Ondine

I am assuming that that Stockperks have access to Carnival's list of shareholders which should give your name and address and number of shares. I believe that this would be public property as I worked in the stockbroking business.

When I look at the app it lists all of the Carnival ship brands as being eligible for "redemption". Aida, Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Holland America, P&O UK, P&O Au, Princess and Seabourn. It does make it easier to apply not having to provide an updated certificate. Wonder if any other lines will follow suite. There are other varied companies listed which obviously give shareholder benefits.

I registered with Stockperks when it started (sometime late last year??) and received OBC for the cruises I had booked up until last month. I just attached a copy of my last holding statement. No bank details or anything else. I am with Comsec so people will probably know the problems we have with getting an up to date statement. On Thursday I decided to see if I could get OBC for my next cruise so just went in to the app and clicked on redeem and put in my next booking number and date etc. I didn't have to attach any proof so I assume they can run a check on the share registry since they are in the business. I applied on Thursday 11th and it was granted yesterday Friday 12th even though the cruise is 6 months away and it is a Princess cruise. So simple compared to the old way which applied the 3 month rule and always wanted an updated statement.

Just saw this. Looks like someone who couldn't make up their mind.

We watched the suitcases being taken ashore. Because of their thoughtlessness we were nearly 3 hours late leaving port by the time we got the pilot and tugs back and found another slot in the queue. No idea if they intended to skip ship or couldn't care less about consequences.

...

Early Feb on Pacific Explorer in Auckland, our last port of call before returning to Melb. We were minus 7 passengers at 3.30pm final boarding time. After 15 minutes 3 sauntered aboard. Another 15 minutes and 2 people had phoned ahead to say their taxi had trouble and was late and eventually they arrived. So still missing two. By now we had lost our place in the departure line, the pilot who was onboard had gone elsewhere to another job and the tugs also departed leaving us to sort out the mess. After another hour the call went out to get security to open their cabin and ascertain that these people had their passports with them and pack up their belongings. Their suitcases were duly deposited onshore with information for the ships agent. We were now about 2 hours late with a full speed trip back to Melbourne ahead of us. The captain announced that they had contacted police and hospitals trying to find them and also contacted their family back in Melbourne to tell them what had happened and we were leaving them behind. On arrival in Melbourne Border Force came aboard and wanted a report on why we had left these people behind (now illegal immigrants to NZ) and this delayed our disembarkation by well over an hour which affected other peoples ongoing travel plans. The consequences to the ship are immense with all the extra paperwork, extra costs for the pilot and tugs. The ship is responsible for leaving with the number of passengers it brings in. I have no sympathy for them. We all know the rules. You contact the agents if you are delayed. Try getting an aircraft to wait for you if you are late. I don't think so. It is the same thing.

eeeee Is this some new rule for getting on in Melbourne? When I sailed in Jan and early Feb we were still allowed to drive onto the pier. When boarding Virgin late Feb we dropped off our luggage at the gate but put this down to a Virgin thing since they do everything different to other cruise lines! I know that there have been hassles with frustrated lines of motorists when the "traffic cops" favour one line over another leading to very loud horn honking. You have my sympathy boarding in yesterday's heat. That's a long walk to get onboard. No shade either if you have to queue prior to getting through the gate. I join on Sunday for the Qld trip. I see that the blue lounges have been replaced by white/cream ones on the back pool deck. What was that passenger thinking sunbaking in 38 deg heat. Enjoy your cruise. Like following the posts.

Re my posting 12 months ago re the condition of Grand Princess. I was pleased to see when cruising on her this season that they have completely renovated the Vista lounge and it looks lovely now. All chairs have been reupholstered/replaced . The low chairs in Explorers appear to be re-sprung and although they are still low you are now at shoulder height not chin height. It is still a race to get the higher chairs when looking for a table.

In light of the fact that Brilliant Lady is now not expected to sail until at least May 2025 (originally forecast late 2023) perhaps Virgin might use Resilient Lady to do Brilliant's cancelled expected itineraries. Depending how much interest they had had in Brilliant it would make sense.

Son and I were on the inaugural voyage in December and "rearranged" the set up. He didn't quite fit in the bed along the wall and I didn't want his feet in my face and I wasn't about to give up the other single because one has a spring base while the other doesn't and is harder. They are both hard actually. We put the "U shaped table" at the end of the bed near the window then we put the chair in backwards so the back of the chair would act as a wedge. We put all the extra pillows on the "table" which brought it approximately to the height of the mattress. He grumbled a bit but it worked. We then brought one of the balcony chairs inside to replace the one we had used to make the bed. The metal chairs are awful and I spent most of my outside time in the hammock anyway. We are sailing again tomorrow using credits we got when they cancelled my 20 night b2b NZ cruises. And they wonder what went wrong. They can't seem to make up their minds what they want to do. How can you book in advance when you can't be sure what will happen? I will try to take a photo and upload it when I get back. We find that the cabin not being squared also plays tricks with your mind. It is around a foot narrower at one end.

I was told years ago by P&O to book a double and have the other person a no show. If it is a coastal then you wouldn't need many particulars for that person so no passport details etc. Use a friend or family details. There is usually no difference in pricing. A year ago one of my grandchildren was a no show on our NY cruise and much to my surprise a few months later I received the port fees (more than $400) in my bank account.

mmmm I wish. In fact I am a Pom who never learned to swim much to my dismay. Think I've left it too late. When I registered on CC it asked for a name and in my haste I chose Ondine meaning water sprite which sounded appropriate. I had just been watching a rerun of Margot Fonteyn as Ondine on YouTube. I did not mean to disparage the islands which I have been to many times. I love IOP, Mare, Santo etc. Love the people there. However I usually just go for walks around the place and then queue for 2 hours to get back on the tender in the heat!! I do wish I was a mermaid then. Mystery Island is still a mystery for me. Sick the first time we called, rained like hell the next, couldn't tender the next due to weather and the final time completely missed due to shutting down cruises in March 2020. The flip side was that we went to Santo instead which was still open and is usually too far from Melb. Not fussed about Fiji although I have done a few shore tours which were ok except that the bus drivers always take you back to their mate's shop and leave you there for 2 hours captive. Bit too commercial. Just happen to love NZ.

We just did the QE Christmas/NY cruise to NZ. We visited the Sounds then up the west coast to Wellington, then inaugural call into New Plymouth, Bay of Islands and overnight New Year's Eve in Auckland and back home to Melb. While in Wellington one of the guides told us that the City Council did not want cruise shuttles going into town and so there was now only one stop on the edge near the Beehive. Too bad for the retailers and folks at Te Papa museum where most of the cruisers wanted to go. Two weeks later on the Grand Princess we were told that we could not dock in Wellington due to the pilots say so. Weather related???? Was calm enough to us as we went past the entrance to Cooks Strait. A further two weeks later onboard Pacific Explorer we were again refused entry into Wellington at the pilots say so. We overnighted in Lyttleton and then went slowly up to Napier. Again saw no bad weather! While having breakfast one morning, can't remember where - maybe Napier - the pilot was sitting at the next table after taking us into port and talking with a friend. He was discussing the problems with the powers that be about pilot scheduling and was not painting a happy picture. Is New Zealand becoming too difficult to schedule with one thing and another? Greenies/irate Councillors and now pilots. I know 3 cruises to NZ in 7 weeks is a lot but I love NZ and am making the most of it while ships are still sailing from Melbourne, especially if I get a bargain. I go where the ships go!!!! I would much prefer NZ to the islands as I am not a scuba diver or mermaid.

Lovely day in Melb today, perhaps too cold for some.