ceeceeDee

Absolutely. It's like film reviews. Critics have panned movies that I have actually enjoyed and conversely praised movies that I thought were rubbish. Yes, you can get some guidance reading cruise reviews, but frankly I've found that most reviews are written by people who wanted to have a good rant and complain about everything. Unfortunately, most people who have a good time, don't bother to leap into print to say so. Honestly, I've read reviews from people who were on the same ship and at the same time as us and couldn't believe the negative comments. Their experience certainly wasn't ours.

Just bear in mind that P&O is a budget line and Princess' poor cousin.🙂 (P&O ships are Princess cast offs). Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking P&O. We've sailed with them a lot over the years and always had a good time. Just that Princess is a cut above (but then again it is also a price above). You will probably find things that compare and things that are different or not as good between Princess and P&O. A matter of individual taste and individual expectations.

Every cruise line is different (for better or worse depending on your individual point of view and taste). For instance, we cruised on Symphony of the Seas a while back and I'm sure the Americans around us were amused to see four Aussie tourists' jaws simultaneously hit the deck when we exited the gang plank and stepped on the ship to discover ourselves confronted by a glittering shopping mall! Definitely not what we were expecting. If we wanted bells, whistles and whizz bangs this ship filled the bill. It was all very slick and we did enjoy it, but prefer the smaller ships to this floating metropolis.🙂

I've only ever been in an interior cabin once and that was way back in (I think) 1971 in a 4 berth cabin on the old P&O Iberia. That was sailing by the seat of your pants - sharing a cabin with strangers and trekking down the hallway to the communal bathroom!😯 And we plebs were separated from the first class passengers. Not that we cared, it was only a 3 day cruise to nowhere and it was a girls' weekend away for my friend and me. These days there is no way I'd go interior. I'm not claustrophobic, but I do like natural light. An obstructed oceanview wouldn't bother me (though if I'm completely honest, I prefer a mini suite 😂). All comes down to dollars in the end.

Depends where you are going. If it is a domestic cruise, there are usually enough port days to use fee wifi in a local cafe or library, unless you're desperate to be contactable. We bought a wifi package for our next cruise as it's the South Pacific and I want our pet sitter to be able to contact us in case anything goes wrong with our fur babies (and since I will have wifi, probably post to CC).

A cross between the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and Musical Chairs (Ships) 🙄 I can't make up my mind whether Princess is Juggling or practicing Sleight of Hand. Either way, I wish they'd get their act together. I'm easily confused.😂

Thank you, Les. I actually did get ferrero rocher! Along with a whole heap of stuff for our next cruise. 😉 My girls know me too well. There was also a sweat shirt with the message printed on the front: Coffee, Dogs and Crime Shows I don't think they could find one that added Cruises to that list!😂

Me too! I have an opinion, but I keep it to myself!😂

Yes, like 'big whoop'!😠

Yes, now I'm beginning to wonder. We were toying with the idea of a cruise to NZ return in 2026. Due to work commitments, we are 'locked in' to a time frame, so a cancelled cruise would leave us high and dry so to speak. I guess we'll keep watching the situation before making a final decision about booking with Princess or looking at other lines.

Good luck. Let us know how you go

Well spotted! I was so enamored with the 'principal' rainbow I didn't see it's delicate sibling.🙄🙂

Well, that's a nuisance. Well worth tapping your cruise planner on the shoulder to see what can be done. Sometimes with a bit of prodding a miracle happens. 😉

Like you, we prefer to have a sofa so that means a mini suite. I'm open to correction here, but I THINK the mini suite balconies on Emerald Deck are covered? They also appear to be in an aft location.

Wonder if they will have a 'flash' sale or just a mediocre one?🙄 (that's if they have a sale at all). As we say in the theatre 'better to have slightly lower returns and get bums on seats'.

That's awesome!

I've not sailed on her, but it would appear from doing a bit of research that Dolphin Deck (Deck 9) balconies on Crown are uncovered which is also the case on other grand class Princess ships.

Yes Darren thinks the same. I opine that he's convinced it's a close relative of the self cleaning oven.

Wanna make a bet?!🤣

🤞

It most certainly is a shame for Brisbane!☹️ Autumn in the Caribbean is not too bad either, if you are prepared to risk the odd hurricane. And the prices are usually pretty good.

Thanks so much, Geoff. Really appreciate your advice. You're a font of useful tips. Cheers CeeCee

We haven't bothered much with duty free on our cruises, though I was aware that Port Vila duty free shops are pretty competitive. (Vila is halfway through the cruise, so a visit to Fung Kuei would be well timed). I was under the impression that if you bought duty free on land you were required to hand it over when re-boarding the ship and it was returned to you prior to disembarkation in Australia. Does this not apply to a carton of cigarettes? We've done quite a few cruises, but are not big duty free purchasers so I guess I'm a bit gormless with the regulations and it's at least 6 years since the last South Pacific cruise.

Yes, that's why we don't bother to buy a carton. 😒 Possibly the rules are different in WA and Qld, as you say. I'll be interested to see what the go is when we do the South Pacific at Christmas.

Now I'm really getting confused............. We paid around $30 to $40 (or whatever the price is at 'home') for a pack of 25 over the bar when we cruised up the Qld Coast (with P&O) last June and the only 'foreign' port was Willis Island. We bought them prior to getting to the Willis sail by. That's what prompted my query about how far off the Australian Coast you have to be for the $15 price tag to kick in.