Princess Schedule Skinny May - Aug 2019 out of Oz

[icat2000]

I was looking at the Princess Schedule for cruising out of Australia for May to August 2019 and there is virtually nothing.  Not much on offer in Asia and going to have to look at Japan if wanted to cruise during this period. Sad face. 

[happysnapper]

One would have to ask are Princess pulling back on cruises out of Australia. Been looking as well. Very few South Pacific itineraries next year. Mainly Around Australia and Aust to NZ with a few to New Guinea. 

[GUT2407]

Always quiet around that time of year.

 

one ship will do Hawaii, probably b2b with a circumnavigation of Aus 

one a W.C.

one Circle Pacific

[OzKiwiJJ]

Sea is doing Circumnavigation followed by Hawaii followed by WC followed by Hawaii again and then another Circumnavigation, which effectively ties her up for about six months.

 

Sun is going up to Asia for three months.

 

The other ships depart, as usual, at the end of the summer season.

 

I'm very disapppointed in the Princess itineraries over the next couple of years. They are bringing the bigger and newer ships down here but mostly for the NZ runs, which suits those ships. The smaller ships are better for the South Pacific. I'd like to see more PNG, South Pacific, and Top End cruise over winter but Princess seems to be abandoning those itineraries.

 

We're doing the August 2019 Hawaii trip but have changed our plans for 2020 and are going to do a Western Europe cruise on Crystal. 

[sewgood]

I know what you mean Sarah being a Princess cruiser myself. I even thought that they were light on winter cruises for the last two years.

They only seem to offer longer cruises out of Sydney at this time of year.

I wonder if it has been since Carnival has the Spirit sailing year round out of Sydney.

Oh well this year it forced me to try Carnival (which I liked ) and go on P&O again after 8 years ( disappointed in the included food options but enjoyed the entertainment).

 

Karryl

[sewgood]

Just thought that Carnival has increased the P&O fleet recently too and maybe this has had an impact on the decision about how many Princess ships to have in Australia over our winter.

But not all Princess cruises will be happy going on these ships for their shorter cruises in winter and may start looking elsewhere even on other lines if Princess have nothing available out of Singapore. Not everybody wants to do a long flight on their holiday.

[OzKiwiJJ]

16 minutes ago, sewgood said:

But not all Princess cruises will be happy going on these ships for their shorter cruises in winter and may start looking elsewhere even on other lines if Princess have nothing available out of Singapore. Not everybody wants to do a long flight on their holiday.

 

Exactly!

[icat2000]

My last cruise was with Carnival and next one with Carnival as Princess not offering the options.  And Celebrity pricing for cruises out of Melbourne is ridiculously expensive.

 

I also have enjoyed my Carnival cruises too. 

Edited December 4, 2018 by icat2000

[sewgood]

I agree with the pricing out of Melbourne for Celebrity.

 

They will have to drop their prices before I book a cruise on the Eclipse.

Hopefully we will be able to pick up a last minute deal at a good price to cruise with our Victorian friends.

Can't always expect them to fly to Sydney to cruise with us.

 

It will be interesting to see how the prices move on these Melbourne Celebrity cruises.

[NSWP]

And Carnival also has some HAL ships operating in the region, they want to fill them up too.  Although some will be repositioning to Alaska, April-Sept.  Sydney Harbour Ferry anyone? 

Edited December 4, 2018 by NSWP

[MicCanberra]

I find X a great product but it is priced high and also having USD aboard makes it even more expensive. That said, I really like the X experience.

[OzKiwiJJ]

14 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I find X a great product but it is priced high and also having USD aboard makes it even more expensive. That said, I really like the X experience.

I've found it's on a par with Princess price-wise for standard balcony cabins. Sometimes even a bit cheaper with the drinks package perk. 

 

The added advantage (other than AUD onboard pricing) Princess has, from our perspective, is the Sanctuary - on warm weather cruises we book inside cabins and spend some of the savings on afternoons in the Sanctuary, which works out considerably cheaper and is far more comfortable than Princess or Celebrity balcony furniture.

[sewgood]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The added advantage (other than AUD onboard pricing) Princess has, from our perspective, is the Sanctuary - on warm weather cruises we book inside cabins and spend some of the savings on afternoons in the Sanctuary, which works out considerably cheaper and is far more comfortable than Princess or Celebrity balcony furniture.

Yes Princess balcony chairs leave a lot to be desired.

Though those lounges in the Sanctuary look plenty padded.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I've found it's on a par with Princess price-wise for standard balcony cabins. Sometimes even a bit cheaper with the drinks package perk. 

 

The added advantage (other than AUD onboard pricing) Princess has, from our perspective, is the Sanctuary - on warm weather cruises we book inside cabins and spend some of the savings on afternoons in the Sanctuary, which works out considerably cheaper and is far more comfortable than Princess or Celebrity balcony furniture.

If pricing is the same, I would be booking X (with the drink perk) anyway as I prefer them to Princess.

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

If pricing is the same, I would be booking X (with the drink perk) anyway as I prefer them to Princess.

But sailing X, will thee 'Come Back New' Mic?

[MicCanberra]

47 minutes ago, NSWP said:

But sailing X, will thee 'Come Back New' Mic?

Perhaps not but that is not why I cruise.

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

If pricing is the same, I would be booking X (with the drink perk) anyway as I prefer them to Princess.

 

It's the other way round for us - we prefer the Princess ambiance over Celebrity's. Although if the quality of the Princess MDR menus and food continues to deteriorate the way it has over the last year or so we may change our minds. The menus/food on the Tassie cruise was boring, stodgy, and poor quality. Very disappointing. 

[MicCanberra]

15 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

It's the other way round for us - we prefer the Princess ambiance over Celebrity's. Although if the quality of the Princess MDR menus and food continues to deteriorate the way it has over the last year or so we may change our minds. The menus/food on the Tassie cruise was boring, stodgy, and poor quality. Very disappointing. 

That is no good, I would be disappointed as well. Princess food has never been that for us.

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

That is no good, I would be disappointed as well. Princess food has never been that for us.

 

Apparently they don't use any of the more interesting menus on cruises of seven days or less. The formal night menu only had a few decent items on it - lobster bisque (DH said it tasted more like prawn bisque), the French onion soup which was as good as ever, and beef medallions (mine was a bit tough). First and last night menus were the traditional ones so at least I got my guinea fowl on the last night. On two of the other nights the menus were so unappetising that one night I just had the always available salmon (which was a little dry and tasteless), and the other night we went to Harmony again.

[GUT2407]

For us there’s not a struck much between “Come back Fat” and X. In terms of on board product.

 

our big issues is that Celebrity offer far to many one way trips, ie not enough Sydney round trips

 

and then there’s the whole US$ thing

 

but the actual product is we may even lean marginally towards X.

 

[MicCanberra]

24 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

Apparently they don't use any of the more interesting menus on cruises of seven days or less. The formal night menu only had a few decent items on it - lobster bisque (DH said it tasted more like prawn bisque), the French onion soup which was as good as ever, and beef medallions (mine was a bit tough). First and last night menus were the traditional ones so at least I got my guinea fowl on the last night. On two of the other nights the menus were so unappetising that one night I just had the always available salmon (which was a little dry and tasteless), and the other night we went to Harmony again.

Goodness, they say 'come back new', perhaps they should work on 'come back satisfied' first.

[icat2000]

Celebrity is nice. However, pricey and then you have to factor in the whole USD. I cruised Celebrity twice before but never out of Oz. 

[GUT2407]

3 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

Celebrity is nice. However, pricey and then you have to factor in the whole USD. I cruised Celebrity twice before but never out of Oz. 

I’ve found celebrity and Princess prices (for the actual cruise) very similar.

[icat2000]

But with Princess out of Oz you get the tipping included in your fare and X is on top. Also Princess is in AUD. 

[GUT2407]

I thought Celebrty now included ipa ibase fare here. Since earlier this year. The US$ thing is a pain, by the time you get fees and exchange rates factored in.

 

the other thing is Princess have much friendlier OBC rules (principly being able to combine various OBC).

 

there are a few things I think Celebrity do better, others go to Princess, all up I’m pretty happy with either, fir us the big killers are

 

celebrity offer way less Syd-Syd cruises

 

the time of year be8ng disvpcussed here (basically off season) they have nothing on offer.