Nang

7 hours ago, arxcards said:

They are currently on a 3 night cruise to nowhere, and it makes much more sense to take care of it on an itinerary that doesn't have set ports to go to. They have been cruising slowly near Kangaroo Island, in a similar location that one of the other ships had their hull cleaned. If they aren't doing it today/tomorrow, it is really bad planning

Good call arxcard, as it turns out the hull was cleaned this morning. We got a message this afternoon from P&O to say its all done and we are allowed into NZ ports, but still not the fjords.

6 hours ago, MegCV said:

Hi,

New to HAL, but have cruised on Azamara and NCL. I'm looking for input on following.  We booked through large US travel agency a seven day cruise to Norway this summer. Did Have it All package as the math with drink package, $100 excursion p/p, upscale dinner and $275 TA showing everything but HAL excursion data didn't. After verifying OBC was showing I called HAL excursion desk and they advised OBC can only be used on the ship, i.e. wouldn't show up in my account until after embarkation. Would love to use OBC for excursions beyond $100 each we received.  When I called TA, he thought OBC is in account at time deposit on booking is paid.  He conferred with manager and verified HAL OBC is available only on ship.  He said this is not always the case.

 

Is this OBC policy normal with HAL. Thanks.

In my experience OBC is just that, credit to be used once on board.

The bio hazard is apparently growing well on Explorer's hull ....

P&O have just advised via email that the hull needs a partial clean before we are allowed into NZ, anywhere in NZ it seems. The clean is hoped to occur during our transit from Adelaide to NZ, weather permitting. If it can't be done there will further changes to the itinerary. We may end up having an Aussie port only cruise or an all sea days cruise. We can, if we wish, cancel now and get 100% credit.

We will be embracing the uncertainty of this mystery cruise and not jumping off.

On 3/8/2023 at 9:30 AM, dazadelaide said:

Just received an e-mail from P&O saying our day cruising through fiordland in New Zealand next week has been cancelled.

Has this happend to any other P&O cruises recently?

I know  N,Z. has stopped other lines because of bio hazards on their hulls, but the Explorer had their hull cleaned last month supposedly.

Daz

Just got another email about hull bio hazards. The hull needs a new partial clean before we are allowed into NZ, anywhere in NZ it seems. The clean is hoped to occur during our transit from Adelaide to NZ, weather permitting. If it can't be done there will be an announcement during the cruise of further changes to the itinerary. We may end up having an Aussie port only cruise or an all sea days cruise. We can, if we wish, cancel now and get 100% credit.

We will be riding this wave of uncertainty and see where it takes us.

Note that this has also occurred for Cunard, Viking, Azamara, Oceania, Princess and perhaps others. Also its not just a one off, Cunard ships have missed the fjords on multiple sailings.

Just been advised by P&O that the Explorer will not be sailing into the NZ fjords next week. No real surprise although my hopes were raised when friends who have just completed an all at sea comedy cruise advised they had an unscheduled stop at Kangaroo Island for hull cleaning.

Getting $50 OBC per person as compensation.

23 hours ago, dazadelaide said:

11 days to go and still waiting for room allocation

no news here either

They are also fine at night if not eating in the main dining room or specialty restaurant.

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

I always understood that Australia was much the same as UK/Ireland for booking conditions and once you had paid your deposit you were locked in.  All this talk about 're-faring' and 'cancelling and rebooking' is North American booking conditions.  The rest of the world is screwed. 🙄

I am an Aussie and have refared a number of times with no penalty, same booking number, same cabin at a lower price with the most recent time being for a September 2023 cruise around the Mediterranean .

1 hour ago, dazadelaide said:

Hi all,

We are going on the explorer on March 13 and are wondering if covid rats are required before boarding.

Thanks

Daz

Yes. Copied below from the P&O specifications for your (and our) cruise.

Guests are required to take a self-administered Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) within 24 hrs of boarding or a PCR test within 48 hours before boarding and carry evidence of the negative RAT or PCR result. Click here for more details.

16 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Yes, they are owned by the same parent group.

Yes owned by the same group but I do not believe that your Princess loyalty level carries across to HAL except for 1*.

I have to agree with you about Celebrity staff. On my only X cruise about 4 years ago on the Solstice the outside and pool bar staff were just lazy. Very friendly but way too focussed on talking and joking around with their work mates to clear tables or empty ashtrays. On one boozy afternoon at the aft outside bar I had 6 beers. I had to to order every one personally from the bar and take it back to my table. After 2 1/2 hours when I left there were 6 empty beer bottles on the table.

Other than that I quite liked the cruise. Food/cabin/ship was good (on a par with HAL) while the entertainment and Captain Alex were really great - way better than HAL at the time. Previously I had not cared whether I saw or heard from the captain but after being on board with Captain Alex I now know and really appreciate that a passenger focussed captain can add immensely to my cruise experience.

22 hours ago, dazadelaide said:

hi all, we are on the explorer in march. 

I am wondering if p & o are doing e-muster or do they still do the station muster on the deck.

thanks in advance

Daz

Need to get name marked off at an inside location. In The Boss's case at a bar which she thinks was  their muster station but I would expect the actual station to be at a lifeboat. No  lecture about procedure and she is not sure if she was supposed to watch a video on the cabin tv (they didn't turn the tv on once for the whole cruise).

You will see dancers to recorded music (no singing) who I believe have 3-4 different routines. Perhaps a comedian and/or magician for 1 or 2 shows and likely guest musical performer who specialises with an instrument and performs perhaps twice. No traditional stage shows whatsoever.

By July I expect the classical group who currently play 6 nights a week will be travelling from one ship to another to perform a small number of performances on the main stage before moving on. There will be two piano players/singers working together and a rock band or BB Kings blues band that will play 6 nights a week (2-3 shows a night in a large bar area).

If you look through the posts on this board you will see much discussion and debate about this topic. 

I do not understand why folks would prefer aft views (although the lack of wind would certainly be a bonus). You see something interesting and it is too quickly going - photo opportunities are surely lost. When viewing from either side you can see a waterfall or whatever coming up and be ready for the best photo or viewing opportunity as it slides past. 

Why do you want bluetooth connectivity?

If you are looking for access to movies you will find that the Koningsdam provides a varied and numerous range of on demand movies on your cabin TV, even some recent releases.

On 1/12/2023 at 2:13 PM, Sparky74 said:

And once again it’s time for…

 

P&O's 48 hour Flash Sale!

The Boss and I are booked to NZ mid March on the Pacific Explorer and friends are keen to jump on board with us. The current deal is pretty good (base fare $1374pp inside guarantee with $150 OBC) but they were hoping for another flash sale in the next few weeks. Do these sales come thick and fast or will they have likely missed the boat?

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Fruit buns should be a year round staple, it is only the icing on top that makes them cross.

Icing, what icing? You must have weird hot cross buns in Canberra these days. That cross is baked into proper hot cross buns. Not surprised Canberra hot cross buns are cross given their unfortunate icing.

You might want to post this in the Australia/NZ cruisers board rather than a board about particular ports. I expect you will get way more responses over there.

Viking is a more upmarket line than Holland America, Royal, Princess, Cunard, Celebrity and P&O Aust and will be more $$$s. I would focus firstly on the itinerary and then choose which line. We are booked on a P&O Aust 14 day cruise to NZ in March and it is very cheap but only has 4 ports in NZ (plus the Fjordlands cruising) which I would definitely not choose if it was our first cruise to NZ. We do not get to go to Bay of Islands, Tauranga or Auckland but we do have a stop in Melbourne. If you are keen to stop at Christchurch make sure the port is Lyttelton/Christchurch rather than Akoroa which is a very long bus ride from Christchurch.

You might want to look into the possibility of loading a 28 Degrees card with cash prior to getting one. I have had one for over 10 years and used to preload with cash and then get interest free cash from an ATM but they now discourage that by charging 3% of the amount even if your account is loaded up with cash.

2 hours ago, willsaway said:

On our 2020 circumnavigation cruise, I arranged a private tour for 10 from Taste The Barrosa. They picked us all up at the cruise terminal and we had an excellent day. Dropped back in plenty of time to board. The owner is a lass named Nicki. I can highly recommend her company. Is it still operating post Covid? I have no idea but I would hope so.

It seems they are still going https://tastethebarossa.com.au/

6 hours ago, dazadelaide said:

We are doing an Adelaide- New Zealand- Adelaide in March

Daz

Us too. First time on P&O for me but The Boss (AKA Trudi) did a 5 day cruise out of Adelaide about a month ago and was keen to go again. She did comment that while shabby on the outside the interior was in pretty good nick.

4 hours ago, oldbluff said:

On Koningsdam last week, I asked two lead bartenders what happens with bar tips, both cash and a tip amount added to a drink receipt.

 

Both gave me the same answer. Cash tips are pooled among bartenders, either across the ship or for a group of bars. Tips added to a drink receipt go only to the bartender listed on the receipt. This is the opposite I would expect, but there was no misunderstanding my question and their response. It was still early in the evening. 😁
 

I am unsure what the protocol is for beverage servers, as I only asked a couple bartenders about their tips given directly to them.

 

Cliff

On the Rotterdam in August I observed the lead bartender in the Rock Room bar being handed a cash tip by a passenger who thanked him for his service over the cruise. He thanked her and explained he would put it in the pool. The passenger insisted she wanted him to keep the tip for himself as he had earned it. Once again he thanked her and explained tips go in the pool. She was clearly not impressed, shrugged her shoulders and walked off. The notes were placed in a small open topped box next to the till. 

Copenhagen, Barcelona and Rome are great cities to visit. If you haven't been to Copenhagen or Rome I would strongly encourage you stay a few nights before/after the cruise - its a long way to go for just an 11 day cruise. I would want at least 2 full days in Copenhagen and more in Rome (which is about about 75kms from the cruise port). There is so much to do and see in Rome you could easily fill in a week. Check out the ports board to determine a list of must dos for each port.

Yes, why are you hesitating???

I have previously read on these boards that the exchange rate HAL tends to apply is very generous.