New 2022 Coral Princess Releases

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, CDaze71 said:

It really is. On the cruise everyone you spoke to said that was their favourite port stop. And one of those stops where it costs nothing, just sit on the beach and swim and snorkel. Just the best. If that itinerary does include it, it looks like a fabulous 12 night option.

We have been on a couple of cruises to PNG. They went to Rabaul, Alotau, Kitava and Conflict Is. The latter two were the best (in my opinion), with Conflict tops. Rabaul and Alotau are interesting for their WWII history and Rabaul has the nearby volcano, but Kitava and Conflict are much more scenic.

 

I would be happy with a cruise that only went to the one stop in PNG, but we would have to fly to and from Sydney for the one on offer. It isn't worth it when we have been to the ports at least a couple of times - the Queensland ones much more than that!

[possum52]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's actually a "Reconsider your need to travel" not a "Do not travel".

Julie, which according to the information I have found is enough to make the travel insurance claims void. Smart Traveller also says the following - Most standard policies won't cover you for 'Do not travel' destinations. Check with your travel insurance provider.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2022 by possum52

[possum52]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's actually a "Reconsider your need to travel" not a "Do not travel".

Smart Traveller also has the following information which if still current when the PNG cruises go could be a problem - 

Enrty to PNG - Latest update:If you're not a PNG citizen, you'll only be allowed to enter if you're ‘up to date’ with COVID-19 vaccinations and hold a valid PNG visa. You’ll be required to undertake a PCR test within 72 hours of departure and a RAT on arrival in PNG.

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

35 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Julie, which according to the information I have found is enough to make the travel insurance claims void. Smart Traveller also says the following - Most standard policies won't cover you for 'Do not travel' destinations. Check with your travel insurance provider.

 

 

But it's not "Do not travel". That's the point I'm trying to make.

 

Surely Princess has investigated this situation before adding the Conflict Islands to that itinerary otherwise they'd end up with people cancelling because they can't get travel insurance. Anyway it's not until August and anything could happen by then. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

17 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Smart Traveller also has the following information which if still current when the PNG cruises go could be a problem - 

Enrty to PNG - Latest update:If you're not a PNG citizen, you'll only be allowed to enter if you're ‘up to date’ with COVID-19 vaccinations and hold a valid PNG visa. You’ll be required to undertake a PCR test within 72 hours of departure and a RAT on arrival in PNG.

 

 

There may be different rules for visits by cruise ships to the Conflict Islands which aren't addressed by SmartTraveller. It will be interesting to see what the Princess visa notification says once the cruise is booked. 

[possum52]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But it's not "Do not travel". That's the point I'm trying to make.

 

Surely Princess has investigated this situation before adding the Conflict Islands to that itinerary otherwise they'd end up with people cancelling because they can't get travel insurance. Anyway it's not until August and anything could happen by then. 

I found this when researching the Smart Traveller advices and travel insurance - from Southern Cross Travel Insurance. It explains what I was trying to say much better.

What is a travel warning?

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) issues travel advisories for destinations. These are published on the Smartraveller website. 

When the travel advisory is at a ‘Reconsider your need to travel’ (level 3) or ‘Do not travel’ (level 4) level, we call this a ‘travel warning’. It is important that you understand how these travel warnings affect your cover, before you purchase your insurance. 

In addition to any DFAT travel warning, it is important to understand what border controls (including visa , insurance, or vaccine requirements) may be in place for the destination(s) you are travelling to. This information is generally available through the immigration department of the applicable country. There is no provision for cover if you do not have the correct visa, visa waiver, vaccinations, or documents needed for your journey.

When I purchase a policy, how do travel warnings affect my cover? 

You must make sure it’s still safe to travel to your destinations by checking for travel advisories on the Smartraveller website.

Your policy may be affected if the travel advisory on the Smartraveller website is ‘Reconsider your need to travel’ or ‘Do not travel’.

You need to check this when you buy your insurance, again before you start your journey, and before leaving for each new destination.

The table below shows how travel advisories affect your policy.

Type of travel advisory	Effect on your policy
A travel advisory that affects just part of a country	You won’t be covered for events in that part of the country that relate to that travel advisory.
A travel advisory that affects the whole country	You won’t be covered for events anywhere in that country that relate to that travel advisory.

How Smart Traveller Warnings Affect Travel Insurance

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Interesting but not at all useful for things like cruise stops in the Conflicts, which may operate under non-standard conditions.

 

There are quite a few places where the cruise line just sends border control info to the various countries. Most of the South Ppacific is like that. Even NZ on some cruises - we didn't have to go through border security when we stopped in Auckland on the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise which surprised me.

[possum52]

13 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Interesting but not at all useful for things like cruise stops in the Conflicts, which may operate under non-standard conditions.

 

There are quite a few places where the cruise line just sends border control info to the various countries. Most of the South Ppacific is like that. Even NZ on some cruises - we didn't have to go through border security when we stopped in Auckland on the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise which surprised me.

But it may affect travel insurance coverage which is the point I am making.

[OzKiwiJJ]

19 minutes ago, possum52 said:

But it may affect travel insurance coverage which is the point I am making.

True. We'll just have to see what happens. It's covered by the Princess Cruise with Confidence deal so no money lost of we have to cancel up to a month prior. Cancellation fees get given back as FCC and we've got plenty of cruises we can use that on.  It's not until mid-August so hopefully by then the travel insurers will be offering cover. If not then Princess will be getting lots of cancellations 

[rkmw]

15 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

True. We'll just have to see what happens. It's covered by the Princess Cruise with Confidence deal so no money lost of we have to cancel up to a month prior. Cancellation fees get given back as FCC and we've got plenty of cruises we can use that on.  It's not until mid-August so hopefully by then the travel insurers will be offering cover. If not then Princess will be getting lots of cancellations 

OzKiwi

Bit off topic but you mentioned you get back FCC for a cancelled cruise but if you cancelled out before cancellation fees kicked and booked the cruise with an FCD do you still get your FCD or an FCC back

[OzKiwiJJ]

40 minutes ago, rkmw said:

OzKiwi

Bit off topic but you mentioned you get back FCC for a cancelled cruise but if you cancelled out before cancellation fees kicked and booked the cruise with an FCD do you still get your FCD or an FCC back

If you cancel you'll get your FCD back. Edit - although it may depend on the expiry date of the FCD but they will extend it if pushed.

 

However if Princess cancels It gets turned into FCC and the new definition of FCC means you can just use it as your sole deposit, you have to pay the full deposit amount. I'm seriously annoyed about this, and I've made my opinion very clear to my cruise planner. 🤬

Edited March 19, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[rkmw]

7 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

If you cancel you'll get your FCD back. Edit - although it may depend on the expiry date of the FCD but they will extend it if pushed.

 

However if Princess cancels It gets turned into FCC and the new definition of FCC means you can just use it as your sole deposit, you have to pay the full deposit amount. I'm seriously annoyed about this, and I've made my opinion very clear to my cruise planner. 🤬

Thanks for that but getting an FCC after booking using your FCD and if Princess cancels out you lose  out on the extra OBC for your future cruise and as you said you need to pay a lot more for your deposit

[aussielozzie18]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loved hand feeding the baby turtles & swimming in Conflict Island

 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2022 by aussielozzie18

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 hours ago, rkmw said:

Thanks for that but getting an FCC after booking using your FCD and if Princess cancels out you lose  out on the extra OBC for your future cruise and as you said you need to pay a lot more for your deposit

Yes, it's very, very annoying.

 

It may backfire on Princess if people become reluctant to buy FCDs in future.

[Relaxing Robbies]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, it's very, very annoying.

 

It may backfire on Princess if people become reluctant to buy FCDs in future.

We had FCDs applied to 2 cruises that were cancelled during the pandemic. The FCDs were returned to us as FCDs. We have applied one to a new booking and have one still available which we will use for one of the new Coral cruises.

[SinbadThePorter]

On 3/18/2022 at 4:39 PM, ekka49 said:

Thank you, the cruises are there plus prices. 

 

Those prices seem to be changing a bit. They are probably informed guesses, so people ought to be careful making any commitments based on them.

[OzKiwiJJ]

44 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Those prices seem to be changing a bit. They are probably informed guesses, so people ought to be careful making any commitments based on them.

The fares I'm seeing on that website for the two cruises I'm hoping to book are exactly the same as on the PDF I downloaded on Friday.

Edited March 20, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[SinbadThePorter]

28 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The fares I'm seeing on that website for the two cruises I'm hoping to book are exactly the same as on the PDF I downloaded on Friday.

 

The one I was looking at has gone up by nearly $300pp.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

The one I was looking at has gone up by nearly $300pp.

I don't see how the newly released cruises can go up in price as bookings don't open until Thursday. Unless that TA changed fare for some reason. They are only showing the lead- in pricing anyway.

 

Which cruise were you looking at?

[MicCanberra]

Might be the difference between the base and the plus fares

[OzKiwiJJ]

10 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Might be the difference between the base and the plus fares

That website is only showing the base lead-in fares for the new cruises. You can't actually see the fares for each individual cabin category.

 

Perhaps SinbadThePorter was looking at one of the original cruises, not one of the new ones. 

[Relaxing Robbies]

28 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That website is only showing the base lead-in fares for the new cruises. You can't actually see the fares for each individual cabin category.

 

Perhaps SinbadThePorter was looking at one of the original cruises, not one of the new ones. 

The lead in fares for the later 7 day cruises have changed. The June/July ones are still the same, but the later cruises have increased. Balcony lead in price was originally $1119, but is now $1380 for the August 12 cruise I wanted. Minisuite has increased from $1219 to $1500 on that clean site.

[OzKiwiJJ]

35 minutes ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

The lead in fares for the later 7 day cruises have changed. The June/July ones are still the same, but the later cruises have increased. Balcony lead in price was originally $1119, but is now $1380 for the August 12 cruise I wanted. Minisuite has increased from $1219 to $1500 on that clean site.

That's unusual. Hopefully it's just that TA.  The fares on the August 22nd cruise were the same but four cruises from mid-July have gone up. Maybe lots of people want to do those as they are after school holidays.

 

It will be interesting to see what the Princess website shows on Thursday.

[ekka49]

23 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Those prices seem to be changing a bit. They are probably informed guesses, so people ought to be careful making any commitments based on them.

Yes, you are correct the cruise I was looking at has gone up by $200.

I think that some one rushed to get prices onto their web page.

 

[CDaze71]

Does anyone have the prices for the Coral Princess cruises going on sale on Thursday ? Namely the 26th June Code 6208Q ? Thanks.