arxcards

Dearer packages, but the cheapest per day cruise fares. The water cap is interesting, but would seem reasonable unless you were bathing in it. Perhaps the bottles of water are easily shared with those not on a package. I am not a fan, as their packages have always been over-priced and often restricted to just menu listed items, especially for cocktails. No P&O on the horizon for us, so I guess I will stick to $65 Princess Plus, which also has internet and a few other less useful bits. All the same, there will be a large number of P&O passengers that won't bat an eyelid.

If you have the budget to have a crack at a reserve collection mini, they are all well located and have the dining perk. Otherwise, it is like shifting from a selected cabin to a mini guarantee.

You don't get to bid for grades except for suite categories, but get to bid for cabin types. Eg, Balcony Premium Balcony Mini Suite Reserve Collection mini suite Premium suite Penthouse suite If you bid for a mini-suite, it could be for anything from MB down to ME, including those below the seawalk. As for the "no upgrade" upgrade, these do rarely happen, but are possible when they stuff-up on bookings and the jigsaw has run out of pieces. Ideally, they should hold to their word and at very least you shouldn't be bounced to a cabin with known issues (noise, location, obstructions). Some OBC or future credits should also be offered due to them not holding-up to their part of the bargain. For what it is worth, I am on the "never upgrade this person" list. We have never received an upgrade to our booked cruise cabin, not even a category, despite varied selection methods and decent loyalty status across several brands. These days though, we would rather pick and stick unless it takes us from a generic mini suite to reserve collection or better. As for upgrade bids, I can only be bothered if the higher cabins were unavailable when we booked.

The Japanese used to tattoo their criminals. As I understand it, the crims would modify their tatts so they became "art", so many Japanese have been raised to distrust anyone with a tattoo. A traditional onsen would prohibit tattoos. Yes, I figure Diamond Princess would not be traditional, especially in Australian waters. It makes an interesting contrast between ships. A Japanese onsen with one set of traditions, vs the Virgin ships with tattoo parlors. No ink for me, just asking for a friend 😉

In true Princess consistency, I just had a look at the 2025/26 launch brochure again. The Singapore to Sydney cruise is listed as a $US cruise: 8 Nov 25 Discovery X544 Singapore > Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My) > Nha Trang > Lombok > Darwin > Yorkeys Knob (for Cairns) > Airlie Beach (for the Whitsundays) > Sydney Onboard currency is in USD Referenced from page 18 of: 23376_Mini-Brochure_25-26_AU_3.0.pdf (princess.com)

No way in these days of Optus & Medicare hacks that I am giving account details to any third party. As well intentioned they may be, I have no recourse against any "hack" of their platform, so I will be sending a redacted statement any time it is required for an OBC request. Handing over access to your stock holding was how Stockperks worked in the initial days, but many passengers (especially with HAL) had complained that some of their account defaults were being altered to suit Stockperks needs. I am glad I can now forward a redacted facsimile of my current holding, the same as used to be for the cruise lines direct. Even without personal info, they still have your name, email address and knowledge of Carnival share holding which could be used for a convincing phish should your data be accessed. Not much info around in an "About Us" page or data security. https://www.stockperks.com/terms https://www.stockperks.com/privacy

I am curious about rules with the Onsen. Does Diamond Princess allow those with tattoos to use the onsen?

$AU aboard and daily gratuities is an unusual combination for Princess relocating to/from Australia.

Correct, it was a North American embarkation. Discovery Princess relocation is broken-up in Singapore, so it becomes US to Singapore ($US) followed by Singapore to Sydney (($AU)

And that would appear to be the case. If the ship was travelling to Sydney from the US, it would be in $US. However: The ship relocates from Alaska via various ports in Asia to Singapore. That cruise is in $US. The cruise from Singapore to Sydney is a cruise connected to Australia, but not the US - local rules apply, which is $AU and gratuities absorbed into the inclusive cruise fare.

If the onboard currency for your cruise is as you describe, in $AU, gratuities are included in the fare.

Absolutely.

The $250pp is still out of pocket, which may/may not be compensated by the cruise line.

Better than going ape about it!! We have quite a few friends on Virgin at present, and they are having a great time. They are however, quite a bit out of pocket after not being reimbursed for out-of-pocket cancellation of tours. It would have been much worse if they had only been doing part of the trip and disembarking in Singapore or Dubai. Any cancelled flights weren't compensated. I am sure Royal would be much better, but it will be hard to commit money to flights while it is all so uncertain.

Back on topic, just for you Chili! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAp3xV1wtZ8

They circled south of the worst of it, but yes it was very much a tough crossing. Marrying-up with BOM data, they were encountering 6 metre waves last night. There is a difference between a wave and bow wash/spray that is thrown up when pitching down into the swell. They should have a much more pleasant night tonight.

Bye Bye Brilliance - ships that pass in the night

I am pretty spoilt next year as it goes. 1/2 a world cruise and a 60th birthday cruise on my favourite [off-topic cruise line] ship. With that in mind, I am not really looking for anything else for the 2025 part anyway. What is new in 25/26 - the Wiggles, but we don't have young kids. I had a brief look at birthday #61 on an Anthem weekender or maybe the 5 night Hobart cruise in March, but that has passed-by and my wallet is still in my pocket. There is a serious lack of variety across all of our local itineraries. Once we get the big stuff out of the way next year, I think I will take a look at a Daytona 500 combo with B2B or S2S Caribbean itineraries.

Sorry, I was busy washing my hands with the Solvol.

It is up there for Anthem, but still looks to be cheaper than similar itineraries on Ovation next season. I haven't bothered with looking at Voyager at this stage.

Majestic is now heading to Cook Strait, so looking to arrive at Picton as scheduled.

Even though Ovation had a major direction change, they have still been in 6.5 metre plus waves for most of the day. It should start to improve for them overnight. Majestic is still listing Picton as her next port, .She has headed south to circle the rough conditions, but the longer she stays on this track, the more it looks like they are hoping to do Milford Sound as a substitute.

I.love a GOOD rumour Phil.

There is a reason that the hole has been left. I don't recall sending it off topic to begin with. There is also a double entendre line here about cougars, but that would also be off-topic.

I always wondered where the most reliable rumours started 😉