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Everything posted by Aus Traveller
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Papua New Guinea - Snorkelling
Aus Traveller replied to Emoliash's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
If you want to donate this (such as school supplies), I suggest Kiriwina would benefit more from any donation rather than the Conflict Islands. Kiriwina has a local village (with a small school) but Conflict Island is a business owned by an Australian man. People living there are probably cared for reasonably well. -
Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I agree with Geoff and Mic. We have never had a problem with a guaranteed booking and will continue to book that way if there is a reasonable saving. -
Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I originally thought the letter sounded as it if was sent days prior to the cruise BUT I am now doubtful. It clearly wasn't an email and the sheet of paper has the RCI logo in colour and the page doesn't have fold marks from being posted in a standard envelope. It looks like it was handed to people in person and that would have to be at the terminal. I understand it isn't unusual for a cruise to have a small number of over-bookings. The cruiselines know from experience how many cancellations they will get. They can then email a few customers with a move-over offer until they have enough cabins to accommodate all the guarantee bookings. In this case, maybe it is as a few people have suggested - some last-minute change either a maintenance issue or needing the cabins for another purpose such as isolation. Either way, it was sh...y for the people who were expecting to go on a cruise only to be turned away. I feel the compensation was very poor. -
Power points on Coral Princess
Aus Traveller replied to Sparky74's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I hope he recovers quickly. All the best to you both.🙂 -
Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
The Quantum of the Seas cruise in question is going to Noumea. Travel insurance is compulsory or passengers are not permitted to board the ship. I agree with your comment about vacation time off work being an issue. -
Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Over-selling on flights is common practice in the airline industry. (I don't mean what Qantas did.) -
Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Sorry. Sorry. I was mixing up the two events currently under discussion. No excuse. I should have put brain into gear before posting. 😁 -
Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I see the point you are making, but it isn't likely that anyone flew 10,000 miles for a P&O cruise. They don't market their cruises outside Australia/NZ. -
Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
We never liked the Jewel. My husband called it the Pacific Zirconia. He even photo-shopped a pic of the ship with the name change. 😁 -
When I was trying to book a transfer it wasn't under excursions.
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Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I know of several occasions on Princess and on P&O where passengers are offered a 'move-over' to free up cabins for people who booked on a guarantee. The mover-over offer is usually a full refund PLUS a free cruise of a similar length some time in the future. -
Itinerary changes that worked out better
Aus Traveller replied to DT1304's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I agree. 50% refund + $300 OBC was pretty good. -
Itinerary changes that worked out better
Aus Traveller replied to DT1304's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
So do I. 🙂 -
That is an unbeatable price.
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You can book on board the ship, but that won't help you if you need a transfer to get to the ship. A few months ago I wanted to book a Princess transfer from Sydney airport to the ship so I couldn't do it on board. I phoned Princess and they said I had to book it through my travel agent. He did it without a problem. From your post it sounds like you have a Princess Cruise Planner. He/she should know how to do it. How soon is your cruise? I got a bit of an impression that maybe the transfer couldn't be booked until a few weeks prior to the cruise, but I am not sure about that. If you are travelling with a companion there isn't much difference between the cost of a taxi and two people in the shuttle bus. The taxi would be around A$60.
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Itinerary changes that worked out better
Aus Traveller replied to DT1304's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Our cruise on 23rd October was supposed to be from Brisbane to Noumea/Lifou/Port Vila. However a cyclone got in the way and when we arrived at the terminal, we were advised that we were going to Cairns instead. It didn't matter much to us because we were going just for the cruise, not the ports, except I intended to buy duty free alcohol in Vila. We were given $100 OBC for the change of itinerary. I felt sorry for people who were going on their first cruise, or who had got passports that now weren't needed. There were a lot of children on board, so I suspect there were a lot of unused passports. -
There are no public transport options from the cruise terminal. Princess has transfers to the airport and I think also to the Roma Street Railway/Transport Centre. The other option is a taxi or Uber.
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Itinerary changes that worked out better
Aus Traveller replied to DT1304's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Did it end up as a full refund? The last I heard was 50% refund plus $300 OBC. -
Quantum of the Seas Overbooking
Aus Traveller replied to datone's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
The letter indicates that people were advised ahead of time, but it is still awful. Presumably no-one would have flown to the port unless they took option 1 in the letter, but that doesn't mean they could get a refund of their airfare. -
Carnival says goodbye to Melbourne
Aus Traveller replied to bazzaw's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I see the point you make about the 2025/26 itineraries.🙂