arxcards

That is the way. If you want cabin E and it is available for both short legs, a PVP or skilled T/A may be able to get it released it for the dual itinerary. When they are dual-porting, it would make it easier for Princess if it was all guarantees, but they have kept specific cabins available. The other alternative is to have a loose booking arrangement, and the risk of passengers denied boarding due to overbooking. The guarantee categories are usually the cheaper ones for each cabin type. Seems that passengers not only want the cheapest fare, but also their choice of cabin. That isn't always possible. In most instances, specific cabins are available for most cabin types on Princess, but once they have sold, they become guarantee only to allow them the flexibility to fill all available cabins.

When built, it was the Dawn Princess Vista Lounge. P&O only changed the decor when she became Explorer. The layout of most areas are very similar to her Dawn Princess days. Thanks for your posts. I am looking forward to your comments from Europe.

You could select a cabin, but not the ones you wanted. Your comment holds the answer - it isn't possible to sell the same cabins on the 7 & 4 night individual cruises and also sell them on the 11 night combo cruise. I think it holds true that of those cruises on offer, that the 7 night Brisbane to Brisbane cruise will be the most popular, it made sense that more cabins were allocated to that option. We did consider booking the 7 and the 4 night cruises separately. There wasn't a big difference in pricing, and it is still an option to anyone wanting to book a b2b specific cabin.

If they wanted that, they wouldn't be offering a combined 11 night cruise option at all.

BA & BB balconies will normally have selectable cabins. They are midship, upper balconies. They are also more expensive. BD, BE, BF are more likely to be guarantee, but are less expensive. All the same, if you tell an agent you will only book if you can get specific cabin numbers, they can usually shake one out of the booking system.

We are on the same cruise. I booked later than you, but booked a specific cabin. The last I looked, there was still a handful of specific cabins available, but maybe not in the grade you want.

No foreign port = no duty free cigs or alcohol.

Not all cruises from Sydney have gratuities included in the fare. Daily gratuities are added on Cunard, Disney & Holland America. It is the thought that counts. Any amount from the heart is usually well received.

If you book early enough, you can book a specific cabin, although not in all grades. Once those allocated cabins are filled, they will default to guarantees so they can be more flexible in how they sell the remaining cabins. Even then, get your T/A or PCP to shake the tree for you. No big deal. If you book late, all of the preferred cabins are already taken, so you may as well settle for pot luck anyway. Be wary though. Most T/As will pitch you their best price, and those will be on bookings with non-refundable deposits for guarantee cabins. There will often be specific cabins, but at a price.

Coral Princess had the same arrangement in Newcastle in February. It was to create a flow of passengers to match the loading of shuttle buses out of the restricted port area. Not for shuttle buses yesterday, but better to be waiting in a lounge than in a queue in the terminal or on the pier.

What, like your cougars, upside pineapples & clips of monkeys? You Mr Chili are a hypocrite.

It is on-topic to the surrounding discussion. Maybe you should become Host Chili.

Usually x 3 for me. No slappers, but a similar idea with arch support. A bit like the smooth masseurs. A pair of casual sketchers. A pair of good black shoes for dinner. It is good for us men, colour co-ordinating our whole case to black or brown belt & shoes. Add a pair of reef shoes for the relevant itineraries. I have access to those cheap slippers on Princess, but rarely use them. Barb is trying, but has worked out that packing a clothing colour theme does halve the number of shoes she needs to pack.

We have also had it a couple of times, where it would seem that travel agents aren't on holidays when they are on holidays. Their agency is always the cheapest.

Flipping between Swans, NRL, Supercars, Grand Prix for me.

They look like pork & beans kinda people.

Similar. Done a few. Avoid those that place their cards/medallions on the table when they identify status level or a suite - they are setting a trap, waiting for you ask why their card is a different colour.

Some of them want to use you

Yep. I would agree .... and it is much more civil in Sabatini's for breakfast 🤣🤣🤣

e) Flammable

In the main, those cruising in suites or with elevated tier status are very discrete. At the breakfast table, over time I have found it is those with 10 to 15 cruises or those in a balcony for the first time are most prone to talk up their importance. If you have cruised long enough they will identify themselves at breakfast, with an opening line - Is this your first cruise? Usually fun to play along. We really don't care, having cruised inside, outside, upside down - and a few nice suites to boot. Suites are not allocated on merit to those most deserving, but those who paid a premium for some extra real estate and a few perks.

The final Freo to Freo cruise for Coral. It is a little on the dear side, but it has sold out and you are aboard and I hope you get to enjoy her us much as we did. There is N/C soft serve at the solarium pool and different ice creams in the dining room each night, so maybe a little more value for you. I would certainly be paying the premium to cruise from home too. At this stage, we have only been tempted to fly across the country for a Freo cruise once, and that was when airfares were more reasonable. I hope you can get some more ships based in Freo in the years ahead.

In a balanced world, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but those pages are far from balanced or democratic. Sadly these non-affiliated social media pages are just a fan club, often moderated by people that will prevent contrary opinion. In the case of most unofficial P&O pages, it is only OK to negatively critique other cruise lines. To become part of the collective, resistance is futile. So, a contrary opinion is shouted down. Even facts are dismissed if they don't fit the agenda of the group, and once again, everyone nods in agreement.

Yes, Barb has a crook shoulder, so I become the mule and prefer not to be muscling around two heavy cases if I can avoid it. There will come a time when that will no longer be possible.

Two weeks would usually be 1 x 23kg case between us, plus a carry-on each. If we are travelling with winter clothes we will go with 2 x cases, but heaps of weight to spare. As a packing guide: a) Get out all of your clothes ready for packing b) Pack half of those clothes c) Grab your wallet and take double the cash