cheznandy

Mic, I didn't realise you had that many posts:eek:

Shiona, I see we joined up the same year and have the same amount of posts:p

What is the prize when we get to 3000? I have been a cool cruiser for 8 years haha

Thanks Bizzicruzer, I did read that somewhere.......we are on the Sapphire from Singapore, so not sure what we receive, will have to wait and see. For some reason I remember reading we could choose between wine and dinner, I remember it not being very clear and the Asian cruises were a bit different. I am just happy that Princess gave me this deal after I had booked:)

Bob, I visit everywhere haha! wherever I can get the info I need!! I am spending time on Trip Advisor lately as we are off to Phuket for 2 weeks in September. Hope you and Kay are well.

Chez

xx

Bob, they did advertise it as $400 Shore Excursion OBC, but the fine print said "up to" $400. It depended on the cruise, length and cabin cat. As long as it is showing in your personaliser, otherwise I would suggest getting a print out and taking it with you. I do this all the time now if we have any OBC, our last cruise we had $400 and they were not going to give us any until I showed the print out from the TA.

Chez

xx

Bob, mine is showing up like bizzicruiser's. The future cruise obc shows up as sales promotion and the "shore excursion" obc shows up as obc promotion. It can be used as you would normally use obc......not just for shore excursions. The vouchers I was told would be in cabins as stated above. We booked direct with Princess and our friends booked through an agent and theirs is showing in their personaliser as well. They got fcl obc, credit from their agent and the 123 promotion credit. How long is your cruise? We are doing 11 nights and received $100 each for the 123 plus our fcl obc.

Chez

Xx

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Hey Shiona:) Maybe it is supposed to be the Golden......if the Golden is arriving in Sydney on the 18th Oct, and leaves Honolulu on the 30th Sept, that would be about the right amount of days to cross???

I would be surprised if the Diamond leaves Asia after they have "Japanised" it:p but we can only hope!!

Hi Deb:p

Just booked ours yesterday to Singapore, I have been looking for ages, and we got the days and times we wanted......and direct flight!!

Hope you are well

Chez

xx

Barry, Diamond is sister ship to Sapphire, although now with the changes to Diamond and the Sapphire having IC etc they have a little different facilities. They had Platinum/Elite Happy hour in Skywalkers on the Diamond, so hoping they keep it for the Golden. I remember being docked next to the Golden when in Alaska as I recall seeing Skywalkers perched on the rear, and the walkway to it. Looked to be shady underneath, my hubby would love it!!

We are on the Sapphire for the first time in January, looking forward to my first Alfredo's and IC experience!!

Hey, Col, I am still floating around, mainly on rollcalls.

This cruising thing has changed a bit hey? Since that day in the pub when we were so excited to see the Pacific Dawn sail into Sydney:p

Chez

xx

It will be nice to have a Skywalkers lounge on an Australian based ship. We have been waiting down under for a long time. Barry :)

Have you been on the Diamond Barry? Skywalkers on there, but I agree it will be great to have some extra amenities.

Will be good to have a choice for longer transpacific cruises, either the Diamond to/from Asia or the Golden to from US.

I also noticed the Golden arrives in Sydney 28th Oct 2015 and departs from Sydney as well on the 14th April 2016 I think it was, might be a chance of 2 nighters between Syd/Mel.

Bring it on I reckon:p

Chez

xx

I too welcome Sapphire Princess to Asian waters. We have cruised on the Diamond twice and loved the layout and anytime dining restaurants as compared to the Sea/Sun/Dawn that are based here in Oz.

We have booked on the Sapphire from Singapore in January and will be happy to report back any changes.

I believe the Diamond only does Asia/Oz, not Alaska any more? Correct me if I am wrong. Will the Sapphire go anywhere else for half of the year?

Hi Jill, excited for you too, we were on with Barry for the 6 night crossing to NZ. We loved the ship and would have liked more time to explore and experience. We had a cheap inside cabin, small but we are used to insides. Just wandering around looking at the artwork and beautiful surroundings could take days, we loved an afternoon movie in the show lounge, and found a couple of spas way up on the highest deck, so took our bottle of bubbly up there at sunset, no one else around, think they were all lined up to get dinner at 5pm haha!!!! Oh forgot the afternoon tea, they wheel trolleys around, white gloves and all, love it!! Ooops, David, I forgot you were onboard too, met up at the immigration line.

Chez

Xx

Paver, I think the cruise you are referring to is the one we are booked on and are on the Rollcall.

I contacted Princess as I had booked directly with them when I saw their promotion with free OBC, Specialty dining, wine, etc.......I suggested I should cancel and rebook but they kept my booking/cabin and applied the extras to our booking. No problems and we booked with Princess Australia, if you booked directly with Princess there should be no penalty until about June 2014.

I understand if you booked through an agent and would lose the booking fee which happens with most Aussie agents.

We now have $350 OBC instead of $150 with a few extras, so thankyou Princess:)

Chez

xx

Bob, I am not there yet! But a good perk for those that have enough cruises, I am just happy with that little bit of obc, we dont usually do ships tours, but it might just pay for the ship shuttles to those cities faraway from the ports like Hcmc and KL.

Please post if you or anyone else finds any other info.

Chez

Xx

Bob, obc is determined by cabin category, I did a mock booking for my cruise, inside cabin, $150, plus our fcl $150........but somehow we have $350, I am not complaining. That obc can be spent on anything, I have just confirmed this with another booking agent, although they are advertising it as shore ex $$$$........onboard you get a voucher for wine or dinner, your choice, and a framed photo voucher.

I am sure someone else will get another version of how it works and between us we will get it right haha.

She did say that the obc will show on your confirmation but the vouchers wont.......only internally on their system, might be a long line at the info desk!

Hi guys, I just called them. We are booked on the Sapphire from Singapore January 2015, I was prepared to make a new booking as there is no penalty for us at this time. Was able to keep my booking as it was the same price as the original, now we have $350obc per cabin instead of $150 (fcl) yay! Vouchers for wine, photo and specialty restaurant will be in cabin on boarding, the obc says its for shore tours but if you read the fine print, any left over goes toward your onboard account, so I am assuming can be spent on anything...........two minutes later I had a new confirmation showing the obc, thankyou Princess, that was easy!

Chez

Xx

Princess do not do Anytime dining on the Sea, Sun, Dawn Princess, but it is available on the Diamond Princess when in Australia. We cruised on the Diamond in May this year, Beijing to Vancouver and anytime was available, but loads of Japanese boarded in Tokyo and we were told there were going to be changes to cater to the Japanese, so I would say it us itinerary specific. We are booked on the Sapphire January 2015 from Singapore and have Anytime, so no changes for that part of the Asian market.......I love those ships:)

Norris, just wanted to add that I too have enjoyed reading and looking at your beautiful pictures of Alaska:) Thankyou for taking the time to do it.

Like others that have posted, we are on the Diamond to Alaska in May, starting out in Beijing, so it has been even more special to know it will soon be our turn.......perhaps i can return the favour and post about our trip on our return:p

Chez

xx

Hi all,

I just did a "Lunch/Tour" on the Diamond Princess on February 8th, while having lunch in the Dining room, I asked wait staff if the wine package was available on the ship as we are sailing on the 3rd May. They replied "yes definately, we have the wine package" and told me to just ask the waiters or anyone in the dining room, we will be given a card like the coffee card etc.......

So, yes, as of 8th February, yes to the Diamond Princess.

Chez

xx

We always stay at the Gemini in Randwick, can get rooms from $99 per night on wotif.com, first week to leave car is free and every day after is $7, they have free transfers to Airport and Central. We did this last March for our cruise, as we have four and a half hour drive to the city. All up cost was $130 for one nights accommodation, 10 days car parking, transfers to Central and taxi to ship. Good if you want to overnight before hand.

Chez