Ondine

I found that when I was booking dining on my computer it told me that I had complimentary speciality dining available and allowed me to select which night and restaurant I wanted it. So I did just that and booked Sabatinis. However I have B2B and when I bring up the second trip to book the dining times it gives me the itinerary for the first leg even when I log in using the correct booking number. eeeee Win some lose some! It still shows the same cabin for both cruises which is also wrong.

Yeah the first few cruises from Melbourne have been sold out for ages so there won't be any bargains for us Mexicans. The only "bargain" cruise that I have seen is the New Zealand one sometime in November added by P&O when they revised their cruise start up time. Unfortunately it clashes with my Princess cruises which have been booked and moved around for the past couple of Covid years.

Maybe it is something to do with Pacific Adventure being listed for October 2nd.

Looks like a beautiful day up there. Thanks

If you get Covid prior to boarding and have to cancel there is compensation (depending what you get back from any providers) provided you did not know you were positive at the time of purchasing the policy. This is for comprehensive policies of which the annual policy is one. You also get to select the value of your cruise/holiday (select your dearest) in the premium. I phoned twice to see if medivacs were part of the policy and was assured they are. Their Covid policy looked ok to me but I am no expert.

I see she is now back to being yellow. Wonder if we will ever find out how many positives were onboard and how many were crew. What a difference a change of passengers makes!!

NIB states that all their international policies cover cruising. Their 2 multi trip annual policies are both International for "Worldwide with USA or Nepal" and "Worldwide without these two countries". I checked twice on the phone that cruising was covered and it is. When you are filling in the application details you come to a drop down box question to pick your mode of transport for most of your trips and cruising is listed. There is no change in the premium for this. from their website. FAQs about International Travel Insurance Will I be covered for cruising? Good news, cover for cruising is automatically included in our international policies. If you get sick aboard a cruise, we can offer overseas medical cover on board, including if you contract Coronavirus during the trip. Make sure you’re following all relevant government and official advice. All policy terms, limits and exclusions apply, and you should be aware there are things we don’t cover, such as your cruise being cancelled by the provider due to an epidemic or pandemic.

Maybe Pacific Adventure had a haircut because she will be home ported in Sydney, therefore coming and going more often while Pacific Encounter will be based in Brisbane. She will only visit Sydney for a day or so and can dock at Circular Quay if available.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Pacific Encounter would call into Sydney first. Explorer was only in Singapore a day but it then took several weeks to get down here. How long do the repositioning cruises from Au to Singapore usually take? Found it. It was a Carnival announcement. 30 June 2022 – P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Encounter is sailing home to Australia after a spectacular overnight encounter with sister ship Pacific Adventure while berthed side-by-side in Trieste Italy exemplifying the transformation of Australia’s homegrown cruise line fleet. It was also a case of back-to-back visits to the shipyard for Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure as ‘wetdock’ preparations continued for their return to cruising from Brisbane and Sydney respectively. Their return to service signals yet another landmark in the resumption of cruising in Australia and P&O’s growing part in the revival of Australia’s $5 billion a year cruise industry. Pacific Encounter will initially arrive in Sydney before heading for her new cruising home in Brisbane, which has been host to P&O ships throughout the line’s 90-year cruising history in Australia.

She is now amber on the NSW covid site. Read that there were 28 positive on board and that P&O have asked passengers who will be boarding tomorrow to come 1 hour later than their previous stated times.

You were so lucky with the weather.

It was definitely the program that was supposed to go to air. I just happened to flick over to Youtube on my TV and it had just been uploaded 15 minutes prior. My guess is that someone forgot to tell the technician who uploads programs each day that this one had been cancelled. It was removed by the next morning. It had the U I (Under Investigation) emblem embeded on the left side and I think these programs were started in March 2021. I looked at the 60 Minutes program from 2 years ago and some of it was included but then the program was expanded to fill 45-50 minutes. The same gist of cruising on the high seas is not safe and you could be robbed/molested/killed/pushed or jump or fall overboard and the shipping companies don't care. Pointing out that cruise companies have failed to install "man overboard technology" that was recommended some time ago after some inquiry. There was footage of Pacific Explorer entering Sydney Harbour with the "We're Back" sign so had been recently re-edited for the purpose of showing when cruising resumes here and something happens. I don't recall it mentioning Coral Princess so maybe that is why they pulled it so they could add more details to make it more sensational. Had I known they were going to take it down I would have made some notes but as it is I only have what I can remember. Making a big deal of ships being registered in "third world countries" to avoid scrutiny and enable them to do as they like. Claims they only have to report crimes to the country of registration who only have one official to take care of this. Mmmm I was watching "Don" last night and he was commenting on the banning of brawling passengers over in the USA and he stated that all crimes on ships departing USA ports have to be reported to the FBI. However they showed flags flying on the mast and surprise one of the flags was the Red Ensign so it must have been UK registered. Mmmmmm Probably Pacific Explorer. They haven't got a clue. Another sequence was of the brawl around 4 years ago on Carnival Legend (from Melb) and again reporting flags of convenience and then showing the Maltese flag. Legend is registered in Malta. I don't consider Malta a third world country. It was a pathetic program both in content and production wise. I am sure they will update it and re-release it with horror stories of people being banned from leaving the "Virus Riddled ship" - (SMH words) when the next outbreak occurs.

Just remembered it also covered things like the sinking of the Costa Concordia and lots of footage of brawling etc. Just a hatchet job.

I found it on Youtube when I was surfing later on in the evening. It was newly uploaded. It was Liz Hayes and it was a 60 minutes "Under Investigation" report. A total waste of time. Nothing to do with the Coral Princess but all about suspicious deaths, brawling and alcohol plus the Dianne Brimble death 20 years ago. Her husband was one of the guests plus some NSW politician who had written a book some years ago (can't remember the name of the guy or book - something about Waters) and some guy from Canada who was an expert on goodness knows what plus a lady from the NSW uni who was expert in law etc. There was one guy with a cruise association who was slightly pro-cruising but it was 4 to 1 against plus Liz Hayes. Main topic was that when you leave Australian waters there is no Law applicable because Australian or Federal police are not on board and so the cruise lines don't care and always put profits before safety on board. Bad things happen. Rapes, robberies and suspicious deaths which are not investigated. It mentioned the death of an entertainer in Darwin who was found dead on board. The coroner ruled that she had some very rare problem. However the ship dumped her on land and left straight away thereby denying the opportunity for a full investigation to take place. Insinuating that the cruise line was hiding the truth!!!!! I tried to find it on the 60 minutes website but guess what - it is not there. They must have pulled it. Just a fluke that I saw it last night. It was very similar to a program which I saw 2 years ago. I think that they will update it and include the Coral Princess story and any other newsworthy rubbish they can think of. I did see a shot of Emma (Emma Cruises) enjoying a cruise and also what I think was a shot of Ben (Ben and David) being tested for COVID for one of their embarkations. I wonder if they know that footage taken from their videos has been hijacked by the program. I didn't intend to watch it but when I saw it on Youtube I couldn't help myself!!!! Should of made a cuppa and gone to bed. Waste of time.

Sorry to hear about your loss Leigh. Take care.

NIB don't have an age limit. I think InsureAndGo have an age limit of 79 for cruises. Are they members of Probus? Not sure if you have to be to get their insurance but they don't have an age limited. I went mad going round in circles for weeks looking at insurances before I bit the bullet and took out an Annual Multi Trip with NIB. I'm 81.

Welcome back Don. You have been missed. Hope all is ok with you and your family.

Oh well - I was just reading the PDS for Insure And Go for cruising which was published on 8th June and on page 5 under eligibility it states that the maximum age limit for applicants for cruise policies is 79 years of age at the date of application. I guess that when they say "coverage up to the age of 100 years young" is just for land or air travel. Nasty.

After all the mess when cruises were first cancelled in 2020 I vowed never to use an agent again. I had trouble getting my deposit back from one six months after Princess had given it to them. I now use the Vacation Planner who is very good. Nothing is any problem. He even reduced my November booking cost by $400 last Friday because there was a drop in prices for the last of the cabins. Having said that I have used a different agent but only for my Virgin Resilient Lady bookings because I didn't want to have to ring Guatemala to organise a specific cabin. Hopefully the agent I have chosen is ok if problems arise. Otherwise DIY.

ING everyday debit card rebates the overseas transaction fees. They won't give you a credit card unless you are still working but I just make sure I have enough money in the debit account to cover whatever I am buying. I used it when I booked Virgin's Resilient Lady because that incurred an overseas transaction fee of several hundred dollars. Very glad I did. Rather annoyed because Virgin don't charge any fee for use of a credit card however their payments are processed as an overseas transaction.

I found the same thing. It wouldn't accept a PDF but it would accept a JPEG. I wish they would state what format they want.

Not sure about the "lack of demand" for Grand Princess. The NZ cruise for 4th Nov only has obstructed oceanview's and inside's available apart from the occasional suite. Balconies have been thin on the ground for the past 3 months. This cruise has had several move-overs from cancelled cruises applied to it. The following cruise to Nth Queensland has been fully booked out and showing sold out for months. It too has had multiple cancelled cruises moved to it. I am on both. The NZ one started out as a Sapphire Princess booking and has been moved several times. The Nth Queensland trip started out as 23rd March 2020 (Golden Princess), then Nov 26th 2020, then March 23rd 2021 then Dec 2021 (Sapphire Princess) and now is Nov 17th 2022 (Grand Princess). Passengers just rebooking or moving over. We have very limited cruises from Melbourne this summer so they will fill the ships from down here I would think.

I don't think the length of the cruise is a problem because if they allow you to stay onboard for B2B2B they it is the same length as the original booking.

I would like to see them walk up the hill!!!!! Did it once and found the going tough. Although coming down I sometimes felt like I was going to sit down in parts.

mmmmmm maybe I might get lost, or forget who I am (dementia) or get on the wrong ship! Makes me feel like a kindergarten child having to hold someone's hand. They are not the only company with that rule. Maybe it is to do with the underwriter.