2022cruisey

The Galley tour happened immediately after the food presentation show for anyone and was free.  We didn’t eat in any of the paid restaurants so didn’t see any tipping requests.

One thing that did annoy me is the location of the smoking areas.  On the pool deck and in the 18 plus area.  

We have $160 pp per night in a balcony on RCI.  I think that is a good price.

On the same cruise and it was our first P&O experience.  
 

We thought the food was really good, better than Princess and Carnival.  We ate in Angelo’s, Dragon Lady, Waterfront and the Pantry.  I really liked the Pantry set up, much better than the Princess and Carnival buffets.  Although it was often busy, we didn’t have to find a table outside like we have had to do on other cruises.

They did have a galley tour and it looked very much the same as other cruise lines.  Also impressed by their chef show - the only one I have seen where they give out the food they have cooked during the show.  
Hung Le was funny, he was the only comedian we saw and the shows were the same standard as other cruises.

 The tendering did seem to take much longer, they were only using 4 tenders, whereas the other lines use many more.  I got into line at 640am to get tender tickets for Bali and we got off the boat on tender  14 at 1030 - long time to wait, when they started at 7.

In Broome we got shuttle bus 31 and arrived in town at 430 on a Saturday afternoon when nearly everything was closed. However we went to the pub for dinner and then to the Sun Pictures for a movie, which was an awesome experience.  Cable Beach the next day which was also great.

Ship was clean, lots of activities, over 18s area always had plenty of loungers, great weather.  Very positive experience and I would definitely go on P&O again.

My absolute favourite thing was that there was none of the fake crew/passenger interaction that comes along with trying to get tips.  This really annoys me on Princess and Carnival.

We went on that cruise last year - school holidays, completely full and hordes of kids.  Had a spa cabin so we were in a quieter place but so busy all the time.

We hired a car and drove to Penneshaw, the lavender farm, Emu Bay and Seal Bay.  Great day but lots of driving.

Why not book with Princess? They usually let you refare if it becomes cheaper, or alternatively cancel without penalty until a certain date.  Have saved thousands on my NZ cruise that we went on in January.

January 2024 our mini suite floor was wet or damp for 6 out of 14 days.

In addition to the Indonesian visa, the Bali government have introduced a tourist levy of roughly $15 as of 14 February 2024.

https://lovebali.baliprov.go.id/article/detail/1695794247752/bali-will-apply-tourism-fee-for-foreign-tourists

When you say cheap, how much is it?
In Australia they are not that cheap overall - depends on the type of cabin and time of year.

We were on the Grand from 8th to 22nd of January and the air conditioning worked well then - too well in some areas, if you ask me.  Sorry this has happened to you.  It was very clean too with lots of staff cleaning each day.  

I have taken the Princess cruise from Brisbane to Port Douglas and return using my drivers license and my kids using their Medicare card.  When it asks for the passport number you just use your aunt’s drivers license.  Also did the same for a cruise from a Melbourne to Adelaide and return.  No problems at all.

On the Grand last week there was an announcement about a week in to the 14 day cruise about respiratory illnesses.  A mask was suggested and there was a few people wearing them.  We’d all had covid across Christmas and New Year so didn’t bother.  None of us got ill.

We just had two weeks on a dolphin mini suite around NZ.  It rained and our cabin carpet was soaked. Took 3 days to dry with a blower.  Very good when the weather was fine and we stood out there in puffer jackets when it was raining through the fiords.

We were in Dunedin with the Grand this month.  It was $35 return.  As it was me and two kids, we caught the local bus which cost us $6 return each - $18 in total saving $87.  We walked off the ship and there were signs showing us where to buy the tickets - we used NZ$ which we bought from our local shopping centre TravelOz.  We also used cash on other buses in Dunedin.  Same price $3 per journey.

Internet excellent on the Grand from Melbourne to NZ and return.  Worth it as part of plus.

Just got our port fee refund for missing Wellington.  $49.70 AU.  Carnival is telling furphies about the port fees in Melbourne being too expensive.

We got ours from a place called Travelmoney.  Connected to flight centre.  Had a pop up in our local shopping centre.

We used our puffers on our balcony going through Dusky Sound.  It was quite cold and wet.

On Grand now in a mini suite on Dolphin deck. Woke up this morning to soaked carpet for about half of the cabin.  Have had a drier going all day and still not dry.  They are coming tomorrow to do balcony maintenance and suction the carpet. 

We were given the tote bag this week on the Grand.  No pen, paper or choccies.

We caught a train from Melbourne to Sydney then the train to Central Quay earlier this year.  Stayed at the Marriott then went to the OPT for our cruise.  On the way back, train to airport then flight home.   Easy as.

That’s harsh.  Covid is endemic now and it is very reasonable to take precautions.  

Spoke to Princess.  They are having a problem with the cruise personaliser bookings for Tauranga.  I was able to get them to book for me.

It is very annoying.  When I have time to book it is after business hours so live chat is unavailable.  I’m going to try to do it at lunchtime and see if I can get an answer.