arxcards

The cruise lines have the advantage of floating them to a port that they can be most profitable. Holiday apartments and resorts don't have that luxury.

Exactly. Why is it cheap? There is less demand. Until Christmas school hols start, it is shoulder season and the ships don't like discounting cabins if they can sell them somewhere else. Alaska is more lucrative for most of the ships that come down here for summer, so they aren't showing up until well into October at the earliest.

I have been using them for a dozen or so years, back when they were a Mark Bouris company and not an international finance mob. I am about to change my drivers license and my wife's passport because 28 degrees allowed our identification details to be stolen. I am also looking for another option for a travel card.

Yeah - nah. A late season start has been reflected in Brissie's port bookings for some time. As learned this season, it has been hard work selling early season cruises ex-Brisbane, and not just for Royal.

No government junkets to attract ships. Their tourism departments will market each port as a worthwhile destination for them to call at. Then they tax the life out of them, and hit them with significant charges for pilotage and mooring. All they need do to attract ships is provide an efficient terminal and a population of passengers willing to cruise there. For visiting ships, they just need to be a place of interest and provide a great day in port for the visiting passengers. I would reckon Melbourne has those boxes ticked, so if it isn't a port restriction, something has upset the cruise lines.

Yes, they should advise you, but there is nothing binding ATM. For now, they are just best practice guidelines.

No, it isn't. They aren't charging it, your bank is charging the fee because it is being processed overseas, regardless of currency. Lots of online sellers do the same, and not all banks charge the fee. If you have cash, use that - you can avoid any potential fees that way.

A bit of homework for you to keep track of. I wouldn't like to be crossing the Tasman in either direction next week. Weather Bureau Wave Forecast maps: http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/viewer/index.shtml?type=sigWaveHgt&tz=AEDT&area=SEAu&model=CGW&chartSubmit=Refresh+View

Yes, the Victorian government is facing lots of pier pressure 😁 A bit more light reading - Navigating our Port Futures, The Victorian Commercial Ports Strategy https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TR7uVpgBjY2znKGkRcV3q_AcizewFO7J/view

Cunard has also ditched their Melbourne part season for 24/25. Even though Virgin & Disney have port bookings for 24/25, I wonder if they will remain if there are any imposed restrictions during the season. At this stage neither line has released their itineraries for that season. Visiting ships need a wharf to berth, but don't need a terminal to process passengers. However, they are still in a consult & plan stage for any upgrades, and by the time red & green tape are taken care of it could be several years.

I believe they tacked a few months onto the end of their schedules.

On onboard charges are in $US

Good point, but how handy would it be to have a car deck on Grand Princess. Embarkation would be a breeze. I think there is some heritage, but they could do some work to improve flow in & out of the place.

Most likely. I have had similar charges on Princess and P&O in years gone by, where the onboard account was in $AU, but being processed in London or Santa Clarita. Many years back, banks only levied fees when there was currency being converted, but they added a foreign transaction fee, so that anything being banked overseas copped a fee, even if was in $AU. In those situations, Carnival Australia refunded those bank fees on request.

Oh well, maybe all the angst directed at Cunard, Princess and others over the past couple of months has been misdirected. Quite possible that when Virgin announces 2024/25 that they will be cruising there less as well. And if not the pier, it could be the channel being widened. The pier does need a makeover though.

Cruises to nowhere are usually that. Some move around a bit, some not. It was done on short notice as the ship only decided to get this done on short notice, and thankfully they aren't on a longer cruise and missing ports because of the maintenance. Unfortunately for your friends, they have picked a slot, but the ship isn't going to be in Auckland for another 8 weeks, This butt scaping has caused a few ships to divert from their normal schedule this past summer. Mostly this is done in a day, so hopefully they can line-up some good weather, get it done quickly, then head to sea.

Either direction. The seas in the Tasman usually have a southerly swell in rough weather, and you will be cruising across it. Drake Passage has a reputation of being as rough as it can get, but not something I have done. Seas in the Tasman can be 10 metres and beyond, but ships have more options with an altered itinerary to avoid the worst of the conditions. I am not aware of any cruise ship transiting through anything rougher than 8 metre seas for several years.

BTW, P&O released their 2024/25 itineraries today. OK, settle down!! 😂

Can you use the retreat pool N/C, similar to the pools near the Sanctuary on the "Grand" ships?

Are you home yet?

I would have to be in a special mood these days Les. Being able to have eggs benny for lunch is a nice bonus, and I quite like their "Canadian" breakfast.

Hmm, a bit of a trap - processed overseas in $AU. Thanks for the heads-up, as some card providers would incur a flat fee that could be more than the cost of the storage. Still, for anyone heading back overseas it would be a good opportunity to use up any remaining Aussie dollars.

🥇 Absolute Gold!

Hence my Princess motto - Eat Early, Eat Often. 😂 It surprises me that when they have a crowd lining up each day, they still only open one dining room for breakfast & lunch. It should be even worse on Majestic, but walk-up dining worked really well with minimal queues, still with only one dining room open at breakfast & lunch. Dinner was also a breeze via the app bookings.

The passenger capacity is based on a US convention and only counts lower berths, or at times is just based on 2 passengers per cabin. We have sailed on Sun Princess among 2300 other passengers, and the ships always feel busier during holiday sailings. GRT tonnage isn't a pure number and is affected by design. If the covered pool on Coral was open without a roof, the GRT would be somewhere near 87,000 I agree that ships like Coral, Radiance, Pacific Explorer are ideal for our ports, but they are mostly moving on to make room for larger ships. In 2025, Crown Princess is the all-year Princess ship, joining two other P&O "grand" class ships, Splendor & Pacific Explorer in the full-time fleet. While that brings a comparison that ships will be too large, I remember when the same comments were being made about Sun Princess and even Pacific Dawn. Port facilities do improve over time, and it wasn't that long ago that Pacific Dawn used to tender to Yorkeys Knob. Coral Princess couldn't have been based in Brisbane before the pandemic, as that extra 30 metres was 25 metres too much to turn in the Hamilton Basin. We will enjoy each future ship in their own way, but will always have a soft spot for Coral, Sun class, Radiance, Spirit .... and even Pacific Dawn.