clairebearinaus

Bali is one of the places we'll be using a ship's tour, to get priority tendering and because of concerns about scams and corruption at the port.

Having traveled to Kuta before, we'll be avoiding that area like the plague and heading to Ubud and the monkey forest.

What a tragedy. We are ok, thank you, we're in the inner burbs and packed in like sardines so quite sheltered.

Cheers, we'll see how we go.

Thanks, that's all very helpful. I was looking at the Dawn's Melbourne to Sydney cruise on the 22nd. I might give the waitlist a go and see what happens!

Thanks, I called and they're happy to take $200 to put me on a waitlist, but won't tell me how big the waitlist is. The cruise is less than 3 weeks away.

Hi everyone, cruise novice here.

I saw a short Princess cruise which would have been perfect for a special occasion in a couple of weeks. But it's sold out.

Are there any secret back doors into fully booked cruises? I know I might be clutching at straws but was hoping there would be a waitlist, or even a travel site that buys cabins and onsells.

I'd be very grateful for any advice!

We saw the Diamond in Melbourne today and just had to drive over to the port and take a closer look. Gorgeous! Lots of happy relaxed cruisers enjoying the cafes nearby.

It would have been a very rough ride across Bass Strait and into the bay this morning, with the wild storms we had last night.

Thank you all for the great advice, it's adding to my excitement!

Next question, this one is a little more obscure. My son, who will be 12 for our cruise, wants to know if he will be allowed to use the gym. A reasonable questions I guess, since he's already planning to eat his way around the ship!

He's a big lad and strangers would pick him as a couple of years older.

Thank you all for the great information in this thread so far.

My next question is about day 1. Our cruise leaves at 5pm, from what time will we be able to board? (We don't have any special status!)

Also, what do you recommend we do in those first few hours? From reading other threads I'm hoping the MDR will be open for lunch, and we should check our dinner arrangements are correct, and register the kiddos in the youth centre.

Any other must do's on our first lap of the ship?

New cruisers for sure ARE missing out on the best of cruising if they get an inside cabin..you should read this & some of the replies:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1947393

 

What is the point of being on a cruise if you can't see/ feel the sea & don't have that "connection" one has on a balcony? Inside cabins eliminate a part of cruising that makes cruising so special- the connection to the salt air, wind, the whitecaps, waves, sunsets, etc...

As I mention in the post, I don't work all year to spend a week in a broom closet, when I can have sunshine, the sea & nature all in front of me for a few dollars more...

 

Big Al

Thanks for the link Big Al, you just cost me a lot of money ;)

I barely made it halfway through the thread before calling Princess and upgrading my cabin!

That sounds promising, thank you!

Thank you :)

My first cruise is over a year away and I reckon I can post a question a week and I'll still have more!

First up, the kids' club for the 10-12 age range on Sun Princess. I know from reading reviews that it isn't the greatest whizz-bang club compared to bigger, newer ships but I'm interested to hear if it wasenough to keep others' kids happy for the majority of a cruise. And if not, what else took the fancy of kids in that age group.

If it makes any difference, part of the cruise is over school holidays.

Big thumbs up from me, a newbie member (and cruiser). At the moment I'm flipping between this board and the Princess one. I'd life to be able to read (and eventually share!) information about the Australian based Princess ships.

Thanks for the welcome :)

It's a Princess cruise, and we are near a laundry but I thought a service wash would be nice holiday treat. There are better ways to spend my time, like, as you say, shrinking my clothes in other ways :D

Sorry OP, I have a related question - can I trust the ship's laundry not to super-heat my clothes and shrink them?