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Hope you have a smooth embarkation. As I get on soon after you get off, I would be grateful to know how smooth things are throughout your 3 cruises on the Grand. My friend did 1st Dec one to NZ and 2 days after cruise finished, she unfortunately had covid. Regardless she said she had a wonderful time but I think she wore one of those blue masks, but I prefer to use the KN95 face huggers.

I haven't seen anything like that yet and hope I never do. I am sure that most of us are just happy to be on a cruise where the cooking and cleaning is done for us.

Booking way early when cruises come out helps, as do other things like donating your money to the Casino. Was that considered when you were discussing fares? I remember some time ago, I booked a price I saw from our 'El Cheapo' Thread and I felt it was an OK price. Someone I met on the cruise wanted to have a 'I booked my cabin cheaper than you did' conversation and although I tried to stay out of it, in the end he asked me outright. I paid less than he did.

Oh wow - booked one of those on Adventure. Glad to see there is some privacy. We looked down on those on a previous cruise. However, the extra room on the balcony is not important to me but you seem to have more leg room and I forget if we had footrests.

@Emma Chisit Thank you When I was looking I saw 'Under Onboard Currency' para but I am booked on Royal Princess (AUD currency on board) leaving from Australia and finishing in Japan i.e. not the 3 ships mentioned.

It isn't enough to say it is on the web site, you need to share your link. I looked when @resordanishighlighted the matter and yes, I found a paragraph on the web site and printed it out, but that paragraph is now gone. I will check again later. Thanks but I am starting to feel this is the beginning of things perhaps changing - really hope I am wrong. RCCL used to state on the tax invoice that Aust gratuities were included in the fare. For my latest booking, I did not receive a tax invoice, I had to print out the details that were on the screen confirming the booking and there was nothing about gratuities.

I would be grateful if you or anyone could refer us to where it says the above. I am sure I saw it many times in the past. However, since Princess Plus came out, if you look through FAQ: Onboard Experience - there is no reference to gratuities for Australians being part of their fare price, for an Australian cruise or a cruise leaving from Australia where the currency is AUD.

Where do you catch the shuttle bus as you leave the domestic terminal and would you know how much it costs?

@OzwoodyThanks for your review because there is not much out there about P&O Aust but I really like the Princess and RCCL experience. I have a P&O one booked for next winter, which I will still do, but I think I will give the current sale a miss. P&O UK was fine.

Pre-covid we were booked with Leo Tours (which did not happen of course) but I have seen things that you have to present to Border Control on your first day to Israel and it is better to be on a ship tour because they leave first. Travel Guides was about Israel last night and that was good to see. The Dead Sea just looked like a normal beach so I would rather tour more interesting places. On a previous cruise which included Israel, the ship had to sail past due to shooting - hope we get in this time. Thanks for your comments.

Good to know, thanks. Did you do the Holy Land cruise?

The change I liked the most about Princess was the dining. While I didn't mind traditional dining, they have done away with it and you choose to dine by yourselves or (as we do 'with others') and you are with different people most nights. The food in the dining room and buffet was quite OK, we are not hard to please. I just like the whole experience to be enjoyable i.e. good shows etc. which Princess does well. We really like Radiance and Voyager class ships on RCCL. 5,500 on Odyssey seems large but we will give it a go and shall see if we like it. Enjoy your next cruise.

What was it like on Ovation and back to RCCL - as good as before or better? Are you still issued with a cruise card etc? I thought I saw something about doing something minor on the phone but my RCCL cruise is not until 2024 - too far out to think about it. The Princess changes with the medallion are not that bad.

Just keep watching for balconies to come up on the Princess site. I booked late for a cruise in January and only scored an obstructed window. I kept watching after final payment and balconies came up and I was able to change. Good luck.

Love those 2 classes of ships but slightly favour the Voyager class more. They both have promenade decks - Voyager inside promenade and outside. Hope you are enjoying your cruise.

So sorry you have covid and I hope you recover quickly. Will be on The Grand early next year. We will be wearing our masks and sanitising frequently. I am not too hard to please but looking forward to the rest of your review of The Grand. Hope they have the boarding better organised by the time I get on. Coral in early September was easy after a few months back. No complaints about that cruise and I did like the dining (on Princess) better than pre-covid.

@OzKiwiJJA nice sunny day (for a change) in Melbourne for you today, may-be just a little breezy. The beach road is closed all the way to Mordialloc, I think, for a marathon. It must be busy at the Port Melbourne end. Enjoy.

Yes on FB.

When we received information about debarkation choices, we were able to choose Princess Transfer to Airport. Day or 2 later we received tickets for the bus transfer. The bus stopped at all the terminals required by people on our bus. It was really easy. I have also done the train journey to and from the airport and our choice of taxi to and bus from the port was easier.

We paid $60 AUD last month for a taxi from the airport to the port (not pre-booked). From the port to the airport, the best price was a Princess bus transfer for $20 AUD each. Both modes of transfer were good.

Great, hopefully just a head cold.

Oh No. I wish you both a negative response once the medical team get to you. Please let us know the answer. Really starting to re-think the longer cruises, we might be better with a number of short ones. Covid won't frighten me off, cruising may just have to be different, for a little while longer.

There are some nice photos of P&O Adventure on FB. They have changed the furniture in some of the bars and it is really looking nice. I never drink buffet coffee on any ship. I am also on Adventure next winter but to the barrier reef. I have tended to keep away from Explorer, it is getting old now. The old Grand class ships (which Adventure is) are nice ships.

@NSWP Very sad to hear about your health issues Les. Wishing you the best and look after yourself.

I don't think that price is that bad, remember it is solo. A Northern Explorer on Majestic (a fairly popular cruise) for 15 days is not half that price each in a balcony. However, I want to go after 3 years of nothing and so I am paying it. Don't forget everything is so booked out. Even if you go on Coral for 10 days doing West Australia (Perth to Perth) is $3000 for 10 days each in a balcony. As you would say, go young Les.