Plant

Ditto, Long Island Iced Tea :) ! One of the very few times that I woke up not knowing how I even got to bed :eek: , but was very happy to be there!

Be very aware!

I've made our Super Shuttle reservation for LAX to our San Pedro hotel. However, I can't remember what we did last time AFTER the cruise. Do I need a SS reservation on disembarkation day? When I put in our parameters, it says the earliest they will pick up for our 1:55 PM flight is 10:40 AM. Don't really want to wait at the cruise terminal that long. Can we just walk outside and catch the next available shuttle? Maybe I should just look at my airline's schedule and "fib" a little and put in an earlier flight so that we get an earlier pick up?

We usually use the cruise shuttle from the port to the airport after a cruise. It may be a little more expensive, but it's always dependable.

Since we're discussing weather, what's it like in September and October in Sydney and Brisbane? Is it about the same in New Zealand? Will we need a light or a heavy jacket? Or none at all?

Thanks so much,

Is this the Best Western San Pedro Inn and Suites or a different property? We cruise from SP on April 5, and I'm having no luck bidding.

We like the Crown Plaza with their free shuttle to the port.

We've also used Super Shuttle in several cities and have always made reservation's before the trip. JMO, but I wouldn't wait until we got to the airport unless our travel plans were extremely fluid (not going to happen here :D).

A Little Rock friend,

Unfortunately, there are no ice machine's available to passenger's. If you just need a glassful, go to a bar or (as irishnyc said) the Lido for a refill. If you want more, order from Room Service and tip accordingly. ($2.00 for ice/sodas.)

This is something that I've noticed on many ship's, recently. Not only are there not priest's (who used to be there daily), but there are no Minister's and no Rabbi's onboard for any holiday's :confused:.

IMHO, if it's very important to you, stay home for the holiday.

After booking this mini suite I have since seen complaints about vibration and noise keeping people awake at night. What can you tell me if you are familiar with these cabins?

 

My RCCL and Celebrity cabins are all rear facing afts so I am having a hard time booking a cabin on Island Princess. DH is easily woken up at night and I don't want to have booked us for a month in a noisy cabin where he can't sleep. :eek:

 

Thank you! :)

Island Princess is our favorite ship! Your mini-suite is between passenger deck's (above and below) and should be VERY quiet. We HAVE been in C712 and it was great :)!

We tip $3.00 per order to our cabin no matter how much food is involved. I can't be sure, but I don't think that the Room Service personnel share in the auto-tip :(.

caribill, could you tell me why or where you've found that they do? If so, we'll be changing our tips!

Thanks,

Part of the problem is you really need regional or city guides to get the details. Where are you visiting?

We'll be in Sydney for 4 days and Brisbane for two and a half. We're going to the Zoo in Brisbane, so that's pretty much taken care of.

Sydney is still "up in the air"!

Bill Bryson's "Down Under"

Superbly written narrative.

Thanks, I'll look for the book :)! Is this it?: http://www.amazon.com/Sunburned-Country-Bill-Bryson-ebook/dp/B000Q9ISSQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395278619&sr=1-1&keywords=down+under+bill+bryson

Thanks again,

If you need /want to purchase FTTF I'd suggest that you check daily :eek:! The last time we wanted to buy it we were way too late on a cruise that was almost a year away :confused:!

JMHO,

We have cabin D720, the only inside cabin on the dolphin deck of the Island Princess. All other cabins on dolphin deck have balconies. There is a large aft balcony just a few steps from our door, which we planned on using. My guess is that it will not get much use by others on dolphin deck, as they have their own private balconies.

 

Now, I see that an obstructed view cabin (guarantee only) is available for the same price. We are torn between D720 and what might (or might not) be a very obstructed oceanview cabin. We are inclined to keep D720 and not take our chances with the obstructed oceanview cabin.

 

Any thoughts? recommendations?

The back deck is so great! IMHO, I'd keep the inside cabin at a lower price and use the back deck balcony as much as possible! We've booked balcony cabin's and still use the aft balcony!

As far as furniture goes, it doesn't really seem to make sense :confused:. We've had furniture on the back deck (deck chair's and small table's) and we've also been told that no furniture is allowed there :confused:!

I've looked on Amazon for travel guides, and I don't really find anything helpful :confused:. There are several books, but they have bad rating's. Any opinion's would be very helpful :)!

Thank you,

I have my CCL shares with USAA brokerage. I can't remember ever getting an annual shareholder report or proxy card so I can use them as proof of ownership for the Princess credit. I always have to send in a copy of the statement, which USAA only sends out quarterly.

 

For any of y'all that use USAA brokerage, when do you get your CCL annual report and/or proxy card?

Any brokerage firm should send you a shareholder report and a proxy vote once a year. Sometimes they're sent by snail-mail, more often these days, by email. Be sure you check your Spam folder.

If you send your quarterly statement be sure to black out anything not related to Carnival (Princess)!

Well, the "Art Auctions" are really not auctions. If you find a piece you like you can buy it without bidding (or by bidding against no one else). I'd suggest that you only buy what you love and don't expect that anything will be an "investment".

We love our purchase's, but we didn't spend the big bucks on them :eek:!

Hi Dana! I agree with Steve :).

We've stayed at both of the hotel's he mentioned (Doubletree and Crown Plaza). We liked the Crown Plaza best. They also have a shuttle to the San Pedro port and to local spots.

P.S. I've been on here a while, and "Bruin Steve" is one of the most helpful California poster's I've seen. You can pretty much count on his suggestions :)!

Steve (and anyone else!), I've checked the Hilton Long Beach at 701 West Ocean Blvd., in Long Beach and it seems to be a good value for our needs.

The basic AARP rate is $116.00, but they have several packages, higher priced, that might be useful.

We'll arrive late evening from LAX and just want to eat, sleep and get to the port the next morning. They offer a park-and-cruise package, but we won't need to park (since we're coming from LAX using Super Shuttle). Can you tell me about how much a taxi would cost from the hotel to the port?

Is there any reason we shouldn't book this hotel?

Thanks so much,

the problem may be we are not in the class of Ferrari owners, maybe we should go back to the Park Royal. Little concerned we have overstepped ourselves. We are just looking to be in a nice hotel, not buy it.

This is SO much the way we feel! Thanks for expressing it so well :)!

Hi Steve, once again I need to say how much I appreciate your information about LA. We've sailed out of San Pedro several times, but never out of Long Beach (although my Grandmother was from there ;).)

We're just looking for a clean, quiet place to stay from early evening until sail away the next day.

I never book the cheapest hotel :eek:!

Thanks for the list! I'll be using it to book our one night.

F

My favorite's are a Bloody Mary around noon, then a Frozen Margarita (or two)in the afternoon. At night I like White Russian's.

I tried Long Island Iced Tea once and (luckily) woke up in our cabin the next morning, not at all sure how I got there :eek: ! I won't be drinking those again :D!

Have a wonderful time!

Thanks everyone! I thought staying near LAX would be easier and less expensive, but I see that we can book with Super Shuttle from LAX to Long Beach for $17.00 pp, which sounds reasonable to me.

Now, to figure out where to stay in Long Beach :confused:!

Mr. Arison is no longer the CEO of Carnival Corporation. He is the Chairman of the Board. Mr. Arnold Donald is the CEO.

 

Renewing the Shareholder Benefit is routine.

Yes, the Shareholder Benefit is usually renewed every year (at least ours was, beginning in the 80's!), but there IS a possibility that it won't be :eek:!

I'm looking to book this hotel for one night pre-cruise (http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/california/hampton-inn-los-angeles-intl-airport-hawthorne-LAXHTHX/index.html).

We need a "free" (tip, please!) shuttle from LAX to the Hampton, and a "free" hotel shuttle from the Hampton back to LAX to catch the Carnival shuttle on our sailing date.

Any opinion's will be appreciated! We've never had a bad stay at a Hampton Hotel, but you never know... !

Thanks,

I haven't checked the times but By the bay said there was a 2:40 p.m. departure.

 

The first hour will be through the suburbs of Sydney. You'll then go through the Hawkesbury/Central coast which is green bush by the water and outer urban for another couple of hours, so would probably take you close to 6 p.m (assuming 1440 departure).

 

Once you get past around Maitland it starts to be country, but depending when you're travelling (I'm guessing Summer) you'll probably have another 2 hours of light. That's typically scrub and spread trees, you may see kangaroos then but no guarantees.

 

The rest of the trip would be at night.

 

 

There's a range. Assuming not school holidays (which it may be as I don't know your travel date), you could get a fare on special with Qantas around $100/person, which I'd suggest as luggage and food is included. Tiger is generally the cheapest, but is riskier, lower service, and luggage and food are extra. Jetstar and Virgin have inclusions/costs in the middle of those two. As international travellers with luggage and connections and wanting an optimal experience, I'd suggest Qantas for the best value.

 

School holidays don't usually get specials, so the price will generally be around $150-200 with Qantas and about half that with Tiger.

 

They restructured their site and company a little while back, so things aren't as well planned as they could be. Let us know if anything's unclear though.

 

For what it's worth, on the train you'll have more space, catch it at Central in the City and get off at Roma st in Brisbane, so are in the city at both ends. Whereas with the flights, sydney airport is about 15km from the city in Sydney, and about 25km in Brisbane so you're up for about $50 at each end in taxi costs, plus check in time.

 

The seats in the trains are similar to airlines though with only a slight incline (probably a little more than the plane), although more space and two abreast. But you'll then be sleeping in those seats for that night into Brisbane, plus the earlier start there when you arrive, which isn't great.

 

But on the other hand, it won't have cost you any more time compared to the plane e.g. you'd probably leave the city around 3 p.m. for a 6 p.m flight, and then probably won't do anything else that evening in Brisbane aside from eat dinner and check-in. So you'll save the cost of that night's accommodation.

 

Pros and cons either way.

Thank you so much for all the info you posted! It was incredibly helpful :) !

The morning train from Sydney leaving around 7AM will give you close to 14 hours daylight in summer.:)

 

The downside is the need to change to a coach at Casino for the final 3 plus hours into Brisbane. This coach goes through the Gold Coast area, which will be lit up at night and is a holiday mecca for many tourists.

 

The night train has the minus of arriving very early in the morning. Sleepers would be an advantage.

 

The trains have two classes with first class providing larger seats and more leg room. Sleepers are only available on the night train and for first class passengers only.

Thanks for your input! I'm thinking we'd enjoy the early afternoon train. We want to see Australia!

I can't tell all of you (Australian's:)) how much I appreciate everything you post! If you ever end up in Arkansas (USA), please let me know and I'll reciprocate!

Fern

BTW. October in Australia is Spring, not Fall (we call it Autumn) and February is still summer. Autumn begins in March.

 

Wouldnt catch me in one of those small ships crossing the ditch between Australia and NZ. Bad enough sometimes in the big ones. Guess you could be lucky though.

We're planning to take a Princess cruise from Brisbane, round trip to New Zealand, next October. Do you think we'd have a problem? Thanks so much for your help!