arxcards

Has been speculation on this thread for some time and confirmed yesterday as well.

I don't mean to seem a cruise itinerary should have any priority over the widespread power loss in Townsville. In keeping with this topic, altering the order of ports is another option that cruise lines do have. For those saying to cruise south in the summer, the cyclone didn't stir up the seas as much as this forecast. This is what could greet Vasco de Gama (the former Statendam & Pacific Eden) and Azamara Journey who are scheduled to be in this picture early on Friday 2nd Feb.

A game changer - any mega ship that can semi submerge under the harbour bridge can dock anywhere west of the bridge.

It should be Melbourne. The 1st Australian Port no longer applies for immigration, given that [overseas] passengers will have an ETA or visa anyway. Brisbane will just be a port of call. It could be different if NCL were selling variations like Tahiti to Brisbane and Brisbane to Auckland for the following cruise, but at this stage there is no passenger turnover in Brisbane.

Yes, one of the unicorns had a tragic accident on it.

Yes, it is. We have bought similar packages on P&O in the past.

Splendor just after Christmas, I saw one couple plus a couple of individuals being masked. It is very much in the minority, but still an individual choice.

Follow the signage from within the bowels of Wynyard - Exit 2, George Street, Light Rail. I used to hate those old wooden escalators, but they have now made a feature out of them.

Barb's parents had their generators all ready to crank over, and they have plenty of fuel to keep them running for another week if needed. It is the most use they have had since cyclone Yasi.

It is all just personal taste. I personally find the Waterfront menu to be 1/2 stodge, and there was only a couple of dishes I like for each course in Dragon Lady. That in itself is OK, but the menus have changed little since 2015 and I feel restricted to having a pork belly starter just about every time I eat there. Angelo's menu hasn't changed much either, but there are more dishes that suit my palate. As a concept, Dragon Lady feels much more intimate, and that goes a long way to it being popular. Just go with what menu suits you best, but being aware that the menus will repeat if you stay in the one venue. And if you have a few bob spare, Luke Mangan's is still an excellent dinner if you are celebrating an occasion.

Locally for us, that would be true too. You have to ask for help, as it isn't offered like days past. Standing and looking confused scratching your head doesn't work anymore, but we usually see them in circulation. Oh, the days of the real salesperson. The ones that could sell you all the stuff you didn't really need.

Celebrity Edge is heading up the QLD coast, but it looks like they have flipped their schedule and doing Willis Island tomorrow instead of Airlie Beach. The ocean had settled down enough to cruise through, but tendering would have been touch & go.

K-Mart assistants do exist. It isn't like the old days when you had assistants in defined departments, and they are often kept busy restocking shelves. If you see someone moving boxes around or restocking shelves & racks, they are the multi-tasked retail assistant. Aside from the fitting rooms, K-Mart is largely geared as self-serve, but they do have assistants. Finding one when you really need one can be a challenge though.

Hi Den, The dining room menus repeat a bit. They consider Dragon Lady & Angelo's as part of the dining room loop, and if given the opportunity to rotational dine through the 3 venues I would recommend it. Of the three, I would prefer Angelo's anyway, as it feels more like a contemporary dining room and a good range of dishes on the menu.

The restricted flow of passengers in and out of tenders doesn't happen on the ship, but in our ports. Even with multiple tender access points on the ship, they are relying on calm conditions and the facilities at the jetty at the island/port. It will always take less time to get 1000 passengers ashore than it will to get 2000 passengers ashore. A lack of tender tickets can just mean a lack of passengers going ashore. Then there is the big ship that has to tender in places like Cairns or Port Vila while the small and middle sized ships can dock. Our upcoming cruise on Diamond Princess is a case in point, which will dock in Cairns. The same itinerary on Royal Princess, Celebrity Edge or Ovation requires a tender to Yorkeys Knob and a bus into Cairns. Also, the difference in places like Noumea between berthing at the main dock or getting bussed around from an industrial dock. A pic of QUANTUM passengers waiting 2hrs for a tender back to the ship this past November. with no shelter or amenities Thankfully, we will be docked for Diamond Princess next February. The story of what some of those in the queue thought about their day tendering at the knob: Big Ship dilemma as 4000 face queues to board in Cairns - Cruise Passenger

There is no irony. Booking direct doesn't cut out a middle man. You can book direct with Qantas and pay the same price via a T/A. The local sales office for NCL employs staff to handle sales enquiries and manage bookings, pretty much the same as a travel agent would. The commission they are not paying to a 3rd party is paying for staff in their local office. Also, if NCL were selling cheaper to a retail customer than the suggested price, they are undercutting the travel agent network and I think there would be an anti-competitive practice in play. Same with other cruise lines, accommodation, flights and other things in life. You are buying direct as a retail customer. If you booked the NCL cruise with a local T/A, it would have been no more expensive than booking direct.

You will not have any crowds. Likely the most crowded spot will be on the platform at the airport ready to alight the train, but there are 8 cars/16 doors on each train and it really is easy to access them. The trains are "double decker" with most seats accessed by a small flight of stairs up or down, but there is room at the end of each car for those with luggage & prams etc. If you are lucky, there will be a cruise ship at the passenger terminal as you pass Circular Quay station - an awesome view. If you want to get off there, it is a doable walk up Pitt St. It is an easier walk to/from from Wynyard station. Take the George St exit out of the station, and you only have not much more than 100 metres to walk down Hunter Street, then just around the corner into Pitt St. You have chosen a good location with the Tank Stream. The CBD will definitely be quiet on a Saturday morning. At 7am on a weekday, it isn't going to be very busy either. Vehicle & foot traffic will start to ramp up a bit before 8.

The US price shown does not include taxes and port charges. Does your $4000 fare include pre-payment of daily gratuities? The US price wont. If you pay via an overseas agent, you will also lose a couple of % in converting $AU to $US and hoping the Aussie dollar doesn't fall before final payment. That accounts for some of the difference, but we do tend to pay a bit more here across the board for most cruises. Lots of people book via the US, but just make sure you are comparing apples with apples first.

I think that post-covid the office staff were overwhelmed by constant itinerary changes, credits & rebooks for those unable to cruise with covid. They were also short staffed, and having their own issues with "close contact" isolations. I just think that someone requesting OBC for a few months away would have been "triaged" as a low priority in favour of other tasks that needed to be done ASAP. To them, they only needed to process in time for sailing date. Just to confirm, my latest OBC request submitted to the Princess address for Coral next month was completed same day.

Oi, Oi, Oi

I agree. You don't need to frequent the whole ship, and Royal has driven this somewhat by their "neighbourhoods" description. I don't have a need to drink at every bar, just the ones I like. Even then, if something is on that everyone wants to do at the same time, there will be a crowd. The bigger the ship, the bigger the crowd. Tendering is a prime example, and it is much easier for them to get 2500 passengers ashore than it is to get 4000 ashore. Our experience on Coral was very different though. There was plenty of space at the spots we frequented, except Crooners where one or two free seats at a table were always "taken". Down two floors to Good Spirits, and plenty of room.

I have an anti-tracker, and my work pc has some restrictions on cookies. CC has a long list of data trackers, so I don't want to give them a free reign. I have been continually logged-in for a while - well, several months really. I think I might try a fresh login.

Sad about that, considering the length of the cruise. We did a 3 nighter on Majestic in November and it was a repeat menu, but I thought that was largely due to being a short cruise. Disappointing, as static menus was one of the main reasons we have put a line through P&O for future cruises. Initially I am not as concerned about the lobster or beef welly so much, but with a half world cruise next year it is a bit more alarming that the MDR could have dumbed down menus on a long cruise. They really should spend a few bob more on some better guest entertainers. Then again, I have felt that for P&O and Princess for several years. At least many of the P&O comedians are funny. Thanks for your review. There are some great insights for our next Coral shortie in 5 weeks. I won't be packing a blow-up mattress, due to a risk of Barb making me sleep on it.

There was a mention of a rug a few posts earlier, and I initially read it as toupees. 😂

It is a question on the declaration part of your arrival card. If you ticked yes, you would be asked about it by a BF officer.