arxcards

The Sun class ships were 4 in number. Three have spent time here, with 1 remaining: Sun Princess Dawn Princess (now Pacific Explorer) Sea Princess/ P&O UK Adonia Ocean Princess/ P&O UK Oceana

Yes, and yes. In the end, she was built for Panama Canal, and we were lucky to have her at all. We do have her fulltime from June 2022 till October 2024, and she only really leaves for a period in 2023 & 2024 to complete a couple of Aussie based world cruises. For those anxious to board for either or both of the world cruises, she will be the perfect ship for that too. Had we been able to a longer cruise she could well be our favourite, but she goes pretty close already.

Indeed. Bonkers it is, and Princess has been the same where suites and club-class minis sell out fast too. I guess at their end, they only have to do anything should there be an empty cabin or a late cancellation, and best bid is on file ready to go. It is really clumsy to have 100's of passengers making an effort to complete a bid for what might not be available though, and I am sure they are creating a log detailing what bids are seen as worthwhile from bidding passengers. And like the airlines, the odds of a complimentary upgrade to balcony or above has gone out the window.

If being used as general advice, most of our ships are small enough to dock in Cairns. There are exceptions which are too large and have to tender to Yorkeys Knob. For upcoming schedules, Majestic & Royal Princess', Ovation & Quantum of the Seas, Celebrity Edge & QM2 all require tendering.

Good luck to everyone with their current & future bids. P&O Upgrade Me | P&O Cruises Australia (pocruises.com.au)

They won't come online until after final payment. These appear to be a lot like Princess, where you can bid on any cabin type above what you have booked, available for bidding whether or not there are any of those cabins available to be won.

Bluetooth tethering to share a wifi signal might be possible, but you would need to be pretty much sitting at the same table.

Oh well Bob, go with the FB answer then.

Pretty much covered, and for a cost saving - the answer is a resolute no. Setting up your phone as a wi-fi hot spot only works when you are connected to a cellular network. When you connect to a cellular network at sea, it is via satellite roaming, not the ships wi-fi network. My understanding is that when you go to flight mode, you disconnect from all cellular networks and no longer have a personal hotspot to share. Option one, to save money. Disconnect your phone then connect the ipad, and vice versa - taking turns to share a connection. Option two, buy a second connection.

I was out a bit on my previous response, as I have been doing a bit of light reading since. There is a difference between the interpretation of the CVSSA law as responded to Pete Stefanovic, and the way the cruise industry interprets it. The legislation was intended toward an automated system, but has a minimum requirement of image capturing of anything/one that goes overboard. Cruise ships in the US meet that requirement and abide by the law.

Edna loved to perform for the Queen, and I hope she hasn't departed so soon to avoid RSVP'ing for the coronation next week. I was first exposed to Edna more than 50 years ago, through some first rate Aussie cinema.

Now that Coral is relocating to the US in late 2024, I just see it as unlikely that they will do a single cruise back to Freo. I don't know that for sure, but that is my gut feel. It is just a matter of time until they fill the gap in her schedule, but I reckon that relocation cruise would have already been available if it was to be Fremantle to LA. Typically, there is a delay in announcing something when they have to "un-announce" something first. I think it is unlikely she will sail empty across the Pacific. Carnival social media people announced Spirit was going to be based in the US days before they bothered to tell the passengers who already had bookings from Brisbane, so they should remain tight lipped about future plans until any affected current bookings have been advised. Whichever way, it will be sorted soon (days, weeks), well before you will be able to book your flights. I hope it works out in your favour.

Usually, not always. I won't comment further, as my previous on-topic post has been removed.

Sad. In my place of work, that is a definite safety issue. I have seen this so many times on ships, but never saw it as an issue.

Good point. I will have to suss that out - one of the fun parts that is only slightly better than standing in line in an airport. At least there is no St Petersburg to contend with.

What do you reckon @Chiliburn Have they switched to Solvol, or are they still using L'Occitane?

My T/A tells me it is being pretty well booked, and lots of international passengers doing sectors. It isn't like they have struggled to fill Coral while coming out of a pandemic. If they travel a few hundred light, it will suit me just fine, but I think it will be all but full.

Royal have chosen not to fit that sort of system, and I gather they are not alone. I think it just means you can sue the cruise line for not detecting you overboard, to a limited degree. Gool old Ambo Chaser of the Seas, and the somewhat linked cruise bashing site. I was surprised at the high % of drunken mishaps, as I wasn't aware they were keeping a body count. Further to the article, the search has since been called-off. Well, that is what I heard on 11am radio news, but I can't fully trust what is being reported.

Col. Mustard, in the library.

The Aussie afterlife for Coral isn't fully announced yet, but the rumours of being sold-off are not correct. So far, the itineraries up to 27th September 2024 when she arrives into her Singapore drydock look to be confirmed. Then drydock till 18th Ocober 24 The next listed cruise is a return to Fremantle on 30th October, which I am not confident whether it will still happen. It is still on sale though. At this stage, there is a gap from 30th October '24 till 17th November '24, where she arrives in LA. So there is a yet to be announced relocation from either Fremantle or Singapore to LA, and there is a risk that it is still under wraps until the Singapore to Fremantle cruise is officially canned (19 nights is a stretch from Freo to LA). November through till May '25, Coral resumes a more familiar itinerary, going back and forth through the Panama Canal between LA and Ft Lauderdale. On 3rd May '25, she arrives in Vancouver, and I would presume an Alaskan season will follow.

But where do the loyal Fred Olsen cruisers go? 😉 Borealis & Bolette are more than double the size of Black Watch, Braemar & Boudicca. When Black Watch was being beached at Alang last year, there was a vocal group of passengers saying Fred Olsen had sold-out on them by switching to large ships.

That is likely the most common, but I disagree. Yes, it is almost impossible to fall if you remain inside the rails. There are two ways of unintentionally going over the side: 1) Rare - someone throws you over. 2) Disregarding safety, usually via drunken misadventure, but also an unsupervised child climbing over a rail. While it might result from stupidity, the fall is still unintentional. Anecdotally, this appears as common as someone jumping and we will only ever know the cause if their investigation is announced publicly.

There is a possibility. Fred Olsen isn't HAL, but they are traditional cruising using the former Amsterdam & Rotterdam ships, so this would be an option for someone still wanting to cruise on old liners. Borealis (former Rotterdam) 2024 World cruise https://www.fredolsencruises.com/cruise/world-cruise-s2402 Bolette (former Amsterdam) 2025 World cruise https://www.fredolsencruises.com/cruise/around-the-world-t2502

A passenger aboard linked two very separate incidents, then does a radio interview with Ben Fordham. Apart from rumour and speculation, the person that fell/jumped hasn't been linked to the medical emergency from earlier in the day.

Yes, there can be some rowdy or certainly less relaxing cruises. For the worst suspect, a short P&O cruise near the end of uni summer holidays would be top of the tree. Still, it is more about the timing and the length of cruise that affects the atmosphere. It is much harder to have a 2 week hens party than it is to have a 3 night version.