Yaya_in_Oz

Thanks for the info. Its more complex that it first appears. I also read considerably but newspaper subs and feeds, rarely social media. I mainly watch ABC and SBS and cruise ships are rarely mentioned in those forums. I did recently book an extra cruise on Princess while its here, to Tassie. I was going to take the car but thought I'd get lost from where I live now Spirit leaves from Corio. I also booked on Pacific Explorer for Jan '25 but I don't really like the way P and O do business. They charged me exactly double for single which I think is outrageous. When I look at the invoice, I'm actually being charged more than double as they only list one lot of port fees so the room rate is higher than double a twin. They did tell me I could add another person to the booking for no charge. My younger close family members aren't really interested in cruising and when I travel with a friend we have our own rooms. Its not about money, I don't like being ripped off. If they charged double, less the port fees I'd think that was OK. It is what it is so we'll see how it goes. They have given me a midship balcony that is for 2 people only so thats really good but for a small ship they can pack them in with all those triple and quad berths.

Melbourne has many great attractions and events and there is always something new opening up to enjoy. The next thing on my to do list is to go out onto the Dome Promenade of the Exhibition Building, opened up in recent times. In earlier days I sat uni exams there and went to a few expos. They restored it and its wonderful place to attend the annual Garden Show that has found a home there. Yes, a UNESCO site and home of our first parliament. I live in the outer east, a lovely green area close to attractions, nice bush walks and all the essentials. My street has a WeChat group and a street Xmas party. Why would I live anywhere else? Now the downside ..........for me its the weather! I can cope with 4 seasons in one day but in winter with grey skies, drizzle and cold that goes all the way to the bone and I tend to suffer from SAD, Qld looks rather good and I try to get away for a while in winter.

How do you know this? Is your supporting evidence in the public domain or do you have insider information? I only ever hear in the news that Australians per capita are one of the best cruisers in the world. RCL ships are way too big, its no wonder they don't fill up. All these articles/clips about Station Pier charging too much are then just confected outrage by the cruises lines who are really abandoning ports for other unstated reasons and looking to lay the blame elsewhere?

I don't mind flying to Sydney or Brisbane to get a cruise going to PNG or South Pacific but if Princess thinks I'd fly to these ports to take a cruise to NZ, Tassie, Adelaide and so on, as Darryl would say 'tell 'em they're dreaming". I live in the outer east, so a train to Box Hill and then the 109 tram to the port is a perfect run and costs me about $2.50

Surely the cruise lines would use some common sense in these cases. Is it last ones booked, first ones off? I can't see them putting off people who have flown thousands of miles. What absolutely bad PR and they'd never hear the end of it. They'd choose locals first surely and I for one would be quite happy to go another time if there was something decent in it for me.

And so they should pay. The situation, which was of P and O's making would no doubt exacerbate the medical conditions, particularly mental health conditions of some passengers.

The bottom shelf looks Greek to me.

Channel 7 news just had a segment on this also. I think a few people will be shocked/surprised. I was aware we were only getting half a season with Diamond 24/25 and thought it would be similar 25/26. But to stop homeporting altogether... There are other ships departing Melbourne but apart from P and O, nothing in my price range. Train journeys are my favourite so perhaps its time to revisit those.

The itineraries only came out today for 2025/26 so they could have easily changed the price on the website. No booking should have been accepted as the cruises weren't open for booking. I agree they are trying to put pressure on authorities to delay increasing fees but even if that was done, they are not going to change the offered itineraries to include Melbourne for 2025/6. Thats why I'm giving P and O a go. I'm not flying to Sydney or Brisbane every time I want to do an Australian cruise. If I'm at the airport, I may as well go a bit further and I hope the other approx 7 million Victorians do the same. Princess probably think they are so precious and sought after that we'll all just fly to Sydney. As if.😶‍🌫️

Yeh, I read that but surely there would have to be more to it. $3.50 would hardly be a deal breaker on people taking a cruise. Carnival would just pass the charge onto passengers who wouldn't even notice if a cruise was a few dollars extra. I think Princess are just mean. Melburnians have supported the cruise line for many years and the thanks we get is to have to fly to another city and back to take a cruise in our own country when we have the second highest State population. Surely they could offer a few cruises from Melbourne other than round Australia. Hopeless.

I suspect a trip up Mt Wellington would be one of the last things on most passengers minds. Even if on a regular cruise the weather will probably be terrible.

Somewhere in Spain?

I'm not sure what this means. Limiting cruise ships?

All true. I guess when I read "there may be significant changes to the itinerary" and butt scrape in the same sentence and knowing the cruise lines treat people like mushrooms, all I see is red flags. I would not have embarked and if I was getting married I'd go straight to the airport. However, I can see why most people would have put trust in the cruise line and taken what they said at face value. I really feel for everyone on board as I am susceptible to ambience and I would find find being holed up with 3000 quite rightly grumpy and disgruntled passengers quite distressing and would get off in Hobart for my own sanity. I just hope there is some redress for the passengers, I'm not sure if any of this is covered by our consumer laws but all of this is P and O's fault for not having the scape before going to NZ.

Well that puts a different slant on things if its accurate. P and O should have been better prepared and have the hull cleaning done already but at least they offered a full refund prior to departure. I wouldn't need to be asked twice if a full refund had been offered before embarkation after all the horror stories I've read on here. Not easy for any international passengers on board but I'd just hop a bus, train or plane and go home. As the couple getting married said 'it takes awhile to save up for the cruise' so given 50% FCC means you still have to save up another 50% to cruise on an alternative date. Yes, you'd miss out on all those joyful sea days!

I'd be livid unless the compensation is a full refund/cruise credit. Its getting ridiculous. The cruise lines know what the regulations for entering NZ are and so there is no excuse for not having the cleaning done prior to departing for NZ. Its not good enough. I don't care what it says in the fine print about the cruise lines being able to change their itineraries at the drop of a hat. This isn't a change its a whole different destination. Well they all seem to get away with it on a regular basis. I'd honestly think twice about booking to NZ.

You win, but its not the Potala Palace. That was the winter residence of the Dalai Lama. This is the summer palace (Norbulingka) and its here the current Dalai Lama slipped out into exile back in 1959. I'm not a gardener and this palace gave me the idea of potted colour. I hadn't thought of it before. Now I go to Bunnings each spring, buy some potted colour to arrange, turf it out when it dies and repeat next year. Here are some more common images.

Excellent, now the city should be easy.....

Same neck of the woods. Try the other side of the mountain.

Red herring!

The llamas bolted years ago.

Try the mainland.

Go west and higher.

I wish I could write cryptic clues 😄

Even higher.