cheeky_minx

Yes there were plenty of vans and the staff directing passengers accordingly re group size and amount of luggage etc... All very organised.

Forgot to mention Pacific adventure offered airport transfer from ship $20 each.

$90 to terminal 3. Cost was due to Sydney’s one way road system and tolls plus it was peak time.  There is a train from circular quay to airport - we’ll do that next time depending on flight time… 

Just getting back to you on this. Got off Pacific adventure at circular quay this morning picked-up bags  and then took lift to level 3 taxi rank....   Plenty of cabs and staff organisig passengers into them.  No wait time for us - got off about 8am

Agree, definitely taxi.  They know the ships are in and there is a constant stream of taxis doing the run  from port to airport.  We'll be doing that again in December. I'll come back if there is any change to to what we usually experience. 

7 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

 

QUALITY of ingredients is a MAJOR difference. Even if they are using the same menus (not ones being phased in), the taste is NOT the same. 

 

We've been on seven cruises since cruising resumed in 2021, the last 3 in November and December (just off Discovery yesterday), and the food quality is lacking.  The menu selections were the same, but the taste was not.

 

We had the best food on Majestic.

Agree. We’re on the majestic now and MDR food has been excellent.   

Hiya

Sorry to hear you haven't had a response yet.  On their contact us page https://www.pocruises.com.au/contact-us they have a number for overseas customers International calls (from overseas): +612 7209 7121.

They also have online chat (although the hours from UK wouldn't be convenient!), but it worked well when I had queries. Further down that page there is an online form for a cruise planner to assist you.  Note, cruising is just starting back up in Australia so I imagine they have been busy the past couple of weeks.

I just booked my first P&O cruise and while the phone was busy I had the option to leave a message and someone got back to me straight away and they have been very helpful. 

Hope that helps ... 

Doing first P&O Azura to Norway wanted to do Norway and wanted to try P&O UK. Love the look of Britannia maybe next time. Have found with other lines there intends to be more similarities than differences with things like food quality being subjective. We're looking for great itinerary, good food, great company (or at least people to chat with) and a sense of day at sea and getting dressed for a night out in the evenings. Loved Celebrity Eclipse/Solstice ship decor but can be dearer for us (might be an OZ thing) and drinks/speciality dining more expensive - having said that they always seem to have 1,2,3 promotion. We've found RCI, Princess and Celebrity all had multiple nationalities and ages but obviously cruises out of particular ports appeal to locals... Independence from Southampton was a longer cruise (18 nights) so older passengers and while it had a lot of activities most onboard entertainment was geared to them eg. pianist singalongs... Now we consider not just the itinerary and ship, but also duration and departure port. Having said that they have all been wonderful and the ships are often big enough to avoid what doesn't appeal...

OOh - where did you do this? We've been struggling to figure out what to do in Ko Samui as well (would probably just do a taxi tour type thing, or day pass to a resort - BUT cooking class is totally my thing and we would love that!!

 

[to the OP, we're doing our first Asia cruise on Azamara in November - 10 nights Singapore to Hong Kong. HAL has similar but longer itineraries I'd been looking at for ages (16 nights) but husban d says that's too long to be away from his business at the moment (with all the added travel days, etc:p) So this will be a nice intro to the region for us (we've both traveled in China, but all the ports on our AZ cruise are new to us!) And we will be doing food tours or cooking classes every place we can :D

It was a ships tour... Nora Beach Resort... cooking outside on the deck overlooking the beach. Executive chef demo and then we cooked our own soft shell crab... soup we didnt cook but was 2nd course .... 3rd course we cooked in pairs... prawn pad thai... ate on the deck then a couple of hours to use resort facilities beach/pool.... about 30mins each way from port.

We'd never done anything like that before... great fun

Dear Mary

Your other question about what to see and do in these ports

Recently been to Bangkok and HoChiMinh ... did the best of ships tour for each.

Bangkok did a river boat ride, Grand Palace, national history museum, temple ... the floating market is long gone, but the river boat ride gives you another perspective on Bangkok, we fed cat fish... Grand Palace, while hot and crowded was spectacular

Ko Samui - we're not beach people so did a Thai cooking class at one of the resorts - got to cook and eat lunch and then use of the resort facilities. Also got to see some countryside on the way. Something a little different

HoChiMinh - definitely visit the reunification palace, checkout the post office /notre dame cathedral... didnt do the tunnels but others said that was a real experience

Singapore - Singapore Zoo, breakfast with the orangutangs, Botanics gardens, Jurong Bird Park, Gardens by the Bay, the Aquarium, walk the river at night, china town for great food

Hope that helps ...

Dear Mary

Have done a few Asian cruises... Both those itineraries look great. Havent done Cambodia would love to, but equally two stops in Vietnam is a bonus. Enjoyed all those the other stops.

I dont think you can go wrong with either of these itineraries as a first Asian cruise. Definitely recommend a few more days in Singapore before or after - as others have said - it's a fabulous place.

Diamond is a favourite ship been on it twice and october trip is also on it - cannot comment on constellation however did enjoy our celebrity cruise. Have cruised RCI and enjoyed it as we do princess and celebrity... there are definitely more similarities between the lines than differences...

Preference might come down to ship size and layout and obviously the pricing you can get. I know Princess have a sale on at the moment ...

To confuse things even further you might want to look at this one includes the straits of malacca - another great itinerary for a first Asian cruise

http://www.princess.com/find/cruiseDetails.do?voyageCode=M704A

tough choice, but good luck with it...

If you're already confirmed for 7:45 it should still be confirmed. The waitlist shows in the drop down menu if you want to change your dining preference.

 

Check your personalizer where it should look something like this... :)

Thanks for that ... ours is the same as yours pic... just the waitlist #56 alongside threw me a bit...

In the last few weeks ATD became available on our October cruise with a wait list on both TD sittings.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Looks like we are on the same cruise in October... just checked personaliser - Yes ATD now available... but our TD which WAS confirmed as 7.45pm for two is now waitlisting #56...

I did call Princess a while back and they said ATD definitely not availalable - they must have changed their minds ...

I agree... the variation is incredible!!

Was on the Dawn in February and the presentation of the 50th was much like the Regal --- the dessert was spot on identical... IMO the presentation of the soup and pate was nicer even... wish I had taken photos... I loved the menu!!

Looking forward to having it again on the Carribean ... interesting to see how that compares...

On a recent cruise I rang princess and ordered and paid for some gifts for the cabin and the vouchers were waiting for us.

However, that same cruise I did not travel with DH who arranged surprise flowers and chocolates for the cabin.

They were not there on arrival or vouchers - and I didnt know he had... a day or so later he asked about the flowers. I then had to spend 3 days in a row checking back with the passenger services who confirmed they had received the order and it would be arranged that day... eventually day 5 into the cruise the flowers arrived...

Day 4 a voucher arrived ... I had to go to the boutique (when it was open at sea) to collect my chocolates...

Disappointing and a bit of a hassle ... I politely said to my DH it was a lovely gesture but please don't do it again :(

PS: the flowers arrived with a voucher sticking out the top 'Duplicate' and so did the chocolates....

I hope some other deserving passenger enjoyed the first lot!!!

Hiya just off the Dawn yesterday...

Most of the whites we were drinking were between $33 and $39 a bottle... from memory the houghtons white classic was $33. They keep bottle for you in dining room so one was doing the 2 of us two nights... red were about the same... there is also a reserve list at the back and from there had a great red at $48.

Glasses were 8, 9 or $10...

Hope that helps....

I thought that would be the case. Might have to look at something less popular to get a deal.

Hiya, we will be on the Diamond for this NZ Christmas/New Year - we didnt see a price drop since we booked in January and the cruise was a sell out by about Aug/Sept. However the one that is going now Sydney-Auckland (same itinerary just in reverse) - last minute cabins were reduced by half price ~$1500 for balcony...

Well we have decided to do a Christmas and New Year Cruise on the Diamond Princess from Sydney to New Zealand and return in 2014.

Looking forward to the cruise and enjoying Christmas and New Year at sea.

What can I look forward to? If you have been on a cruise similar to this can you let me know what your experiences were?

Hiya John

It's Jane and Carl ... we met on the Sun Princess a few years back... our honeymoon cruise.

We are doing the Diamond this Christmas from Auckland to Sydney - I'll let you know how it is when we get back. We have been on cruises leading up to Christmas before and they really do get into the spirit of it. Decorations, carols, etc...

We did the Diamond Princess last year Alaska to Beijing - it is an absolutely beautiful ship.

Hope you are Eileen have been keeping well. From your signature looks like you have a few cruises to look forward to....

Jane