PescadoAmarillo

The only minibar items my DH drank were on turnaround day in Galveston because the Texas approved liquor was so vile. Finally sometime around showtime in the Princess Theater, he would order his first drink of the cruise.

Easy question! Any one of our several cruises on the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia.

I understand what you’re saying, of course, but I don’t think most of the ideas for the prices increases of late came from Cruise Critic. I guess that, as a stockholder, this one just makes no sense to me at all. I can’t think of a less relaxing way to begin a vacation than to rush to get up to the Sanctuary…and still miss out.

Amazon: https://a.co/d/iAdsfwV On sale this week at Target: https://www.target.com/p/waterpik-cordless-plus-water-flosser/-/A-10718093 They are available at different price points. As has been mentioned here, you’ll probably have to refill the water container at least one time per use, but you’re in the bathroom anyway so it’s easy to do. We use it in addition to flossing and even add peroxide to the water. Peroxide is quite hard to find in many countries.

A related question is why hasn’t the price for the Sanctuary gone up- a lot- to reflect demand. Princess has raised the price on so many extras lately; it makes no sense that the Sanctuary is going unscathed. Based on people’s eagerness expressed here, they could probably double the price and still sell out.

I agree that it doesn’t work in the bathroom outlet, at least ours didn’t. One year we took an older one and used it in combination with the wastebasket by the vanity in the cabin (and then threw it out when we disembarked) but we generally take a battery operated rechargeable one.

Yum……the Majestic Princess noodle bar is fantastic. I don’t eat pizza or burgers and love having that option, particularly on cooler days.

What’s App has been working for us even when T-Mobile WiFi calling gets buggy. Hour long phone conversations that never get dropped.

it’s been very clear for a few years that Princess is purposely running their unique and (some might say) most interesting itineraries on the Island, including the World Cruise, now that the Pacific has been sold. They know it has a negative reputation- deserved or not- since the refit and is enticing people with, frankly, the best itineraries Princess offers. We have looked seriously at the cruises in Scandinavia and Iceland in late summer and fall (including the northern lights itineraries), as Princess offers nothing else quite like them, but haven’t been able to get past the reports of ship crowding and lack of dining options.

It’s always required divine (😉) intervention to get the app straight when we’ve done something like this. In my experience, it won’t come off automatically. I’ve had to call in and go through the long hold thing to be able to anything on the app after a change like that. The app also has huge issues with booking B2B cruises, and then dropping one of them at the beginning. It just stays broke until someone at Princess manually does something.

If we can trade the Island for the Coral. 😆 It’s been kind of amusing to watch the change in mindset from years ago when Australia really did get some older, less desirable ships to today, when the (now) older ships are the more desirable ones and the newest ones are….well, let’s just say the older ones hold more appeal for many of us.

Unfortunately, the Royal Class ships aren’t much good in Alaska, either, with a shortage of covered outdoor areas to see the scenery and tale photos in rainy weather. The better ships for pools are the Grand Class ships, and, as Australia already got some of those, their numbers are dwindling. At least the Majestic has a covered pool area, which makes it the best Royal Class ship for Alaska.

I really wish I had seen your post before you arrived in Noumea. For others who might find themselves in the same situation, you can take the HOHO bus to the dock for the boat shuttle to Duck Island. Duck Island has a snorkel trail which is quite good. Combo HOHO / Duck Island shuttle tickets are sold in the visitors center where the free bus from the ship drops you off. It’s a fun day in Noumea.

Really enjoyed your pics of Russell. Russell was the first English settlement and the first capital of New Zealand. We found it to be a charming little town.

Your photos of the harbour are making me tear up. I said 100 times during the shutdown that I didn’t miss cruising, but I really missed Sydney.

First, you are soooooo lucky to call Sydney your home port. Second, I am really excited about this one. We were on the Majestic just weeks prior to the shutdown for COVID. (We got off one cruise before you were supposed to get on in Singapore). We’re also booked on it next winter. I’m very interested to hear how the WiFi works for you. When we were on it before the MedallionNet installation, that was the only (really) bad thing about the ship. The WiFi was abysmal. Thanks for taking time out of your long awaited cruise to give us updates.

What’s App has worked for us even when T-Mobile’s WiFi calling hasn’t. Very solid, rarely drops a call or has irritating levels of latency.

Heck, passengers 1 and 2 should book their own too. You get your own bathroom, and you get your own bathroom, and you… The issue may be stemming from casino offer problems but several cruises were showing up as $0 for me today also, same price for inside through suite. And I’ve never gambled more than $10 in the casino in all my cruises combined.

David Crathorne is a treasure. He always does the choir on the WCs. My favorite international date line story: on our first transpacific from LA to Sydney we had an Australian couple on board. Their first grandson was born the day we skipped. The cruise director, in his Wake Show, made a point of announcing that they had lost a day…and gained a grandson.

I have to smile at this. I neurotically close every app at the end of every day. I even close Safari tabs daily, and erase my history weekly (in the Saturday morning to do list!). But the exact same issues with the Medallion app are replicated on my new iPad Pro with 512Gb of storage. I don’t know how much memory that has, but don’t believe equipment is the issue. I have tables the issue until we get closer to deciding how many cruises, if any, we’ll actually be taking. It’s not worth it to me to fight hard now to get the mess cleared up if I won’t need to.

I wore regular Teva sandals for the cave tubing in Belize with no issue. Just remember that you have to walk on a trail (I forget how long, probably 20 to 25 minutes) uphill to where you get in the water, and there are exposed roots and leaves on the jungle floor that are more easily tripped on wearing sandals. I’m a klutz and still had no issue.

That is really sad.

They didn’t until the second or third cruise out of Galveston. Now they do, but it’s the same price as the transfer to Bush. But your experience doesn’t make it sound very attractive.

My husband has happily used Galveston Express twice this winter and will use it again. The fares differ from Hobby and IAH, but from Hobby it’s just $30 for a senior. Princess charges the same for either airport and it’s $54.