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In January which is high season the cruise ships normally anchor in Patong Bay on the West coast and tender passengers ashore. The tender will drop passengers at the southern end of Patong Beach which is close to shops, bars and restaurants. In low season (monsoon) the ships berth near Phuket town on the East coast in an area with very little appeal. You would have to make your own arrangements for transport to Phuket town or to the western beaches. The cruise line may provide a shuttle.

I have just booked Diamond Princess round trip from Singapore for February 2024. I took the Plus fare which included the current 3 for free promotion but gratuities were never included. When I inquired I was told it was because the ship did not leave or return from Australia and all onboard costs were in USD. I am aware that I have the option of removing the daily gratuities on board if I choose to do so.

Princess were $35 AUD return for shuttles in both cities.

There does not appear to be a Diamond Lounge on Spectrum. Was the lounge area adjacent to the Solarium exclusively for Diamond passengers? Were your Diamond perks (ie: 5 free drink vouchers) honoured throughout the ship? I have also had many enjoyable cruises out of Singapore with people of all nationalities but the setup on Spectrum seems to be heavily geared for the local Asian market.

We are looking at Asian itineraries on Spectrum of the Seas from Singapore early 2024. We like the itineraries but have been put off by the avalanche of negative reviews that this ship has attracted. The ship stays in Asia and mostly cruises from Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo which naturally attracts a high percentage of Asians. It was the first ship back cruising in Asia after the pandemic and started with four nite cruises to nowhere exclusively for Singaporeans. We are Diamond on RCCL and have done many cruises from overseas ports including Asia. My concern is that Spectrum is a Quantum class ship but the deck plan is vastly different from Ovation OS and Quantum OS which many Australians would be familiar with. The ship is relatively new but the layout seems to be designed exclusively for the Asian market. Common complaints include long ques at every food venue whether booked or not and favourable treatment for Gold and Silver class suite guests who have their own dining room and bar. Not sure where Diamond class and it's perks fits in to this system. Apparently theatre seats need to be reserved as do gym sessions and many other on board activities. Apparently most of these slots are full from embarkation. I am now a bit concerned about having to spend an entire cruise surrounded by bad mannered people talking over the music, stampeding at the buffet, coughing all over me and spitting on the floor as well as smoking everywhere they shouldn't be. Has anyone had previous experience cruising on Spectrum in Asia?

We were on Coral Princess to NZ in December and the above rules applied. The guy at the desk usually had bottles or cartons of wine that had been confiscated from passengers on port stops. I am aware of the old rule regarding the $15 corkage fee but I don't believe we had that option. I've paid it before and would have paid it again if I had been allowed.

Just a fortnight ago we requested and received a kettle on Coral Princess from our room attendant. It's the first thing we do when we arrive at the cabin. Not always available on other lines but Princess are pretty good. We take our own coffee and tea and bring down a glass of milk the night before from the buffet which we keep sitting in a separate glass of ice in the cooler. I can't drink the coffee in cruise ship dining rooms.

Coral Princess went in on 9 December which was the cruise before the snail cruise.

Dunedin and Christchurch are both large cities with many attractions depending on where your interests lie. They need not be long days as you can return on a shuttle as early as you like. The port towns of Port Chalmers and Lyttleton are interesting but you could walk around both in an hour. We went in to the cities in the morning and returned after lunch to have a couple of drinks in the quaint old pubs in the port.

On Princess the return shuttle is $35 for both Port Chalmers and Lyttleton. When you get off the ship you pay directly to the bus company before getting on the bus. Credit cards and $NZD cash are the only method of payment. You cannot pre purchase shuttle tickets from the ship.

The second half of the cruise starting today is identical to the original itinerary. You only miss Fiordland and Dunedin in the first half which become sea days. Wouldn't worry me in the slightest given the circumstances.

It was always going to be Christchurch on Christmas Day. Everyone would have known that when they booked the cruise.

The $100 in credit is probably a refund of the port fees for Dunedin which is the only port they will miss. It's not unusual to miss Fiordland. Cruise companies cover the possibility of missed ports very carefully in their fine print. I wonder what everyone is doing today on Christmas Day in Christchurch. With probably nothing open and minimal public transport it's probably not worth getting off the ship. Might as well be just another sea day after 5 sea days from Brisbane.

On Coral Princess we did the RAT test on Day 2 and the result strip had to be inspected by your steward. I assume the results were then passed on and recorded. It did seem to flush out a few new confirmed Covid cases.

We had three different production shows on Coral Princess on our 14 day cruise. The other guest artists were OK but nearly all of them appeared twice albeit with a slightly varied act.

We have just returned from NZ on Coral Princess. All passengers were directed to do a further RAT test (supplied) on Day 3. The result had to be shown to your room attendant and I assume all test results were recorded. Not sure how many positive cases were flushed out but Covid precautions were then increased. The dead giveaway was the small knee high table left outside cabins where people were in quarantine.

We have just returned from Coral Princess to NZ. The morning of departure we photographed the plastic vial showing our negative test alongside our drivers licence. No one would ever want to see the testing stick. On this cruise it was compulsory for everyone to do another RAT test (supplied) on Day 3. You then had to show the test result to your room attendant and the results would have been recorded. Many people objected to the test but it did identify some new positive cases who were then quarantined in their cabin for 5 days or until they returned negative.

Depending on the monsoon season cruise ships either dock in Phuket town on the East coast or tender in to Patong Beach on the West coast. Many people prefer the tender in to Patong Beach which is the main tourist area for shopping, restaurants and tours. In Phuket town you are docked in an industrial area and the town centre is approx 2 kilometres away. You should be able to get a taxi form Phuket town across the island to Patong Beach which is approx 15 kilometres. Please note this advice is based on pre Covid experiences and anything may have changed.

The City Cat situation at Portside is completely different to BICT. Portside has a huge permanent residential population that use the City Cats for public transport day and night seven days a week. There is absolutely no one around BICT except when a ship is in. Whilst I agree that transport needs to be provided for cruise passengers to visit Brisbane I can't see City Cats being diverted from their usual purpose.

Just out of interest can you advise the current times for early and late shows on Princess. (specifically Coral Princess) We like to make our dinner reservations around the shows.

If it's any assistance we stayed at the Best Western Airport which is about two kilometres from the airport. The hotel is quite acceptable with very little facilities but does provide a basic breakfast. Taxis charge the minimum fee from the airport which is about 20 euros. The hotel provides a shuttle to the airport but it was no cheaper than a taxi and was booked out in advance. There is not much to see and do around the hotel but there are a couple of very good restaurants within walking distance. The local bus in to Venice passes right in front of the hotel and tickets are available from reception.

I believe cruise shuttles to Ravenna are also available from one of the large public squares in Venice. (don't know which one) We opted to stay in an airport hotel to be close to our shuttle and used the very convenient and cheap local bus service to venture in to Venice for day trips.

All the reputable tavernas will have a menu on display with all prices clearly marked. It was while looking at each menu that we enquired regarding sun loungers and usually got them free so long as we patronised that taverna. Despite five ships being in Mykonos we did not find this beach overly crowded and the public bus was only a couple of euros. If you got to Platis Gialos and found it too crowded you could always use the water taxi to go to neighbouring beaches.

We were on B2B cruises out of Ravenna in September. I imagine there will be shuttles for as long as RCI continue to cruise out of Ravenna. From memory the shuttle cost approx $25 USD in each direction.

We ate at several tavernas along Platis Gialos beach. Fortunately DK Oyster Bar was not one of them although I vaguely remember seeing it. We found the prices quite reasonable given the high quality seafood and the beachside location.