Yaya_in_Oz

I've often wondered how they work out who goes where when there are number of ships in port. I doubt it would be to save money on port fees as the alternative to docking at the cruise port seems to be more trouble than its worth. I'm surprised the Captain didn't relay the reason for the last minute change at Darwin. I assume it was last minute as the transport into the City was poorly organised and sounds like it was half the way to Katherine. Thanks for the heads up, if it happened somewhere like Darwin where I've been a number of times I would stay on the ship, if not I'd book a shore excursion to actually see something and minimise wait times.

Thanks again @OzKiwiJJ. Blue skies can be deceptive. I'm following you all on the bridge cam and map 🙂

Thanks. I do have the paperwork but they just give a final price not an itemised list of excursions. The ones I've paid for are listed in my travel summary so I've printed that off too. If Princess are aware of it hopefully it will be sorted out by the time I board. Its more the principle of it. You shouldn't be asked for more money once you've paid in full.

These are plus fares. Standard fares are a lot cheaper and a still showing 7K for a solo balcony, I assume "E" grade which is what I paid 3 weeks ago. All up with cruise, airfare, transfers, a night at the Pullman pre cruise it comes in under 10K solo so I'm more than happy with that and I got $250 OBC. I've just added these details as there maybe people reading the thread and considering it. I certainly won't be mentioning it once on board, 🤐 Having said that, its a great itinerary. Some sea days at the beginning to get over any jet lag then lots of ports. I wouldn't book a cruise because its cheap, eg. I couldn't cope with all those sea days going across to CPT on the first leg, even though it was also a bargain. I've also paid more than I thought was reasonable for a cruise because I really wanted to go to those places.

I was looking to do a European cruise when I saw this so I booked and bought a ticket about 3 weeks ago, so I'll be joining you on a short sojourn from CPT to London. The airfare was the price of a ticket to Europe (in economy of course) but I have to go the long way through Dubai as I want to go on Emirates to maximise my time on an A380 and also they've always given me good service. I appreciate your info @OzKiwiJJ and last night I was printing off my receipts for excursions as I notice they've all gone up about $30 since I paid for them (only 5) and they might want more money. My CC has been debited for my medallion and I'll pack next week. Max 17-18 kg that I can manage and 5 kg in carryon. I'll see you all in about 2 weeks although I don't surface much on sea days. I look forward to sailing across the TOCapricorn, Equator, TOCancer while reading a book or playing games and sitting in the sun on my balcony, then we hit the ports and away we go. I'll be following your blog each day until then.

I'm surprised it hasn't sold out by now but I guess airfares/routes would become limited close to sailing.

Can hardly wait to try the 20 Knots Merlot 😆

Most of the time I have been able to choose my own cabin as I book up to a year in advance but when its closer to sailing like 3 or 4 months I've booked a reserve guarantee cabin a few times. That way I don't end up in an "F" class cabin. They are in the worst places. "E" and above a fine. I've been right at the front, down the back and anywhere in between, upstairs, downstairs, all good. When I choose my own I tend to go for aft, mid aft. I like to feel the boat move a bit.

Thanks so much for all this @yes!yes!yes!. I'll be going on my first P & O cruise in Jan so all this info is really helpful.

I like the last one 😎 I don't know where it is, maybe Sydney?

I'm getting the pop-ups on my laptop. NCL has taken pop-ups to a whole new level. I've never had them coming to me on every single page before. At least I can see the X and can close it. It doesn't seem to happening on my phone where I am logged out atm.

The Netherlands?

What can I say? Pearls before the swine comes to mind 🙄

Correct, I think of it as Mt Sinai but the peaks are close to each other. I only went up a little way, not to the top. Its the Burning Bush or descendent (of Moses fame). Its also a UNESCO world heritage site. Your turn

Not Israel, but right part of the world.

Not Europe.

Not Oceania. The building was actually built around the plant I believe.

Not Europe, Not some random bush either 🤣. Since the pic was taken, they have had to fence it off because people keep taking cuttings home 🙄

No, not China, not Asia.

Yes, I passed it on my self guided city walk about 18 months ago, just before I went in the Chinese Garden 🙂 Next pic

Dunedin, NZ

Great choice. The A380 is the most ergonomically friendly economy class seat in the sky. I try and get on one for long haul flights as much as possible. I fly economy as I'd rather go 4 times in economy than once in business. I have been in PE and business but not at my expense. Last year I went to London on an A350, its also great but smaller so not so many on board which is a blessing in economy, so thats one to watch out for as they phase the A380's out because they cost too much to run. I'm not a fan of the Dreamliner as the seats are just not as comfortable. I hate the Boeing 777, I think I'd rather stand! but I have to suck up 9h on one in a few weeks. I go for an aisle seat a few rows from the toilets so I can get up and wander, stretch and not trip over body parts in the dark. Putting me by the window amounts to false imprisonment but its good if you just want to take a sleeping pill and sleep all the way as I've seen others do. I also wear support socks which helps stop any swelling or cramps. Then I watch movies, make myself a playlist and play games on my phone. And I'm an old lady (69) 😄 but have been doing it all my adult life.

I've been to Japan a number of times on land trips, train trips and ships. In the cities its easy to get around because they have the romanised English written underneath station names so easy to navigate. Whether you have Japanese hosts or not on a ship, the locals will always help. When I've been a bit lost I have had people look things up on their phone, walk me a number of times to the place I wanted to go and once when I really went the wrong way, a couple drove me back to the main station. Japan is one of my favourite places to visit and look forward to going again in Sep on the Diamond. There would also be short clips on the Internet how to use various machines and so on.

The price for the Internet is just a rip off. I thought it was a bit pricey at $10.50 a day but now its almost $20 per day for plat/elite and double that for lower tiers, its taken price gouging to a whole new level. The last time my Internet Usage was monitored at a hotel a few years back, I used 300MB in 9 days. You'd use that much streaming for half an hour. Pricing is unfair and I suspect it has more to do with making the packages look attractive as younger people who have been brought up on it simply can't do without it. Not me, so I'll have to work around it. I'm doing all my research now, booking any tickets I might need. I'll just have to suck it up and watch BBC or CNN for news and catch up on a bit of home news when in port. Same for checking e-mails. The good thing is any texts come through the moment you hit the port. When cruising started up again the cruise to NZ I went on actually cost more for room only than room + package, go figure. Anyway I used to have a coffee in the morning, a cocktail in the arvo and a glass of port or a drinking chocolate before bed. Plus 3 small bottles of water in total. The mini-bar came home. A package is a total waste of money for me and I'm sure others like me. Princess could easily give a few hundred MB of free wifi.

China?