Aussie Gal
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Posts posted by Aussie Gal
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We were on the Sun Princess two weeks ago and we had two Pub Lunches. The first one was the better of the two as it had a meat pie which looked delicious. We had the Ploughman's lunch that day but best of all was the bread and butter pudding which was yummy. The second Pub Lunch wasn't quite so good though the Shepherd's Pie was great. They tried to tell us we were eating Roly Poly pudding for dessert but unfortunately, it was just 2 jam rolls with a bit of custard, not quite what we expected.
Afternoon tea was also offered on sea days. We went to one but it wasn't like the afternoon teas we are used to when we have it in an hotel so we were disappointed.
Jennie
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We always take a taxi as we find we are then dropped right at our hotel. We usually have the luggage for the cruise and that certainly is too hard to move around easily and we always arrive a day or so early for the cruise.
Jennie
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14 minutes ago, steelers36 said:
It was most probably refundable OBC. You might have told them you would consider it if still could dine in Club Class. ;-)
Just kidding as I read the note about claustrophobic.
I even had trouble with an Ocean View back in 1999. Since then we have always had a balcony. Also, we book at least 18 months or more in advance to get the cabin we want plus we love sitting on our balcony either reading or just watching the ocean. We just couldn't give up that for what Princess is willing to give.
Jennie
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Our cruise is on the 26th September and today I received first of all a text message and since then over a period of 3 hours, 5 emails with an offer to go from a large mini suite (Sun Princess and Club Class) to an interior cabin. We would get the whole of our fare back in OBC -a lot to spend in 19 days unless I use the Casino as some sort of bank to get the money back - plus an 8 night free cruise and $100AUD EZ air offer.
We will not be taking up the offer as I am claustrophobic for one thing and secondly we love our aft balcony and Club Class. This cruise is leaving from overseas so I presume that is why we are not being asked to cancel the cruise as we all have our airfares in place.
Funny that this morning I was reading the above posts and thinking how much it has changed as twice we have been offered an upsell to go from a mini to a full suite and of course we took both offers.
Jennie
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8 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:
Yes it is a small world.
Ha! We lived on Minerva Ct in Mt. Waverley.
Monash Primary......
8 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:Yes it is a small world.
Ha! We lived on Minerva Ct in Mt. Waverley.
Monash Primary......
You lived off Springvale Road, near Brandon Park shopping centre. We are off Blackburn Road, near the Mt. Waverley railway station. A distance of about 6.7km or 4 miles apart. Not far at all! You wouldn't recognise the area now!
Jennie
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3 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:
I have given up trying to get them early because they change on a whim.
Bon Voyage. 😎
By the way I went to school at Monash in the early 70's.
Cola Cruiser, thanks for your good wishes. We live in Mount Waverley which comes under Monash Council and we are not far from Monash University. Small world isn't it!!
Jennie
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10 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:
Since staff change I would make the invitations blank as far as the name and when you board the embarkation day Patter will list them all on the front page.
Thanks Cola. I didn't even think to look at the Patter. Will do exactly as you suggest.
Jennie
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We will be on the Sun Princess in 2 weeks time. Normally we receive an email with the Captain's name etc. but this time we haven't received it. I am organizing the Roll Call get together and would like to find out his name as well as the Cruise Director's name so that I can give them an invite. Is there a phone number or a list where I can find out who we will have on board. I have sent an email to our Roll Call rep but she couldn't help.
Jennie
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On 1/3/2018 at 8:19 AM, Astro Flyer said:
Here’s the most recent information that I could find by searching this forum about Meet & Greet contacts by ship.
I have set a get together for our Roll Call for next month on the Sun Princess and my contact has been Coleen Reyes and her email is: <creyes@princesscruises.com
Even though our cruise is not until September, I got in touch with Coleen in July and she organized it almost immediately. We are having it on our first sea day which is the day after embarkation and it is in the morning between 10-11am.
Jennie
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Paige,
So glad I found your blog though of course I read your F.B. entries every day. How is the ship and are the improvements a "wow' factor. We will be on her next year so I hope she is in good repair.
Jennie
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On 8/16/2019 at 8:17 PM, Ombud said:
Correction Made August 2019:
Princess Contact List
Sapphire, Grand: Jenny Streeck (661) 284-4444
Streeck@princesscruises.comRegal & Coral: Berna Grayr (661) 284-4448
bgrayr@princesscruises.comRuby Princess contact Craig Blish 661-284-4417
Royal: Darlene Howell (661) 284-4455 dhowell@princesscruises.com
Sun: Stacey Anderson (661) 284-4333
sanderson@princesscruises.comRegal & Diamond: Lawrence Andrada (661) 284 4445
landrada@princesscruises.comEmerald, Island & Majestic: Rosanne Pennucci (661) 284 4443
rpennucci@princesscruises.comCrown & Star: Jodi Rudolph (661) 284 4450
jrudolph@princesscruises.comGolden, Pacific: Jan James (661) 284-4452
jjames@princesscruises.comCaribbean & Sea: Coleen Reyes (661) 284-4447
creyes@princesscruises.comDiamond: Diana Hall (661)284-4449
dhall@princesscruises.comI have just organized a Meet and Greet on the Sun Princess for next month and the contact for that ship was Coleen Reyes creyes@princesscruises.com>
Jennie
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The first quote I received from Insure and Go for our September cruise was over $1800.00 for a 19 day cruise that was calling into Vietnam and Bali before coming down our coast.. We had done a cruise earlier this year where the Insurance only cost around $600 so receiving that quote was a huge shock. Luckily I had got it down by $300 but I found out later that if I had gone with RACV then it would have only been $1100 I am so lucky to have found RACV as they are saving us quite a lot. So good bye to Insure and Go. There is another firm which uses the same Provider as Insure and Go and they are called Tick Travel and their Insurance Providers are Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, which Insure and Go also use. Give them a try as I have found them cheaper when doing comparisons.
Jennie
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We like Anytime Dining though after one cruise where we waited 40 minutes each evening for a table, we gave up and went back to Traditional until C.C. was introduced. Since then we have never had to wait for a table. We like that we can have a table for two without any hassle and that we are well looked after by the serving staff. We have had "specials" both for breakfast and for dinner which we normally don't partake of, though earlier this year when we were on the Sun, we were offered lobster for a main course and it definitely wasn't on the normal menu as it wasn't a formal night. We have also had a "special" for dessert.
Of late we have been cruising on the Sun and Sea Princesses and we will be back on the Pacific Princess next year. Those mini suites are large and so different from the other ships that adding Club Class is an extra bonus. We will be on the Grand in 2021 for 38 days in a Mini and that will be a test as I am not so enamoured of not having a covering over our balcony.
We are lucky that we have so many choices when booking a cruise and it is definitely each to their own.
Jennie
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We have used Insure and Go for the past few years and have only claimed once when we missed a port 18 months ago. It was a painless procedure to claim and we were one of the only passengers on board amongst our friends who were able to do this with our insurance. Of course we do take the Cruise option which is most important when on a cruise.
A few weeks ago my DH turned 80 and I went online to do the insurance for our forthcoming cruise. I nearly passed out when the quote came. It was literally hundreds of dollars more than any previous cruise insurance and yet we are only cruising from Asia back to Sydney. I phoned Insure and Go and the lass was able to take $300 off because this year alone, we have used them 4 times for trips with no claims. Talking amongst our friends, we took a look at the RACV Insurance Cover and I have just taken out the cruise insurance for our cruise next January which is so much cheaper when comparing RACV with Insure and Go. Both Insurers will insure those who are over 80 years which is a big deal these days as we are all living longer and are so much fitter than our parents. By the way, my DH does have a history of having a slight heart attack and has a stent. This has never worried Insure and Go. Always make sure you tell the Insurance Company if you have any pre-existing illnesses otherwise if something happens whilst overseas and it is to do with that complaint, you may not be covered.
Jennie
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2 hours ago, crystalspin said:
Hi Jennie:
You are confusing MedallionNet (decent internet) with Ocean Medallion (the thing that takes the place of a room card). As I understand it, MedallionNet is necessary for OM, as a pre-cursor. OM was not promised for the Golden, but MedallionNet was in fact being sold for her next year. We got the e-mail described above with a refund on our credit card almost a month ago.
Thanks for explaining to me the difference of the two. I haven't taken much notice of the Internet package that was being offered so you have at least enlightened me on what we can expect in the future. I think our first experience of either of these new additions will be when we are on the Grand in 2021. For the moment anyhow, it is going to be exactly as we have been used to for the past umpteen years.
Jennie
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We received an email this morning stating that it won't now be available for our cruise next February to New Zealand. They mentioned that it will now be late 2020. Not that it affects us, I am quite happy to use the Elite package of free internet and I won't have to worry about where to hang or put the medallion! We will be on the Grand in 2021 and we can enjoy using the Medallion then.
Jennie
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Since Club Class has come in we have always booked a Club Class as we enjoy the anytime dining at the time that suits us which can be a different time every night. We also like that we have the same servers in a special part of the dining room. Other than that as we are Elite, the rest of the extras really doesn't affect us.
We are booked on the Grand Princess for a cruise from Singapore to Southampton in March, 2021 and already all the Club Class Mini's have been sold. As we normally cruise on the Sun Class, we have only had those open balconies once before when on the Emerald when Club Class first appeared, but as the Club Class mini's are in the centre of the ship, we will have 38 days of an open balcony unless we get an upsell to a suite which did happen a few years ago on the Diamond. That is the one drawback of Club Class unfortunately.
My friend who travels on HAL, told me that HAL is now trying to implement a similar class only I think they are calling it Orange.
Jennie
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I totally agree. When in the major cities, a summer frock or summer cotton or linen pants are the go. If it is hot, a natural fibre is always the coolest. My husband always wears chinos or cotton pants when ashore. When in a small town, I would still wear capris and a T.shirt or a short sleeve shirt. Shorts are in my opinion for a seaside town or the beach.
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We too always stay at the Four Seasons in Sydney and the Hilton in Auckland. Both are just so convenient when leaving from Circular Quay in Sydney and of course the Hilton is right on the dock in Auckland.
Jennie
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On 7/28/2019 at 5:49 PM, MicCanberra said:
Melbourne does have the largest Greek population outside of Greece.
So true and being a true Melbournite, I love wearing black, pants, coats, tops etc. It is a sign of sophistication which our city has tons of too boot.
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We too love Hong Kong. We haven't been back since 2013 though we used to go regularly, since 1976, especially when my sister and BIL lived there in Mid Levels.
We are so looking forward to returning in 8 weeks time when we board our Princess ship on its cruise back to Sydney. I have been watching the riots and they do seem to be away from Kowloon so hopefully we won't be troubled by them.
I am expecting repurcussions though as I am sure China will crack down and take over the island. I am amazed that they have left the riots go on for so long.
Jennie
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We did two BtB river cruises a couple of years ago and we noticed that the drinks were flowing freely especially when they had us sitting down to dinner at 7pm and not serving the meal until 7.45-8pm. Many cruisers were having glass after glass of wine. The stairs on those river boats are quite steep and if you are not at all quite so nimble, then you need to really hold on to the bannister. We had someone trip and hurt themselves whilst on board. Am not sure what the outcome was but after our experience on those two boats, we would never return to a river boat. Give me a cruise ship every time.
Jennie
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We always use a limousine company when go out to the airport or when leaving and arriving back to Melbourne by ship.
The firm we use is Southern Cross and here is the link; https://www.vha.com.au/ It is well worth using them. I couldn't think of anything worse than walking our luggage to the light rail which is at least 200 metres from the escalator that brings us down from the ship, especially if the weather is wet, rainy and windy. Then having to walk up Spencer Street and getting on a Skybus. You may save a few dollars but it just isn't worth it, especially when you take into consideration the cost of the cruise, airfares, etc.
Jennie
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On 6/23/2019 at 12:53 AM, BoopTennis said:
thank you. Also need to walk if possible over to Melbourne arena for tennis.
It is such an easy walk to the Tennis Centre from the Quest Apartments. I would walk across Princes Bridge to just before Federation Square and walk along Birrarung Marr straight to the tennis centre. A walk of about 10 minutes. If you prefer to try something different, try a ferry on the Yarra as you are staying very close to the pick up point.
Here is a map to help you.
https://walkingmaps.com.au/walk/160
Jennie
and so it begins....Dec/Jan Circumnavigation of Australia on Regatta
in Oceania Cruises
Posted
Hi am Aussie Gal and CBB were our friends Cynthia and Dave who did the blog.
Hopefully this link will get you to their blog. Just look for Circumference of Australia when you find their blogs.
drdavebradley.blogspot.com
Jennie