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Everything posted by arxcards
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A Brisbane bound Crown to replace the Grand pull
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
24/25 is saying docked in Cairns, 25/26 is saying Yorkeys. -
Townsville is featuring in new itineraries
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Should be able. The ferry runs regularly enough from an adjacent wharf. As to what is readily accessible to do when you get to Maggie Island, I don't know. -
Townsville is featuring in new itineraries
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Depends. If it is a bad cruise, it may have a dual meaning. -
Townsville is featuring in new itineraries
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I do like their 1 night cruise on 23rd April 2025. It has been a while since we have done a 1 nighter. These are nice looking itineraries, and for those seeking variety .... If not for our Crown WC, it would be tempting. I am surprised they are not dual porting it with Brisbane to get their numbers up. -
Townsville is featuring in new itineraries
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Here is the other piece of the puzzle. Larger ships have been unable to dock, restricted by the size of the shipping channel. This is already in hand, as they are doubling the width of the channel. https://www.dts.qld.gov.au/news/latest/2023/tourism-boost-as-cruise-line-giant-adds-townsville-to-itinerary-for-2025 -
Townsville is upgrading their cruise terminal to cater for larger ships. There is no mention of the wharf capacity, which I believed to be too small for most of our homeported ships. Townsville is showing in some P&O and Princess itineraries, with no mention of a water shuttle. Great news, especially for those QLD coastal itineraries that are full of tender stops. https://www.townsville-port.com.au/quayside-terminal-transformation/
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A Brisbane bound Crown to replace the Grand pull
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I had thought the terminal would only handle the smaller ships. I recall it was designed in the days of Pacific Sun/Star, yet Brisbane had already scored Pacific Dawn by the time it was completed, and she was too large to dock there. But good news - last month they announced an upgrade to the Quayside terminal. Really, this is awesome for an itinerary that is loaded with tender stops. https://www.townsville-port.com.au/quayside-terminal-transformation/ -
New Caledonia locked down.
arxcards replied to MicCanberra's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Yes, P&O's two ships have returned, and Carnival Splendor will be back in Sydney on Tuesday. All ships dropped Lifou & Noumea from their itineraries. For Carnival, it would seem that Luganville will be substituted for the Noumea stops, and for many months to come. P&O itineraries are a bit more varied and the itineraries will have different alternates to suit. Something official would be nice, but I expect our current ships will be out of Noumea until at least the start of cruise season (Oct). Even if the unrest dies down, the uncertainty will linger for a while. Lifou could be a bit different, as they don't have an expat population to fight against, but cruise ships won't return until they can assure passenger safety. Next affected departures: Adventure departs today for Fiji, with Noumea as the first scheduled port. Port Vila is a logical replacement. Splendor - 11th June Encounter - 22nd June Explorer - 8th July -
Now for something completely different
arxcards replied to Blackduck59's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
@Bubbeh I find it annoying at times, as I use ampersat for other things when I type. -
It is largely the same the world over. Different lines share the terminals, which are staffed via the shipping agent by sub-contractors. When the cruise line advises check-in times, the terminal is appropriately staffed for those hours, including luggage drop, check-in staff & customs. I agree 100%, someone who cruises out of Honolulu regularly will be best able to advise on how the terminal operates. Late departures are common in Honolulu.
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A Brisbane bound Crown to replace the Grand pull
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I noticed these itineraries were available online yesterday, but I had forgotten to check for a couple of days prior. Now that we have locked in our rather unique cabin, I thought I would share. How close were the guesstimate itineraries above? 10/10 The 21st & 24th December itineraries are also available as a combined 14 night Sydney to Brisbane cruise, which would offer similar ports to the original Syd-Syd cruise. Alas, there is heaps of cabins available, so there must have been plenty of existing passengers jumping over to Discovery Princess or cancelling. Syd-Brisbane-Noumea-Lautoka-Suva-Dravuni-Brisbane. All those in bold have swapped over from Grand to Crown with the same itinerary. These are still unavailable for booking yet until they have sorted the current swap-over passengers. The 2 x NZ itineraries are yet to be uploaded. 10th March - Airlie-Townsville-Yorkeys-Port Douglas-Willis 18th March - Newy-Syd I am curious that Diamond Princess docks in Cairns in 2024/25, yet Crown Princess is at Yorkeys in 2025/26. The QLD itineraries also show Townsville as being berthed, and that surprises me. -
Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Sandfly bites aren't fun. I had a few encounters when I was young, one of the downsides of getting around with a yabby pump. My nan's remedy seemed to work - Sunlight liquid on the bites. It certainly took away the sting. -
Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
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Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Pun of the week. 🤣 -
BON VOYAGE Coral Princess World Cruisers 2024
arxcards replied to Kiwi_cruiser's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Sounds like an awesome time in port. Thanks for sharing your experience and those fantastic photos. -
I can't offer much detail. Our Honolulu departures have been late night, and midnight departures are common. Yes, general information for the day in port is 7am till 11pm, so 10:30pm would be the all aboard time. We board much earlier, so I can't be certain of how long the terminal is staffed. Normally there will be some staff to handle the later arrivals, but I can be nowhere near sure about that. I would agree with the earlier comment, and wonder if it is possible to drop luggage early and pick-up their tour from the wharf instead of the hotel. I guess that would mean they would be carting their carry-on around on their tour. Alternatively, they could use @Jean C as their luggage mule and have a carefree day. 😁
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I believe that cruises departing Vancouver are handled as two separate B2B cruises. Those doing the full trip can essentially treat Honolulu as a day in port, but are doing it as "transit" passengers. Princess sell it both as two separate cruises and as a full crossing.
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Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
The bedbugs can't afford to cruise on Royal at present. No pizza is free - It is included as part of your fare or it isn't. -
Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
There is a big bad bedbug story on ACA tonight. -
I had a sensational beef, cheese & bacon servo pie for breakfast this morning - you have to get in early before the crust dries out. It appeared to be a local Newcastle area pie from Thompsons bakery at Charlestown.