arxcards

With a lack of cams around BICT, the ship cam will have to do.

If they have committed to having the ship on that itinerary, then they need to do what they can to fill it. We should see some sweet deals next summer, including last minute deals for Resilient Lady. Three years of compounded inflation means they won't be overcharging, and they are taking away some of their capacity so they can operate at a profit. They are not inclined to put multiple brands in a port to sail them at a loss or 2/3 full. If they thought they could fill them both, they would sell full seasons for both. Heck no, Diamond Princess for me any day. Give me the better dining room and a plus drinks package any day. But wait, we have also been on Explorer for 3 cruises. Both are doable for us knowing the difference, and there are a large number that are just going on a big white boat and don't know there are different brands let alone a different experience aboard. If you want Princess out of Melbourne, you go early in the season; late if you want P&O. If you want later in the season on Princess, you fly to Sydney (or Brisbane) as was the norm 10 years ago.

Crew advice on these things is particularly unreliable. I agree it would be nice, but I would rather see her cruising here as a Princess. Curious why they have only recently released Coral's Panama itineraries for 24/25 which follows Coral's full set of Australian cruises (including 2 nominally sold-out world cruises) through till October 2024. Coral's Panama relocation was only announced not much more than a month ago. That 30 year thing mentioned earlier in the thread usually pans out to be true. I think we will be hearing this rumour doing laps until late 2025, when an announcement is made about Explorer leaving the fleet in 2026/27.

When Diamond Princess heads to Brisbane, Pacific Explorer arrives. It isn't a co-incidence that they are not putting the two sister brand ships in direct competition with each other. If there are enough butts for bunks in Sydney for P&O, Explorer would spend the summer there and Princess would have a full Melbourne season. It would seem that our Aussie market has gone soft for the first time since the Brimble years. This is Aussie wide, and departures are being reduced in all of our ports in 2024/5 & 2025/6. That is masked a bit by Disney and Virgin arriving and larger ships being based here, but one would think that interest rates are taking away a lot of people's pocket money for the next couple of years. As a aside, we booked 1/2 the world cruise in 2025. It looked expensive, and on today's terms it is. I get the feeling that in 2 years time, the price will look really attractive. Price increases are already starting to show through for 2025/6.

@Sparky74 On that thought, make sure you contact P&O to register for wheelchair assistance at embark/disembark. Apart from expediting your boarding, these are nice folk (especially Ian).

Virgin has only added bookings for 24/25 in the past month or so, lots of time yet for them to add bookings for 2025/26. Apart from a single embarkation for Azamara, the only other Melbourne departures at this early stage are Diamond Princess (early season) and Pacific Explorer.

Where there's a will ...

And off they went ....

The charges are mostly a per-head passenger tax, which is the same charge for White Bay as it is for OPT. It could go up, but not just an OPT thing the way it is structured. This is where we are being robbed, as this tax was supposed to help fund a 2nd large terminal. For NSW to take the money into general revenue yet turn their backs on a viable option is dishonest. Not the first time NSW has killed-off competition between ports to sweeten a privatisation deal. Construction is tough in NSW at present. Like lots of industries post-covid, they are struggling to get labour & materials at an economical price, so I believe the NSW government is just prioritising their infrastructure projects. It could be that Yarra Bay, or other alternates have just been switched off for a few years. Till then at least, it will definitely be a squeeze.

@Sparky74 Wow, I found some content on the P&O Australia forum from last August. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2871446-breakfast-lunch-menus-pictures/

The cams are all looking nice this morning. I am glad that Quay West is also back up, but their HD stills are gone.

Have a great cruise Gaz n Jo. We will be watching keenly for some added tips for 2025.

You should know that P&O charge for everything 😂 If you have a full suite, you can get continental breakfast NC via room service. It is really limited compared to what you will get in the buffet or dining room as well as room service on other lines.

I am pretty sure the suite is just a mini-suite.

Just like cruise ships.

Newcastle is also a deep water port, with a dedicated wharf, a cruise terminal approved, and several ship visits each year. Williamtown airport already exists 25km away, and the rail terminates for a shuttle bus to run the last 1.5kms to the terminal. A light rail extension could be added to the terminal if ever this was to go ahead again. P&O has successfully operated two short seasons from Newcastle, which were reasonably popular considering Pacific Sun was on her last legs. Despite all that, NSW govt has withdrawn all support for a cruise terminal in Newcastle, and has repurposed funds that were promised as part of the privatisation of the port. The negative for Newcastle is that it is 2hrs from one of the best cruise ports in the world. There are many that see White Bay as inconvenient, so even Port Botany was being seen as 2nd prize. Kembla and Newcastle can exist as ports in their own right, but not as surrogates for Sydney. As convenient to Sydney as Port Kembla may be, the main attraction of cruising into Sydney is the harbour itself, and that can't be replicated. As a 1st step, Port Kembla needs to expand their day visits like Eden & Newcastle do already. Radiance called there a few years ago, so why have so few visits been scheduled since? And as for Turnbull's comments about Garden Island, there is no dishonesty in his comments. It is the contrary argument, and everything is being filtered through greener glasses these days.

It is pretty rare to see cruise prices drop much over the summer school holidays, and especially Christmas and New Years. Considering those cruises have been available for a year already, there would normally only be scraps left by now, but more availability this summer sort of confirms why Princess and Royal are both dropping a ship the following summer. A single decision of dropping a vaccine requirement to cruise, as it already is overseas, will see any remaining cabins sold out within days. The next call about vaxx requirements and pre-cruise testing will be due in late July, so I wouldn't be inclined to wait for a Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal. On our first cruise as a family (Princess), we were concerned that our 13 year old would find it all a bit ho-ho in the teen club. To the contrary, she had a ball and is still in touch with a few friends she made all those years ago.

Some of these Hamilton hotels also offer cheap undercover parking while you are away. Much more convenient from the terminal, but that is an option if the price is everything. It is a nice enough hotel, and much nicer than the one you tried in Seattle.

Two gangways, one for redundancy if the other is out of service. Also about getting more passengers through the terminal at a given time, a bit like Jetstar using front and rear doors to speed-up boarding. Also to allow disembark and embark to happen simultaneously, if/when the terminal is ever set-up that way.

No, it isn't me.

If it makes him feel at home, hi-viz is perfectly acceptable on river cruises, or so I've heard 😉

I don't fit the stereotype either, but I am really glad that cruise line safety officers don't make us wear hi-viz at sea. If there is a sense of occasion, I am happy to don my finest. Most cruise ship formal/cocktail/elegant nights have lost that sense of occasion, so I dress smartly but not formally. In lots of spaces, doing up your top button and adding a tie makes it formal and I will do that when the occasion warrants.

If flexible, it could be either. Borderforce doesn't always need zero count. But yes, mostly as above. It is all moot anyway, as it takes longer to load supplies than it does to load a shipload of passengers.

The only time we have boarded on a two gangway day, everything was in single file until you made it through X-ray. In Brisbane, each of the 3 ships we have been on has had a double gangway, and it is just about providing two entry points onto the ship.

Just backed out from Princes Wharf. The Auckland World cruise (6310C) is away....