Ondine

My Deep Blue Extras and $100 bar tabs disappeared from my booking around 10 days ago. We sail in a week. I contacted Sailor Services and in a few days they had reapplied it. I had done a screen shot of it but they didn't ask for it. My $200 for the survey appears as 2 x $100 gifted sailor services. Can someone tell me if these OBCs can be shared by both people in the cabin if we are using the same credit card. I don't drink but would like to share my "sailor loot" and bar tab $100 with my son.

Maybe they could use the excuse Qantas made about selling seats for flights that had been cancelled. Namely that they are selling seats to fly and not guaranteeing a particular flight or day or destination!!!

I guess that if you have flown from Tassie to Sydney to board the ship and you find yourself back in Tassie it is a bummer. Reminds me of that other trip some years ago that was meant to go to the Islands and ended up in Tassie. Problems of people dressing for a hot holiday and ending up in a cold place without jumpers. Think that was a P&O cruise and a cyclone got in the way.

Some years ago we got a moveover offer from Princess. It was to be our first cruise with them. It came 48 hrs prior to boarding and they offered a full refund and a free cruise of the same duration in a mini suite (we were in a balcony). We took it as we live 15 minutes from the port and apart from disappointment had no other problems to sort out.

Spirit of Tassie relocated 12 months ago last October. The reports prior to moving were that they could not come to an agreement with Port of Melbourne regarding an increase in fees so they built a new terminal in Geelong (Corio) and went. Geelong were happy to have them and in the past have touted getting cruise ships there. One mayor was offering to build a new terminal for cruising but I don't think he is still Mayor. Perhaps Port of Melbourne want the cruise ships to contribute to a new terminal like they did in Brisbane but that was prior to covid ruining everything.

There is no date on this letter. How long prior to the trip was it sent out?

Not sure where they got that figure from. Melbourne Ports has 100 visits scheduled for 25/26 and that is the total number of visits including all the day stops by all ships some of which are here multiple times. It is not an indication of home porting which the article is really about. Day visits don't require all the infrastructure or staff that turnarounds do. Fewer ships home porting means less fuel and food supplies needed.

My pet hate was a dude who wore a cowboy hat to dinner in the main dining room on Grand Princess each night last month. Never took it off. Not sure where he tied his horse up. His lady wore normal clothes. In fact I don't like seeing men keeping their hats on at dinner at all especially the ones who wear baseball caps backwards. Guess I am old fashioned. Or come to think of it why people are wearing parkas on formal nights in the dining rooms.

Just newspapers beating up the cruise industry with half baked news. Yes there are new port charges which come in effect on Jan 1 and apparently were just announced last week but they are not very large. Other things are at play. Cunard announced on November 3rd (4 weeks ago) that they were pulling out of Australia after the 2024/25 season. We have known for 6 months that after this season 2023/24 QE would not be returning to Melbourne and in 2024/25 would home port Sydney, later announcing that this would be the last time for Sydney. No mention of this in the Press! When the new itineraries came out for Princess about 6 months ago we Melbourne people complained on this forum that there were very few cruises listed for Diamond Princess in 2024/25 and if you look at the Melbourne Ports schedule you can see that they were not planning to come back in the near future. P&O have got a lot of slots for 2025/26 booked but this is only an indication. Disney and Virgin have committed for 2024/25 cruising but things can change. I am looking forward to Norwegian Sun coming in 2024/25 and hope that the cruises are not too expensive because I would like to support any company who comes here. Interesting itineraries although would have to be B2B. I believe another problem is the scarcity of ships. Princess have announced that they will be home porting Cape Canaveral from this season so that takes another ship out the mix left for Aus. I heard that they are also going to do the Antarctic voyages again which is in our summer. It took us too long to get started after Covid lockdown and companies have looked elsewhere to position their now limited number of ships. Remember they sold so many off. They work years in advance.

Slightly off topic but I got an email this afternoon from Princess giving us $25 per cabin OBC on our 8th Jan cruise because of the rule changes (read room service and charging for Alfredos etc) last December. We had booked in October 2022, a standard fare prior to the changes, That will give us one pizza from Alfredos or pay for some room service which was previously free. 14 night voyage! We didn't get anything for the voyage just completed so there must have been complaints.

I managed to lop $1700 off my October Diamond Princess cruise this morning with Princess Black Friday upgrade from a balcony to Mini. BF to ME. Haven't as yet been able to specify a cabin but have asked. Want a covered one if possible (the original booking had one) but with that saving I will take what they give me. I swear that the specials did not come out till Friday because I was checking and only the Landmark sale was showing for Melbourne. Happy Little Vegemite.

The Grand is 25 yrs old. Oldest Princess ship. I was also grumpy because my cabin was above the Vista lounge and every night there was loud music until 11.30pm. Sometimes even live bands. I was not very impressed and rather sleep deprived by the end of 3 weeks. On her again 8th Jan so hope that the bug is under control by them.

Are they giving any compensation? It got very tiring having to vacate cabins and pack up on the first voyage and all they did was keep reminding us the wash our hands and use cabin toilets. I would have if they were working which my area they weren't in the mornings for the first week. Other areas were having problems with toilets also. Heard people from other decks complaining. I know that somehow they have to get rid of it but a little compassion and even $50 would have softened the inconvenience which we went through. Really puts a downer on the voyage especially if it is a long one.

Can you status match? That is what we did.

The Deep Blue Extras etc was extended to sailings until end December 2024. It is on their loyalty page.

I caught the tram down to Port Melbourne just to have a look at Pacific Eden when she first came. Booked a 4 night cruise on her to KI and then a longer (I think 12 nights) one to the Islands. Very much a boutique ship after Pacific Jewel. All that brass and velvet.

Are they banning cargo ships and tankers or only cruise ships? If it was only the Sounds then surely ships could continue to the main ports. I believe they have also been banned in Tauranga in the past. Do I smell a rat?

Oooh our coffee is pretty good.

It is the perk for their loyalty program at the moment. They status match. Hopefully the link will take you there. Priority boarding/laundry/$100 drinks tab etc. Not bad. https://www.virginvoyages.com/sailing-club

Yes one of the stops is near to the entrance for the cable car. First stop on shuttle.

I saw Emma Cruises youtube and she said that she could get Diet Coke at certain bars. I understand that you get coke from a fountain (?) if the machine is there but if not then you are given cans of coke from the other bars. Son lives on coke so we will find out in 2 weeks. I discovered 2 days ago that Deep Blue Extras have disappeared from my booking so am now trying to get them reinstated. Problems I don't need!!!

Err don't you mean bare baby. Not much fur there.

I found this in FAQs From your waiters and stateroom stewards to the many more people supporting behind the scenes, every Cunard crew member puts their heart and skill into ensuring you experience Cunard's legendary White Star Service. To ensure crew in these areas are rewarded for the service they provide to you, and to eliminate the need for tipping, a hotel and dining service charge is added to your on board account and every dollar collected goes directly to the crew members. There is no administrative fee. Of course, should you wish to individually reward any other crew member who has made your time on board particularly memorable, please feel welcome to do so. Casino personnel do not share in the hotel and dining service charge as not all guests use their services. For all bar, wine and salon services, a charge is automatically added to your on board account for each purchase, which is shared amongst the crew in these teams. How are these charges calculated? Hotel and dining service charge Amounts vary by stateroom category as follows: Queens and Princess Grill Suites $16.50 per person per night Britannia Staterooms $14.50 per person per night For bar, wine and salon services A 15% charge is automatically added to your on board account for each purchase

Don't forget to do Status Match and apply for Deep Blue Extras.

I have Cunard for Christmas and was expecting this. I notice if you look at booking confirmations I used to wonder why P&O Au would charge in excess of $450 for Port charges and fees in NZ yet Cunard was only charging around $90. Then one day the penny dropped.