Aus Traveller

Your cruise could be before ours. We are on 26th June. I am pretty sure that Irene (Cbtours) who is on one or two cruises before 26th June, also had her medallion change from green lane to blue lane. However, Irene said she can't select their Medallions. This Medallion app sure is frustrating, but maybe it gives us something to do while we are looking forward to our cruises.

We have all got the "document pending approval" message. Someone on this forum (I think it was Irene, Cbtours) queried this with a Princess rep and was told it will be pending approval until the paper version is checked at the terminal. I have also got the orange tick against 'Health Documentation. If you read the Roll Call for the 26th June cruise and also the thread on this section of the forum (Princess Medallion) you will see what others have found/or worked out about the Medallion app. We have been in the green lane for weeks and I hope that doesn't change. Have you selected your boarding time?

That particular show wasn't available on our P&O cruises so I can't confirm from personal experience, but I recall hearing about it. I believe there were two options - dinner and show, or just the show. I believe there was a charge for the dinner/show but I don't know about a charge just for the show.

Until people go on a P&O ship they would not be aware that there is a charge or room service. BTW, we have never ordered room service food when delivery has been free of charge. The reports from this first cruise are the first we have heard of a charge to attend a show. I don't these policies would have had any impact on bookings, but it might end up doing so.

As I thought, more insurance companies will be offering cruise insurance. I also believe that more will extend their coverage to include COVID-related claims. If they don't they will miss out on business.

Summer.

Then it was probably shown on Channel 7 in Brisbane also.

Agreed. Plenty of time to see how the protocols work on the cruise ships operating in NSW and Queensland.

P&O kept the same menus in the dining room, but I seem to remember they changed once during a seven day cruise.

Thanks for your posts and your review. $15pp for the shuttle is a very good price.🙂

I agree. I wouldn't buy OBC in advance. I wouldn't want an error to be made and have it disappear in the system.

The arrival of the Pacific Explorer was covered on the Channel 9 news bulletin. Someone else said it was on Channel 10.

Thanks for posting the photo.

Which of those ladies is the lovely Barb? (I hope I have her name right!!)

On the Sea Princess in February-March 2020, I am pretty sure only tablets were used. I don't play bingo, but it was immediately before trivia.🙂

I don't play bingo, but I saw on the last cruise I was on, they played bingo on tablets rather than with paper tickets.

I would bet that P&O will cover the costs. They can't afford not to.

Apply for the Australian visa through the Aust government website. It is easy and the cost is very low. I don't know about the NZ visa.

Not a hope when they are that far off-shore. The coastline isn't usually visible from cruise ships travelling down the NSW coast.

The 200-passenger Scenic Eclipse operates cruises in the Antarctic region. They might have other small expedition ships.

P&O and Princess have always covered the passengers' costs if a cruise is altered, or even if it arrives into port very late on the scheduled day. I doubt that this would be any different. I don't think we have to be apprehensive about booking cruises in Australia. Last minute changes to a cruise can happen anywhere in the world for 'emergency' (what the cruise line calls 'operational') reasons.

There wasn't a curfew on ships sailing from Portside. They sailed at the time they wanted to - usually 4pm - but they had to restrict noise for the sailaway. The same noise restriction applies at the White Bay terminal in Sydney. Complaints from residents near Portside would not have been a major consideration. A new terminal was built because the vast majority of cruiseships cannot reach Portside and Fishermans Island was only a temporary and also a very unattractive alternative.

I have been ploughing through the requirements to register details on the Princess Medallion app. I don't know what to put for Travel Information. So far I have "starting your journey" (one of the two options), "Private Car" then "Own car". Does this page only have to be filled out if we have bought Princess transfers? Otherwise some of the questions are silly. My husband has lost patience with the Medallion app. He grumbled "We have to spend two weeks filling out stuff for a one week cruise".

This pop-up information has appeared on my Cruise Personalizer. The pre-cruise test can be a RAT. Important Acknowledgements for Your Cruise Vacation Before entering Cruise Personalizer, read and acknowledge these notifications covid-19 vaccination and testing requirements Please be advised that guests 12 years and older on this voyage are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and meet the following requirements: - have received their final primary dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the beginning of the cruise and produce proof of vaccination at terminal check-in. Boosters are recommended for eligible guests at least seven days before embarkation. - attest to a negative viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken before embarkation. For required timing and details, please visit https://*****/pcl_autest - upload International COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate to MedallionClass App within 72 hours of your cruise embarkation. Travel requirements are subject to change and vary by destination. Check our CruiseHealth FAQs (https://*****/pcl_aufaq, Princess communications and official government sites often for specifics for your voyage.

Below is a spreadsheet showing the results of my research into complimentary credit card insurance. The analysis will give an indication of which credit cards might be worth following up on and reading the product disclosure statement. The information has been extracted from the pds from each of the banks, but anyone reading it should independently verify it by reading the pds. They are all available on the internet. Important information - 1. Only a few banks have no age limit for travel insurance. This is one of the key factors for us as my husband approaches his OBE (over bloody eighty). 2. Because of COVID, Macquarie Bank is not currently accepting applications for new credit card accounts. This will change in time. 3. Most of the banks do not cover COVID-related claims, but this is likely to change. 4. Some banks have a few different levels of credit card. I have given only a very general overview. 5. In some cases, a certain level of income is required to be eligible for a particular credit card. 6. I have not included items that all banks cover (or the limits) such as loss of luggage, lost/stolen property, hijacking, kidnapping. Check the pds for what is important to you. Please click on the spreadsheet to enlarge it. If anyone wants to print it out, they need only save it to their computer, then print. If preferred, I can email it.