MelbTone

I'm booked on a Princess cruise next year which includes Phillip Island, arr 0700 dep 1800. But it also has Penguin Parade on the list of available excursions. So presumably the actual departure time is much later?

I enjoyed Eden, walking around, lunch in town, Killer Whale and Mary McKillop museums. Beautiful weather helped.

Did it in March both ways for a cruise out of Sydney. For me a good chance to unwind and I enjoyed the trip. I paid $139 each way, first class, daytime service. Much prefer it to the hassle of airport transfers, queues, security checks etc.

When I was on Eclipse in March we were anchored a long way off shore with a 40 min tender ride to shore. Total lack of organisation and general chaos waiting to board tenders. In fairness to Celebrity they'd got their act together for Port Douglas a couple of days later.

A few random thoughts from someone whose preference is relatively short round trips from Melbourne As I write this (1710) the YT video is showing just 156 views - I would have expected a much larger number Good to see lots of choice from Melbourne - at this rate Princess may become my preferred line over Cunard A bit mystified as to the emphasis given to Crown's +230% interior and obstructed staterooms - are they targetting cost conscious cruisers? Crown is being sold as something so much better than what we've had before yet my Berlitz shows passenger space ratios of Crown: 37.2, Royal: 39.9, Diamond 42.8 and, for comparison, Grand: 41.8, Celebrity Eclipse: 42.7, Queen Elizabeth: 43.2 Your thoughts?

I can live with the way that gratuities are done save that I disagree 100% with the pool being shared fleet wide. IMO it should be on a ship basis, so that if the crew see a full ship they know that they will see it in their pay packets. With (say) ten ships sharing the pool there's really no relationship between effort and reward.

Perhaps get Cunard to sign up Sven Raphael Schneider from YT Gentleman's Gazette as guest speaker?

I was on for the Barrier Reef cruise which finished last Friday. He was very present for most of the cruise then we were told he was sick

I'd love to be told that I'm being impatient or misreading the schedules, but is Cunard giving up on Melbourne? In past years Queen Elizabeth has been homeported here for most of the summer, offering a whole assortment of cruises. Now for 2024-25 I'm excited to get a new cruises just released email and all I'm seeing for Melbourne is the Oct 16th circumnavigation and Nov 5 5-nighter to Sydney. Of course what's offered is a reflection of perceived demand and it may be that Cunard think that other itineraries will be more profitable, but it would be sad to lose a flagship vessel just when the Spirit vacating Station Pier gives us scope for more.

Very possibly: for me on Eclipse last week, basic internet, CC was unreadable on my phone - it looked like a style sheet was being blocked.

As you're a Cunarder you could, if time permits, travel via Dubai and have a short stay on the QE2. I've yet to do this myself - pencilled in for July - so am open to feedback from anyone who has.

Just come off the Eclipse, my first Celebrity cruise. Generally I thought the staff were outstanding. What got delivered in response to my menu choices wasn't always what I expected but ok. Theatre shows were mixed: Will Martin A++, the bigger up 'Topper' left me underwhelmed. Full marks to Celebrity for the super clear signage round the ship, so much better than Cunard and Princess.

I took the Princess Art Deco tour and guided walk round Napier when I was there in January - worth every cent.

On my last pre-Covid cruise one of the dance hosts was assigned as co-host of the solo traveller meets.

For the most accurate information the port may publish a live arrivals and departures schedule. For example here in Melbourne the cruise ship schedule shows Pacific Explorer arriving 0700 tomorrow; the port schedule, updated hourly, shows an arrival time of 0545. https://www.vicports.vic.gov.au/cruise-shipping/Pages/cruise-ship-schedule-1.aspx https://www.vicports.vic.gov.au/operations/Pages/ship-movements.aspx

Any OBC or FCC being offered to compensate for the changed itinerary?

Yes, after all the expectation management I was amazed to pull back the curtains and find us docked. Just had a bridge announcement but it the usual don't take food off the ship and shuttle bus reminders.

I did the Jan NZ 12-night cruise on Grand Princess and we had daily reminders that wearing a mask in public areas except when seated to eat and drink was required, not a request, and my perception was that this was largely obeyed. There were a number of coded messages suggesting a degree of Covid on board. As to discriminatory, ships are private property not public transport and they make the rules. No argument that mask wearing does reduce one's enjoyment.

To reply to my own post, on reflection perhaps the key thing is that what might be offered is 100% FCC, not a refund (under the standard T&C they can skip ports with no compensation), and given that this is only a three-night cruise, the chances are that the FCC will either not be used or used against a longer and more expensive cruise. Perhaps a cleverer response to a potential problem than I first thought.

I'm booked on this weekend's 3-night QE cruise from Melbourne <> Burnie (Tasmania) and got this email this morning: ... It is our ambition to complete the required hull cleaning in advance of our port of call to Burnie on 13 February, with no impact to your itinerary. There is however, a small chance that the cleaning operation takes longer than expected, and this could mean we’d be unable to visit Burnie as part of your voyage. Should this happen, we would instead spend an additional day at sea. We understand that not calling into Burnie would be a significant alteration to your short voyage, and should this happen, as a gesture of goodwill we would add $150 USD per person on board credit to your on board account. As an additional gesture we would also issue you with a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) to the value of 100% of your current voyage fare paid(excluding taxes and port fees). ... It looks like Cunard are making absolutely sure that their Feb 14th New Zealand cruise has no issues, after previous troubles, but I am somewhat surprised at their 'generosity' in offering 100% FCC should Burnie which, with apologies to its residents, is not exactly Milford Sound is skipped. I realise that all the provisioning is in place so the cost of food is zero but with A$210 OBC they're not going to make much money from on board spending.

Does your schedule allow time to take the train? It runs twice a day (day or overnight) and costs ~A$140 first class (and saves airport transfers). Baggage limit 2 x 20kg. https://transportnsw.info/regional/regional-train-coach-facilities/xpt-regional-trains Note that I've not done it myself. I'm booked to take it in March out to Sydney for a Celebrity cruise then home afterwards.

Helicopter evacuation pending (1230)

Sea isn't rough but I succumbed to sea sickness and spent the day in my cabin. Hopefully I will be ok tomorrow.

I can't decide whether his comments re curtailing planned activities were to precondition us for a decision that has already been made or just urging everyone to do the right thing to stop the numbers growing. We will soon know.

The rib of beef (I'm on this cruise too)