Aus Traveller

We use our ANZ Platinum Visa to pay at least $250 of the travel cost (can be the deposit on the cruise) to qualify for travel insurance. When they say 'international travel' it doesn't have to be the international flight. A cruise ticket is an overseas travel ticket as long as it is an international cruise and not just one (say) from Brisbane to Sydney. I also have the ANZ Rewards card that has no international currency conversion fees.

We use OBC for alcohol on both P&O and Princess. I have heard it said you can't use OBC in the casino, but that also isn't so.

Do you know what the cut-off was for the Captain's lunch on your cruise?

Its quite easy. There is a 'slider' where you can choose how many dollar you want to bid and a diagram that indicates whether it is a weak or strong bid.

We were on one of the very early cruises from the new terminal in June. We didn't discover any teething problems. Actually it was better than because there weren't so many ships operating out of Brisbane and the long-term parking area was nearly empty.

OK. That's good.

If the hull cleaning is to remove marine organisms, it has to be carried out at sea (or in a drydock). They don't want the little critters falling to a harbour floor, then multiplying.

If they had to inspect the legitimate meds every passenger was carrying, there would be an enormous queues. 🙂

We have done that many times but only for charges against the card, not for cash withdrawals. You would have to check if you would be charged for cash withdrawals if the account has a credit balance and what would happen if other debit charges had taken the account into debit (even though you had put money into the account).

Maybe my husband is paranoid, but he will only use an ATM outside a bank and if the bank if open at the time. I had always smiled at his caution until we were on a trip in Turkey. One of our companions tried to draw money out of an ATM one evening and the machine 'ate his card'. Our guide called someone, and next thing a police car arrived and our companion was asked to go to the police station with them while they sorted out the problem with his card. While he waited at the police station drinking coffee and talking to the police, the bank manager came from his home, went into the bank and retrieved the credit card. This was then brought to the police station and our friend then driven to our hotel.

What a pity that you will miss the Sounds. I agree that it wouldn't "improve your experience".

The upgrade won't just be a location upgrade. We have a BD balcony. If I could, I would have bid on a BA balcony (better location), but that option wasn't available. We could bid on a premium balcony, a mini-suite or a suite, with different dollar amounts for each.

I agree with those comments. We take vitamins and supplements in smaller containers. Prescription meds are in foil strips that have the brand name printed on. It is easy to keep these in the original boxes if we want to, but I don't usually bother.

The charge is for the show in the Black Circus show on P&O. There is no charge for the show in the main theatre.

I realise that we will pay what we bid if we 'win' the bid even if we are the only bidder. I had put in an 'odd' figure for the reason you mention. We will wait and see but I don't expect to be successful with my bid because there are no spare cabins. It all depends on a cancellation.

Sorry. I didn't get your email. 🙂 I saw the other person's post soon after they put it on the forum and immediately messaged admin. The only solution was to change the default avatar to a personalized one.

It also depends how many cabins are available in the category you are bidding for. 🙂

Many people have reported that they use the 28 degrees card and they recommend it. I have obtained an ANZ 'rewards Travel Adventures' Visa card mainly because our bank accounts are with ANZ and it is super easy to arrange for automatic payment of the credit card balance. There is an annual fee ($120 I think + $65 for a second cardholder) but we were given 40,000 reward points when we opened the account and have earned points every time we use the card. These points translate to cash. In the three months we have had the card we have earned nearly enough to pay the fee.

The ship is fully booked. I am in the process of putting in a fairly low bid. It is unlikely to be successful because it will depend on someone cancelling. Nothing to lose.

I am thinking of bidding for a premium balcony (up from a BD balcony). Can anyone tell me if premium balconies are categories B1 and B2 (sounds like Bananas in Pyjamas!)? Are the balconies covered? I probably should ask which decks have covered balconies.

It is a cruise to NZ. We like a covered balcony.

Thanks for the info. I have been speaking to our TA. He recommends staying in the cabin we are in because it has a fully-covered balcony.

I have received an email asking if I would like to bid for an up-grade on our cabin on a Coral Princess cruise. I recall that there is a way I can check which cabins are unsold at the moment. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

OK. Misunderstanding. By "how did you find the cruises with Princess" you meant how were they, not literally how we found them.😁 I haven't taken any excursions in Brisbane because I live here. In other parts of the world I have gone on several Princess excursions. Generally, they are well-organised, but they are usually in full-size coaches so there are large groups. They are also expensive but sometimes they are the best option. We have also gone on many excursions organised by someone on this forum. They have been excellent, nearly always smaller groups and at a better price than the Princess excursions where there are extra costs to cover.

Just use Google - Princess Cruises shore excursions for Brisbane (or anywhere else you are interested in) and they will all appear. 🙂