Ondine

Just meant that the printing and layout is not very clear. Well not the pages I see. Could be better. Good to see that the stock is now at the heady heights of $13.00. Onward and upwards!!

Yes caught up in this and not happy. Booked over 12 months ago and was looking forward to 2 x 10 night cruises - Melb to NZ and NZ back to Melb. Great itineraries. We usually have longer cruises from Melb because of the distances down under. Oh well doesn't instill trust in future bookings.

I bought my shares through Comsec however when it comes to international they use an US broker, Pershing LLC to handle them so they do not appear in the usual Aus holdings. You have to log onto International and then try to download a statement which is readable. So far managed it last season but will have to do it again in a few months for my October sailings.

Oh and I get a lot of my information from reading the Virgin posts on Cruise Critic and watching YouTube. Then I follow them up. The info they send out is pretty useless. They seem to be making it up as they go along.

Here is the loyalty matchup and hopefully the link for the form to apply. I had no trouble just filled in the form and they emailed me back to say all was good within a week. Just google it if it doesn't work. https://vvprod.secure.force.com/SubmitLoyaltyProofOfStatusForm?_ga=2.134105358.124491346.1686208727-87560470.1651114964&_gl=1*3jyd5v*_ga*ODc1NjA0NzAuMTY1MTExNDk2NA..*_gid*MTI0NDkxMzQ2LjE2ODYyMDg3Mjc.*_fplc*eDNIWVJBRlBHd1pCOWRDSHNDcXolMkJ0Rjc3OFZ4dSUyRnNENlJkUmhzNFpTNEptTCUyQiUyQnVjc1VCTjQxdFhMcFNWY3UlMkJXa09YMHVvRnY0bTdjcjhhVld1elRwS1VIbjMlMkZjbWhsOWhaeWZnUks2ZEFMTlElMkJzVUFXTkdqRUVacUlwRlElM0QlM0Q.*_ga_Y9EN28SNLN*MTY4NjIwODcyOS43MC4xLjE2ODYyMTAxMzAuNTguMC4w*_ga_6QKCE3P4MF*MTY4NjIwODcyOS43MC4xLjE2ODYyMTAxMzAuMC4wLjA. There is now a cruise showing from Sydney to Sydney on Feb 11 a 4 nighter to Tassie. They seem to have Tassie on the brain now. None of the new short cruises replacing mine are suitable nor am I interested in them so will just have to see if they come back next season. At least my port charges have now shown up in my bank account. Over $1000 so that is good. Now what to do with all the credits and how to get them converted into cash!!! The speed with which they have done the refunding makes me think that this has been planned for quite some time. I think that agents in Sydney have been put out that Melbourne got the bookings and want something done about it. I really don't like 3 and 4 night cruises especially when they go to the same place (Hobart/Burnie) so not happy at the moment.

Are you aware that they are status matching for the time being. If you are platinum or elite on Princess and various other lines then on cruises prior to 31st Dec they are giving you "Deep Blue Extras" which apart from enhanced boarding/laundry and a few other things includes US$10 per day for speciality coffee and a US$100 bar tab. Not bad on a short voyage considering that all soft drinks/coke etc are free. They haven't replaced the cancelled cruises in Feb and March yet so I don't know what they will be. So far I have been advised that they have refunded the Port fees to my bank account (not in there yet) and I noticed this morning that there seems to be 1.5 times the fare in cruise credits in my account. Looks like the 50% was a bonus. I was informed that I had till July 15 to request cash which I might do because the current prices are far more than I paid. FCCs must be used on a cruise that departs within 12 months of your cancelled booking sail date. I can only see one b2b NZ cruise/s now in March remaining. However the return leg goes to Sydney via Melbourne and I don't think they would let us off with immigration to clear. If they would I would be interested in doing it because no ports are repeated and I like the itinerary. To NZ goes via Sydney and home comes via Hobart. A good round trip of 20/22 days. I haven't seen much advertising in the papers for sailing since the lock down. Maybe they do it all on FB and digital media trying to reach a younger audience. Don't they realise that we oldies have more cash and free time.

Yes Grand lost hers in 2011. Pity. The following article was from "Ships Monthly" published at the time. Must have been quite a job. Princess Cruises’ 13-year old Grand Princess (1998/108,806gt) has lost her distinctive ‘shopping trolley’ profile during a major refit at Grand Bahama Shipyard between 11 April and 4 May. Skywalkers Nightclub, above the ship’s stern on Deck 18 and weighing 211 tons, was removed to improve fuel efficiency by around five per cent. The 2,600-passenger Grand Princess was the first of a series built for Princess and used a heavier material for the ‘handle’ than younger sisters Golden Princess (2001) and Star Princess (2002), so there are no plans to remove them from these two ships.

I reckon the trolley handles are the best part of the Grand Class chips. Lovely to hide out in during the day.

It would make more sense for Grand to go to P&O as she is almost identical to Encounter and Adventure. Also she is the oldest in the Princess fleet.

Well we are off to a good start I think not. I booked 3 voyages on Resilient Lady over 12 months ago and fully paid for them. You get a 10% discount. The first voyage on 11th Dec still looks ok, 5 nights Tasmania. Think it will be a party cruise but just want to see what it is like. However I have just received an email this morning stating that "We have received significant feedback from Sailors and travel partners about the voyages available, so we're adjusting our sailing schedule to provide more round-trip sailings in Australia from Melbourne and Sydney" Hmm this means that my other 2 cruises - Melb to Auk 14th Feb and B2B return Auk to Mel 28th Feb have been cancelled. They have also cancelled the 2 preceding cruises in Jan/Feb. So they are giving FCCs and some extra based on the type of cabin booked although you can evidently ask for your money back if you want. Since prices have gone up substantially since I booked I am not impressed. More news to come in the next few days so I await the release of substitute itineraries and what options I have. I am not impressed - they haven't even got here yet.

I noticed the update the other day for 2025/26. Originally Grand Princess was listed for a complete 5-6 months and now they have pulled her and put Diamond in with the same length itineraries as in 2024/25. This is 3 New Zealand and 4 SA cruises (to pick up SA passengers). Unless someone else comes along then it is slim pickings for Melbourne with only Pacific Explorer staying until mid Feb and she doesn't get here till mid Nov. She only does short cruises also which don't interest me. It seems crazy that Princess is giving us a ship from late Sept until mid Dec and then nothing for the rest of the season which is our mid summer and better weather. I assume that Diamond will then go to Brisbane for the rest of her Australian season. Hope Virgin will come again for 2025/26 to at least give us some options. I am waiting for her itineraries for 2024/25 to come out. Resilient is staying a little longer then than this coming season. Takes years to build up clients. Hope the government drops the vaccine and mask requirements as as happened in other countries. I am sure this is a drag on bookings. I am vaccinated so not a problem there. It strikes me that the companies are short of ships after selling the smaller ones off and bringing the larger ones out. They may have more cabins overall but they have fewer ships to share around and we seem to be the ones to miss out.

They have the room upgrade sale on until 13th June and the following is some of the rules. You have to book a balcony at the time of booking so maybe give P&O or TA a call. Room Upgrade Sale Terms and Conditions *Fares are cruise only, per person in AUD in a complete quad or twin room based on lead categories available at publication date (24 May 2023), inclusive of all discounts, charges, and taxes (which are subject to change). Campaign commences 24 May 2023 and ends 13 Jun 2023. Advertised fares are available until allocation is exhausted and may fluctuate during the campaign period. Campaign offers only available on P&O’s Value and Value Plus fare types only. Fare type inclusions, including applicable terms, are available here: www.pocruises.com.au/plan/how-to-book/pricing-structure. Valid for new bookings and not combinable with any other offer. Supplements apply for other room categories. Fare based on specified departure dates. Different fares apply to other dates listed. #Room Upgrade offer is available on selected cruises only. Offer is based on the price difference between lead oceanview to lead balcony rooms for quad and twin on Pacific Explorer®, Pacific Adventure® and Pacific Encounter®. The balcony room must be booked at time of reservation to secure the upgrade. Offer is subject to availability of rooms in the higher grade. Some rooms have obstructed views. Onboard offerings are subject to change. Charges may apply to some activities, venues and menu items.

That report quoted by Cruise Industry was written in October 2020. We didn't even start sailing again until June 2022 so it is really useless to compare with now and future projections. As for the numbers from each city - well we can only sail if they give us ships so these numbers are a pretty useless comparison for anyone who does not understand Australia and its distances to try to work out how popular cruising is. How can you compare Brisbane/Sydney who have ships almost year round to Perth/Adelaide in particular and Melbourne who only have very limited sailings. I think it will take a few years for cruising to get back to anything normal. You cannot compare Australia with the USA.

When boarding all my cruises last summer the counter staff in Melbourne positively beamed when I presented my documents in paper. Even printed out the QR codes so no fiddling with my phone which also lives on the kitchen bench when not cruising.

Ah I remember that. I was on Pacific Jewel when that announcement came out and all the crew including Captain Gavin Pears were over the moon. Big smiles every where. Then reality set in and it was downgraded to be "Carnival Splendor would be a better fit". The brand new ship would be too big for us. But even that got downgraded again and they ended up with Dawn Princess. Ah - the stuff of dreams.

There was unofficial talk in 2019 of the Grand joining P&O. I agree (after sailing on Pacific Explorer in January) that she is in a terrible state. When we were berthed opposite her in March she looked like she belonged to some third world shipping company. There were broken windows in the Pantry and Bars which were broken in January and still covered with tape and plastic 2 months later. As for rust and dents and gouges in the body work - do they not have any paint onboard? I put it down to shortage of staff to keep up the maintenance. She is meant to be the flagship of P&O. I have been wondering if this why the Princess Melbourne season for 2024/25 has been shortened from 5 months to 2 months with Diamond coming here instead of Grand and then being sent to Brisbane after mid December. Sun Princess is due to debut in early 2024 and I wonder if there will be some shuffling around of ships once she is sailing. Is there another ship in the works after Sun? Correct me if Sun Princess is the wrong name.

Not sure what the problem is. I wonder if by selling off some of the smaller ships the companies now have to rethink what they are doing. Looks like Princess were waiting for Japan/Asia to reopen and now they are going to use Diamond for both Japan and Aus. First cruise for Diamond out of Melbourne is September 2024 which is early in the season for us. I'm already booked needless to say. They have provisional bookings in place for 2025/26 for a full season in Melbourne but we know that this can change. I can't see how Virgin will succeed in Melbourne because it seems a strange choice (although they are offering Air Credits at the moment) and as for Disney well that is a niche corner of the market (and expensive). They are also home porting some new ports in the USA for the first time so this could affect ship availability. I am at a loss to know why we seem to be out of favour. There had been no trouble filling ships from Melbourne last season. Here in Melbourne the COVID problem seemed to be handled very well with the authorities getting positives off the ships. Bit of bother on the first trip but after that they seemed to have it down pat. I do remember several years ago when Daniel Andrews suggested that we build a cruise ship berth out in Port Philip Bay rather than update Port Melbourne. Not sure how passengers would get onboard in a timely manner.

Sorry I think if the Spirit wasn't loading at the time then cruise passengers would also drive up the right hand side of the pier before crossing over to the left side. I think we have done both depending upon what timetable Spirit was doing. Two trips a day or one.

That is a great article. You are right the cars line up along the right hand side of the pier but then they crossed over between the Spirit terminus and the Cruise ship terminus and went alongside the Spirit to wherever they drive on. There used to be traffic wardens directing which line of traffic had right of way. Spirit up the right side then across and cruise passengers up the middle roadway then swing to the left and up and around the end of the pier to come back again to the luggage and passenger drop off place. All very good when done right.

Yes sorry I forgot about Cunard. After the 23/24 season they are no longer homeporting Melbourne. They will be Sydney based entirely. Not sure why.

Ok I was partly right. I just found this. It must have been stores that I saw being loaded from the stern. Blame me for having a senior moment. How do they load the Spirit of Tasmania? The ferry arrives bow first into the berth, with vehicle access to the cargo decks via two sets of ramps – each at a different height. Deck 5 on the upper level is loaded via a door in the forward deck. Deck 3 on the lower level is loaded via a pair of doors in the bow, located just above the waterline

They nearly closed it down completely because of COVID. We are lucky that even part of it has been reopened. I hope in time they will have sufficient money to do the necessary maintenance and get their carriages back (I understand they loaned some of them to another railway) so it can run the full distance once again. They are volunteers and it was touch and go.

Actually the Spirit came in bow first. You drove on the back and drove off the front of her. No turning around or backing out of the car decks. At least I seem to remember her this way. She was definitely in bow first.

I can't understand this "new" release of itineraries for P&O It actually came out last January. On January 28th I booked a 14 nighter New Zealand - Melb to Melb for 15th Nov 2024 on Pacific Explorer which I was looking forward to. However on March 30th I received an email that said due to "operational reasons" it would be cancelled and replaced with 4 short cruises. I am still waiting for the refund of my $2 deposit. As for Station Pier it is only Princess who have so far got a short season for 24/25. Disney and Virgin are here for the whole season and are booked again for the 24/25 season. P&O doing it usual thing spreading itself between Adelaide, Melb and Auckland. Plenty of big ships visiting. Not sure what will happen to the Spirit of Tassie part but they have the whole 7 months when we have no visitors to work on it. I don't know how much of the pier is heritage listed. Definitely the old gate house area. If they could sort out the traffic problems the old terminus works well however there is the same sized area now vacant where Spirit used to dock. Could somehow refurbish this for loading passengers from there.

We have also booked the first/initial voyage - 5 nights Melb/Burnie/Hobart - just to get a heads up before embarking on the 20 nights in Feb. I hate to think what this will be like with probably a lot of influencers/freebees? and whoever. I am expecting this to be a party/booze cruise and not the same cruisers who will do the longer cruises later. I have looked at several videos by guests who have cruised Scarlet and Valiant. I am sure Resilient will be similar. She does her maiden voyage on May 15th so no reviews yet. Some say the beds are too hard some say ok. Most who go twin (as we will) are not impressed with the configuration. I am hoping against hope that Resilient may be different!! Don't fancy head to head or head to feet but will deal with that when it happens. Lack of desk space doesn't worry me because I am not doing any work. I would like a door on my wardrobe but I guess a curtain will suffice. We have booked an standard Sea View balcony. Deck 13 - cabins above and below and hopefully far enough aft so we don't hear any noise from late night deck parties. I don't want an XL sea terrace because I don't like the look of the layout and definitely want a door on my bathroom even if there is slightly more room in them. Looking forward to the hammock on the balcony but don't like the look of the silly little chairs. They don't look comfortable. Time will tell. Food looks good and as long as there is trivia I will be happy. At least they are homeporting Melbourne and are coming back the next season also.