Bpos

Someone on our upcoming Princess cruise did finally hear back from Princess. Apparently, the US$56 Vietnam visa fee includes a US$25 processing fee charged by Princess. I still don't understand why Princess is charging US$56 for a visa that is identical to other visas obtained onboard from other cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity (for which they only charge US$5 or US$6). I'd rather they bill me an extra US$50 for the cruise, than for a visa that should be no different from cruise line to cruise line. It certainly does not give a good impression of the company ...

See post 21 above - therein lies the answer

Cairns is a lovely place to visit and even if you do not get to swim on the reef, they have a wonderful aquarium which replicates, or even surpasses what you may see by being on the reef.

Also lots of attractions to see around the city and one day drives.

We were there recently and saw the wonderful Cairns Botanic Gardens (world class in my view) plus live platypus swimming in a local creek behind the motel we stayed in - about an hours drive from Cairns.

There is also a man made swimming area on the Cairns foreshore that, but for waves, is just like swimming in the ocean- with no nasties therein (excepting youngsters peeing in the pool!) Yes I like to tell it - warts and all!

For me, call me what you like. but there is no way I would ever swim in the ocean in the tropical north given the "nasties that could be there" and the occasional saltwater croc lurking someone and eyeing me off for his next feed.

A wonderful place to visit in Australia and they have good cold beer at good prices - which of course is important to us Aussies and overseas visitors alike. (On has certain priorities that need to be met on one's holiday, thats for sure)

Hi guys this was my reasoning for what I picked.

 

I don't know about everyone else but I like to wear a clean pair of underwear everyday, and seeing as I will be swimming daily a change of underwear is necessary in my opinion. Same goes for the socks one pair a day as I will be wearing them every night.

 

A believe the two board shorts works well as they don't take long to dry. The shorts are for days when not in pool or beach and some warmer nights also. Jeans and chinos for most nights.

 

A t-shirt a day might be a bit much, but being my first cruise that is what I thought of and I really do not want to do laundry. The casual shirts can be worn alone at night or unbuttoned over a tee.

I have just read your quote above

Because you are going to swim every day, you could extend the wearing of underpants to 8 days!! (Wear your jocks under your swimmers and they will get washed, rinsed and faded thats for sure)

And yes, soxs definately reversible so two days per pair there! (if you wear them while swimming two pairs will last the cruise)

I will get you down to a small carryon backpack soon!

I asked a similar question of the wonderful members of this forum a couple of years ago - you might get some good tips there to help you out

Here is the link https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2413339

Well I think you are taking to much underwear. After all if you wear one pair one day, the next day reverse them, then the next day turn then inside out and then the next day reverse them again - that should give you four days of wear - at least that was normal practice when I was a young soldier and Mum was not around to do the washing.

Fortunately I have a wife now and due to an ongoing hemorhoids problems can only get away with two days.

As they say, old habits are hard to give up.

Just don't admit to this lifesaving practice to others on the cruise or you may find you have no friends to talk with and will probably find yourself by yourself at the dining table.

But you have to admit, it does cut down on your packing for the cruise!

For Australians, it is still cheaper option to get your visa issued by the ship than to organise it prior to going (it was $99 AUD for a 30 day single entry at the Perth consulate when I last visited about a year ago, probably more now).

The concern for most cruisers on this forum is the disparity between the charges imposed by the various cruise line, after all, the fee imposed by the Vietnamese on all ship bourne visitors is $5 USD (although some country citizens are exempt).

This topic is not going to go away while some cruise lines charged are way of of line with the others and I can only suggest intending cruisers to keep up the pressure on those cruise lines who charge more more, with the hope some common sense may prevail to reduce to cost.

Taxi scams are one of the major complaints of visitors to Vietnam so I would advise anyone contemplating hiring a taxi in Vietnam to do their research prior to going via Trip Advisor etc.

While certainly possible to hire a taxi in Baria (where the free shuttle bus drops passengers off from Phu My) or even from outside the port gates, the taxi mafia will be operating to organise you into a cab at an exhorbitant price. By knowing which taxi companies to use (and there are generally on two that you should use), if possible get away from the melee and try and deal with the driver direct.

I have been to Vietnam many times including by ship to Phu My twice and as I general rule i will not get into any cab unless the driver is well dressed and wearing a tie as the two recommended companies require their drivers to wear a tie. If you get into a cab for a short ride or one way ride the the driver does not use his meter, get out.

And finally, if you negotiate to have the taxi for the day or a return trip, do not pay any money to the driver until you get back to the port - its a long walk from Saigon to Phu My!

Much closer to Vung Tau - nice place to visit for a day, plenty to see and some really good restaurants for seafood and beer.

You could and probably should organise transport to and from before you go - you can also visit Nui Dat, some tunnels and other sites of interest to Australians as that is the province where we operated in during the War.

In April we visited Da Nang for one day. The ship was the MSC Splendida. Prior to this cruise we didn't purchased the visa's. The cruise company arranged a one day permit to stay in Vietnam. The price was 11.63 euro for EU passports, that's about $13. I don't know about the US citizens but I think the price was the same for all passengers. There were some Vietnamese border officers on board and they handle out the official permits.

I am sure the Vietnamese do not discriminate about the fee for any nationality, the price is $5 US. It is the cruise line that adds the additional cost to the processing of the visa and some, like Princess have decided to impose a much higher fee than many as just another way of gouging their passengers.

Cannot put it more simply than that!

It happened in Hilton Head (near me -- I am in Bluffton). She tried to save her dog from the alligator and the gator got ahold of the leash and puller her into the lagoon and drowned her. She was a very popular kindergarten teacher. The theory is that the gator was being fed -- most of the time, alligators avoid humans but if they are fed, they loose fear of humans and view them as food.

You never never mess or swim in rivers, creeks, oceans in the far north of Australia as our salt water crocs (gators)

are deadly predators and masters of the kill

Thank god they would not qualify as a comfort pet, at least not in Australia, but the USA ???

As I posted earlier, the Cruise contract should be amended to specify that if an an ESA poops, RCI can throw the dog and the owner off the ship at the next port. They would have to make their way back home using their own funds. Walking away from the poop and not cleaning it up should make it easier for the Captain to thrown these offensive people off the ship.

On our last cruise a couple of years ago, I was waiting in line at the pursers desk, looked down, and sure enough spotted a a good size "poop" on the carpet. Staff moved quickly to isolate and clean up but I doubt it originated from an animal, well not a human one, as we saw no pets then or throughout the cruise!

Just a tip for any cruise visitors to Perth - make a couple of hours available to visit the wildflower displays at Kings Park in the centre of Perth from now until early October 2018.

We are having one of the best wildflower season ever.

The variety of plants and flowers in bloom will rock you socks off and you will see many unique varieties not seen in any other part of the world.

Google - Wildflowers in Kings Park to see some photos - you will be amazed, stunned and they sell good coffee and food in the Park as well

I would hope it has wine pairings for that price ($275) but then I have paid more on some occassions.

Peared wine!, not to my taste, would prefer something made from grapes and preferably from a non breakable cardboard box, anyone for Shiraz?

Re Quay, bit out of my league, but if you can afford it and want to experience it, do it young Terry in Ohio. You won't get a pie there though. $275 for a 10 course degustation menu is very expensive, but you pay for the experience and the views. We have a top eatery..'Sandbar' down here at Batemans Bay, does a 10 course degustation menu for $120.:p

 

 

 

My local chinese restaurant does a disgusting 10 course meal for $12

Forgot to add, make sure you have a couple of hours to visit the Cairns Botanic Gardens - a real gem in my view and you will be able to see a great garden/park full of tropical plants and trees beautifully set out - for free.

Great restaurants in the park for breakfast or lunch - one of the better Botanic Gardens I have seen and I have been to many around the world.

Just back from Cairns - great place and you will enjoy your time there although it will be very warm and humid - no problems.

I would hire a car as you will be there for four days and because it is a a small city, public transport is not really an option. You will be able able to organise you travel on the train/skyway when you get there so really nol need to book in advance but it you do book online will save a few $.

Kuranda is easy to DIY as a small town and the train and skyway terminals are right in town (free shuttles also available.

The major tourist season is now as the weather is great so with 3/4 days in town you can book on arrival to find the day that suits you.

A car will also allow you to do a day trip up to Port Douglas (great coastal) and a great market in town if you can go on a Sunday. Also posssible to see Mossman Gorge on the way up/down and even a short detour into the Daintree area if you leave early.

Enjoy

Overseas visitors to Australia should bone up on the following thread to enrich and enhance their visit downunder.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2362723

Couple of years old now but still relevant today.

Not $33 for our Princess cruise...

For our up coming Diamond cruise in January, Princess is taking $56, and it clearly published on our Princess cruise personalizer as a Vietnam visa charge

 

 

Srpilo

Not a bad earner for Princess, if Celebrity can do it for $6 USD then assuming approx 2,000 pax get a ship issued visa from Princess, the profit is $100,000 USD if the price is $56. Phew, what an outrage!

Princess are fleecing passengers by the outrageous imposition of a processing fee well in excess of what it should be. Would not sail with them if it could be avoided.

Just to add, on our first visit many years ago I booked to go to see Elvis Presley perform, even purchased a new suit for the occasion as I thought I may even get to meet the great man.

Imagine my disappointment at the end of the show to learn that the real man had died a couple of years before and I sat through a show performed by an imposter, good one at that, he sure fooled me!

Make sure you take in a show or get married (again) as there are lots of both going on in Vagas

Everyone should visit Las Vegas at least once in their lifetime, great fun place and stepping off location to visit the Grand Canyon, amazing sights to see.

Use Trip advisor to research hotels but I am sure someone who has been there more recently will comment. Visiting during the week and avoiding weekends usually means cheaper rooms and more deals to stay, ie free breakfasts etc

Yes, My Time Dining is offered on all RC ships.

Thanks

Sailing on Anthem in Nov with our USA family and we have been waitlisted for anytime dining which we like and there wii be three children in the group.

Is this still available?

Gee....and I was worried about running into a Cassowary.....didn’t know Roos also had a claw.

Just a further warning - if you see a couple of roos facing up for a boxing match to see their differences, keep your distance, they have a mean left hook!

In probably the 1800s it was done as a sideshow stunt. But ia real fight the human end up badly injured or dead.

There were staged fights between humans and Kangroos years ago in the USA and Europe at a time when side shows were popular and probably Buffalo Bill was around

I made mention of it in the following thread plus put a couple of photos up

Have a look, it's in there somewhere?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2362723