the cabin lights that went on automatically, and the closet light would only go on if we opened the bathroom door and then only stayed on for a little bit; then we'd have to open the door again. Staff was very good, but I assume the cabin stewards have been given a lot more cabins as ours didn't get done until pretty late in the afternoon.

The only time we did a waitlist--it was on Princess-- we did get an email that we had cleared the waitlist, but the room price was considerably more than what it was when we entered the wait list. I too thought we would be getting a cabin at the price that the cabin was when we went on the waitlist. At least for that sailing, not true. You get whatever is the going price at the time you clear the waitlist. The price was almost double. We didn't accept.

Our first cruise at Elite is coming up. I'm mostly looking forward to the laundry service, as we will be on a five week trip (11 days of it on Princess) and it will mean just that much less laundry to do. We rarely drink, so never buy the Plus package. I know we can trade the mini bar set up for pop or water or coffee cards. Can we do half pop and half water, for instance? Or one coffee card and pop? I'm a big water drinker and my husband doesn't drink coffee, although he will drink pop. And do we just ask the steward to change it out on the first day? Being priority on tenders would be a plus except that this cruise (Queensland coastal) we are doing all Princess tours --extremely unusual for us--because there just wasn't much we could find to see the GBR even having priority tenders, due to the time it takes to get to the reef. Princess tours pick up at the ship. 10% off on tours and 50% off on wifi is good. Although we normally don't do ship tours.

We will be on this ship Feb. 24th. I'd be so happy to learn about the entertainment, especially main theater shows. Enjoy your cruise!

Usually the day before. I have a comprehensive list of things to do before the cruise that I start checking off in the week prior. I also start setting things aside in a separate area of the closet that I know I will be taking, and washing anything that needs it in the week before. We are doing a 5 week tour to Australia with two cruises and about 10 days on land and I hope to take one carry on size and one large personal item only. So, I will do a trial pack to see if I can actually do this. I just don't want to lug my larger suitcase around airports, to and from hotels, on tours, etc. I've done about 3 weeks with the above luggage, just not sure about 5.. I will try to do laundry, of course, when possible. Since I'm not a big person, re shoes, etc., clothes are possible, I think. It's the misc. things such as toiletries, meds, devices, chargers, first aid, OTC supplies, etc. that make it harder.

We are doing the Hobbiton Movie Set and Roturua Wonderland Tour. It seemed to hit everything we wanted to see, with the exception of the glow worm caves, which I don't think is possible to do as well as everything else in one port stop.

We are booked with Zealander for an excursion in Tauranga too now! Thanks for the advice. We may look into other tours with them.

Thanks for the great ideas!

We've taken grandkids on cruises before and have never bought the refreshment package. I didn't really want them drinking pop all the time anyway and there is plenty of lemonade and some other free juices available as well as milk. I never heard them say a thing about it, they were so busy enjoying everything else on the cruise. If you don't mention it, I bet he will never notice.

We will probably book ahead, but just wondering if it is possible to pick up tours, if needed. I'm having trouble finding independent tours that sound decent in some ports. Plus, 4 of us traveling but from 3 different locations make arranging things a little more difficult.

On a New Zealand cruise, will there be tour operators selling tours as we get off the ship or near the port area as there usually is in the Caribbean, Mexico, etc? Or do we need to line up all tours ahead of time? We much prefer independent tours rather than the ship tours. Our ports are Dunedin (Port Chalmers) Christchurch (Lyttleton), Tauranga, Auckland and the Bay of Islands. Any insight on great tours also appreciated!

We like to plan on getting back to the ship at least one hour before departure, better yet one hour before passengers have to be on board, which is usually about 30 min. before the ship departs. We had one very close call, last people on board, and never want to do that again!

We've used Bob's Limo twice with good results. Once to get to the ship from the airport--we paid for a shared ride, but had the car to ourselves, and once a shared ride to the airport. They will of course take you to your hotel in Rome as well. Both times worked out just fine and the shared ride with four others was good too. Prices weren't bad, but I'm sure they have risen because this was some years ago. We have also taken the train into Rome, walking to the station with our luggage--mid 60's at the time and it was a little challenging, due to stairs and just the unfamiliarity of the process, but we managed. Now, at 77, not sure I would do it, especially the walk to the station. But then it was a great, if 'interesting' experience.

Thank you! That's exactly what I was needing to find out. I believe we can handle that!

Thanks for the replies. I was under the impression that the RAT tests had to be monitored or proctored using our phone. That's what I'd be worried about--yes, I know many, many people manage it, so I suppose we could too--just trying to think ahead; probably over-thinking. But when making that long trek, just don't want to goof it up. The recommended tests by Princess are 2 for $65. I just can see me goofing up the phone procedure. I'm pretty certain they'd know we aren't Australian as soon as we open our mouth! Good idea about taking test as late as possible, before boarding. We can get free RAT tests here, due to our age. Would those be acceptable? I'm not sure if they are proctored or monitored by phone as we haven't used them. If we can do the test and then just take a picture of the result (not sure how that works), great. There will be 4 of us, so surely we can figure it up.

We're cruising out of Sydney in February. I know we have to have a Covid test before boarding. Obviously a PCR test isn't going to work, coming from the US, as they have to be 48 hours before. I have read that the rapid antigen tests are available at supermarkets and pharmacies. Any idea of prices? Are these available to purchase by non-Australian citizens? Is there any way to get a test that isn't a self test? I have doubts about being able to do it right on my phone. Also, it says 24 hours before. Does that mean that, say we board at noon, we would have to have our test no earlier than noon the day before? What happens if boarding is delayed and the 24 hours is up? I guess we could just take the test as late as feasible the day before. Thanks!

I want to give some OBC to someone on the Ovation in March. I cannot figure out how to do that--if I click on the gifts tag, it is things like chocolate covered strawberries or similar. Any help much appreciated! I have their booking number, etc.

The Love Boat Dream hasn't been the same as it was originally for quite a few years. Now it looks even worse!

I really dislike taking pictures with my phone--although I do sometimes--so I carry a small camera instead. I also wear a watch. Guess I'm a Luddite.

I've never taken my phone around the ship either--it stays in the safe. However, times they are-a-changing and I may have to break down and carry it. I will either put it in the small bag I take to the pool area or a small cross body. I actually found one at Dollar tree that is just the right size for a cell phone.

I wear something similar, although mine fit more loosely and are more like a sundress--kind of A-line. Sometimes I just wear running shorts and a tee.