Mikamarii

We did the TP from honolulu to Sydney in October. There was covid on board. No special measures taken and no issues getting off We are currently on Coral Princess on the Queensland cruise. Im sure there is covid on board. Nothing has been changed. Cruising as normal. We had followed australian cruising news for our trip. Prior to our Coral cruise rhe Coral Princess had previoulsy done a round australia cruise for 35 days or so. There was covid on the ship. When they hit western australia that is where things tightened up as western australia is still pretty tight with their rules. It was there they required guests to test before disembarking. So far weve had 1 port stop on our current cruise. No requirng of testing to get off in Airlie Beach. No mention of having to test tomm in Cairns. Things can always change but as now its just media sensationilizing click bait news.

Thanks all so much for the tips and help and such short notice. We really appreciate it. We were able to get down to the shore excursion desk and book this excursion. We were torn between this one and Whitehaven but wanted to guarantee some snorkiling for the kids and the Whitehaven excursion didnt clarify if equipment was available just that there spots for it. Plus we've done so many beaches on our way here! I wish we had another day here to go to Whitehaven beach but one more reason to come back in the future! Thank you again for the time and effort in helpimg us out.

We have it narrowed doen to whitehaven and another excursion that says its an eco tour where you learn about the reef and then a guided snorkel. Hook island? Another major problem is the internet is terrible and the app rarely works. So trying to research things has been extremely difficult. I ended up deleting the app to reinstall it and it no longer appears in the app store. Went to my preciously downloaded app and it saud the princess app is not avaulable for download! Urgh haha. Far cry from ovation internet where i was streaming live sports from home! Waiting for 9am to go to shore excursion desk to tey and book to see what is left.

Would you suggest this lagoon over Whitehaven Beach? Theres an excursion offered there that we are leaning towards.

Thats what we figured. Thank you. Cairns we are doing the the skyrail and Port Douglas my wife and I are doing a reef trip to scuba and leaving kids on the ship so Airlie Beach was our day to do the family trip. We will pick something from what is left. Appreciate the quick feedback.

Thanks. Had a look and times dont work with our port times :(. One looked perfect but leaves at 715am and we get in at 7am. Assuming on time.

Hi All, Just boarded Coral Princess heading to Northern Queensland and had a note in our stateroom about our cancelled excursion to Reefworld while in Airlie Beach. We are extrememly disappointed as our whole Australian adventure centered around taking our kids snorkeling at the GBR. Looking at what they have left for shipboard excursions there is only one i can see that allows us to swim/snorkel at the reef but its almost double what we had paid for our other excurison ($330/person) I had researched this before coming and contacted several companies but timing doesnt work out with port times so had to book with Princess. I understand the gbr is a massive area but what would people suggest we do while in Airlie Beach to get us to the reef? Are there any excursions or day trips offered at the port? Thanks for the short notice help.

It was called the The lonian https://www.superyachttimes.com/yachts/lonian https://www.superyachtfan.com/yacht/lonian/ Our family could see it out our window while eating dinner that night. We were obsessed with it haha. Owned by the guy that sold off UFC. Absolutely incredible yacht!

We got hosed by taxi service leaving OPT yesterday. We got charged 70$ to go from the terminal to the Hilton on George street which was only about 2-3km away. It was a long day with the long disembarkation and hauling 2 kids and lots of luggage so i didnt dispute it but figured it was too much. I asked at our hotel check in and he said taxis in Sydney are pretty dishonest and like to overcharge. I googled it after and should have been about 30-35$. Not worth the time to complain. I talked to concierge after and they arranged a cab to the airport tomm. Said should be about 60$.

Ovation has arrived :)

Right after we left Papeete my wifes facebook group blew up with covid cases and everyone blaming everyone else for the outbreak. Prior to that everyone was talking about quantam and how bad it was and to not let that happen here. There was a message on the tv from the cruise director that there were some cases on board and they recommended people wear masks if they choose but he was very clear to say there was no outbreak and no need to panic. Mask wearing went to, id say maybe 50/50 then tapered off again. All crew are now required to wear them also. Reality is covid was on board when we all got on and it was just a matter of time before it spread. We must be below any type of major threshold as no major changes have happened. Like you we are less risk averse. We knew covid was a possibility but im quad vaxed, wife and daughter are triple, and son is double. Were here to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience. Anyway. Just on our balcony watching the captain expertly back the ship in to port as the sunrises. We are arriving in Napier. What a beautiful country. We originally had a wine tour booked for today but the operator cancelled it a few weeks ago. Now we just plan to get off with the kids and explore.

We had a noon boarding time last week for our TP out of Honolulu on ovation. Timed it poorly with the cab and got to port just after 11am. We pretty much walked on. No one checked our times. No lineup or waiting at any point. It was the most seamless cruise boarding weve ever expeirenced. We watched the safety video the night before and walked on and went straight to our muster station to check in then the bar!

I wonder if these same people feel the same way when they buy a car. Pay 5-10g over list price since the sales person works mostly or wholly on commission so deserves it as it makes up his/her income. On our current cruise I bought my wife the unlimited class pass for the gym. They added an 18% gratutity to the price when i paid on my cruise planner. Guess we gotta add that to list of people we give dollar bills to.

No mention of Covid. I heard there was a couple positive cases on the Van-HI leg that weren’t allowed to continue on but that is only rumour. I overheard one lady on one of our tenders saying she wasn’t feeling well a couple nights ago, tested neg, then went to a shop to find some cold meds. When she asked she was sent to medical where they tested her again, neg, had her isolate for 24hrs, then test again. She was neg a third time and allowed to leave. as far as masks go mostly dining staff only wearing. Very few other staff members wearing. Guests would be less than 1%. Not a scientific pole just observation. Maybe saw one or two guests wearing. The non mask doesn’t bother me at all. What bothers me is how many people don’t wash their hands!! But that’s always been a thing.

We are on ovation right now. Left Papeete last night and heading to NZ. Amazing cruise so far. As for the vaccination rules and kids the issue or ceuise faced was that the rules were 12+ double vaxxed. About 3 weeks before the cruise they changed it to 5+ not leaving enough time for families to get their kids double vaxxed in time. Both our kids were already vaxxed so didnt affect us but i know a couple families complained on my wifes fb group. Not sure how many families it affected. Anyway. Excited for the coming ports and spending a month in Aus but also dont want this cruise to end!

We are on a TP right now on ovation. There wasnt a single scuba excursion for booking on our cruise planner. We also booked a quasi b2b next year on odyssey and grandeur doing southern carribean itineraries. Not a single scuba excursion available. We asked on board at the start of our cruise and were told they arent offering scuba excursions as there is too much risk and insurance too high. They said they may still offer them on carribean ships, namely oasis class, where they have a master diver onboard. We booked our dives independantly which is fine but we need to leave the kids on the ship as they are too young and we prefer the security of knowing they cant leave without us but is what it is. We wanted to book in Moorea but the individual websites didnt list if they would pick up from the port or not and none appeared close to where we were tendering. We tried emailing and never heard anything back so decided not to book in the event covid derailed this cruise and we needed a refund. We just finished a dive in Papeete. We booked through expedia excursions so at least we were covered in event we needed to cancel. There was a miscommunication between the site and the dive company when we arrived and ended up waiting over an hour at the tourism office but they did show and we got the dive in.

Our kids are 10 and 8. We were told there are about 100 kids on this cruise. Works well because we dont need to worry about kids club filling up. Ours have not been bored at all. Lots to do for them. They are having a blast and made a bunch of friends. Weve done two trips out land from the ship today theyve been forklifting supplies in all day. All ive seen so far is beer and toilet paper 🤣🤣

We are on the tp right now headed to Sydney. We have the surf stream package and have had no issues so far. Kids have logged in and watched disney plus with no problems. Weve video called home with no issues. There are less than 3000 people on this cruise that holds i think over 4000 (not including crew). The few people probably keeps the internet from being overloaded so maybe why it works better but there have been no problems accessing anywhere. Theres been the odd time it hasnt connected and we have had to turn off wifi then back on and it reconnects and works great. We are on day 8 and so far food has been great. I'm sure theyve restocked some things while weve been in FP but cant say for sure.

We just booked onboard. My cruise docs say that the deposit is non refundable and that 100pp will be charged for ship or sail date changes.

We are currently on Ovation. Not diamond but have the drink package. The cocktails are 15$ a piece through out the ship. Our first night we asked a bartender what amount is included in the drink package and he said up to $14 and that the cocktails we ordered would be included (they were 15 on the menu). It had just come from Vancouver to Hawaii so the price may have changed from 14-15 now that its heading to Aus. Regardless, All of our drinks have been covered on the package at 15 a piece. Im assuming if the drink package covers the cost the diamond vouchers would also be included. Side note we paid $62 Cdn for the package which is about 45$ usd. We obviously got a steal of a deal. At 15$ a drink USD it hasnt taken much at all to come out ahead.

In our experience with booking DCL is opening dates are always chaotic. Their cabins never go on sale. At best, you may get something from your TA but never a sale from disney. As such, their prices never go down. Only up as cabins book up. And they only release their dates up to a year in advance or so. Not 2-3 years like Royal. it’s almost a guarantee prices will be more after the first wave of bookers book. The plus is that all fares are refundable. There’s no extra cost for it. So lots book opening day to get a good price then cancel later. It’s good for the booker but terrible for everyone else as it drives prices up. this where a good ta becomes invaluable. Tell them what you want and they get on the phone and book for you to avoid the chaos.

Didn't go through all 4 pages so sorry if this has all been said. Family is huge Disney fans. Proposed in Disney, honeymooned in Disney and disney cruise. We were Disney Vacation Club owners for a decade. Been to WDW, DL, Aulani in Hawaii, and 3 Disney Cruises. Loved every minute if it. There is a special experience that you get with Disney that you just don't seem to feel with anything else. However, we had our first cruise with Royal in 2020 (a month before the pandemic hit) and also had an amazing time. Yes it wasn't the same feel but that doesn't mean it was better or worse; it was just different. And we've grown to love Royal as well. The rotational dining is great, and the theming of the restaurants is amazing. The restaurant, Animator's Palate, has a giant screen where Crush the turtle appears on the screen and interacts with guests just like in the parks. Everywhere you look on the ship you feel like you are part of a movie, just like the parks. I believe the rooms are also bigger and you get a split bath so one bath has shower and sink and other has sink and toilette. Great for families. There is also a movie theater on board that plays Disney Movies that are often still in theaters. They have Character meet and greets all over the ship (with lines of course) and some exclusive ones that are ticketed (they are free but you have to sign up....and wait) It's Disney, which means all that 'feel' comes with a price tag and in some cases that price tag is double what you would pay for with any other cruise line. We can get two rooms with Royal for the price of one with Disney. If you are a Disney fan, DCL is something you should experience. Each person has to justify whether the price is worth it. We know we are likely done with DCL because of the price. We always weigh the options but in the end it just comes to be too expensive when other cruise lines alos provide an amazing experience.

But if there is a tip option then they must depend on tips. Why else would it be there? How do you know what they depend on. Do we think that Cruise Ship crew only rely on tips because The cruise company tells us we have to pay it? Why do you get to decide who depends on what? I thought you said it was to recognize hard work? All so confusing. I'm glad we have experts to tell us what to do and judge us accordingly.

Oh dear, I'm confused. What i'm starting to understand is that tipping is personal preference to each person. That is good to know. I'll make sure to bring some extra 5's on our next cruise. Watching the captain expertly bring the ship in and of port is a thing of beauty.

Question for you, I got a rock chip on my windshield on my car fixed last week. I have a yearly paid subscription for the service so was free. When I went to sign his tablet there was a tip option of 5$. I didn't accept it. Am I a low life? I then went over to a drive through and bought a coffee. Didn't tip. Am I going to hell? I then had to stop and get milk from my grocery store. I didn't go in the back and give the stock person 5$. Do I deserve to live? Can you also please tell me how I am supposed to decide who works hard and who doesn't? I see so many people every day working so hard and I just don't know how much of money I should give them. Or can you send me a list of your criteria since you are the expert. I would really appreciate that. I want future generations to sing my praise and erect statues of me.