J-D

Elaborating about our complaints concerning AC would be off-topic (relative to the original concern about Rouge). In general, I think that people's varying frequent-flyer status on different airlines has a lot to do with the divergent opinions about those carriers. For many years I concentrated my flying on a particular U.S. airline because its routes fitted well with my business travel patterns. That is undoubtedly a large part of the reason why we are almost always well treated on that U.S. airline, despite the fact that I see and hear many complaints about it from others who do not have high FF status there. Others tell me the same thing about other airlines (including AC) on which they have high FF status. Since I cast my lot with the one U.S. carrier (and not AC) long ago, I get no favoured treatment on AC.

John

Somehow Air Canada (the mainline, not Rouge) has won a "best North American airline" award for several successive years. Our experience on AC (mainline) is mixed, but with enough negatives that we also avoid AC when possible.

John

Does a US drivers license work in Papeete or do you need an international license?

No need for an international licence for Canadians or (presumably) Americans, at least in 2011.

John

Once you are aboard the ship, most tours can be cancelled up to about 2 days in advance of the tour in question. For each port, the tour desk lists a specific date & time after which Princess tours at that port cannot be cancelled. Certain expensive tours (helicopter flights, etc.) have a longer "must cancel before" time.

Provided you tell Princess that your tours should be charged to your onboard account (not prepaid), you should effectively not be charged for any tour cancelled before the specified time. More specifically, all tour charges will be posted to your onboard account early in the cruise, but a credit should be issued to the account for any that are cancelled before the specified time. Thus, when you settle the account at the end of the cruise, the cancelled tour(s) should not be involved at all. This all assumes that there has been no recent change in procedures.

John

What about t he temperature on the ship in public rooms?

I do not recall the inside temperatures on the Star Pr. or Grand Pr. during our Cape Horn trips as being any different from usual on Princess ships --ok or a little too warm as far as I am concerned; ok or a little too cool as far as DW is concerned...

John

Concur with the above, with the additional (strong) recommendation that your outer jacket be waterproof (e.g., Gore-Tex) and with a hood. Unless you are going to the Antarctic, that waterproof layer does not need to be heavy. For the Falklands and Cape Horn, better to have a relatively light waterproof shell that is large enough to accommodate a fleece (or similar) layer underneath when needed.

We were very glad to have brought light waterproof outer pants on both our trips around Cape Horn -- both in February. We were also glad to have lightweight water-resistant hiking boots, though those came at the cost of needing an extra suitcase :(

John

I would suggest that you book before you cruise. ... from the sound of it, you are sailing from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso. If you miss the Falklands, ... you should have enough port/sea days in between to cancel the Punta Arenas tour IF you make it to the Falklands.

I concur with as19111. Penguin tours are popular and are likely to be fully booked in advance, whether or not the ship successfully lands pax at Stanley (Falklands).

It is also possible to see penguins during a port call to Ushuaia, but there is probably too little time between the Stanley and Ushuaia to allow you to cancel an Ushuaia tour (should you wish to do that) after success at Stanley.

Incidentally, if the winds near Ushuaia happen to be light, you may be able to see (with binoculars) some Magellanic Penguins swimming singly near the ship during the hour before arriving at Ushuaia (if it is daytime) or the hour after leaving. We saw quite a few of them as we left Ushuaia in late afternoon on an uncharacteristically near-calm day. However, you would get a much closer and better view at one of the colonies.

John

We have been scheduled to stop at the Falklands (Stanley) on two trips -- successful the first time; not the 2nd. Overall the success rate for large cruise ships at Stanley is certainly better than our 50%, but lower than for many ports.

If you are interested in penguins, it is definitely a good idea to book a penguin tour in at least one other port in case you cannot land at Stanley. However, at the South American stops most people see just one species of penguin, the Magellanic. In contrast, during a one-day visit to the Falklands it is easy to see at least three species, including the large King Penguin, among other interesting birds.

John

The most amazing thing to do in Punta Arenas is the tour to Magdalena Island to the Magellenic Penguin Colony. ... Unfortunately by the time we returned to the ship there was no time to go in to the city, which would have been interesting.

During our visit to Punta Arenas in Feb. 2013, we did a half-day ship's tour to the Otway Sound penguin colony, tendered back to the ship, for a late lunch, and still had time to tender back to shore and walk around the interesting "downtown" area for three hours.

The day was relatively warm and not windy, and was in late Feb. (22 Feb.). The number of Magellanic Penguins visible at Otway Snd that late in the season and in those "balmy" conditions was low (approx. 35 as I recall). However, we saw other interesting wild birds including rheas, upland geese, caracaras, and many rufous-collared sparrows.

John

On our first cruise from BA, we spent 4 nights there. That provided a "recover from the overnight flight" day plus three additional full days in the city before embarking the next day. However, BA is a large city with much to see, so in retrospect we barely started seeing the city on that trip. Therefore, on our 2nd cruise from BA, we did the same -- 4 nights pre-cruise in the city -- and we did not come close to running out of things to see. Admittedly, on the 2nd trip we went back to some of the same places that we wanted to revisit after having been away for a few years.

John

We visited both many years ago (in the 1990s) and returned to Australia Zoo in 2012. By then, Australia Zoo was much enlarged and more "commercialized" than it had been when we visited in 1996. (In 1996, it was still called the Queensland Reptile & Fauna Park.) Both zoos are interesting and worth a visit, in our view, but they are quite different. Taronga Zoo is a more traditional zoo, albeit located on a scenic stretch of Sydney Harbour, whereas Australia Zoo is well inland and less broadly focused, with a fair amount of emphasis on the Irwin family.

Taronga Zoo is easy to get to via a short and scenic ferry ride from Sydney's Circular Quay. In contrast, it is a significant drive (approx 40-45 mi as I recall, and subject to traffic delays) from Brisbane to Beerwah, the location of Australia Zoo. Especially if you have not been to Brisbane before, I suggest going to Taronga Zoo when you are in Sydney, and then using your day in Brisbane to see some of the many other sights in or near Brisbane. I suggest saving the Australia Zoo for some other visit when you can spend time on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane, with one day devoted to the Austr. Zoo.

John

When we were on the (former, small) Royal Princess in 2011, Princess provided a Tahitian dance show on the ship the evening of embarkation, when the ship stayed in port overnight. They also provided an evening show on the ship during the day in Raiatea, when the ship did not sail until late evening.

John

There are positives and (mild) negatives about each ship, and individual preferences affect which ship any one person prefers. The Crown is considerably newer with some updated features and a full central staircase. The Crown also has larger closets in her balcony, oceanview & interior cabins.

However, because of the extra deck of cabins on the Crown, the Grand has about 12% more space per passenger, based on their respective space ratios (gross registered tons divided by lower-berth passenger capacity). Some people find the resulting extra congestion on the Crown noticeable; others do not. Some people like the fact that Skywalkers has been removed from the Grand, allowing more sunlight to reach the aft pool; others regret the loss of Skywalkers. For some, the presence of a covered pool on the Grand (but not the Crown) is an important difference, especially for sailings in cool conditions.

There are endless discussions of these differences on CC, but it ultimately comes down to relatively small differences between generally similar ships, and individual preferences. We have our own preferences, but would be happy to cruise on either ship again.

John

Concur that renting a car is the best option for most people. We used Avis's downtown Papeete location. Be sure to get a map showing the Papeete streets. Once outside Papeete, driving is easy as others have said.

At Pt. Venus, check out the Capt Cook, Bligh, and missionary statues as well as the black sand beach and the views along the coast and into the interior. Despite the modern developments, much of the landscape remains very reminiscent of that depicted in the famous Wm. Hodge's paintings of the area from his visits during Capt. Cook's 2nd circumnavigation in the mid-1770s, e.g.,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hodges,_Resolution_and_Adventure_in_Matavai_Bay.jpg

John

John

On the Grand, even if you normally use elevators, the lack of accessible mid-ship stairs is an annoyance because of the extra demand on the elevators. During our two cruises on the Grand, the mid-ship elevators were often unusually crowded or completely filled, with unusually long waits. And of course there was no option to switch to the stairs without walking to the fore- or aft-stairwell. A minor matter in the overall scheme of things, but an annoyance.

Also, in October 2012 and again Feb. 2013, one or more of the Grand's mid-ship elevators seemed to be out of service for maintenance an unusually high proportion of the time. That exacerbated the congestion and delays. I have not noticed complaints on CC about the Grand's elevator serviceability in recent months, so perhaps her mid-ship elevators are in better shape now.

John

 

...& also a big thanks to John for your wildlife ID. fascinating.

 

Cheers.

Glad I could help just a little. The "round the Horn" itinerary makes for a great trip. We have done it twice and I would be glad to go again if there were not so many other places we want to go!

John

OK now I am a little worried. We leave in 2 weeks for our cruise out of Southampton. We arrive back to port on a Monday and we have 12:30 flight out of LHR. I have a car service picking us up at 7:30 taking us back to LHR, am I going to have plenty of time or should I have my pick up time earlier.

You probably will make the flight, especially if your ticket-type or frequent-flyer status gives you some priority at the airport. However, I would be very concerned about the unpredictable possibility of not being able to disembark until well after 07:30, or severe traffic, or crowds at LHR, or .... Being averse to worrying situations, I would never book a flight from LHR that early.

If, through some ticketing misadventure, we found ourselves booked on that flight, I would pay the penalty (if not too large) to change to a later flight or (better) a subsequent-day flight, and avoid the worry. Given the abundance of things to see and do in and near London, we would opt to stay for whatever additional days that we could manage, despite having been there many times before.

John

If you have visited Lima before, you probably have already toured the main downtown area, but I think it would be worth another visit. During our 1.5 day port call in early 2013, the tours we took did not give us nearly enough time in and around the Plaza Mayor (=Plaza de Armas), with the impressive and historic surrounding buildings. These include the Presidential Palace, City Hall, Archbishop's Palace, and Lima Cathedral (including Pizarro's tomb).

Nearby are the San Francisco Monastery and the Larco Herrera Museum, both well worth visiting. Regarding the latter, we were warned not to take cameras, which supposedly would not be allowed into the building. In fact, cameras and photography were allowed, but no flash photos. The SF Monastery did not allow photography, though it was acceptable to carry (but not use) a camera.

John

Hinano is a great local beer, both regular and dark. Tabu is also good but not as well known....

You will see the Hinano logo many places. The Tabu logo is somewhat less ubiquitous.

John

They have always taken Sitmar/P&O cruises for credit on Princess. After all P&O was Princess.

Not quite how I would phrase it. As I understand it, P&O acquired Princess during or around 1974, and the combined P&O Princess continued until 2000 when they to some extent "de-merged". Then in 2002-2003 Carnival acquired both P&O and Princess. Interestingly, even the subsequently-launched Princess ships have the P&O rising sun symbol on the bow. No doubt some others will understand the corporate history much better than I do and can provide some refinements. In any case, the close connection between P&O and Princess has a long history.

John

More specifically, find a cruise of interest, click on "View Details", and then click on "Save to My Princess". Repeat for any number of cruises of interest.

To check for price changes at later times, under the "Booked Guests" tab, click on "My Princess", and then (at left) click on "Saved & Shared Cruises". For each saved cruise, click on the orange button to update to current prices. For some of my saved cruises, I see some reductions tonight relative to the last time I checked a few days ago.

John

An option intermediate in price between the YHA and Quay Grand Suites would be the York Apartment Hotel on York St. -- at most a 10 min walk (slightly downhill) from the York to Circular Quay. Their 2-bedroom apartments (plus large living room with couch) might suit your needs. The units have full kitchens. We have stayed there twice, and will probably return.

John

Ports such as in French Polynesia (Bora Bora, Moorea, etc.) can barely handle the number of passengers on the smaller Princess ships. The number of passengers on a Grand class ship would overwhelm these ports.

Right. Also, even with a reduced number of activities and options on the R-class ships, the Princess 10-day itineraries out of Papeete do not have a lot of sea days. For us, there always was more than enough to do during our one such FP trip on the former Royal Princess (also R-class). That ship was one of our favorite Princess ships.

John

Unfortunately we have no real good pictures of the terrain. The roads starts out paved - turns to gravel - and then no road at all....

We have photos of the off-road trip to Bluff Cove on a very rainy day. Others should be able to tell you whether the terrain is similar en route to/from Volunteer Pt. One of these photos shows a more or less typical part of the transit across the wet terrain. The other shows a bad area where one vehicle is bogged and being winched out by another vehicle. (Not sure if the resolution on screen will be adequate to really show what is on the original photo.) The boggy terrain is one reason why the vehicles go in groups, able to help one another out of such predicaments.

The trip was an adventure and seeing the Gentoo & King penguins and other birds was great -- we had a good time and would do it again in an instant, despite my minor back and neck issues. I concur with the advice to try for the front passenger seat, or a window seat in the back -- not the middle seat in back where it is difficult to find a hand-hold.

John

I have mild back and neck issues, but chose to take the Bluff Cove tour. It was somewhat rough, but not really a problem and I would certainly take such a trip again. At least on the day we went, the off-road portion was very wet and muddy. The twists and lurches of the vehicle (a Land Rover) were less abrupt and less problematic in these very muddy conditions than would be the case in a dry country with firmer ground.

John