arxcards

It should, and on a normal day it will. As with the day Les mentioned, Border Force delayed everything by 2hrs, and they were disregarding Platinum/Elite/Suite priority in favour of boarding group allocation only. Once in the terminal, you always have PES priority, but the lines on that day were outside the terminal. I believe OPT has never had a priority lane outside the terminal for Princess. On most days, there is no build-up of passengers waiting, and people get into the terminal when they arrive, and onto the ship soon after. The only way to truly honour priority is to have boarding A set aside for Elites & Suites, B set aside for Platinum & club class.

Pacific Encounter and Celebrity Eclipse racing off the NSW North Coast.

Coral is back to tier 2

Come Back New [ly infected]. I am impressed we managed to dodge it for over 2 1/2 years, and it took 4 cruises to get there.

My symptoms had evolved to man-flu status this morning, so I am pretty sure I am carrying enough of whatever it is to give them an accurate test. Yes, resting up.

You can try. On a normal day, embarkations are a breeze. All those there early can be on before people start to arrive for the A boarding. Just be patient enough to let them call priority passengers and A boarding passengers through, and tack onto the end of the line. It works that way at OPT for Coral, but Grand Princess also departs Melbourne on the same day - which are you cruising on? If there is a crowd, just drop your luggage and go and find a nice spot for a coffee till it settles down.

On 20th October Les, they would have asked you to go away and come back at 4pm. While the ship thinks they have resolved that issue with OPT, the terminal has other ideas.

Phone reception isn't their problem though. The app & medallion have worked fine for us. They would prefer to provide a carrot for having the app, as it does add some more benefits to your cruise if you are using the app aboard. That is why they have deliberately limited the features on the web version and personaliser. The web version didn't exist until around 4 months ago. I do accept that that it isn't fair for people that chose not to own a smartphone. Lots of long term loyal passengers miss out on opportunities to dine where/when they want, and there are still issues when a delayed boarding results in priority passengers without an A boarding to come back hours later.

I agree about Vila. Once you get off the wharf, it is a nice place. Once you get out of town and get around the island, it is even nicer. Private funding will be the only way to get what they need, as public funding just seems to get absorbed into the system. Lelepa will need a Fung Kuei store though.

Looks like I have bought home a souvenir. Started feeling ordinary last night, and feel like crap today. It looks like it isn't covid though. I took a negative RAT last night, but with more significant symptoms this morning, I have headed-off to get a PCR.

Rationed. Port side on day one, starboard on day 2.

Not this season or next. They go to Fiji where they can dock.

You are going to need a spot where at least two tenders at a time can offload, or the ship will take most of the day to empty. None of those large cats to help speed things up either. For tendering, a nice purpose built wharf behind the markets would be great, but they don't have anything near what is needed ATM.

Personally, I think the photo as "proof" is for other reasons. For around 4 months, they had a couple of hundred cancellations on the day before departure for most cruises. The numbers did not stack-up vs the number of cases generally in the community. For that reason, I think a photo proving a positive test is of much more interest to them, as till then you could just claim covid if you didn't feel like cruising, and get a 100% credit to kick your booking down the road. After all, our governments don't require that photo for boarding, just the declaration. If you have answered that question on the app, they don't really need to ask again.

We did a few times, but it was pretty boring with no tables to count in the corridor. 😉 Majestic corridors are a bit skinnier than those on the older ships, particularly noticeable when full of luggage.

Given that you can't collect till check-in, you will be on the ship less than 1/2 hour later and can see what you are buying at "Oceanfront"

Carnival Splendor ✔️ Majestic Princess ✔️ Celebrity Eclipse ✔️ Ovation of the Seas ✔️ Carnival Luminosa ✔️ we were hoping to see her from the decks of Majestic Princess while crossing in Moreton Bay on 29th October. Alas, they had a diversion in Indonesia, and delayed their scheduled arrival into Brisbane until 30th October. She is preparing for her inaugural cruise from Brisbane on Sunday. Quantum of the Seas ✔️ Grand Princess ✔️well, sort of a tick. She has arrived to Australia, but has just departed for her home port of Melbourne, due there on Friday Queen Elizabeth one more Asian stop to come in Benoa, then headed for the West Coast, arriving in Fremantle on 7th November Westerdam almost a tick. Quite an itinerary for a transpacific. She arrives in Australia tomorrow, with a port stop in Cairns. With Airlie Beach to follow, she will be Sydney bound, arriving on 8th November. Noordam has now departed Nukualofa, Tonga. Next stop is Norfolk Island, then Brisbane on 9th November and finally into Sydney on 12th November. Norwegian Spirit is still some time away, currently having a fun time cruising around Tahiti. Arrives in Sydney on 21st December.

Nominal passenger number + nominal crew number = total aboard. Multiply by 0.004 should give a number in the 20's. They advise %, as that is what the government tiers are based on. The 300ish number presently on Coral Princess would be vastly different for Coral Adventurer.

I don't know where their 0.4% came from. They had to open a second quarantine block during the cruise, so they have managed that better than Lazarus to get the number back down so low (20 - 30 passengers)

Thanks Les, Apart from the cabin location, I would go close to an 8. We have had a few in the 9's over the years though.

Proof would be difficult, but we have used these tests mostly honourably in everyday life here for the past year or so. You just do what your cruise line asks of you, and hope that everyone else is doing the right thing - the vast majority do. Seems that most cruise lines are asking for you to take a photo that includes a date reference alongside your photo ID and your RAT test. Even then, they have only been randomly checking these photos, as the local governments only require you to take a test and declare (attest) your result.

As long as it isn't yours 😉 Have a great cruise.

Do you have more than 59 days till departure? They all show as zero groups till then.

Time for a bit of a wrap. Embarkation. Not good, but outside Princess' control. OPT might be in a great location, but they don't have an inside waiting area if there are delays. Those delays were, apparently, due to the extra checks required on the ships' arrival into Australia and a lack of Border Force staff available to conduct those checks. Disembark from the previous cruise was delayed by nearly two hours, and that backed everything up behind it. Our cabin - on the inside we thought it was nice. Minis have shrunk a bit over the years, but everything was comfortable. There is a dividing curtain between the bed and sitting area, so we could allow each other a sleep-in. The aircon controls actually changed the temperature when you moved the dial, which is an amazing feature compared to other ships where you can have it flat out cold for the whole cruise and still have a warm cabin. The bathroom was like-new, and everything functioned like that. Hot water was almost instant, with constant flow and temperature. The shower curtain clung to the side of the bath instead of your body, which was a major plus. We also had a little Princess travel toiletries pack waiting for us, as well as our elite mini-bar. Two USB ports bedside, but one didn't work. We also had an Aussie outlet plus two Euro and two US. The fridge was cold. The decor is typical Princess. Only one minor thing that annoyed the absolute bejeezus out of us. We had two large flat screen TV's. Sounds wonderful, but they both operated off identical remotes, and it was quite a feat to get one to turn on without turning on the other. We finally had it mastered, then it was time to disembark. Our cabin - on the outside and location - one of our worst. We didn't get any say in our category. When our Royal Princess cruise was cancelled, we got to swap our price, OBC and packages to this cruise. As the cruise included an additional night, our cabin category was downgraded to MF. No big deal we thought, extra night for nothing. These are forward and aft of the tenders on deck 8 and sit above the promenade deck. Starboard aft cabins sit above the smoking area, starboard forward cabins sit above the crew smoking area, which late at night, the smoke resembles a grass fire. There is no overhead cover to offer any privacy or protection from the weather. One late evening on the balcony, I couldn't figure how we had any sea spray or drizzle, then realised we were getting bits of spatter from the cleaning and squeegeeing of the top deck. Awesome of them to be sharing the dreggs with us. The deck 9 cabins sit further into the ship, which means their balcony doors are above the sitting area. This becomes an issue when the passengers above like slamming their balcony door shut. Our cabin was above the theatre. While I don't mind a bit of sound spill, the doof doof vibrated the whole cabin whenever they had a musical show. I recommend giving these deck 8 minis a wide berth when booking on Majestic or any other Royal class ship. On a rather large ship, being well forward or aft tends to lead to a fair bit of walking. Most of the time, that was fine, but it also led to having to navigate a couple of high traffic areas in order to get from one end to the other. The ship areas the theatre looked nice, but we didn't bother with the shows there. The private cabanas in Hollywood looked nice, but we only walked through. The casino looked typically glitzy, but we didn't spend time there or the "Vista Gaming Lounge" either. Princess Live was a nice spot for trivia and interactive shows. The International Café was well laid out, but always seemed occupied by 2 people at tables for 4 who always insist their friends will be back in a minute. The shops were very boutique like, and we didn't spot any of those incredible SALE tables or inches of gold. We bought a couple of bottles of duty free, which had a few nice alternate and premium brands, but a comparatively small range. We drank at a few bars, but when you find a favourite, it is hard to move on. Seaview and Wake View offered nice vistas, but the service was hit & miss. The TV's in the VIP lounge were good for watching a bit of cricket world cup, but the bar service was ordinary while we were there. Good Spirits at Sea at the best staff, and we made a couple of new friends there. Most of the other regulars were easy going, especially when we were seated on the bar stools. The only downside was that more and more passengers were congregating there each day, and it got rather busy in the evenings. There is not much of a promenade deck, so most people walk front to back indoors on deck 7. For much of the cruise, it was like dodgem cars, made worse by a US keep left rule being muddled by an Aussie keep right rule. In spots, the thoroughfare narrows between the atrium and Crown Grill, and it requires plenty of stopping, propping and patience. Pity not all passengers saw it that way. Dining we made an effort to try most areas with an open mind, depending on whether in port or if we just wanted a light meal. We didn't dine at the noodle bar, the ice cream bar, or the Harmony specialty Asian restaurant. International café was great for a light breakfast or a late night snack with your coffee. We were happy with the food options, which were just a little bit broader than we had on Coral. Dining Room had great food. The menus are a little bit smaller on choice than they used to be, but the meals were generally good to great. We reserved all our dinners in Concerto, as it was more central - especially having a forward cabin. Service was a bit inconsistent, but overall a solid pass. I found a new favourite dessert too, which was sadly a one-night-only, and their Crème Brule's were consistently awesome. The breakfast menu was rather repetitive for 11 nights, but all the bacon or egg dishes were very good. Lunch menus were pretty basic, but hey, better than a salad sandwich at work. Alfredo's we enjoyed a couple of port day lunches there. Pizza's and antipasti were lovely. We shared a pizza each day, as I think to eat a full two courses for lunch there is a bit much. Take care when wriggling across the bench seating. The Grill - Nice fresh burgers and "street tacos". I didn't spot a pie warmer, so didn't ask about pies. World Fresh Marketplace was one of my better buffets. There wasn't a huge choice, but there was a lot of variety among the limited options. Nice to walk out the back to an aft table on a sunny sea day. Bistro Sur La Mer (specialty). We had dinner there one night. It was lovely food, but the lack of ambiance does detract a bit. It is just tucked over to one side of the atrium, so not my idea of an intimate dinner. Crown Grill (specialty) was once again the highlight of our dining. We both agree that our previous cruise grill meal on Coral was a bit better. Perhaps I had leftover US steak bit I can't be sure of that. Everything was suitably wonderful, but had less flavour than for our previous cruise. The Ports - nothing new to us. We had perfect Queensland weather and calm seas for the last 9 days. For the tropical ports, we just walked around, spent a few dollars and relaxed with a cold drink or ice cream. In Brisbane, we caught up with old cruise friends, and enjoyed a drink and snacks at Portside. Medallion - worked fine, except we have noticed for both Coral and Majestic that orders near the open deck bars can be hit and miss. Having just arrived from the US, all the drink prices had been adjusted, but a $12 cap was being applied on the first afternoon. We adjusted that and a few other drink charges at the service desk through the cruise. Some waiters use the new technology correctly, while others still like using the old paper system. We noticed the drink charges that weren't zeroed against the package stemmed from dining waiters. We used all of our OBC, largely from an extra couple of Crown Grill sessions and duty free. We disembarked with a bill of less than $20. Overall - not our favourite ship, but still pretty damn good and just what we needed to get away from it all for 11 nights. There were times it felt like we were on Celebrity Solstice, while other parts of the ship were distinctly Princess. I am not game to jump on the scales to confirm the damage, but I have a fair few salads and glasses of water planned for the weeks ahead. I will look through my photos, and pick some to post later.

As far as I can tell, Princess' mid-level package is at least equal to P&O's premium level package, and includes internet if that is of interest. More inclusions on Princess, but more lively entertainment on P&O. IF HAL is your preferred brand, there is a much wider gulf between them and P&O.