Mikey22

The closest Ferry Terminal To the BICT is Northshore Hamilton 

16 hours ago, arxcards said:

@Mikey22 Thanks for the list. Milky Way martini within the plus cap - a couple of happy campers here. I can't wait until our longer cruise in October, to see if we can drink the spirits/cocktail menu in 11 nights.

No Worries,

That was from just one of the Bars, they have various menus as they do on most Ships.

One thing we thought was funny though, on the second night we had a couple of drinks with Lunch and paced ourselves as we moved around the Ship.

We are not night owl’s but on this occasion we will still at Explorers Bar near midnight, one if us must have been getting close to the Drinks Cap because  I guy in uniform  appeared just off my shoulder.

I smiled at him and said hello and asked him what his role was, he replied he was the head of the security.

No problem, we finished up and went to bed.

It made me think was it a coincidence he just happened to be hanging around next to me or does the Medallion flag his team when you hit a certain amount of drinks?

Are they watching to see if there is any trouble when your Tab has come to an end?
It didn’t particularly bother me either way but it was strange.

He was there again on the last night, I had a joke with him.

Maybe he had me pegged😀 or maybe his Girlfriend worked in that Bar.

It was a good Cruise.

I guess a lot of this has already been posted but this is from the 19th June Cruise

34 minutes ago, portcbob said:

Hi fellow Coral Cruisers.

We are on a 28 nighter on the Coral around Aussie coming up and have read about the rule or alleged rule on Princess ships referring to Sip & Cover 

Apparently in the bars/lounges inside this rule is Mandatory, is this correct???.

For pax already cruised on the Coral is this actually happening and being enforced 

Could be a deal breaker for us.

Thoughts??

Most people wore Masks walking throughout all of the ship indoors.

In the Theatre and Explorer’s lounge there were signs and announcements to “Sip and Cover” at all times.

Most people complied although some just kept sipping to avoid it.

To be honest it was probably a good idea as there was an older demographic onboard last week and plenty of people appeared to have a cough.

2 hours ago, Porky55 said:

Aaah but the BCF fishing shirt has a collar 😳

Funny but that was the exact Shirt.

He wore it everyday everywhere, I thought it might have been a Tattoo.

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Was this dude on board, lol

His mates were, SOO shirts and BCF fishing shirt in the MDR 😄

56 minutes ago, kenexx said:

Disembarked this morning. Don’t think I saw any guys in a tie. Did see some jackets.  Also saw the usual shorts and caps during the dinner service.  

We were on the same Cruise, we wore dark pants and smart shirt and my wife wore smart casual dresses.

There was shorts, T shirts and even football jerseys in the MDR, very few Jackets.

I would prefer that they enforced smart casual as a minimum, but hey I am getting old 😀

2 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

There’s a huge range of variations. From the usual thongs snd shorts on lots of guys. Women in sun dresses, pants, jeans, shorts, some in winter woolies!! You can’t go wrong with layers! 

Lots were wrapped in Towels yesterday.

I only wore shorts once and I do not feel the cold too much usually.

On 6/21/2022 at 11:06 AM, BobbyD-retiree said:

We are boarding on Thursday and sorting out my packing.  In terms of comfort on the ship and airconditioning... Are most people wearing winter clothing as its cool inside or is the temperature more comfortable so more short sleeve wear?

thanks

K

I would take plenty of warm clothes.

We just got off today and barley wore shorts.

last two days was Jumpers, it was extremely blowy and pretty cool on the open decks yesterday.

Most people were around the indoor pool or inside.

Keep an eye on your Medallion Account so you don’t get too many surprises.

Its pretty Flaky.

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

I booked a Premier package cruise yesterday. One thing I have noted in the wording is max 15 drinks per day, not max 15 alcoholic drinks per day. By the wording, it means your coffee and water would be counted in the 15, which is different to other lines.

 

Royal will still turn off your card if they think you have had too much, or if they think you are sharing too much. I would struggle going past 15 grogs per day too.

 

The wording of the premier package is similar to the plus package, except the value of the drink"

Premier - Premier Beverage Package allows guests to enjoy up to 15 drinks a day up to the value of $22 per drink (including new specialty cocktails, glasses of wine, beers, premium spirits & coffee) + 25% off all bottles wine. Service of alcohol is always subject to Princess Cruises RSA Policies. 

 

Plus is the same, except drinks are capped at $16. There is a bit of a jump in price between the two, but the premier also included a photo package, 2 specialty restaurant dinners, and multi device internet.

 

 

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for that.

I just inquired with my Travel Agent after I posted my query here.

This was their response.

Cheers,

Ian

A quick question.

With Princess premium drink package do they have a limit/cap per 24 hours like P&O or is it open ended like RC.

I cant imagine we would get close to the Cap regardless.

21 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

No I'm here. Went out to BICT to have a look. 

So did we.

We were surprised at the Cars in the Carpark and then we saw people with Suitcases moving into the terminal.

It was good to be able to drive all the way to the entrance of the Terminal.

Take a coat at the very least.

There is always snow on the mountains in Milford sound in summer.

3 hours ago, NSWP said:

Re show entry , $20 is nothing when your paying a lot of $ for the.cruise, p and o prices are low compared to other lines, so open thy wallets and enjoy. Safe journey  back to steak and kiddly.

 

Geoff you have done great job with your on board live.

Sorry NSWP I disagree.

I don’t find P&O any cheaper than other lines out of Australia.

They have had the poorest onboard appearance of any Ships I have ever sailed with.

Their strong suite has always been happy and cheerful and in the past the pricing reflected older ships with limited balconies that kept pricing down.

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

 

Sorry to say, there was a line-up to get the good seats to Hans tonight, all the way through the photo lounge.

 

It is looking like there were enough takers for it to be more than a flash in the pan.

As they say, the market will decide the price.

The Cruise lines are obviously testing the waters on many things like drink packages and specialty restaurants, using cheap cruise fares to get people back and then milk what they can to recover their losses.

They need to be careful though as many long time repeat Cruisers are repeat customers because of the all inclusive pricing plus Bar costs.

We moved on from the P&O experience a few years ago but we booked the Encounter in December because we liked the sister ship the Golden Princess when we were on her.

If P&O are going to move forward with gouging what they can from their customers we will stick with RC or perhaps reconsider Cruising as an option.

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

One thing that is a bit different. How would you go paying for entertainment on your cruise?

 

Minor celebrity & camp entertainer, Hans is performing two shows on the ship. There is a difference to these shows, as they are ticketed. I think it is $18pp. I am not overly impressed, as the shows have been mentioned on the socials, but no hint there was a fee.

 

 

I am not against the idea, as the concept has a lot of merit. Say if a Jimmy Barnes concert was announced on a cruise and marketed, his fans could book the cruise and passengers already booked could choose whether they wanted to pay the extra and attend. Anyone not interested would not be paying extra in their fare to have an upmarket act.

 

On the flip side, part of the cruise experience is to be entertained, and there is a risk that visiting acts become dominated by pay-per-view artists.

I am probably not their target audience but it would have to be a show where I knew something of the act I was paying to watch.

I doubt I would be interested in the show if it were free.

You can book in advance at Tauranga and the Car company will pick you up at the Dock.

They take you on a 5 minute ride back to their office to do the paperwork and when you return the Car they drive you back to the Ship

https://www.ritepricerentals.co.nz/tauranga-port-car-hire

21 hours ago, Cruisegroover said:

I can't wait to start the party on Tuesday. I am slack so won't pack until Monday night. I counted the numbers of days between cruises for me - 822 to be exact (last one was Ovation in Feb 20).

 

Best part of sailaway for me will be the ships whistle going - how I have missed that sound.

Our last Cruise was Ovation in Feb 2020.

Sydney Harbour, Noumea and Mystery Island.

We have done a couple of Comedy Cruises that were ok, nothing too shocking the way the world is nowadays.

The thing that stuck with me was the guy and his partner with two young daughters that were around four to six years old.

The comedian spotted them in the upper seats and suggested the show was not suited to young kids but the parents yelled out they we’re ok with it 😕

To the comedians credit he tamed down the language until they left.

It was a sad sign of the times.

On 4/29/2022 at 6:58 PM, bazzaw said:

  Personally I thought she looks pretty good - although the cabins are a bit tired . 

Not sure about the colour scheme Bazz.

Prince would have approved.

We cruised on the Dawn half a dozen time and really enjoyed it even though we knew it was getting very tired and had seen it’s day.

Not sure if P&O fits where we are nowadays.

Being based in Melbourne really limits it’s warm weather destinations for week long cruises.

I think it will only last a season.

2 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Cool. Thanks Mikey. 

Fun times while they lasted. Many were members here prior, so it is a comfortable spot to return to.

 

For the past couple of years, it seemed social media was the way everything was headed. Alas, so many of those cruise pages are becoming driven by clicks on posts. As cruising resumes, it will be dominated by pics from selfie sticks in front of ships and sugar coated reviews from people that don't want to bite the hand that feeds them. Cruising is back, so am I, and this place is more relevant than ever.

I was Macca back then on that site.

You always seemed to have a good grip on what was going on IMO.

You put me onto a deal on the Radiance that turned into one of the best Cruises we have ever done.

Good to see you again on here 👍

Does anyone know if RC still put packets of sea sick tablets outside the Dr’s rooms?

5 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I haven't  been on Quantam but have been on numerous  Royal ships, Ovation, Spectrum, Voyager and Explorer none of which had  gloomy MDRs.

We have been on a few RC Ships and never had a gloomy MDR but we did enjoy the open high ceiling layout of the Radiance and Voyager/ Mariner more than the Ovation MDR’s

In saying that when we were on the Ovation we only had a meal in the MDR once as we bought the meal deal at JO and the steak place etc.

Good to see members from the now defunct Oz Forum.

I am surprised how many are here.

Always enjoyed your thoughts back then Geoff.