Ondine

From the 23/24 season onward Princess is allowing 4 sea days between Auckland and Melbourne. On our last cruise in March the captain announced that some people were complaining that we have to leave Auckland around 2.30pm and couldn't understand that to get to Melb they have to go flat out at top speed to make it in 3 days. If something goes awry (think bad weather/medivac/rescue idiots who abandon boat in middle of night in Bass Strait) it causes chaos with boarding times for the next cruise. In fact last December the Grand came in so late due to bad weather in the Tasman and also in Melb they were unable to refuel her (lost her slot). We boarded late and had to spend 36hrs anchored in Port Philip bay (QE wanted the berth following day so we had to leave) until it could be arranged for refueling to be done in the bay the following day. Started refueling around 4.00pm the following day and finally left at 2.00am next day. Needless to say we missed PI. Here in Melbourne we are used to having lots of sea days whether we go to the islands or NZ. Quite like them, don't have to get up early. Kind of lazy days.

I think the only buses coming up to the ship were the official excursion coaches. If you wanted a shuttle then you had to walk to the "Red Shed" Visitor Information Centre to purchase your ticket which is at the end of the pier. I believe at the end of the day some of the shuttle busses were permitted to drop the passengers off at the ship when things quietened down. I was there in December and again last month. There was a pod of dolphins at the Red Shed which kept people amused while waiting.

Good reference for people Julie. Well done.

Yes shuttles are free at PI from Rhyll to Cowes. At Port Lincoln you now have to walk to the end of the pier where you can catch a town shuttle bus for $6 adult return or $20 family. By the time you reach the end of the pier you are half way to town if you want to walk in. In pre covid times the shuttles were free and came up to the ship. You can also buy a Hop-on Hop-off bus ticket from the RSL club once in town which is $45 or $40 concession for a trip of 1hr 20min (total circuit time) which has 9 stops and covers a large area of the neighbourhood. I have never seen shuttles in Tauranga although the last time there I did the Hobbiton tour. Other times I have wandered around the town or walked around Mt Manganui.

There are no cruises from Bris to PI however if you are happy to fly one way then you could look at the following: Diamond Princess (utilising repro cruises) 24th Sept 2024 -- 4 nights Bris - Syd - Melb b2b with 28th Sept 2024 -- 7 nights Mel - PI - KI - Port Lincoln - Adelaide - Melb or 30th Nov 2024 -- 7 nights Melb - PI - Adel - KI - Port Lincoln - Melb b2b with 7th Dec 2024 -- 4 nights Melb - Syd - Bris (this is followed by a Bris to Tassie itin I think) The b2b cruises for 5th Oct and 16th Nov ex Melb return are both NZ 14 nighters. The other ships listed for Philip Island are Silver Nova, Seabourn Odyssey, Regatta and Viking Sky. Not sure what their itineraries are.

Just checking out the Vic Cruise ship schedule and they now have updated the Philip Island schedules for the next 3 seasons (now listed separately as of 17th April) and just about all have departure times of 23.00 hrs with a couple even 23.59pm.

What pictures. We stayed in three different cabins over the course of the summer and all pictures had been removed so that they could install wall mounted tvs. The cabins looked rather sterile without some colour. As for those chairs in Explorers. I saw one older lady who was not very slim or agile get stuck and it took 3 men to haul her out of a chair. We always tried to get one of those chairs which have a handle on the back because they are slightly higher and firmer, however if you end up sitting on one of the lower ones then your chin rests on the table. It was like sitting on a cushion on the floor. Same for the couches, absolutely terrible to get up from. Why why why are they like that. Suitable for hobbits only. As for the chairs in Vista, I don't think I saw one that didn't have the vinyl peeling off it. They looked awful. Still I've booked her again. We don't have many options out of Melbourne.

The following is one of the sites that I found when I was researching it. They also seem to have the problem of non-refundable deposits in the US. Not happening here yet. I hope that Princess changes this policy because it is definitely not very popular and I can't see what benefit it gives them. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2924089-new-all-guarantee-cabins-non-refundable/

If the ship does a penguin parade then the departure will be whenever they can get the passengers back on board. I think we departed around 11.00 to 11.30pm last month. It doesn't take as long to get to Port Lincoln or whichever is the next port because you are already in Westernport Bay and do not have to waste the 3.5 hours it takes to get from Station Pier to the Heads going at a snail pace. Only the tour participants for the penguin parade will be ashore at that late time. The tenders will already be stowed and a launch used I believe. Something similar to the dolphin feeding at Morton Bay when the selected group of participants go ashore late and come back late.

Uh Oh I have E728 booked for October and E724 for January. These cabins toward the back are the only covered minis. Guess this could happen even to a new ship. I am sure it will get fixed. As for going to P&O. A P&O consultant I was talking to in 2019 - pre covid was talking about the Grand moving over to them to replace Eden/Aria/Pearl. 3 ships don't give them much flexibility for itineraries so maybe it may still happen.

Well I thought the same thing, however we did one 3 weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised. Must admit the last time I was there was around 55 years ago! I got the tender and then there was a free shuttle from Rhyll into Cowes, about a 20 minute drive. All very organised. I just wandered up and down the main street and then along the beach/promenade. People very friendly and a good selection of shops and cafes. Son said Ugh and stayed onboard. Overseas guests were excited to go to the penguin parade although there was some very cold people who had to wait on the pier for the last launch back to the ship. There were plenty of ship excursions organised. Would be happy to go again.

Last December Princess sneakily changed the booking process to be that all lead-in categories eg ME, BF etc were to be only guarantee and if you wanted to select a cabin you had to pay the extra charge/upgrade eg MD, BE etc. I found this out when I was booking Diamond Princess last week. I complained to my PP and explained that the only mini-suites on Diamond that were fully covered were the MEs on Emerald deck. I did not want to go guarantee and run the risk of being given a ME on Dolphin or even an upgrade on Dolphin. I wasn't asking for an upgrade or anything special but just to have a cabin on Emerald deck. He said to leave it to him and asked if I had a preference for a particular cabin so I just gave him E710 on Emerald. He eventually called back and said he had been able to get that cabin allotted to me "because I am a good elite client !!!!!" I don't believe him for a moment, bit of blarney, but I was allocated the cabin I requested. Not sure how hard he had to argue with his superiors or not but I was allocated that cabin for all 3 bookings I made. Two were b2b which was another reason we wanted to select our cabin. Whether the cabin is ok I have no idea since I have not been on Diamond before. At least it is covered. I asked for E710 hoping it will not get too much noise from Fusion below. Prefer E728 but on Grand it was terribly noisy when they decided to turn up the volume late at night in the Vista lounge. Try calling Princess to get a specific cabin. Nothing to lose. I too noticed that the ME minis disappeared from the booking system or were sold out and I just thought it was a computer gremlin until I found a CC chat site, mainly US people who were complaining about this change in booking process, plus a few other changes. I am rapidly falling out of love with Princess. Still angry about the lack of coffee cards and a few other changes. This is just another stab in the back to those of us who like to do things online or at least see what is available. Good luck.

We got off Grand Princess last week and had D735 which is an aft balcony cabin. The door to D733 is on the side of the cabin (not facing the main hallway) but opposite D735 and the Vista suite doors. I didn't poke my head in to have a look but maybe I should have!! The door was around half way along the cabin wall.

I read somewhere recently that these 2 cabins were supposed to be "Accessible" cabins but there was some problem with wheelchair access and so they are set up differently to ordinary mini-suites. I believe the occupants pushed the beds together but it made the cabin layout awkward to navigate around. Try googling the cabin numbers to see any reviews on Grand class ships.

I am booked on the Grand ex Melb from 23rd Oct for SA and then Nth Qld cruises. Gather you are getting on in Adelaide. Enjoy Qld.

We did b2b also and passed the transit test. I took pkt of 5 tests with me and after feeling exhausted and out of sorts at Port Lincoln started testing myself but all came back negative until day after we got home. I was suspicious because drinks started to have a metalic taste and I started to cough at night. Agree that weather was pretty rotten after a beautiful day in Adelaide. Most of the last day was like being in a fog for all we could see. As they say a bad day at sea is better than a good day on land. Am now having to cook my own meals and make my own bed. At least when I was in isolation last November I was looked after although I was climbing the cabin walls toward the end.

It is in USD. I have a booking and if I try to add the bar tab it comes up in AUD, around $465 I think. I am waiting to see if they have a special whereby they give you an extra $100 and not just $50. My bookings are for December and February so plenty of time. I have got to study the Virgin app now and get my head around it!!!!

I was able to do this for my son and myself. Son had plus package and I had standard. I was talking to my PP one day last December? about some bookings I had and he said the policy of both having the same fare had changed. I then added the plus package worth $50pd at the time onto my son's standard fare. It was in the week before it went up to $65pd. So just call Princess or your pp. It is a great move.

Yep it changed between our 9th Feb cruise and the 8th March cruise on Grand Princess. No information given and as said previously list of coffee prices was missing from counter at International Cafe. I just like a coffee latte in the morning and one in the afternoon. Grand still had not got its coffee pumps in the buffet fixed. Still using the plastic urns. Been like that the entire season. Not good enough. Not that I can drink that so called coffee. The International is best followed by Crooners and last Coffee and Cones. Even then the International machines were out of order some of the time. Princess needs to lift its game here in Aus. I haven't noticed any drop in pricing here in Melbourne and I am feeling a little unloved at the moment. Hasn't helped that I have brought back the dreaded covid virus with me. Positive the day after getting off (coughing for the last few days on board but tests were showing neg then). So on first and last cruise for the season (Nov and Mar) both picked up an unwanted visitor. Six months until I give it another go in Oct. Just saving my money over winter.

Re Mini bars: We had no trouble changing the items to whatever we wanted in March cruises. Just call room service for it now. Feb we had a strange mixture of wine and other drinks due to some items not being available. However between our Feb and our March cruise they changed the ability to convert mini bar to coffee cards. No warning or information. Coffee cards no longer exist and I was advised to buy a soft drink package which would include coffee. Not for me at $40 pd. Also the cost of my coffee from the International Cafe had gone up from $4.50 to $6.00. Not happy Jan. No price list at the Cafe. Everyone seemed to be surprised at the speed of change. On the plus side: Son noticed on the Princess Patter that the drink price allowance on the Plus package had changed from $16 to $22 and I think on the Premier package up to $30. The price of drinks has also gone up. Hopefully some time in the future they will reintroduce a coffee card for those of us who like coffee. Coffee and sodas are not the same!!!!!

Not sure what's going on because they have now pulled the bookings for Melbourne after mid December 2024 for Princess. According to Melb Ports. Diamond goes to Brisbane. Are we not going to have any Princess ships here?

We skipped Fiordlands on Pacific Explorer in January (New Year cruise). They told us it was "operational issues". We were told a month in advance and given $50. Kids were disappointed. Not sure if she got there on her late January cruise.

We are leaving Melbourne tomorrow on Grand Princess bound for Fiji. mmmmm Wonder where we will end up.

I heard this somewhere last week which said it was effective immediate although it says on website that it was posted yesterday. Applies to all Carnival Co ships (P&0, Princess etc) We did Pacific Explorer over New Year and mask wearing was around 50% despite being required - no one policed it and many of the entertainment staff did not wear masks. Our next cruise is next week and it is 13 nights to Fiji so mask wearing here we come!!! MASKS AND PHYSICAL DISTANCING VOYAGES 9 DAYS OR LESS Masks are not required on board during your cruise. However, masks will be required during the entire embarkation and debarkation process in the home port. Additionally, we recommend guests wear masks in public indoor spaces, outdoors when in large congregate events where physical distancing cannot be maintained and on water shuttles. VOYAGES 10 DAYS OR MORE Masks are required in public indoor spaces (unless eating and drinking or in your stateroom), outdoors when in large congregate events where physical distancing cannot be maintained, during the entire embarkation and debarkation process, when on buses or water shuttles (where applicable), and while indoors on any shore excursion.

My son always uses a clip with a pull out string/clip which was given to him by a travel agent years ago. I was in Officeworks today and saw similar clips. Very convenient to use for cards or medallions. I like my lanyards. Just habit. I like my hands free since women don't usually have pockets.