Muffinz

thanks for the replies - We've watched a few YouTube clips on Pursuit and the more we watch the more we like it..... the tight bathrooms are a bit of a concern, but then again you only spend time in there to shower / wash and go to the toilet One thing I don't really like about their (Azamara) website is you can't see what staterooms are available - with Celebrity and Princess if you do a dummy booking you can select a deck and see what staterooms are available, but when you go to do a booking on Azamara it just asks for all your details (name / contact details / next of kin)... I'd like to see what rooms are available first I've just tried to do a dummy booking but it's only coming up with Ocean view staterooms, so maybe the veranda ones have sold out? Wife is going to phone a friend who has cruised with Azamara before on pursuit, so she will have first hand knowledge... and she will contact Azamara to ask about staterooms / availability and ask if Azamara have anything special planned for NYE to see the fireworks - as the ship will be docked in Sydney.

thanks for that advice

Many thanks for that - very helpful!

We are considering doing a cruise on Azamara Pursuit in December around the bottom of Australia (we are also considering a Princess cruise around the same time) and have some questions that hopefully seasoned Azamara cruisers can answer. We've cruised once before on Celebrity Solstice in 2018, so we're not totally new to cruising. Looking at the overview of Pursuit on cruise critic it looks like the ocean view cabins / rooms are slightly smaller than the interior or balcony cabins? (there are no interior cabins available on this particular cruise). What are peoples experience with an ocean view cabin compared to a balcony cabin? When looking at the pricing for the cruise, a Balcony room was $5,000 (NZ) more than an ocean view cabin - is it really worth paying that much extra for a balcony room? The overview of the cabins (on cruise critic) says "Because the ship originally was built in 2001, cabins in general are fairly snug" and "Bathrooms also are tight though well-appointed, with a sink, shelves, toilet and showers. For most cabins, showers are a squeeze...." What are peoples opinions on this? - are the cabins / bathrooms smaller than say Celebrity Solstice? Are there draws where we can put / hang up our clothes and is there room in the cabin to store the empty suitcase? We couldn't see anything regarding drink packages - are drinks (basic beer / wine / spirits) included or are they extra? We also couldn't see anything about Gratuities / Tips.... when we booked our Celebrity cruise we were told that because we were cruising in Australia that gratuities / tips don't apply - is this the case with Azamara? With the ship being smaller than say Celebrity Solstice, would you feel the rough seas more in a smaller ship? That's all I can think of for now.... if we do book the cruise I'm sure we'll have many more questions! Thank in advance

ok thanks for the replies - we'd prefer to book direct with Princess and not use a TA if we can help it (very bad experience trying to get a refund for a 2020 cruise)

We're looking at doing a cruise on Crown Princess 14 December 2024, however, when I do to do a dummy booking and get to room selection - I click on the decks available and it just has a blue box that says 'RESERVE' - no available rooms come up. It just says Princess will assign you a room prior to sailing Does anyone know why this is and what it means? - I've done dummy bookings in the past and available rooms have come up, but not on this cruise I'm new-ish to Princess so forgive me if this has been answered before

ahh ok thanks.... booze cruise sounds like one to avoid!

We are looking at doing a cruise on Crown Princess for Christmas 2024 the Cruise we've seen leaves Sydney (Australia) 14 December and returns to Sydney on 26 December Just out of interest I checked to see what the cruise directly after that was, and it's Sydney to Fiji return, but according to Princess website it leaves on 29 December So does that mean Crown Princess will just be docked in Sydney doing nothing for 2-3 days from 26 Dec? Usually when the cruise arrives back in port, the next cruise starts the same day... unless Princess have got their dates wrong? can someone please clarify this for me?

we booked a cruise for 2023 - got a price from the cruise line (Princess), then went to a TA and they were not able to match the price we got online... our last cruise was cancelled and we had booked through a T/A, but it took over 7 months to get a refund as the T/A was very slack in chasing Celebrity

thanks - yes it does look like some sort of a glitch in the system..... I thought the price was too good to be true for all inclusive!

I've just looked at a cruise for 2025 (a long way out I know) from Singapore to Sydney on Solstice so I went ahead and did a dummy booking - but it didn't come up with any 'extras' like drinks packages...etc... I went through selecting room, dining time...etc... and it went straight through to payment with no option to choose any extras and from the screen shot below there's no mention of any drinks package, but there was no option for me to add one as it went straight through to the payment screen Are drinks included now on Celebrity?? I'm just curious as to why i was not given an option to add any drinks / wifi package

thanks for that - puts us a bit more at ease

We will be on our first princess cruise in Feb 23 on Majestic, and this thread does not make for good reading when it comes to wines. We are also on the plus package in the MDR can you ask for a Merlot or a Pinot Gris? will they just bring you a generic Red or white wine? wife is more fussy than me and likes Prosecco / sparkling wine - I assume there is some covered in the plus package? We were also impressed with Celebrities wine selection on our first cruise, but we're going on this cruise with an open mind and are looking forward to it

we'll be on Majestic 24 Feb 2023 out of Sydney.... looking forward to it 🙂 does anyone know if the Australian government are going to change / relax their covid protocols regarding having to show a negative test at embarkation? that's the only sticking point at the moment... we might have to bring some RAT tests with us (from NZ) and test at the hotel in the morning if that is still the case

so when you get the Medallion from Princess when you embark does it not come with anything? will it fit on a lanyard or something, or do you have to fork out extra $$ to get a wrist band or similar?

thanks for that - I tried that and got the following message, so I'll have to do it closer to the time

that doesn't really make sense.....you still must attest to a negative covid test.... but it doesn't need to be monitored? does that mean you can just go to the port say you did a test and it was negative.... it doesn't say you need to provide proof of the said test. This is just more confusing!

I packed too much in my carry on when we did our first (and only to date) cruise.... I didn't need half the stuff I packed, so in Feb 2023 I will have a much lighter carry on bag to take on the plane

When I was on cruise critic in 2017 getting advice for our first cruise someone had posted a similar 'packing' question... and a lady replied saying she went on a 7 day cruise with her sister and between them they had 33 pairs of shoes! I don't think I even own that many pairs of shoes!

When we did our first cruise 2018 I over-packed.... our cruise was 13 days and we had a day in Sydney before the cruise and 2 days after the cruise, so I basically packed 15 pairs of socks & underpants, but didn't need to as I was washing the old ones out every couple of days and they'd dry in no time I also took a pair of shoes I didn't need and too many t-shirts, so for our cruise in 2023 I'll pack smarter and lighter

I believe the RAT test has to be supervised / monitored? We will be in the same situation for our cruise in Feburary 2023.... but by then they (Australian government) have have changed the rules / requirements, but there are bargain chemists and Chemist Warehouse all over Sydney I believe that sell RAT Tests

Still no changes to cruises going to or departing from Australia / New Zealand / Pacific Islands Negative covid test still required to board https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/frequently-asked-questions/au-cruises/

ahh ok - that makes sense now thanks for clarifying that

That's interesting... I can't find any information online about Brisbane Cruise Terminal closing / ceasing activities... and according to Princess Cruises it's still listed as a stop on our cruise in Feb 2023 the cruise terminal in Brisbane is brand new and was only just opened this year too

Yes - if you're on the Feb 24th Cruise from Sydney to Port Douglas by all means🍺