jessica3152

The rules for both Gala Nights and Smart Casual nights are pretty clear. As long as people comply with the standard as clearly shown 9n the Cunard website, why would anyone else care?  Everyone wants something different from their holiday.
 

If you want to dress up every night, fine; if you want to comply with the allowed minimum, fine; and , if you want to go casual and eat in the pub or buffet, that is cool too. 

6 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I would think that Anna P in Q'ld might be interested in having cruising re-start. We have a new cruise terminal sitting unused. However, it is up to the Federal government to allow cruise ships into Aust waters.

 

We can all see how cruising can start domestically, but can the politicians? Will they still believe the Myth of the Sneezing Waiter?

I would think the cruise ships would be ideal quarantine. They only need to use the balcony cabins so everyone has access to fresh air but it is thoroughly separated from the general public.  Cruise ships could moor in Moreton, Botany or Port Phillip Bays  with daily tender as providing testing. Any positive tests could easily  be moved to hospital if necessary.

It will be interesting to see the extra changes that come when cruising returns.  One change I think may be considered is changing arrival and departure times.  It could be that cruises may change to end in the mid-afternoon and the new cruise will depart the next morning rather than the current same day turnaround system.

This would have a cost to the cruiseline but it would have advantages in that it would enable for a deeper clean between each cruise, testing of crew if needed and mean embarking and disembarking passengers are not mixing on the wharf.

Ovation of the Seas is now passing through the Bay of Plenty and sadly passing near White Island.  I assume it will be a sombre time for all onboard.

At one stage, P&O offered a dedicated Schoolies cruise. I think the last one was on Pacific Sun at the end of 2005. Apparently it was pretty out of control culminating in a whole lot of drunk schoolies throwing deck furniture over the side. Understandably P&O gave the whole idea away shortly thereafter.

Unfortunately as cruising has become more popular, the behaviour on ships has declined. My first cruise in 2004 was well controlled with everyone behaving respectfully. Just 18 months later, I noticed a change; lot more drunks, people drinking in bar instead of attending safety drill, kids running around everywhere at all times day and night.

I can think of a few basic rules that should be enforced that won't spoil the experience for anyone.

• No serving of alcohol to anyone looking over the limit; this is the law but poorly enforced on ships
  
• No unaccompanied children on ship after 10PM
  
• Belligerent or offensive behaviour means offloading at next port, no questions asked.
  

Don't go on Monday. Pacific Dawn does not arrive until Tuesday morning.

Great to see some more competition coming into Melbourne. Currently Princess charge much more for their NZ cruises ex MEL than they do for basically the same cruise out of SYD. The presence of Carnival Legend may temper this a bit. The growth out of MEL must also be tempting RCI to base a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity ship out of MEL each summer season. It makes no sense for them to leave a city of 4M people solely as a the preserve of Carnival Corp.

What great news that we Aussies will be allocated a NEW ship. Something many people have been almost demanding for some time now. I'm not going to knock P&O, they do have a few issues to work through but they also have a few years to lift their game before the new ship arrives.

I agree. People whinged when we kept getting older ships and now they whinge when we get anew ship. We used to think the Poms were whingers; we seem to be challenging them. I say well done to Ann Sherry etc for finally convincing Carnival management in Miami that P&O Aust is successful enough to deserve a new ship.

I just happen to be a person who has studied and read about ships since I was primary school age. I know a lot more about cruise ships than any travel agent in the industry. I know my interest. Cruise ships are a hobby to me. Travel is a hobby to me. I have a wealth of information about cruise ships and how to pick the right cruise. You just have to accept that there are people in the world that have specific tastes as to what they really like in ships and cruising.

Your change of name has not changed your insufferable sense of superiority You may cruise a lot but I just hope I never have to share a table with you; you may be the one thing that makes me seasick.

It is not because they are popular or great it is more coincidental to the fact that Royal Caribbean sailed in and took over.

RCI is still a token presence only in Australia compared to Carnival Corp. Your statement that it has taken over the Australian market has no basis in reality.

What is even more interesting is that Carnival used a photo of what appears to be a Destiny or Dream class ship in the photo so may be the next Carnival ship will be bigger than Spirit class

It could be that Carnival are planning to bring the Legacy over here which would have to be renamed to avoid offending the RSL just like Subaru renamed its Legacy to Liberty for the Australian market

Long before Pacific Sky was P&O Fairstar. This was the first ship and cruised for many many years. P&O were the only cruise company cruising from Sydney back then. Use to go on the Fairstar every year. It was small in comparison to todays ships but boy was she a party ship. Never a dull moment on the old Fairstar

Fairstar was fun but Pacific Sky was the beginning of the modern cruise industry in Australia where we got more modern ships that offered the kinds of facilities expected around the world.

Pacific Sky served as Sky Princess immediately before joining P&O doing the seasonal NZ Princess cruises now done by the Grand Class ships. A US tourist could have cruised on Pacific Ky and been generally happy even though it lacked some of the most current features of the time.

This was not the case with Fairstar where many cabins lacked their own facilities which wasn't a huge problem given its main claim to fame was that you would "share" more than one cabin during the cruise.

Whilst I'm sure the staff in Nouveau would welcome children, I tend to agree with Gerko in that the restaurant is a fine dining venue designed for adults. If you are confident that your children will tolerate the menu as well as the longer service times that come with this style of dining, then fine. Otherwise I'd stick to the MDR for the birthday celebrations which the staff there will handle wonderfully.

We did the Chef's Table on Spirit and with that there was no question. It was strictly an adults only affair

At that time of day, a cab ride to the airport from the hotel would be around 30 minutes. Alternatively you can get a Skybus from SOuthern Cross station and they run every 15 minutes.

We went to Yejele Beach in July 2013. Definitely worth the visit. The beach is very scenic but can be a bit cool if the wind is coming from the south.

We went later in the day and came back on one the last busses. There is no point rushing as the weather warms up during the day and the beach gets quieter as the days goes on. We were back on board Spirit by 3.00PM and the buffet was open for a late lunch.

The issue with the class is they are too small for long voyages. They were designed in an era when Princess was only doing short cruises into the Caribbean, Mexico and Alaska and as such were not planned for longer trips.

 

It may be shows how cruising has developed in 20 years when we say the Sun Class is too small. When launched in 1995, I understand the Sun Princess was briefly the largest cruise ship in the world.

I don't think it is the size of ship that matters on longer voyages. It is how the ship is configured. A ship designed for 10 day cruising won't have the luggage storage in cabins, or the laundry facilities that are ideal for a world cruise. It could be argued that the Pacific Princess would make for a better world cruise than a Grand Class vessel.

Thanks for that, 20th May that's far too long to wait!

 

I love skywalkers on the diamond I love sitting out to the side where you can see down the full length of the ship and to the bridge, especially in large seas. I think that is my favourite place in the world to read a good book. :)

 

The Skywalkers on the Golden Princess looks to be different, I wonder if it casts a shadow on the back pool? I love the aft of the ship so much.

Golden Princess has the famous shopping trolley Skywalkers it does overshadow the rear pool but offers a unique perspective and really defined the Grand class when it was created. I think only Golden, Star and Caribbean still have the trolley handle since Grand had it's removed due to a structural defect.

The US lines seem to be waking up that they can get much better returns on their investments by sending new ships to growing markets such as Asia Pacific and Australia. The US market is flooded with capacity and Europe is heading the same way. From a business perspective these moves make great sense and have been too long in coming.

Does anyone know anything about the transatlantic they have planned for the Golden Princess?

I assume you mean trans-Pacific!!!! Trans-Atlantic is the long way.

Where will Golden Princess sail to ex-Sydney? NZ or South Pacific?

It is sailing out of Melbourne not Sydney. It will basically do 13 night round-trips to New Zealand as well as a couple of shorter Tasmanian cruises and maybe a few South Pacific cruises.

Melbourne averages higher fares than Sydney due to the lack of direct competition. It will be interesting to see if RCI or Carnival also decide to homeport a ship there for a summer season.

It should be pleasant but not hot. I was there last July and it was about 25 degrees. You could sit in the sun and swim but it was cool if you were exposed to the wind.

We were on Spirit in July and took the higher multi-unit option. We were travelling with another family and shared the cost. It worked out cheaper than each of us getting the single unit option and meant all 8 of us could use our various devices to check emails etc. We never struck any difficulties in working out access between us.

She was a very beautiful ship when she sailed for Princess and has been said very ahead of her time. She was launched about the same time as Fairsky (Pacific Sky) but overshadowed it due to her modern appearance and number of balconies.

Since Phoenix Reisen bought her, they have added many more balconies but, fortunately, haven't spoilt her appearance.

When you get on the ship, just ask the main desk for a copy of all of the menus for the cruise. They will be happy to give them to you.

If you get a taxi from the wharf, they will be happy to wait for you whilst you are at Hideaway Island, just pay half up front and half when you have finished with his services at the end of the day.

We had a taxi driver in Vila this year who took us on an island tour, then dropped us off in the town and picked us up at an agreed time and took us back to the ship. We just picked one when we got off the ship, no need to pre-book.

Interesting to see that Carnival Corp is competing with itself on the Melbourne Cup cruises next year with P&O offering 2 cruises (Jewel and Pearl) and Carnival offering 1 (Spirit). It'll be a great sight at Station Pier seeing all 3 ships there along with Spirit of Tasmania.

Interestingly the Spirit cruise is 7 days whilst the P&O cruises are 6 days. Spirit has 2 sea days on the way back to Sydney. I assume this is because of limited available wharves in Sydney.

Pricing is also interesting. A 6 night cruise on Jewel in a balcony cabin is currently shown as $2350.00 whilst a balcony can be had on the 7 night Spirit cruise from $2329.00. Outside cabins are $1800 on either P&O ship and $1900 on Spirit. A suite can be had on Spirit for about $100 less than what P&O is offering. I think at these prices, I'd be going with Spirit!!! Obviously there will be lots of specials along the way with P&O already offering a fly/cruise package for Brisbane and Gold Coast customers.