Aus Traveller

That's out thinking also. We don't need the extra food, particularly as we like to have dinner fairly early.

Great. I'm glad to see that the same system still operates, rather than pre-purchase, as mentioned in the original post.

In Melbourne, pre-COVID, we were always able to buy the MYKI card in the cruise terminal after we arrived - not in advance. It was quite convenient.

I can recall that when we were connected to the land-based Telstra system, '4G' was showing in the far top right of the screen. We checked that because we wanted to phone one of our sons with a birthday message. I asked my husband what was shown when we were on the satellite system. He can't remember exactly, but says it was something like 'Ocean roaming'. (I didn't see this). He said he got a text message from Telstra to say that the call would be charged at 'X' amount per minute.

On our cruise on 26th June, the first boarding time-slot was available for several days from when it opened.

Disembarkation time was arranged when we were on board.

That would be correct. The price is per vehicle, not per person.

I suggest you try in a day or two.

The USA cell phone network is CDMA while the Australian system is GSM. Older phones from USA may not work on the Australian system. If the OP is thinking of using their present phone in Australia, they should check out its capabilities.

Ah! That's why there was confusion about the date. By the Bay is sailing on P&O Pacific Explorer but the previous post referred to the Coral Princess that leaves Sydney today.

I suspect that this trip is one of the 'small-group tours' that Princess sometimes has available. They are super expensive.

Take care using a mobile while on a cruiseship. When the ship is in port, the phone will usually connect to a land-based tower resulting in normal phone call rates. But when the ship is sailing, often (usually?) the phone connects to the ship's satellite system, resulting be a very high bill for the call. The type of connection is shown in the far upper right hand corner of the screen with a tiny symbol.

The amount you will lose will depend mainly on how far in advance you want to cancel.

You mention that the car rental place is near a railway station. If you can't find anywhere near the cruise terminal to leave the car, maybe you could consider asking the car rental company if you could park it in their yard. They are very likely to agree because they want to safeguard their cars. The downside is that you would have to get there before they close for the day.

Probably one in each segment - Aust to UK, UK to NYC, and NYC to Australia.

For NZ in November, be prepared for (what I would call) 'cold weather' in the South Island. For you it might be cool weather. 😁 I recall one cruise on the Pacific Sun quite a few years ago when it snowed lightly on the deck when the ship went into Milford Sound a couple of days into December. It is often cold even in the middle of summer but snow was very unusual. The weather can be changeable so layers are called for.

I realise you are on the Coral Princess, but on P&O they now have the dining room open for lunch on tender-port days but closed as usual if the ship is docked on a port day. Maybe Princess is doing the same.

It's difficult to know and unfortunately my experience with Princess is that the agents on the phone don't always have all the info. Just a thought - How about looking at a particular tour on the Princess site (not your Personalizer), then look at the same tour via your Personalizer. If the dollar value increases in line with the currency exchange rate, you will know it is AUD.

My guess is that, if the on-board currency is US$, then the tours would be priced in US$.

I suggest a visit to Hartley's Crocodile Adventures, north of Cairns. They offer a transfer service from Cairns. You can check it out on the Hartley's website.

That would work if they will allow passengers to leave the cruise in Moorea.

This is an international cruise and I think there is little chance that the French authorities will do their customs/immigration checks at a previous port. Even if they did, the connection time would be too tight. The airport is only about 5km from Papeete, but for an international flight to Aust/NZ, you would have to check in probably two hours ahead of departure. Sorry to say it, but I think you will find yourselves enjoying Papeete for two days. ☹️

There is a large scanner below deck where all the large suitcases are scanned.

From Sinbad's original question, I have the impression that Brisbane is a port of call, not a turn-around port between cruises. My answer would be that they would not stop you taking a suitcase on board, but if it wasn't a turn-around port, it would have to be one that you could personally carry on board and one that would fit through their scanners. I am thinking of doing something along those lines for the World Cruise. I live in Brisbane but was only able to book the cruise starting in Sydney. I realise that I could apply for permission to board in Brisbane, but I have decided to stay with the Sydney option. Flying domestically, I would have an excess baggage charge if I took everything I want to. Therefore I intend to have an extra bag (and a few more bottles of wine) brought down to the Brisbane terminal when the ship calls in. Because a lot of people are boarding that day, I figured I could just attach a luggage label and put my extra bag in with other checked bags. If that's a problem for Princess (although I can't see why it should be), I will be able to take it all on board with me.

If I had to bet, I would say that they will ask for it at check-in. If Princess and P&O are any guide, they will, even though we had up-loaded onto the Medallion (Princess) and VeriFLY (P&O). In one case (I can't remember which one) they photographed the vaccination certificates when we checked in.