Ondine

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.

Yes we were disappointed that Lukes was only open for take away burgers etc and 400 Gradi was take away only. I think they are very short of staff and some of them are trainees. Our cabin stewards didn't seem to have a clue. Our New Year cruise was very very crowded. I believe there were 2400 onboard and I reckon half were children. Lots of problems with the forward lifts which seem to have a mind of their own as to where and when they would stop. On the last day we were supposed to pick up our alcohol from Angelos from 6.00am but there was no one there at that time and some people stood in the queue for nearly 2 hours waiting to get their orders. This was on debarkation day. A total stuff up.

First stop is in Brandon St near Lambton Quay. Right in the middle of shops not far from cable car entrance. They will give you a map when you board the shuttle.

I have done that a couple of times but no success. Just have to wing it if it can't be fixed.

The first B2B in November only had the first leg listed. Caused problems when the complimentary dining for the second leg was used when booking prior to the first leg. Got this finally sorted out on board. The accounts were rolled over into one cruise again causing problems. What they see onboard is not what we see on the medallion app but it is what it is. However unless they can fix it I will just have to rock up with paper work in hand.

I've got a cruise on Grand Princess departing 8th March and it has disappeared from my Medallion App. When I try to add it I get the message that it can't find the cruise. Been like this for about 6 weeks. Was there at one stage. It still appears on my profile on the computer and is fully paid for. I told my PCP about it and he couldn't work it out so forwarded the problem to the Medallion people but so far no solution. Guess I might just have to rock up with paperwork and go in the blue lane. Without the app I can't choose boarding time. Anyone else had this problem? It is the first part of a B2B cruise and the second cruise is there. grrrr

Just got off Explorer - balcony cabin. Power point is behind the TV and also 4 USB ports. Hard to get at so if you are going to use hair tongs or something similar it will be on wrong side of room to mirror. Inconvenient. Also Lukes and Gradi were take away only on our cruise. No speciality dining. Think they are short of staff.

I used to take fruit and nuts when they were there at dinner time to bring back the next morning to add to my cereal. Had trouble getting granola or museli so would add them to whatever cereal was available. I couldn't fathom out why they were not there at breakfast time like when I sailed on the Golden. Even pepitas were only there in the evening. I am lactose intolerant so steer clear of the yoghurt museli combinations.

Is there a charge for children (what age) on the shuttles? Was there in November but can't remember. Family are leaving on Friday and grandchildren will be with us.

It seems that NZ authorities are being super strict. Queen Elizabeth has been prevented from going into Milford Sound because of a dirty hull and I have received an email from P&O this afternoon to say that we wont be able to go into Milford Sound either on our NY cruise on Pacific Explorer due to the hull needing cleaning. We are offered $50 OBC pp. Not just Coral.

Is this why we were unable to walk around the aft promenade during our NZ/Qld cruise on Grand? We were able to do it for the first few days and then after that it was always roped off. Wondered what was going on.

Looks like Grand has learned a lot from the first voyage on 4th Nov. I would think that NZ would require the testing. We were allowed off without testing in November but it is now a different ball game. We missed Newcastle on the subsequent voyage due to the high number of cases on board by then. It is good to see that Grand Princess is finally getting its protocols sorted out. Debarkation from the Qld trip on Dec 1st was over an hour ahead of time after the fiasco when she returned from first NZ trip on 17th Nov.

I wish they had given us something like this on the Grand Princess. Information was hard to come by and some of it was passed along by the next door neighbours when out on the balcony. I was positive about 7 days into the 13 night NZ cruise and the Grand seemed to be unprepared at first. After a day or two they got their act together regarding food but there was no information given to me regarding phone numbers or what I was entitled to. First morning I asked for hot water to make a cup of tea and in the afternoon they called to see if I wanted more. Problem was it had never arrived in the first place so I said any water would be nice. Finally got 2 large bottles at 11.30pm. Lucky I had son on board in a separate cabin and he was able to bring me food and coffee until they got themselves organised. I think the size of the outbreak took them by surprise. Whenever I asked a question the Medical centre referred me to Guest Services who promptly referred me back to the Medical centre. However we were treated differently to Coral in that I was on B2B and my isolation spanned both cruises. Started isolation on day 7 of NZ cruise and tested negative on day 3 of Qld cruise. When we arrived back in Melbourne after NZ we were allowed to remain on board in isolation and continue with the QLD part of the voyage. They finally organised with the authorities that we could put our incoming passenger cards into plastic bags (3 times) and these were given to port authorities and so we were onboard but still the ship got a zero passenger count. All B2Bers had to complete testing on the morning of docking in Melb. There was chaos getting the positives off. It took till 3.30pm to clear the ship for incoming passengers. B2Bers were not allowed to stay in the terminal but had to debark the ship and return at 4.00pm. Some were not happy having to wander around Port Melbourne for 6 hours. Oh well it was an interesting 27 days. Not sure how I feel about it but at least I did not suffer much. Just had a hacking cough but no headaches or temperatures. Guess I may be immune for the next voyage in 2 weeks.

We just did the train trip on Grand Princess last month (8th Nov I think). I believe we were the first to do this post covid shut down. They have cobbled together what carriages they could manage in a hurry, some better than others and it was organised at the last minute with Princess. It cost us AUD$299.95 each through the ship. We were bussed to Dunedin and then the trip went as far as Hinden and back then bussed back to the ship. The volunteers running the train were ecstatic that were there again. This time there was no wine served on board, just the lunch pack. Coffee and drinks were available in the buffet car at a reasonable price. We had a great day. I have previously done the full trip some years ago but my son hadn't and wanted to go. I was not disappointed. Pity that the station is covered in plastic but they were close to shutting everything down so it is good to see some life again.

Coral is no longer scheduled for Melbourne tomorrow 4th due to heavy seas etc. She is now coming on Sunday according to Melbourne Ports.

Sorry it is to the left of Adventure then. I misread the post.

For our check in on Friday Princess is telling us to bring a mask to wear in the cruise terminal because it is required. However that mandate in Victoria was dropped about 4 weeks ago so not sure who "requires it". Only mentions the terminal and not on board.

They didn't restore it as a working pier. It is now an arts precinct and the gate house is a museum. 360 metres of piles were just left and capped in white. Just a touristy place. Pity. You can just make it out in the photo above to the left of Encounter. If you enlarge it you can see the gatehouse.

Unfortunately you can only fit one large and one small ship either side at the moment. East side of Station pier is total 443 metres and west side is 495 metres. Pacific Encounter is 290 metres as is Carnival Splendor so total of 580 metres. Pacific Explorer is 266 metres so even with her it would be too short. Maybe we need to resurrect Princes Pier.