reeves35

Change can have many synonyms such as transform, revitalise, reinvigorate etc. All of these are generally viewed as positive. Unfortunately, dumbing-down also means change but it is a pejorative and judgmental and probably a term best avoided. It is a common phenomenon that younger people like to dress up for a day at the races. We see it every year for the Melbourne Cup Carnival. They dress up spectacularly though by the end of the day many of the girls have discovered stilettos, alcohol and soft grass are a poor combination. Having said that, just because they dress up once or twice doesn't mean they want to do it every day. It's probably the same for most people on a Cunard cruise, dressing up is great fun as a special occasion but that doesn't mean they want to do it every night.

Cunard has to go where the market takes them. If Carnival Corp see Celebrity or HAL, both lines considered to be competitors, are achieving higher per diems and greater margins than Cunard, of course, they will change the product. This may mean changes in dining, onboard apps, entertainment etc. I have never really understood why people worry what other passengers are wearing. Sure, there should be a minimum standard but don't let it spoil your cruise. If you feel special dressed up, great, enjoy your night. Other people are enjoying their holiday in a way that suits them and that is fine. Live and Let Live! I probably think the level of gala nights is OK particularly as participation remains voluntary with access to other venues if you choose not to participate though I do concede that it is possible that in future years this may further change with one level of the MDR assigned for gala whilst the other level is still smart attire even on a designated gala night. The reason for this is, for passengers not joining a Cunard ship in their homeport, luggage is a real consideration. Sure if you're just driving down to Southampton from London, you can take as much as you like but, if you are flying, like many of Cunard's target customers will have to, then you are probably restricted to a single 23kg suitcase and loading up the bag with more than one formal suit/gown probably doesn't make sense.

Many of the river cruise lines selling to Australia are on a gratuities included basis meaning there are no unexpected upcharges once onboard. This includes Scenic (inc Emerald) and APT (inc Travelmarvel). Of course, it remains optional if you want to personally tip and onboard staff, coach drivers etc. We were onboard a Travelmarvel cruise last year that was disrupted due to water levels meaning we had to change ships at Nuremberg and be bussed to Passau. The disruption was handled very well with lots of communication from the cruise director. As we moved to an identical ship, we packed up in the morning and by evening you could have been mistaken for thinking you were still on the same ship.

The EU has mandated that, going forward, all charging of devices will be standardised using USB-C. Apple initially resisted but the EU did not budge hence the retirement of the Lightning connection from the iPhone 15 onwards. On the other end of the wire, both USB-A and USB-C persist though gradually USB-C is becoming more common due to its higher power capacity.

10 years ago, the lack of sufficent power outlets and USB-A ports was not something anyone would really comment on. Both are now considered key parts of cabin design and no newbuild or refurb will leave them out. There are some ships such as Sun Princess that have included both USB-A and USB-C but most people will be fine with just the former at the moment.

Hard to see unless Alaska legislate some sever cutbacks on cruise numbers. Currently, there is just so much money to be made for Princess in Alaska where it is the largest cruise line with preferential port and Glacier Bay access. I don't think an Australian winter denominated in the Pacific Peso could make economic sense.

I don't know that it was ever anything more than vaporware.

Back in 1987, I had a holiday at the now defunct South Molle Island Resort in The Whitsundays and Fairstar came in and moored off the island for 2 days. Passengers and guests got to share island activities but cruise passengers tendered back to the ship for meals and the ship went for a sunset cruise around the Whitsundays during its overnight stop at South Molle. Island guests weren't allowed onto the ship but it was cool parasailing beside the ship and looking down onto its decks.

If the Federal Government don't renew the waiver for foreign flagged ships doing coastal cruises, all of these cruises will disappear which will be sad for these cities and a further death knell for the Australian cruise industry. I can only assume it is union pressure on Catherine King that has meant she is delaying what seems like an easy question.

I think the table was based on an average 7 day cruise. Given the capital employed, making $500K in a week on a ship that cost around $1Bn isn't particularly amazing.

I'm pretty sure they had robes. I can't remember on the slippers but assume they did have the standard single use type

I assume RC has the same issues with summer operations to NZ that Carnival is complaining about and may be choosing to limit their exposure in the same way.

We would say "polish a turd" but we get the metaphor.

Whose Facebook page was this on? What it the Carnival site or just someone posting?

If you were trying to attract a turn-out from the media, you wouldn't do it in Cairns. You'd do it in Sydney or Melbourne. Media companies are very tight with their cash these days so aren't going to fund flights of any staff from southern capitals to Cairns and back.

Much of the blame for the failure of cruising out of Melbourne can be laid at the feet of successive state governments. Over time, they have gradually ratcheted up port fees charged to cruise lines but have done nothing to address the clear infrastructure issues. Station Pier is a disgrace; it is dilapidated and forces passengers to queue out in the weather because there is insufficient space available undercover. I first visited there as a child in 1970 as my grandmother joined a world cruise on Chandris' Australis; it hasn't changed much in the intervening 54 years. A bit of foresight 30 years ago would have made the Bolte Bridge a tunnel under the Yarra and a new cruise terminal could have been built just about to where Marvel Stadium is today. On top of the terrible terminal facilities, passengers and visitors emerge out into Port Melbourne where they are greeted by a graffiti covered shell that was once a grocery store. It has remained that way for nearly a decade. They walk past this on the way to the tramstop where visitors are forced to work out the complete shambles that is the Myki ticketing system. Surely, Route 109 trams should be free on days when cruise ships are in port.

Dividends aren't really as much of a thing in USA as they are are in Australia probably because they don't have a franking regime. In US, shares (or stocks) are more about growth.

With current order backlogs, the major shipyards in Germany, Finland and Italy are pretty much booked solid until 2027. Following the delivery of Queen Anne and Sun Princess this year, Carnival Corp currently has 3 ship orders outstanding with two more Excel ships for Carnival due in 2027 and 2028 whilst Princess will receive Star Princess next year. RCI has 4 ships outstanding, 2 Icon class, 1 Oasis class and an Edge class for Celebrity. Norwegian has 2 more Prima Class on order plus a new 169K type in 2028. Meanwhile, MSC has 3 super-sized ships on order. Other outstanding orders include 1 more for Virgin and a couple for TUI's German Mein Schiff operation. Interesting to note that. apart from Virgin, all of this ships on order are in excess of 150K RT. The continuation of the megaship generation means there is not much chance of any newbuilds coming to Australia anytime soon with nearly all port facilities both here and in our region unable to accept such large vessels.

Azamara is now owned by Sycamore Partners, a US based private equity organisation. It is unlikely that they consider themselves long-term holders so will probably look to flip the asset in the medium term though it is hard to say who'd be interested.

If you are going to do the bucket-list trip all the way from US to AU, chances are you'll make it special and therefore more likely to be heading towards a more premium offering such as Princess, HAL, Cunard or Celebrity.

Outside of the public service and highly unionised companies, I don't think many Australians get leave loading anymore. I haven't had it in 25 years.

The wording from Carnival is decommissioned which tends to suggest scrapping. Of course, it is always possible that a last minute buyer is found such as what happened with Pacific Dawn which was snapped up by Ambassador at the death knell. If it were to happen, you'd probably be thinking of cruise-lines like Ambassador or Celestyal as being candidates but they have both expanded a lot in the past couple of years and may want to bed down their current fleet before attempting another expansion. What we don't know is what the real condition of Explorer is. We know her public areas are pretty good having been updated by P&O when she came over from Princess. We also know the cabins are pretty much unchanged from when she was launched 27 years ago. The real unknown is her engineering condition. Major parts may be wearing out meaning any new life is not economic.

I guess that, since your cruise is well in advance of P&O's scheduled "sunset", you are unlikely to hear anything from P&O. For you, hopefully, the cruise will be just as you had booked. I assume those that are being contacted are where the cruise is being cancelled which is all Explorer cruises post-March and a couple Adventure and Encounter cruises across March.

That probably makes some sense. Carnival cannot move P&O ships to Asia or Alaska in the Northern Summer like they can a Carnival branded ship such as Luminosa. Of course, the flipside of this is the ships in Australian waters will not be particularly Australian with US branded outlets (Lido Marketplace instead of The Pantry etc), US power sockets etc.

Yes, a permanent placement would require AUD onboard, AU power outlets etc. Tips and gratuities are really a formatting thing. Carnival including P&O and Princess include it in their pricing in Australia so it is not obvious; that doesn't mean they are not charging it. I imagine RCCL would probably use the same strategy.