Ondine

I notice that as well, am on the same cruise. I assumed that perhaps they are taking longer to get organised as this is the first cruise for Melb this season so maybe more paperwork and working out the gremlins re restocking and border force etc. I am sure it not anything to do with your status. I am doing b2b and the time for the following cruise (28th) is the usual 12.00 - 4.00. We will have to wait for the 11 day mark to see what the app tells us. I thought they might go back to the olden days when you boarded according to your cabin location.

Finally got an answer from Princess today and they have applied the SH benefit to my October cruises but I will have to wait for the other cruises which are outside the 90 day mark. Email came from Senior Customer Solutions Coordinator at Princess. Sounds like it got escalated. I supplied my holding statement page with the date circled from Comsec and they seemed ok with it.

I have used the both the Carnival and Princess email addresses and also sent my June statement and my up to date Holdings page although I haven't clicked on the + sign. (Will do than when I exit CC) My Holdings page shows my full name in the top left hand corner and the current date on the right hand side plus 100 CCL shares. If I don't hear in a day or two I will try again but it is very frustrating. Princess don't seem to care about us any more since they got the new guy. I have heard grumbles about the new Sun Princess being like a Royal ship with many attractions for kids (roller rides, water slides etc) thereby losing the adult appeal. Not that that should bother us because it will be another 20 years before she comes to Australia. I am rapidly losing patience with Princess with all of the changes being made and the confusion. Thought I had it nailed last year with the app but no I have to start again to find out my boarding time and all the little things. I rebooked a booking over a week ago and still haven't got confirmation. It's in my cruise personaliser so know it has been done. My PVP told me they were having trouble with email confirmations. I also have a complimentary dinner which I cannot pre-book this time around. It tells me I have one but when I make the booking and click confirm says it can't confirm my travel details or something like it.

Similar for me. I applied in June for SHOBC for cruises scheduled for Oct/Dec/Jan and my P&O OBC was given straight away although the cruise is not until end of January. As for Princess they told me to apply with a more up to date shareholding certificate ie within 90 days of cruising plus all the other rules despite I had included all the info they needed. So I again applied for my Princess Oct cruises the other day and lo and behold they came back with the usual list of rules and regulations, eg name ship date etc which I had already provided. My last shareholding Comsec statement was June 30th so I also included the page of my Holdings with the new date (17th Aug) clearly showing when I accessed it and circled the relevant date. I explained that we only got shareholder statements every 3 months but my holding statement should show I still own the shares. No luck it is as if they are just firing off a generic statement and couldn't be bothered. I have fired off another email stating that I am within 90 days of sailing and have provided what they want so am waiting for an answer. I have also filled in the online form as mentioned in a previous post so will see if that has any effect. I have since booked an Cunard cruise so will have to find out who to contact for their OBC. Anyone help me here? If anyone offer a solution as to how to manage Princess shareholder applications at the moment please post it here or if they are successful let us know. I had no trouble last season even getting it applied well before the 90 days. I won't get a new shareholder statement until 30th Sept and my cruise is 25th Oct so that doesn't give me 4 weeks between!!! Very frustrating. Oh and Comsec are revamping their international section next month so I have no idea what that entails. Filled in 2 of my jobs to do however the US W-8BN form has me going around in circles. Grrrrrrr

I can't seem to find where on the online app you upload your health (vacc) papers. I am sure you could do this last season. I haven't tried the phone app. Has this disappeared - will we not need to do it? My photo is still there but am wondering if rules are going to change. Still says you need rat test etc.

Yes it would be lovely if Princess would do us the kindness of informing us of the changes. I got upgrade offers this morning but no mention of all the changes that they are undertaking. Thank goodness for all of you on Cruise Critic or else I would be completely in the dark. On Youtube Canadians are complaining as they are also in the same boat with medallions. I am not looking forward to boarding now because last November when the Grand first arrived it was pandemonium at boarding time. Took us 3 hours to go through the terminal with nowhere to sit and people fainting in the heat. Total chaos. And we were green lane same as almost everyone else. Am I crazy to have booked the first cruise for the Melb season?????? Beginning to think so.

By the way when I tried to book a second time (straight after) and I got the message about my account not verified the free bee didn't come up but I booked anyway. It charged my cc $106 for one person so I promptly cancelled the booking and got my money back. Like I said a price is not showing at the moment.

Last year I managed to book complimentary reservations via the app prior to boarding but for my upcoming cruise this year the app tells me I have a complimentary diner but when I try to update my booking it then tells me it cannot verify my account. I am hoping this glitch will be fixed prior to boarding. At the moment the app doesn't have a price showing for a booking when I look.

Before I went on Grand Princess last season I looked into Alfredo's because it had not been available on Golden Princess. I found then that there were two different classes of Alfredo's. The newer ships seemed to have a larger restaurant and a larger menu with pasta dishes and deserts. From memory some of these dishes were to pay for. However on Grand Princess there were only pizzas available and were free. They are now saying that you will get a 3 course menu for your US$14. I wonder if this new payment will only apply to those ships which had the extended menu because 3 courses was not available on the Grand.

Also have a look at NIB especially annual cover. The stipulation that they put on over 80s is that it must be comprehensive cover and not just the basic plan.

I think it was in Feb Grand Princess ran out of Green Tea halfway through a 2 week voyage. Even in the dining room it was unavailable. They tried to find me some but to no avail. It seemed that we got what food was available when they hit shore. I remember one voyage in Adelaide that a large shipment of alcohol came onboard which was unusual but there was not much available onboard at the time. Grand ran out of Stanley Bears around Nov/Dec and that was that.

Here is a link to a video for cabin 9154 which looks similar to what you will get. https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/slideshow-cabin.php?ship=Pacific-Explorer&cabin=9154

Cunard are also doing round Aus on QE with the choice of Melb to Melb or Syd to Syd. It is 27 nights in mid Oct 2024 (16th or 18th). I know this is expensive but sometimes Cunard have bargain prices a few months closer to sailing when they sort out their bookings. I also saw a circumnavigate for P&O Au sometime in the future but can't find it now.

I can vouch that you can purchase one standard fare and one plus or premium fare when booking. I usually book direct through Princess. Son and I did it several times last summer. I believe that the new rule came in sometime in December. I drink tea or coffee so miss the coffee card. Was advised to buy the non alcoholic package for $40 - no no no. Don't drink that much coffee.

Do some googling of aft porthole cabins on Golden/Star/Caribbean or Grand Princess and you will find some pictures which will give you some idea.

If your read the PDS for "Cruises" you will find this statement buried on page 5. So much for covering people up to 100yrs. Apparently you can get cover for other modes of transport if you have someone under 80 looking after you. Sneaky. Age limits The maximum age limit for all policies is 79 year of age at the date of application. "For all policies read All Cruise Policies".

That's a pity. Eden is a lovely small town. Unfortunately there have been several cancellations there lately. We are not sure why. It used to be a tender port and then they built a new dock for the ships which got finished during the Covid lockdowns. We are not sure if vessels over a certain size are having trouble berthing there or if there is some other problem. Posters on the Australian New Zealand pages have been commenting on it.

I have just re done my annual insurance through NIB. I find that they are one of the few who will cover an over 80 yr old for cruising. Many other companies say cover up to 100 yrs but when you put in cruising suddenly they don't want to know you. I think Qantas use them for their policies.

During the last summer season (Sept to April) in Australia we had trouble with NZ authorities who cancelled several various cruise line visits to ports especially the Sounds/Fiords. Companies were made to scrape the ships hulls. No rhyme or reason or which ships or shipping lines just seemed random. The greenies were flexing their muscles because there are some people who don't want cruise ships over there at all. Which port was cancelled?

They haven't come out with itineraries yet for 24/25 here in Australia. They recently cancelled 4 Aus/NZ cruises from Melbourne for this season Feb/March and replaced them with 2 - 5 night cruises. I got caught up in the cancellations. I don't think they researched our area very well before deciding to come here and sail from Melbourne. They are planning to come in 24/25 but I have no idea what the itineraries will look like. I think they will put in more departures from Sydney if they can get berths. Best to wait awhile and see what eventuates.

I got into trouble taking cartons of water onboard Carnival Spirit pre covid. I argued that the rules said that plastic or glass bottles were not allowed but I had cartons of water and so this was ok. After a while the guy gave up on arguing with this crazy oldie and let me through. .................................. Prohibited Items: Alcohol (hard liquor) and beer Wine or champagne beyond the allowable limit of one 750 ml bottle per adult (18 years of age or older) Non-alcoholic beverages in containers other than a can or carton; excessive quantities per person (over 12 cans/cartons per person); exessive size per can/carton (over 375 ml each) Can I bring a bottle of water? Carnival's Liquor and Beverage policy states that the guests are prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages on board that are packed in bottles. What is Carnival's liquor and beverage policy? Guests are prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages that are packaged in glass or plastic bottles.

Oops I have just booked the Christmas/New Year cruise on QE. I have been watching for last minute pricing and it has come out today. $4650 for single gty balcony - BF or higher so not obstructed. NZ 14 nights. Both other times I have booked Cunard they were cancelled due to Covid. Better go for a walk and calm down. How will I tell the kids I will not be here for Christmas. Mum's gone mad in her old age. Oh dear.

Might not be of much help but when I take photos on my Samsung android to upload on the apps it always tells me that they are too large in memory. I found if I then edited them and saved them using a lesser % size I was able to upload them. I don't think it changes their clarity. On the other hand my kids who have Apples can set the size/memory of photos they take. Good luck. So much for the modern age.

I was following the saga on "another chat page" yesterday and it appeared to be bedlam with people having trouble getting to Brisbane from all over Aus. Some people were planning to drive to Cairns and board there. Think this was being allowed, others were trying to go via Melb or anywhere else that they could get a connecting flight. However the Sydney situation caused mayhem in other airports. Planes in the wrong places. I believe they did delay boarding for some passengers who were keeping in touch with the agent/cruise line as to where they were. A horrible situation.

I did read somewhere that it was an electrical fault behind the TV. Maybe maybe not.....