kate59

We had a watch fail once and just took it back on the next cruise with copy of the ship account - no problem it was replaced with no hassles. Since we live in Australia no way was I sending to them.

3 hours ago, damiross said:

I've wanted to take a long cruise which I define as at least 5-6 weeks.  I'm curious those of you who do take long cruises manage stuff like bills and your home. We are retired and like to do 40 or more night cruises - 56 nights next year. We have all our bills on direct debit from 1 bank account, which we can access anywhere in the world.

 

Are many of you long cruisers retired or have a lot of vacation time?

 

What do you do about your home?  Do you rent it out (for those who take multiple month cruises) or have someone watching it while you're gone?  Are your bills taken care of through automatic payments? We tried having someone stay over which was ok when one of the kids needed help however they all now have their own homes. We are lucky enough to live in a great neighbourhood and several of the neighbours have our children's contact details should something go wrong, one of them sorts things out. We usually have email access at least once a day.

 

Finally, do you ever get "home sick" while out on the sea for months at a time? NO but we have traveled in Australia for many years before retirement. We love our kids and grandkids but appreciate they have their own lives. With email Skyp etc we are never far away and can still catch up on their lives.

 

Just curious.... The main thing is to relax and enjoy the time with your other half.

 

9 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

My understanding is that if a couple sailed together on their first Princess cruise as husband and wife, their Captain's Circle numbers would be the same except for the letter "A" at the end of his and the letter "B" at the end of hers. If they reach the level where they get loyalty OBC, then it's just by cabin. But people with different Captain's Circle numbers, who both qualify on their own to receive loyalty OBC, will both get it if they share a cabin.

Woo-hoo we have different numbers and not consecutive 

Aussiebossyboots

Sorry can't help on excursions as we don't snorkel.

7 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Another hack we used succesfully on the round the horn, it was actually three cruises even though we book it as one cruise. I ordered some scotch on the first leg and it was delivered to my cabin on the last night of the first leg.  Did the same thing on the second leg.  We've also been successful doing that on back to backs as well.

Thanks for this one.  Our 56 night next year shows on our Captain Circle as 3 cruises. 

9 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

The policy is loosely enforced, depending in the ship.  I did a 49 night around the Horn cruise several years ago and I clanked back on board with a couple of bottles of wine in my back pack.  The closest bodega to the port was always crowded with ship passengers buying wine.

 

We have bought back one bottle each at some ports with no problems.

If you bring any other alcohol it will be held to end of cruise 

On 5/6/2019 at 4:20 AM, denmarks said:

 

Princess gives the following OBC:
From your 21st to 31th cruise - $25 onboard cabin credit
From your 32st to 41th cruise - $50 onboard cabin credit
From your 42nd to 51th cruise - $75 onboard cabin credit
From your 52nd cruise on - $100 onboard cabin credit

Any thing is better than nothing yes. Just a shame we tend to do longer cruises and even though we have over 180 nights up in 10 years it still only registers as 10 cruises. Bugger. At least we got our Elite at 150 nights.

11 hours ago, aussiebossyboots said:

 

Good to know, however for our first Princess Cruise we are going to Papua New Guinea, pretty sure buying bottles of wine at ports will be impossible.  This is also the same policy with Cunard, but we don't pay corkage if we drink the wine in our room.  Seems like Princess' policy is to pay corkage regardless of where you drink the wine.  Is this correct?

 

We will carry a few extra when we embark in Brisbane and pay the corkage which is all OK by us.  Cheers

Alotau do have a supermarket but I can't remember if they had wines, otherwise no hope of getting wines on shore.

On 5/6/2019 at 12:58 PM, aussiebossyboots said:

Really interested in this topic.  We are cruising Princess for the first time in January 2020 so any insights, whether we call them 'hacks' or not will be appreciated.

 

We will be on the Sea Princess to Papua New Guinea in a balcony cabin which I found out after booking is mostly covered.  All Ok by us - not complaining.

 

Prior to booking we also didn't know that you could bring 1 bottle of wine per person on board.  And, pay the corkage on additional bottles - bonus.

Hi Aussie Bossy Boots (love the name)

The Sea Princess is an older ship but it is nicely set out and New Guinea is good - we did 2 cruises in a row to there. Kiriwina and Katava are nice and the locals are very friendly - take lots of $5 and $10 notes. If you get approached by locals to change any currency - please try to help them, it has always helped to get Aussie money back if we still had local currency left over but they will work in Aussie $. Just know the exchange rate.

Have a great trip.

Just now, MissP22 said:

It sounds like they're a little bit more proactive in Australia then Florida.

They let anything go by in the carry on luggage. 

I'm not sure about the checked in luggage since I've haven't sent in my luggage that way lately.

My power board because it is also my power adapter and USB charger I only ever put on my carry on.

Yes Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal do have a few gun ho security guys. I have had several run ins with them when they have got it wrong. Princess sometimes have a crew member on standby to over ride their decisions but unfortunately not always.

Thank you for the review. We cruise to Iceland and Norway in July  on the Sapphire and am looking forward to it no matter what. This won't be our oldest Princess cruise ship - it would be the Sun Princess ( yes out of Australia) built in 1995 and has been a favourite since 2011 when we spent 46 nights on her. Last year we cruised on the Majestic Princess - one of the newest. Each to their own but we found it really hard to get used to the first few days because of its size and the design was very weird - no promenade around the whole of Deck 7, it was always blocked off. No wheelhouse bar so only place to dance was in the atrium on Deck 5 - where everyone hung over to watch - not conducive to romance.

After many cruises I no longer have ideals about any cruise - I just go with the flow but I do like to hear about people's perceptions when I read reviews. Thanks

I have a power strip without surge, which is also my international power adapter. It got confiscated last November when boarding the Majestic Princess in Sydney. I complained buy the cruise terminal wasn't having that I could have it.

They gave me a receipt for it and it was later delivered to my cabin with apology that it was ok. The terminal staff are not always aware that non surge ones are ok.

Thanks everyone for ideas. 

My TA got good price on transfer so doing it.

Next year I will have a better idea when we again cruise from Southampton.

Thanks but I have booked a transfer now. 

Thanks for the responses, I will think a bit more about it.

1 minute ago, Bob++ said:

There is a frequent train direct from Gatwick to Victoria (about half-an-hour). Given the fairly modest saving for advance bookings with a fixed time, I would buy my ticket on the day.

 

National Express coach is cheaper but takes twice as long.

Thanks Bob for your quick response and yes I had been thinking just better to get ticket on the day but just wasn't sure.

I think the train may be best.

We are not experienced air travellers and just a few questions

Arriving at Gatwick Airport at 12.35 pm - how much time do I need to allow to get through immigration and customs - we are Australian. Just need some indication of when to book coach or train.

Would train or coach to London be best - we don't mind public transport and will be getting taxi from near Victoria Station to our accommodation. 

Thanks

1 minute ago, Jayayeff said:

 

I’m assuming you are referring to The Retreat Hotel on the Palm?? .  I live close to the airport and just fed the hotel location in my Uber app for guidance and it came up with a jouney of 29kms. and a fare of Dhs.125-155...(Current Exchange Rate 1A$= 2.6 Dhs)

 

Anne...

Yes right hotel and thanks Ann,  I think I will go with the taxi 

Hi first time visiting Dubai and looking at options for getting to hotel, TA is quoting $157 Australian and just think it is a bit over the top. Does anyone have ideas of cheaper travel - no problem sharing as in a shuttle.

Thanks

I have just started looking at this as we have a 2 night stopover in Dubai and I hadn't thought about the problem. I am on Tramadol for pain, Stemetil for vertigo - thankfully I am only going to be overseas for 26 days but Dubai is our first stop.

Please let me know if you get this sorted out - seemed so weird you get taken to a nongovernment site.

If it is one of the "Australian Princess ships - Sun or Sea it will definitely be in A$. If the ship cruises in and out of Sydney ie when the Majestic was here for a few months it too was in A$.

We do a 14 night cruise around Iceland and Norway in July this year with the Sapphire Princess - I had been looking at cruises around Iceland for some time and this looked good itinerary to me and I like Princess.

Have a great time - we cruise on the Majestic in November - the first 2 days were a little trying till we worked things out but we did have a great time.

Just off the Majestic so thought I should update this thread.

Not actual theme nights but some got dressed in cowboy gear for the country dance in the Piazza on deck 5. Otherwise it was only the 2 formal nights.

Thanks I just didn't want to have taken the plastic holder myself as can only find in large packets.