Brismarg

I have enjoyed reliving our cruise through your review and photographs. You certainly made the most of your time in port and we were so lucky with the weather. Our daughter is about to return from her small vessel cruise from Dubrovnik to Split and they thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Thank you, that's what I was wondering about when I saw how full the 2019 sailing is already.

We are booked on this cruise and I have watched how quickly the cabins are selling. The fares have already risen since we booked on 2nd August and our cabin is AUD 400 PP dearer than the original price.

Margaret

have 3 choices in Linz with Ama, has anyone been on these and thoughts? All look good to us. we have researched and would love to do them all, but I guess we have to pick one. we are on the first sailing of the year, leaving 3-28-16. we have 2 pre days in Budapest and 4 post days in Munich.

 

first option is a visit to the Austrian Lake District, the scenic Salzkammergut region, The second option is an excursion to the Czech town of Cesky Krumlov, . The third choice is an excursion to Salzburg

No doubt, Cesky Krumlov

What date in February are you cruising on AmaDara as we doing an APT tour commencing in Hanoi on 22nd February? 3 weeks to go.[/.

 

Our tour starts in Hanoi on February 16 and we embark the Ama Dara in HCM City on February 22. Perhaps your Mekong river section starts when we leave the boat in Siem Reap and you are doing the reverse itinerary ?

 

We are embarking in HCMC on March 7 as our APT tour is 24 days and we have been to HCMC prebiously which we enjoyed even though we were only there about 5 hours.

I too am going on this trip in February, also on the Ama Dara.

Looking forward to hearing all about it and hopefully getting some ideas for our adventure!

We took our first river cruise this summer with APT and had a wonderful holiday. We were so impressed with the company, their organisation and the quality of everything. So excited as we countdown:)

What date in February are you cruising on AmaDara as we doing an APT tour commencing in Hanoi on 22nd February? 3 weeks to go.

[QUwOTE=Australian family;46348967]Does anyone have a photo of a premiun oceanview cabin on the Sea Princess, we are looking at cabin C634. I was wondering what the size of the window is?

We had a deluxe oceanview on the Dawn (same as Sea & Sun) and the window is large. We were very happy with the cabin on our 53 days cruise.

Hello

We are booked to go on the Mediterranean Adventurer on the Caribbean Princess departing on 30 May. Just organising excursions only to find that nothing is available for two of the six ports - Marseille and Gibraltar. I phoned and was told we could 'do our own thing'. As my husband is not very mobile this is not very likely. Really disappointed, and half thinking about cancelling. Our first and maybe last time with Princess.

 

I was told that they did not know why, which I find hard to believe. I have emailed customer services but I think it is unacceptable. I am less than impressed with their attitude too.

We went to Gibraltar unexpectedly in 2011 but had a great tour in vans which are able to get up the rock. It cost £22 for about 3 hours and we were dropped back to the town centre. There were buses back to the ship.

Its not about showing anyone anything. Its just that Australians like everything inclusive. Princess changed their policy to suit Australian ways. Personally, I hate that you see some price, but wait there more you need to add on. Just tell me one price.

 

When sailing on Princess ships not sailing to and from Australia I pay the grats.

 

I recently travelled on Sun Princess. Now, I didn't need to tip anything extra because its included in the fare. But I did because the service I received was above and beyond. But I didn't feel I was obliged to do so.

We agree wholeheartedly as this is what we do also.

I've been trying to find a good description of this (on the Grand) place but I'm hoping that someone can tell me how it differs from Skywalker's? Also, is Skywalker's still there in some form? We have always enjoyed going up there, esp. in the daytime for the views but also at night to dance. Will we be disappointed?

 

Thanks,

Julie

One5 is the nightclub and there is no Skywalkers or anything like it on the Grand

Princess isn't abandoning the US market by any stretch. Not sure where you get that idea from.

 

The world is bigger than America. It always astounds me how unworldly some yanks can be - like complaining about flying a meagre 7-10 hours to Europe or 14-18 hours to Australia.

 

We Australians often have to make very long flight journeys to reach oft visited travel destinations. If its good for us, then surely it's good for Americans.

 

Whatever happened to that Westward Spirit of yours? :)

 

Ultimately, Princess is a business and will go where the money is. Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific are boom cruise areas right now. So, it makes sense to deploy one more ship for the Aussie summer season.

 

It's definitely not permanent. It's seasonal. Try not to take a good business decision so personally.

Well said.

Enjoy the ship but I doubt there will be many from the US aboard as a steady diet considering the air fare of over $5,000 for 2 people & 24 hour flying time just to sail on the Emerald. Not all Princess cruises are that wealthy.

Flying time from LAX to our east coast (most ships departure points) is less than 14 hours and is about $5000 for 2 but we do it regularly and it is over 24 hours to London. In 2013, 750 Australians boarded the Grand in FLL to cruise Sth America to San Francisco. If you want to see the world, you have to travel long distances and we are certainly not wealthy.

She will fit in the Suez canal and she has only about 35 days to get from Rome to Darwin.

 

It will take the Pacific 38 days to get from Darwin to Suez in 2016. So that almost has to mean a Suez route via India. I doubt Dubai, but that would be interesting.

 

This has great potential.

On the world cruise 2011, we sailed 37 days Rome to Darwin via Dubai and 2 ports in India

It's funny how some posters are complaining that Australia is somehow getting an unfair deal. I'd argue that the Emerald is an older ship and so counts as a hand me down.

 

That said, I like the Diamond, although her refit wasn't really a refit since the bulk of the ship's decor went unrenovated.

 

Happy to see the introduction of AUD on Australian based cruises from this year. It will make everything so much easier!

 

Clearly there is money to be made down under - we do have the fastest growing cruise market in the world. However, I do feel the itineraries offered by Princess to be a little limited. Some Queensland and Barrier Reef cruises on the big ships from Sydney would be fantastic (I've done NZ twice now).

The Dawn, Sun and Sea have had AUD for a long time. We sailed from Sydney to Dover in 2011 and the Dawn had engine problems for 53 days or more causing shortened time in ports and several missed ports. I'm not complaining about the ships -love the Dawn- but there is more competition now. All ships itineraries are limited when sailing from Australia.

We deserve to get some newer ships down here. Princess has been having trouble engine wise with the Sun, Sea and Dawn for quite some time and even have had to cancel a couple of cruises on the Sea.

 

Celebrity has been sending the lovely Solstice down here for the past 2 years, as well as RCCL with their lovely ships and I think that Princess has finally woken up that we Aussie's don't want the dregs anymore and therefore, unless we get some newer ships they are going to lose a huge market. Apparently after the U.S. we are the fastest growing area for cruising and we have the money to spend.

 

Jennie

I agree wholeheartedly. We have done plenty of cruising on Princess and I feel they are dropping their standards so maybe time to change allegiance.

I have not been able to connect to the Australian Princess site for over 36 hours. Is anyone else having the same problem?

We cruise 12 days from Auckland NZ to Sydney Jan 2015 and then take a 7 day land tour (all Princess). Our land tour starts and ends in Sydney with a one night hotel stay at the end in Sydney. I am planning on taking a large suitcase for the cruise and a carry on for the land tour since I assume we're flying to the locations on a smaller plane. My question: does Princess store the large suitcase at the hotel while we're taking the land tour portion of our trip? Thus we don't have that extra weight of large luggage on the four different flights to the land tour locations. If not, I'll alter my plans to one large suitcase and forget the carry on.

We did a Princess cruise tour to China in October and our big suitcase was held in the hotel in Beijing until our return. If flying QANTAS, their limit is about 23kgs each.

I might have blown it. Sis and I are booked August 1st British Isles on the Royal Princess. I didn't think there was any way the excursions would be out yet. But, I checked and not only are they out, but there are no openings for the Royal Tattoo. Now we're waitlisted.

 

Anybody with any experience on what exactly that means? Are we waiting for someone else to cancel? Or will they get more tickets and another bus if enough people are interested?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies.

They are waiting for someone to cancel. Space is limited at the tattoo and tickets in high demand.

We are doing the trans-Atlantic in March on the Island. A week at sea and then Portugal, Spain, and Italy. It seems like the advice is to wait until Portugal and visit an ATM at the port. Our ATM card is Mastercard.

We are also on your cruise but we buy euro in Australia before we leave here as we get a good exchange rate.

Margaret

To your second part -

 

Yes, charges are in AU$ and tip is included and not added on. About three years ago, on the Dawn Princess drinks like gin & tonic or scotch & water were $7.60. Interesting because the same drink on the US based ships was $4.95 plus 15 % for a total of $5.70.

What was the exchange rate at that time? On Sapphire in October, beer was US$6-84 and G & T US$8 in total which converted to A$8-20 and A$9-40.

Beijing Day 1

Arrive in Beijing and transfer to your hotel for the night. Overnight Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng.

 

 

Beijing Day 2

Today's agenda includes a tour of the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square and the Temple of Heaven with lunch at a local restaurant. Tonight, enjoy a dinner of famous Peking Duck at a local restaurant. Overnight Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng. (B,L,D)

 

 

Beijing Day 3

Take a motorcoach drive through the intriguing city of Beijing on your way to the incredible Summer Palace. Containing the largest imperial garden still in existence, it is known for its beautiful landscape, pavilions and palaces. Your visit here will include a boat ride on the serene Kun Ming Lake. Drive to the amazing Great Wall of China, where you'll be able to climb and explore a portion of this incredible wonder. Built during the ancient dynasties as protection from barbarians, the Great Wall stretches 3,600 miles, winding its way over the hilly countryside. Enjoy lunch before returning to your hotel. Overnight Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng. (B,L)

 

 

Beijing/Xian Day 4

Fly to Xian where you will visit the fascinating Terra Cotta Warriors. Built in the third century B.C. for a Qin Dynasty emperor, the vault contains 7,000 life-size clay warriors grouped rank by rank in battle order. Some are mounted on horse-drawn chariots, and others are in infantry groups. Transfer to the Sheraton Xian North City Hotel. (B,L)

 

 

Xian/Shanghai Day 5

This morning, visit the City Wall and Big Wild Goose Pagoda. After lunch transfer to the airport for your flight to Shanghai. Upon arrival experience the maglev train ride from the airport to Longyanglu Station. Transfer from the Longyanglu Station to your hotel. Later enjoy dinner at a local restaurant and an acrobatic performance. Overnight at the Marriott Shanghai City Center Hotel. (B,L,D)

 

 

Shanghai/Embark Ship Day 6

Experience Shanghai on a full day tour to Bund, Yu Garden, Jade Buddha Temple and Jinmao Hyatt Building with photo stops at Oriental TV Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center in the Pudong area. Embark Sapphire Princess and sail away for more incredible sights in Asia! (B,L)

Yes, I saw that itinerary which doesn't solve the problem of too much luggage for the internal flights. On one section of our tour, we had to handle our own cases. Princess must surely have a solution.

Since the tour ends in Shanghai where the ship is embarked, I assume Princess does not leave it at the hotel in Beijing.

We returned to Beijing on our land tour so left luggage at the hotel. China is strict with weight on internal flights (1 check in, 1 carry on) so Princess might make other arrangements if they go directly to Shanghai. Take less luggage if they don't.

Since the tour ends in Shanghai where the ship is embarked, I assume Princess does not leave it at the hotel in Beijing.

As far as I can see on the Princess site, the land tours return to Beijing for a night.

Please to assit we are doing a China land tour with Princess after a cruise.

Since we will be traveling between Bejing and Xian and on to

Shinghai. We are worried about our cases. We will have three large

cases, and two larger carry ons.. We have used China internal airlines,

before and the carry ons were checked as they were too big.

We have call our t/a and princess and no one is able to give us an

answer. Has anyone had this issue? Any information would be most welcomed.

You can take 1 suitcase each weighing 20 kgs and the rest of your luggage is stored at the Beijing hotel. We did this in October.

We are looking at a 2016 cruise departing from Buenos Aires. I just noticed that this cruise can be booked as a cruisetour beginning in Rio with a 5 day pre-cruise land tour. It sounds perfect except for the price. Booking the 19-day cruisetour would at current prices cost almost $4000 per person more than just booking the cruise portion!

 

Has anyone had any experience with cruisetour price drops?

No price drop on expensive cruise tours. We did China and the Sapphire in September and watched our cabin price drop by hundreds as the ship had so few passengers. Our TA approached Princess to no avail and we were very disappointed with some aspects of the land content - never again. Our 8 day land was dearer than the 17 day cruise.

Margaret

The drinking age is 21 on all Princess ships.

They do check, even at dinner with parents.

My daughter carries her drivers license with her on the boat as they question her often (she looks young).

Not true as Princess and P & O ships out of Australia have 18 as the legal drinking age which is the law here.