Crusty Cruiser

Maybe so. The OP didn't state where they are cruising from/to however we're about to do trans pacific from San Francisco to Sydney next weekend and definitely purchased the 12 x 500ml water for AU$8.85  

Sure do. Just ordered on same ship myself. Look under drinks packages at the very bottom of the page.

Thanks to both. Sierra Nevada will do nicely. Looking forward to the trip even more now ☺️

Can anybody recently (or currently) on board Golden Princess help out  with a beer list? Particularly Pale Ales and IPA's. There was word of a possible upcoming revamp of the beers as well as the wines available.

Reason being, we're about to do the Trans Pacific crossing from San Francisco to Sydney and I'm readying myself to become a wine drinker for the month if need be.

The list is apparently quite different to what we are accustomed to when sailing from ports outside Aus/NZ.

+1 for the Ilikai.

Book a condo through Waikiki Beach Rentals that manage the condo side of things. Fantastic location  at the quieter northern end of Waikiki within walking distance of much. Right next door to Hilton Village and therefore the best vantage point for the Friday night fireworks show from your lanai and with a good view of their luau every night if you book an ocean view condo. Very nice apartments for around $150 a night and having tried others they are pretty hard to beat. We'll be there again next September before catching Golden Princess in San Francisco. Nice stopover. 

Sun Princess hands down

What is ESTA please?

I usually book all my own travels on line, haven't been to USA for 9 years so wondering if it is something new I have to worry about for my next trip.

Regarding the original OP I would just cop the fee and renew the passport. Only saving a couple of months validity if you don't renew but will you be able to relax the whole trip hoping all will be ok? A 10 year passport works out at $24.40 a year per person so saving 6 months is a saving of $12.20. Also if our wonderful government decide to up their passport renewal fees you will save there.

ESTA is US Customs and Borders Electronic System for Travel Authorization. Its the online system that travellers use for entering the Visa Waiver Program and thereby gaining permission to enter the US without a visa. A 3 minute process that costs $14 USD. Passports are a seperate issue of course.

Great info and welcome:) But I hope for your sake that your airline adheres to the six month club rules. have you contacted them about your passports having less than 6 months validity? (I am sure you have):)

 

Airline check in staff and cruise line check in staff are not immigration officials of the country you are going to and are bound by the rules they are given to implement by the airline/cruise company which are not always exactly that of the country you are about to visit.

 

My friend was denied travel at check in for a one way flight from Perth to Bangkok because he didnt have a return ticket, Thailand does not require a return ticket but the airline did, the reason was if he was denied entry to Thailand for any reason the airline would have had to fly him home at their cost. He had travelled many times previous on one way tickets but his choice of airline in this instance didnt care.

 

I was held up from boarding a USA cruise because the check in clerk couldnt find my USA entry stamp, neither could I:eek: but a supervisor waived the decission:cool:,it was stamped but I still cant find it and USA immigration dont check when you leave so perhaps the stamp didnt work? my stamp from this years entry to US is clear and easy to find, my wife's previous one and latest one are both visible.

 

Anyway its always best to check with your travel provider/Carrier on the rules as they see the rules;)

All cool as far as Jetstar is concerned for anyone using them.They don't have concrete rules apparently. Their policy basically makes it the responsibility of the passenger to ensure passports meet the validity requirements (in this case covering up to the extent of the visit for Aussies going to the US under the 6 month club rule). The only thing they stipulate is that passengers must have received visa waiver authorisation under ESTA or "they may not be able to carry you"?. This is a little obscure as you are not required to carry written verification of this authorization to enter the US. It is electronically recorded in their customs/immigration system. I will carry a copy of my authorization anyways, but there is definitely no mention of passport validity denying a passenger a flight. Hope that helps for Jetstar users even if it is a little off topic on a cruise forum...

Welcome to Cruise critic, good informative post.:D

Thanks for the welcome. We're here to help each other out if we can (well...most of us are anyway).

I've had to do a bit of research on passport validity as I'm just about to fly out to Hawaii with a passport that expires in Feb 2015. I got the heads up from the US consulate and found the list of countries that qualify for the 6 month exemption quite interesting particularly when you consider what is going on in the world today :(. By the way, the exemption also applies to our NZ friends. I've been getting some great tips of this site as we are not experienced cruisers having just done one P&O trip a few years ago but we're booked on a Princess cruise to New Guinea in April next year. Hopefully I can contribute more.

Australia is on the "6 month club" list for the USA therefore your passport only needs to be valid for the period of your stay in the US. It may be the cruiselines requirement for 6 months validity on your passport but definitely not required by the US authorities. We have an exemption.

Check it out by searching "6 month club" :)