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PRINCESS PRATTLE - Sun, Sea & Dawn queries

Kinkacruiser
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Kinkacruiser

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We fly into Sydney the day of cruising, what time do the Princess transfers start from the airport to White Bay? And what is the earliest on day of disembarkation back to airport. Any advice would be greatly appreciated [emoji1]

 

 

If you booked the Princess transfer and advised the flight number and time, a rep will be waiting for you from your flight's arrival time. The bus also waits for others who have booked a transfer. That's how it's happening for us when we fly into Miami. Should work out a bit cheaper than a cab ...even if the wait time could be longer.

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rkmw

rkmw

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We fly into Sydney the day of cruising, what time do the Princess transfers start from the airport to White Bay? And what is the earliest on day of disembarkation back to airport. Any advice would be greatly appreciated [emoji1]

 

for disembarking the ship they will send a form to your cabin a few days before getting off so you will have to notifiy them of your travel arrangements for going home

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Kinkacruiser Holiday Sharing Rare

Kinkacruiser

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If you booked the Princess transfer and advised the flight number and time, a rep will be waiting for you from your flight's arrival time. The bus also waits for others who have booked a transfer. That's how it's happening for us when we fly into Miami. Should work out a bit cheaper than a cab ...even if the wait time could be longer.

 

Also, on disembaking day the bus/es will leave early to lock in with different flight departure times. There are often 2 buses...for flights before 10 am (example only) and another for after 10 am.

Best not to book a flight within 3 hours of disembarking (and hope the ship won't be late in due to poor weather).

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rkmw

rkmw

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We fly into Sydney the day of cruising, what time do the Princess transfers start from the airport to White Bay? And what is the earliest on day of disembarkation back to airport. Any advice would be greatly appreciated [emoji1]

 

a good idea is to read on the FAQ and anything else that you wish to know just ask here http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/index.jsp

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clairebearinaus

clairebearinaus

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Thank you all for the great information in this thread so far.

 

My next question is about day 1. Our cruise leaves at 5pm, from what time will we be able to board? (We don't have any special status!)

 

Also, what do you recommend we do in those first few hours? From reading other threads I'm hoping the MDR will be open for lunch, and we should check our dinner arrangements are correct, and register the kiddos in the youth centre.

 

Any other must do's on our first lap of the ship?

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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Thank you all for the great information in this thread so far.

 

My next question is about day 1. Our cruise leaves at 5pm, from what time will we be able to board? (We don't have any special status!)

 

Also, what do you recommend we do in those first few hours? From reading other threads I'm hoping the MDR will be open for lunch, and we should check our dinner arrangements are correct, and register the kiddos in the youth centre.

 

Any other must do's on our first lap of the ship?

 

Princess tend to board a bit later and your cabin should be ready so around 11:30 to noon is our experience but it will be ob your documents.

 

You seem to have the mains down pat. I like to do general walk either take the lift to the top deck and work down or the opposite, consider booking and shore tours or speciality dining you might want.

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shrekaus

shrekaus

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Thank you all for the great information in this thread so far.

 

My next question is about day 1. Our cruise leaves at 5pm, from what time will we be able to board? (We don't have any special status!)

 

Also, what do you recommend we do in those first few hours? From reading other threads I'm hoping the MDR will be open for lunch, and we should check our dinner arrangements are correct, and register the kiddos in the youth centre.

 

Any other must do's on our first lap of the ship?

 

We just did our first cruise on the Sea Princess out of Brisbane. We were allocated a boarding time in an email before we sailed, this was based on what deck you were on. This was followed up by an SMS and another email within 48 hours of departure telling us not to arrive before the allocated time.

 

Our ship was sailing at 4pm, boarding started at 12pm, then 1.30 pm then 2.15 pm. We were on the 1.30pm boarding and arrived at that time.

 

 

Having said that when we disembarked at 9..45am there was a long queue of people waiting to board, I thought at the time, well if they aren't starting boarding until 12pm you have a long time standing there!!

 

It was our first cruise so we had no idea what to expect, we found embarkation at Brisbane wearing, it took nearly 2 hours to actually get on the ship. Getting off was a totally different matter, we arrived on time at our disembarkation lounge and everyone else in our group had gone so we went straight off, ours was the only luggage left in our group, a porter (?) got it on a trolley without me even knowing, we wheeled it out and in a taxi by 10.05 am.!!!

 

Enjoy your cruise, we did, loved it despite misssing a couple of ports and having very rough seas and gales.

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Aus Traveller

Aus Traveller

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We just did our first cruise on the Sea Princess out of Brisbane. We were allocated a boarding time in an email before we sailed, this was based on what deck you were on. This was followed up by an SMS and another email within 48 hours of departure telling us not to arrive before the allocated time.

 

Our ship was sailing at 4pm, boarding started at 12pm, then 1.30 pm then 2.15 pm. We were on the 1.30pm boarding and arrived at that time.

 

 

Having said that when we disembarked at 9..45am there was a long queue of people waiting to board, I thought at the time, well if they aren't starting boarding until 12pm you have a long time standing there!!

 

It was our first cruise so we had no idea what to expect, we found embarkation at Brisbane wearing, it took nearly 2 hours to actually get on the ship. Getting off was a totally different matter, we arrived on time at our disembarkation lounge and everyone else in our group had gone so we went straight off, ours was the only luggage left in our group, a porter (?) got it on a trolley without me even knowing, we wheeled it out and in a taxi by 10.05 am.!!!

 

Enjoy your cruise, we did, loved it despite misssing a couple of ports and having very rough seas and gales.

They might say that embarkation starts at 12, but in Brisbane it usually starts at 11am or even 10.45. As soon as the ship is cleared (all passengers from the previous cruise disembarked) they start embarkation.

 

Embarkation usually runs very smoothly with people sitting and waiting for a while. I did see long queues for a cruise to New Guinea cruise last November. The staff working in Portside said it was because "they" enforced the boarding times. I noticed on other cruises where that didn't happen, the queues weren't too bad.

 

On the New Guinea cruise there was a complication that everyone needed a form for New Guinea filled out before them could embark and a lot of people didn't have the form or hadn't filled it out. This resulted in a long queue to reach the check-in queue.:)

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bazshirl2

bazshirl2

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Thank you all for the great information in this thread so far.

 

My next question is about day 1. Our cruise leaves at 5pm, from what time will we be able to board? (We don't have any special status!)

 

Also, what do you recommend we do in those first few hours? From reading other threads I'm hoping the MDR will be open for lunch, and we should check our dinner arrangements are correct, and register the kiddos in the youth centre.

 

Any other must do's on our first lap of the ship?

When you check in,they should give you a map of the ship and a card which lists various points on the ship eg boutique where you can go and get your card stamped and enter this "treasure hunt" competition . It is a great way of getting you orientated around the ship and a fun thing for the kids to do. :)

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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When you check in,they should give you a map of the ship and a card which lists various points on the ship eg boutique where you can go and get your card stamped and enter this "treasure hunt" competition . It is a great way of getting you orientated around the ship and a fun thing for the kids to do. :)

 

 

The map of the ship is [or was last time I paid attention] pocket sized and for those with good eyes great first cruise I carried it everywhere.

 

We like to go to the top, or bottom and work our way along each deck Fore to aft and up or down, gives you a pretty good feel for what's where, also builds up an appetite for lunch :D

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clairebearinaus

clairebearinaus

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Thank you all for the great advice, it's adding to my excitement!

 

Next question, this one is a little more obscure. My son, who will be 12 for our cruise, wants to know if he will be allowed to use the gym. A reasonable questions I guess, since he's already planning to eat his way around the ship!

 

He's a big lad and strangers would pick him as a couple of years older.

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