arxcards

Yes, it is likely that the dates didn't fit, especially if they wanted extra days in the graving dock. On a dollar sense, if they can get an extra couple of months between each of their drydocks, they will save a packet. If it is genuinely just for drydock reasons, fair enough, but it also looks like a bit of tweaking of some undersold itineraries being thrown into the mix. It looks like they are canning Dec/Jan Brisbane cruises on Crown for an even shorter season. Yes, an annoyance, but more than a years notice. $200 OBC is also pithy, but even that is generous compo compared to Virgin and others. That is the downside to them putting-out their itineraries so far ahead. Cancelling a Christmas holiday cruise is a mess, but I am sure there will be plenty of cabins available on the Carnivalised P&O ships. Perhaps that is part of their plan 😉

Mostly. Crown's schedule was altered from Sydney to Brisbane to pick-up a handful of Grand's cancelled cruises, but not all. The Brisbane season became a month or so shorter when the Crown itineraries were released (from 21st December 2025 till 18th March 2026).

Hmm. Interesting to push it back from a quieter month to the back of the shoulder season. Currently, the Crown itineraries are unavailable from some time in November (all a bit of a jumble) through till 2nd February, so must be much more than just the drydock.

Congrats on your retirement Lyle. Enjoy those small home base projects and your new boss cracking the whip to get them done 😉

What do you think - 5 years until they turn the trial into an every day process? We have been travelling with pre-filled departure and arrival cards for years, and we just check, sign & date them in transit. A more streamlined path through our international airports, especially for residents, would be an added bonus.

8 Norwegian Ports, but no Stavanger.

Lots of planning happening for our land portion of our UK trip next year. In comparison, how easy is the cruise part!! All we need do is pay the balance and work out what we want to do in each port. In one of our Midnight Sun Norwegian ports, we want to replicate this photo.

Westminster Bridge Park Plaza was on our shortlist, but the prices for our dates are a bit steep. We have a flexible booking and will keep an eye out for better rates.

I would put MDR at 80% of Crown Grill at its best, but that is only when the grill waiters have time to serve you properly. Even then, I have often requested an MDR crème Brule for dessert while in Crown Grill. Since they did away with their tasting plate, it is all a bit plain after enjoying the beef overload of the main course. But yes, unlike P&O, we could happily dine MDR every night on Princess.

If you do standard now: Alfredo's/GiGi's has a cover charge of $23pp. So does Salty Dog for those ships coming with it aboard, but these mostly had a cover charge anyway. - Ocean Now delivery is a one-off $23 charge for all things ordered via the app. You can do it one charge per cabin if you only use a single account to do all of the ordering. - Doorknob breakfast menu is still N/C and not connected to Ocean now. - Other room service (in cabin menu) is $7.50 per delivery You will pay $65 less per day though, so that is a fair saving on two sittings at Alfredo's and $23 per cruise for your delivery. As long as your coffee, water, sangria, internet balances out, standard is still the way to go for many. The main benefit to plus is still as a drink package, regardless of how they cloud the package with all these other bits. PS: ships with Alfredo's/GiGi's pizzeria also have N/C pizza by the slice on the pool deck. You can order just individual courses at Alfredo's for an ala carte price instead of the 3 course $23 option. I don't have prices on me.

We have done a couple of short cruises on premier. Those desserts were unlimited last year too, but we have yet to bother with one of those diabetic laced concoctions. Everyone is different, but we saw the value in a couple of nights of specialty dining coupled with top shelf liquor, a session with a good ship photographer and a chance of winning something on Princess prizes. The prizes disappeared late last year (without any announcement), and the specialty dining isn't as special when the restaurant is jam packed, and your waiter is run off their feet. I think am happy to stick to plus, where I could still get gorged on two of those desserts each day but choose not to. Specialty dining is hardly special if it is daily dining.

I believe the current US Pricing is $25 per day, or $12.50 for Captain's Circle elite. AU pricing is $38 per day, or $19 for Captain's Circle elite.

How cool would a premier loot, pillage & burn + drinks package be!!

It won't, unless you upgrade to the $100pp version.

They deliver better than most on their packages, but for those without a package there are a few detractions. One is the specialty restaurants being full-on busy and lacking the ambience that used to be part of the attraction. Making Alfredo's a paid venue all happened a year ago, and Salty Dog already attracted a charge on most ships. Also adding a delivery fee for medallion delivery also added a one-off fee, but that allows for room service of just about everything for the length of the cruise.

Watch out for this upcoming comedy duo in the Sit Down Comedy club on P&O. Likely to be school hol comedy cruises only. Did anyone see their July debut? P&O comedy cruises: How Sharon Stone led seven-year-old Laddie to stand-up comedy - 9Travel (nine.com.au)

Virgin Voyages: Charting the future of customer service with GenAI (slalom.com)

Casual dining meals are for Salty Dog, Alfredo's and the like. These were inclusive to everyone, but last August they changed them to a cover charge - I think $19.90pp rings a bell. - For plus, they include 2 per cruise. - For premier, you can eat there every day for N/C, the way it used to be for everyone. Specialty are the typical top dining and are now upward of $60pp - Crown Grill, Sabatini's etc. - Inclusive for suites on night one - Inclusive for premier, currently two per cruise, becoming unlimited with the $5 price rise on 1st September.

The definition (by sea) is within 24hrs of departure from your final port before NZ. On that basis, if I were cruising from Sydney to Auckland tomorrow evening, I could complete the NZTD at home tonight.

Just over a year since the last package tweak that created old & new plus/premier packages, Princess is making changes to their premier package again. The news was out a few days ago, so maybe this isn't creating the stir that Princess is hoping for. Among the package tweaks, the 15 drinks becomes unlimited, and the 2 x specialty restaurants per cruise is becoming unlimited. The internet is also supposed to be faster. The Aussie price will jumps by $5 to $100. On the shorter Aussie cruises, it has already become near to impossible to get a table at Crown Grill since Premier was launched. Now that it becomes the gluttony package, 7 to 10 nighters are likely to have capacity tested. As for those on the short relocation or Eden cruises, specialty restaurants will be sold out before you board. Imagine 110 nights of consecutive dining at Sabatini's and Crown Grill - those fitness classes might come in handy after all. As for ambience, I think we will give them a miss and revert to Ultimate Balcony dining for special occasions. Although the package has been dumbed down over the years and getting more expensive by the year, is not much more than 2 x specialty meals and it comes with a personal touch. No FOMO from me on this one. If I already had a premier package, I would be unlikely to even pay the $5 per day to upgrade to the extra extras. The Princess systems currently have dead pages all over the place and aren't currently showing an Aussie premier option during the booking process. There is a standalone Aussie link that is showing this - note, for bookings after 31st August.

Daily bump:

I know she is scheduled to return to Sydney on a US based world cruise on 18th February 2026, but today feels like a Sydney farewell for Coral Princess. We are really glad she got to spend a couple of years here, and we thoroughly enjoyed our Coral Princess cruises.

I would say the head waiter would be pretty spot-on. We had similar on Explorer of the Seas a few years back, but not for as long or quite as severe. In cabin at the time, the weird part was watching our coffee cups sliding across the table and seeing a deck chair go flying past our balcony. You must have copped quite a gust, and it seems to have taken them somewhat by surprise - a bit like turbulence to a plane. Washing will be a chore, have fun, but I just love the feeling of our own bed following a long trip.

As the WC didn't end up leaving from Brisbane because of the itinerary changes, I guess that is the lap completed. I gather there are still quite a few aboard till Brisbane.

Keep adding to it, and it will be near enough. Personally, I hate pinned forum topics, as topics that are personally irrelevant are just clutter. Some of the cruise line forums have several pinned topics and are a mess to scroll past every time you are looking for something specific.