dstables

The Aore Island ferry was free when we went.

 

Another idea if your happy to travel away from the port is Turtle Bay or Oyster Island Resorts you could go for lunch and a snorkel there too.

We used Tusty email btusty27@yahoo.com Phone 7755280 he could drop you off and pick you up when you wanted. We paid 2000vt each way . You could probably do Million Dollar Point on the same day.

 

My favorite place is Port Orly but that is easier to visit if you stop at Champagne Bay. But if not Sam who owns Lonnoc Village will take you for 8000vt for the whole day phone 5614970.

 

 

 

 

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We are hoping to go to Oyster Island Resort for the day. Do you know how much they charge for a day pass or do you just have to have lunch at their restaurant to stay for the day? Also did you use Tusty to get to the Resort? How long is the drive to the Resort? Thanks for your info!

On a couple of dozen visits to Vanuatu, we have only used AUD and there has been no question about its acceptance. :)

 

The cost of a taxi to where the ferry goes to Irririki would be AUD$15 although they will try to get you to pay more. The ferry goes from behind the open fruit/vege market at the start of the main street. I haven't heard of anyone booking the day pass into Irririki. You have to pay AUD$20 to enter the resort and this is deductible from any food/drink purchases. By the way, the cost of the taxi back to the ship should be AUD$10. The taxi prices are NOT per person.

Thanks exactly the information I was looking for!😊

We are sailing to Port Villa and Luganville on the Sun Princess in February will they accept Australia dollars for taxi cabs and day passes at resorts or do we need VT? If we need VT's where is the best place to convert Australia money into VT's? Also does anyone know if you need reservations at the Irrikki Island Resort for a day pass or do you just show up. I have tried emailing them three times but every time I just get an auto reply saying that they will contact me in a few days but I never do hear from them. And one last question does anyone know how much a cab will be from where the ship docks to where the ferry ride goes to Irrikki Island Resort. Thanks

For general information, Carnival Australia offer the two wine packages.

Are you meaning Carnival ships sailing from Australia? Because I was looking for information on wine packages on Princess ships.

What is the charge in Aus dollars per bottle corkage charge for bottles of wine over your one bottle per person allowed by a Princess to bring in board?

On cruises out of Australia they are called Beverage Packages. All inclusive beverage package is currently AUD59. Does not include bottled wine but they can be purchased in the dining room at 40% discount. For more details Google Princess Cruises Australia.

Cruises in the Caribbean also offer the All Inclusive Beverage package which includes wine by the glass but they also offer wine packages which wine is sold by the bottle. You can buy silver or gold packages with 7, 10 or 20 bottles. This same wine package was available on our cruise 4 years ago in Tahiti. So I don't think it just a North American thing. I have also heard of it being offered on Mediterranean, Europe and TA sailings. The key is it is only available on 10 day or longer sailings. So this what I am hoping to buy on our 10 day New Caledonia Vanuatu cruise this February. Looking to see if anyone has been able to purchase this wine package on 10 day or longer sailings in Australia. Thanks.

We have sailed Princess in the Carribbean a number of times and have been able to purchase wine packages on sailings of 10 days or more. Can anyone tell me if the Princess ships sailing out of Australia offer the wine packages on sailings of 10 days or more?

Hi Melanie,

Just letting you know that at Port Vila the Cascades Waterfall is no longer operating.

 

After visiting Espiritu Santo (Lugunville and Champagne Bay) several times we decided that there was so much there that we wanted to see and do that we went in July for a week we enjoyed it so much that we are going again at Christmas.

 

From Lugunville there are several resorts you can visit and enjoy their facilities by buying a drink or having lunch.

In town The Espiritu, by taxi 200 vt to Village de Santo, Deco Stop Lodge and the Beachfront Resort.

A bit further probably 1000vt each way Oyster Island Resort.

 

Another thing we highly recommend is Island Fishing with Fabrice, he will arrange a taxi to collect you. We did his 1 hour Dugong spotting 1 hour snorkelling 2 hours Fishing and it was a great day.

 

We use Steve Rovu for our driver he would collect you from both ports.

He operates Santo Natural Tours.

 

From Champagne Bay you just take a local tour to a Blue Hole or visit Port Orly or Turtle Bay resort.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise we too are cruising in February our 2nd time to PNG and have our fingers crossed that there are not to many cyclones around

 

 

 

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Thanks for all the useful information!

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions and steering me in the right directions. Appreciate all the replies!

Thanks for all the replies and great suggestions. Yes we are on the Sun Princess. Sailing February 16 and 26. Our itinerary says Port Douglas as a tender port and Cairns does not say it is docking for the over night. Does anyone know how I might find out now if the ship will in fact stay at Cairns over night and not tender into Port Douglas? I just I could ask the question once on board at the start of our 10 days and hope that there is still some private tours to GBR still available out of Cairns or Port Douglas if the ship over nights in Cairns.

Also does anyone know if there are resorts that offer day passes in Port Villa or Champagne Bay? Also is Hideway Island in a Port Villa worth a visit or is Iririki Resort better?

I'm still hoping someone can give me some advise on the three GBR tours offered by Princess. I'm thinking that the smaller tour out of Cairns with only 100 would be better, less crowded but if anyone has taken any of these tours I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks again!:)

We are sailing this February 2017 b2b on 10 day New Caledonia & Vanuatu and 7 day Queensland & The Great Barrier Reef and are looking for tour excursions and beach suggestions. We prefer to do private tours and are beach/snorkeling types. On the 10 day New Caledonia & Vanuatu we are sailing to Noumea, Mystery Island/Lifou, Port Vila, Champagne Bay, and Luganville. We are interested in going to Amadee Island and it would appear the only option is to go on the Princess Tour. I am trying to find a private tour but the one I found wants us to fill their catamaran and our roll call is not very active.

The 7 day Queensland & The Great Barrier Reef sails to Airlie Beach, Cairns, and Port Douglas. We definitely want to go to the GBR but really don't want to go on the Princess Tours that has hundreds of other passengers, but from everything that I have read this may be our only option as there does not appear to be enough time in any of the ports to do private smaller tours to the GBR. If anyone can suggest one that would work it would be greatly appreciated. Also can someone tell me which of the three ports would be the best one to go to GBR from. The Princess tour from Port Douglas has 300 people max and cost $319.95, from Cairns is 100 people max for $259.95 and from Airlie Beach is 250 people max for $299.95. All three tours are 7 hours long and by description appear to be the same, maybe going to different reefs. Also we are wanting to go to Whitehaven Beach and again it looks like with times in port the only option might only be the Princess Tour. Again if anyone can suggest a good private tour that would work it would be appreciated. We are looking at doing the Rainforest Cableway Kuranda & Scenic Railway on own. Is this doable with our times that we are in port.

One last question, all three ports on the 7 day cruise are tender ports. I am wondering how long are the tender rides for each port.

Thanks for all and any information that you can give me. Melanie

I normally would have, but since so many people were so negative with me I don't want to. People need to be nicer on this board. It frustrates me to no end how many people are so negative and/or nasty here when people like me ask simple questions.

 

People were also so quick to post "it doesn't exist" without reading the entire thread even after I had posted that I was able to contact the Yield department and secure my upsell.

 

Next time, don't be so mean to people.

Thanks for your reply and I can understand how you are feeling. Yes people can be very nasty and negative here. Not sure why people feel the need.

there is, I called it, and got the upsell :)

Would you mind sharing the number?😊 Thanks

Thanks for all the advice and information. We were thinking that the car was the way to go. We will out of Brisbane and are doing a b2b2b. Sailing for 10 days starting February 16 to New Caledonia & Vanuatu then February 26, 7 day Queensland & The Great Barrier Reef and then 2 day Brisbane to Sydney. Couldn't come all the way to Australia and not sail into Sydney. Thanks OzKiwiJJ for the Rainforest suggestion in Hinterland. Anyone else with suggests of must sees while we are in the Gold Coast for the 10 days it would be much appreciated. I'm just starting to resource tours and excursions for our ports. Maybe posting again looking for suggestions for tours at some of our ports. Thanks again Melanie.

We are two couples traveling in February from Canada to sail on the Sun Princess for 19 days starting February 16, 2017. We are planning on visiting the Gold Coast and stay there for ten days and tour up and down the coast pre cruise. What would be our best way of getting around to see sites and get from the Brisbane airport and to the cruise terminal. Train or car rental? My hubby has been to Australia before and has driven on the left side of the road and is comfortable in doing this so getting around in a car rental would not be a problem. Can someone also explain how the smart pass on the train would work. We are considering maybe a 10 day smart pass on the train that runs from the Brisbane airport and the Gold Coast. Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

You can cash in your chips. Your cruise card is used for slots or the electronic poker table (Texas Hold 'Em). Those funds can stay on the card or be cashed out at the cage.

Thanks you Sreelers36 just the answer I was looking for!

I could see the option to purchase Casino Credits on line in my cruise personalizer before Christmas. It is now gone. I just called Princess and the agent could not explain why the option to purchase on line is now gone but you can still but they through Princess on the phone. I asked if they were still being issued as certificates that you take to the casino to cash in or are they now being posted into your on board account. Was on hold for sometime while she found me the answer. She came back and said that it is now being added to your on board accounts.

My question is if I use these credits in the casino and gamble and have a good night can I cash in my chips in the evening for my winnings or are they just put back on your on board account? You must be able to cash in your chips for cash? New to the casino on Princess. Thanks.

If I purchase OBC's before we sail can I get cash out the OBC's while on board the ship at Passenger Services for cash? Or are you better to buy Casino Credits that can be cashed out in the Casino? Don't want to travel with a lot of cash and thought I had read somewhere on here that this can be done.

Interesting - not that I have corresponded with a ton of them, but have not yet encountered a US TA who would be able to charge a CAD credit card in CAD for the cruise. So, they are not just booking you with Princess as a Canadian in CAD and then billing you in USD?

 

This would be interesting because the pendulum has definitely swung to the point that Princess's "higher" 20% exchange coming into effect this fall/winter season is now a real bargain over USD pricing. So much so that it might offset some of the discounting we can get in the USA.

 

This is puzzling to me still because your US TA agency being a US company, ultimately has to deal in USD, so whatever they get from your CAD credit card has to be converted to USD by the agency and they are only going to get whatever the bank rate is and that won't be "enough" when you have only paid 20% over USD pricing for the CAD cruise using Princess exchange rate.

 

If you would care to share... gandrews54 ..... at ..... cogeco ... dot .... ca is an email I have that I don't use much so if it gets some extra junk, who cares?

 

Thanks.

When I book through my TA charges against my credit card are always by Princess and not the TA. This spring we booked the Royal for 20 days for next February. Our TA quotes U.S. prices in American dollars and Canadian dollars. Both prices had her usual discount off both prices. We did the math at the time and with the exchange rate at that time it was a better saves to book in Canadian funds. Our cruise has seen a price reduction since booking and with our very low dollar these days our Canadian pricing with the TA' s discount is a super deal. Charges for this cruise shown on our credit card as Princess Vancouver BC. In the past when we have booked with this TA and used the American price charges for those cruises show as Princess Valencia CA. How my TA is paid her commission by Princess I don't know but my invoice clearly states Canadian Funds and my Canadian credit card is used and charged only what the invoice is in Canadian funds.

Our American TA can quote prices in American or Canadian funds. Gives the same discount on both funds.

When booking B2B cruises as a single cruise we have always received a full allotment of free internet minutes at the beginning of each cruise segment. This no longer is the case…at least onboard the Royal Princess. We cruised on the Royal for 20 days embarking January 28th.

 

We were very disappointed to learn that those who booked the two 10-day cruises as one 20-day cruise receive only one allotment of free internet minutes while those who booked the same two cruises as individual cruises received two allotments. We have sailed two 10-day cruises at the same time of year three times previous to this year’s cruise, booked as individual 10-day cruises and as a 20-day cruise and have always received a full allotment of free internet minutes at the beginning of each segment.

 

The above is especially troubling since in every other way our 20-day booking was treated as if we had booked two 10-day cruises:

 

• We received a mini-bar setup at the beginning of each cruise.
  
• We received a free wine tasting invitation for each cruise.
  
• As suite cruisers we received a complementary Crown Grill meal on each cruise.
  
• As suite cruisers we received a complementary flower corsage and boutonniere on the first formal night of each cruise.
  
• We received credit for each of the two cruises in our Captain’s Circle Cruise History.
  
• There were separate folios for each 10-day segment
  

We and others who booked two 10-day cruises as a 20-day cruise were very disappointed with the obvious inconsistency with which free internet minutes were being credited. I notified Princess Customer Relations via email ( CustomerRelations@PrincessCruises.com ) and received a telephone call from them this week. The CR representative understood my pain, but confirmed this is Princess policy on free internet minutes. She did state that Princess listens to its customers and if enough people were to express their disapproval of this policy, there is a very good chance Princess would reconsider its position.

 

If you feel as I do about this arbitrary policy, please contact Princess to express your disapproval. Thanks…

 

Lew

Our experience in the last 4 years with booking the 20 day Caribbean cruise, the first 3 years on the Emerald and this year on the Royal is that if we booked as a 20 day cruise with only one booking number then we only ever got 250 minutes of Internet for the 20 days. I had asked Princess as why I was not getting 250 minutes for every 10 segment that made up the 20 day cruise and was advised that I would have had to book it as 2 - 10 day cruises each with different booking numbers. What Princess said simply is that one booking number then one Internet package on the 20 day cruise. 2 booking numbers for 2 - 10 day cruises b2b you would get 2 - 250 minute Internet packages. So I don't think this is something new this year on the Royal. Now I am not elite so I can explain why you would still get 2 mini bar set ups when you booked a 20 day cruise with one booking number.

She was originally scheduled to go in for dry dock for scheduled maintenance. I was told it by officer on the Royal that she is like any machine, like your car. They have to do scheduled maintenance to maintain her keep her "warranty".

 

They had this scheduled for this time in early 2016

 

Princess asked for an extension before they had to have this scheduled maintenance and it was approved.

 

They have therefore scheduled two 7 day cruises in that time now.

 

Vickie

Thanks for the information. I had read some time hear on CC that Royal was going into drydock during this time period and after just sailing on her I wasn't sure just what they would be doing to her as the ship was in wonderful shape. When I searched for cruises on the Royal I only searched for 10 day sailings so I never saw the two 7 day cruises in between. Thought that this was an odd time to do a drydock in the prime Caribbean sailing season.

I can see that that Royal is not sailing in 2016 from February 8 to 22. I have heard that it is going g into drydock for that time. Does anyone know if anything other than regular maintenance is being done at this time? It seems a bit early for this ship to be going into drydock?

I received an email from a friend onboard the Royal on February 24th informing me of noro onboard as of dinner the previous evening. Since it didn't come from an official source, I resisted the temptation to post this info and instigate yet another noro frenzy.

 

Lew

We just got off the Royal today after a wonderful 20 days on board. I believe it was Monday that we received a notice from the Captain that the ship was experiencing a higher than usual number of gastrointestinal problems among passengers. The Captain never used the word "Noro" in any of his daily updates on the situation. Dishes and cutlery were removed from the tables on Monday and remained removed as of this morning. You could serve yourself your food in the Horizon Court. You could see them removing and changing the serving spoons every 10 minutes or so. Lots of cleaning going on throughout the ship in all areas. Staff stood at the entrance to the Horizon Court and insisted that you use the hand washing station before entering the restaurant. Yesterday at noon the captain announced the numbers of passengers reporting gastrointestinal problems were down but the level of caution would continue for the next 72 hours. We were told today before disembarking that all passengers has to leave the ship so that staff could do extra cleaning. All passengers in transit had to leave as well and no passengers could board till 3:00.

As I said we had a wonderful cruise and if it had not be for the notice from the Captain we had not heard of many passengers being ill.

Hi I called the Captain's Circle people at Princess and the host told me that the cruise I had booked (B2B 14-day with one booking number)I would still be credited with 2 cruise credits as they are actually two cruises. So I imagine everything would just roll over to the second leg of the cruise.

If you have booked your 14 day B2B as a 14 day cruise and not as two separate 7 day cruises then you will only receive the free internet minutes for the 14 day cruise not the amount for each 7 day cruise. Yes you do get 2 cruise credits but since you only have one booking number this dictates which Internet package you get. We did the Emerald Princess last year and booked it as a 20 day cruise with one booking number and only got the free internet minutes for a 20 day cruise. We are booked again on the Royal Princess thus year for another 20 day and gave recently confirmed with the Captain Circle people that I will only get the Internet minutes for the 20 day cruise. She said the key is if you only have one booking one then that is what dictates your internet package. If I had booked it as two separate 10 day cruises with two separate booking numbers then I would receive the internet package for each 10 day cruise allotment.