cruisermsoon

Sparky 74:

If the "X" is off the screen you might have to adjust the zoom to diminish the screen size.

This annoying ad pops up each time you open a new page. Easy enough to click on the exit "cross", but still annoying. Not surprised it's from NCL, one of my least preferred lines. Likely to get them new  customers? Yeah, I don't think so.

Just a note about the R-class ships, which I first encountered on the Pacific Princess, and immediately became enamoured.

Since then I've been working my way through the Azamara ex-R ships, Journey, Pursuit, Quest, and most recently the Onward, which is the ex-Pacific Princess one, and have become a devotee of the  Azamara line, especially as the ships on other lines get larger, more crowded, and noisier!

Have a look at the Azamara 155 night world cruise on Azamara Onward, It's a lovely small ship, around 600 on board, and not as expensive as many of the other offerings. Plenty of inluded extras, like air and a generous on board credit. 

Posters don't seem too impressed with the just announced 2026 program, however the 79 day South America Grand Voyage on the Quest in January really caught my attention. 

It has a very comprehensive itinerary, much better than most long round South America offerings I've seen from other cruise lines. 

As a cruiser who generally is not tempted by long itineraries like the many World Cruises on offer, this particular, very well thought out, long cruise appeals so much that I've gone ahead and placed a deposit in order to secure a place. Final payment is not until four months prior, in early September next year. Have a close look at that itinerary, and see what I mean.

Whatever the rights or wrongs of this affair, it has hit the headlines and airwaves world wide in a big way, and there is no doubt the the resulting publicity is not a good one for NCL, which already enjoyed the poorest image of the three big cruise companies. 

Whatever the rights and wrongs of all this, the story has hit the headlines in a big way, and a lot of readers are going to perceive NCL in a very poor light, as the resulting publicity has some very negative connotations. I also wonder how other cruise lines would respond to a similar situation. 

Grand Princess arrives back in Sydney on 22nd November 2025 and will mostly be cruising out of Brisbane until early April 2026.

 At ports of call passengers were able to take one bottle 'free' on board and corkage was supposed to be charged on additional bottles. 

Really? I've never encountered this on Princess before, and they certainly don't advertise it. 

It almost sounds too good to be true.

Regarding the $179 wine package - yes, 5 wines - 2 red, 2 white, 1 rose - but no choice. You have to have those 5 wines, so if you are a red, or white, wine drinker 3 of the 5 wines are of no  interest, 

Compare that miserable offering with the wine packages Holland America offer. Three different price structures, and a good selection of wines to choose from - yes, choice [or in the Princess case, lack of] is the key word here.

Fond memories of the Aria and Eden - what great little ships they were - gone but not forgotten.

I don't regard a repositioning cruise as a Grand Voyage. They are two very different animals. Repositioning cruises, often at discounted prices, usually involve crossing the Pacific, Atlantic or Indian Oceans with many sea days, and my conception of a Grand Voyage is one that incorporates a region intensive itinerary. They can be long, but not necessarily so. 

Let's compare one cruise lines' World and Grand Voyages: [overnight stays counted as 2 days]:

Azamara 2024 World Cruise 155 nights 107 port days [sold out] 

Azamara 2025 World Cruise 155 nights 102 port days from $390pd 

Azamara 2026 World Cruise 155 nights 102 port days from $365pd 

GRAND VOYAGES: [35 to 70 days]: 

Europe [Nice to Amsterdam]  35 days with 1 sea day from $352pd 

South Africa to Portugal 37 days with 9 sea days from $365pd 

Canada to UK 39 days with 5 sea days from $380pd 

Japan to Greece 41 days with 10 sea days from $556pd 

Europe [Copenhagen to Barcelona] 46 days with 3 sea days from $396pd 

Europe [Oslo to Venice] 59 days with 4 sea days from $500pd 

South Africa to Italy 61 days with 8 sea days from $305pd 

Italy to South Africa 62 days with 9 sea days from $380pd 

New Zealand to Japan 62 days with 15 sea days from $355pd 

Greece to Australia 70 days with 10 sea days from $335pd 

This last one is obviously a big chunk of the world cruise, and for anyone contemplating a world cruise of 4 or 5 months, I would strongly suggest you divide it into two sections, undertaking one half one year and the other the following year. 

Perhaps, but then they don't have as many sea days.

On the same ship for three months, at a fairly high price, may seem like a great idea, however if you look on the same cruise company site for GRAND CRUISES or GRAND VOYAGES, you will find shorter, but still quite long, offerings that very often have much more interesting itineraries that the World Cruises have, in locations that may be of more personal interest to you than the generally uninspired World Cruise offerings. 

I know what you mean. I've always had a yearn to visit St.Petersburg, however this one probably joins my "miss list" for a very long time. 

It overnights in Hong Kong at the Ocean Terminal in Kowloon, then you can easily stroll to the nearby Metro station to catch the Airport Express and leave.

OceanNow^® delivery: A nominal one-time access fee of AU $22.99 per guest per voyage will now apply to access unlimited OceanNow delivery.

So:

Does this mean that every guest on a Princess cruise will now be charged an up front fee of $22.99 for the OceanNow poolside etc drinks etc delilivery service, whether they intend to use the service or not?

Libraries don't seem to be a high priority for cruise lines now. Holland America used to have very well stocked libraries on all their ships, but on the new Pinnacle Class ships, they are reduced to a few Atlases and large glossy volumes, and the "library" is mainly soft cover novels discarded by passengers.

Thanks. I'll investigate when on board im March.

On Azamara ships the Drawing Room hosts the Library, however on the Onward this room is devoted to the Atlas Bar. 

My question is: Does Onward have a library? and: If so, where is it located?

Mention also a certain e-site which offers Azamara packages including air at competitive prices.

Bearing in mind that some of the luxury all-inclusive lines have very expensive fare structures, I'll add my recommendation for Azamara's smaller ships, virtually all-inclusive, and with that extra personal touch that you won't find on the major lines with their ever larger ships. Also, have a look at their itineraries, which often include access to smaller ports that the larger ships can't easily access.

On a recent HA cruise I merely went to the bureau on the day prior to arrival and paid in cash, so you should have no trouble paying with a debit card.

It may well be that "Time is Money", however 20 taxi loads of disaffected ex-prospective P&O customers could add up to a good deal more money.

As for the admonitions about travel insurance, if this was a domestic cruise there would be very few passengers on board who would have it. 

You mentioned considering smaller ships, so have you looked at Azamara. They have really good itineraries, and you will find at least one cruise leaving from Auckland for a 16 or 17 day cruise, returning by air from Sydney, or sail out of Melbourne to Auckland.