Coral Princess, some comments

[NSWP]

41 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

On Coral Princess? No, not usually, just formal nights.

Which are not formal anymore, casual gear is fine from what I saw.

[OzKiwiJJ]

43 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Which are not formal anymore, casual gear is fine from what I saw.

There are still quite a few people who dress up, including us, especially those who dine in the MDR on those nights. 

[LittleFish1976]

28 minutes ago, arxcards said:

QM2 did a short season down here some years ago, including a lap of Oz. Bound to come back to do that again at some stage, and that would be a great way to do a lap.

 

QM2 will be here during this coming summer. You can take a short cruise on her without leaving Auatralia (Perth to Melbourne/Sydney etc) or get on here and leave the country.

[arxcards]

Just now, LittleFish1976 said:

 

QM2 will be here during this coming summer. You can take a short cruise on her without leaving Auatralia (Perth to Melbourne/Sydney etc) or get on here and leave the country.

Yes, part of her world cruise.

I am hoping they have her down for some Sydney to Sydney itineraries in the future, even if just for a lap of NZ.

[LittleFish1976]

5 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Yes, part of her world cruise.

I am hoping they have her down for some Sydney to Sydney itineraries in the future, even if just for a lap of NZ.

She did that one about 4 years ago - I got on in Tauranga just for the short 4 day trip back to Melbourne to see how I liked it (I did!).

 

I must say I think I prefer QE - same ambiance but just a bit smaller. Also, QM2 tends to be more expensive than QE so I'm very happy than we get QE here for our summer cruises.

 

And I wish Cunard would have Australian circumnavigation cruises every summer and not just as a special, almost one-off like this summer (which seems to be some sort of post-pandemic remnant). 

Edited September 29, 2022 by LittleFish1976

[OzKiwiJJ]

44 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

And I wish Cunard would have Australian circumnavigation cruises every summer and not just as a special, almost one-off like this summer (which seems to be some sort of post-pandemic remnant). 

Except summer is not a good time to do the circumnavigations - too hot and humid in the north with the risk of cyclones. I recall seeing a documentary about Celebrity Solstice doing a circumnavigation in summer and the problems they had cooling the engines as the sea water temperature was too warm. I think they also had problems getting the air-con cool enough too.

 

Princess does their circumnavigations in late spring and early autumn when it's more likely to be cooler up north and not too wild down south.

Edited September 29, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[arxcards]

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Except summer is not a good time to do the circumnavigations - too hot and humid in the north with the risk of cyclones. I recall seeing a documentary about Celebrity Solstice doing a circumnavigation in summer and the problems they had cooling the engines as the sea water temperature was too warm. I think they also had problems getting the air-con cool enough too.

 

Princess does their circumnavigations in late spring and early autumn when it's more likely to be cooler up north and not too wild down south.

I remember the doco, one of the "Great Cruises" shows for anyone looking for it. They do ham up the drama of those sorts of challenges though, and despite the stress of getting to the next port on time, they had ample time in their itinerary to cruise at the reduced speed they had already planned around the warm ocean temperatures.

 

I think the term summer refers more generally to our cruise season though.

[MicCanberra]

4 hours ago, Flowerbasket said:

Hoping to find out if there were any fancy dress nights?

 

We had two on our 9 night cruise and 1 on the 5 night cruise.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

We had two on our 9 night cruise and 1 on the 5 night cruise.

Those were formal dress nights not fancy dress! 🙄

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

She did that one about 4 years ago - I got on in Tauranga just for the short 4 day trip back to Melbourne to see how I liked it (I did!).

 

I must say I think I prefer QE - same ambiance but just a bit smaller. Also, QM2 tends to be more expensive than QE so I'm very happy than we get QE here for our summer cruises.

 

And I wish Cunard would have Australian circumnavigation cruises every summer and not just as a special, almost one-off like this summer (which seems to be some sort of post-pandemic remnant). 

Did you get to experience rough weather with QM2 cutting through the waves?

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Those were formal dress nights not fancy dress! 🙄

I looked pretty fancy

[LittleFish1976]

22 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Did you get to experience rough weather with QM2 cutting through the waves?

 

No, not at all. The seas seemed very calm - except for one lunchtime when the contents of the pool were seen from the dining room cascading over from the deck above which was very entertaining. I had a cabin on the highest cabin deck and almost at the front - very stable and no distressing movement even up there.

 

The following year I did the same route (crossing the Tasman) on the Queen Elizabeth and while the seas were mostly pretty calm there were a few exciting occassions. Some pretty solid 'listing' (I know this isn't the correct terminology but it describes what was happening) at one stage (captain came on the PA to explain what was going on which was reassuring), and on another occassion when I was in the theatre (low deck and in the bow) the ship was thumping down onto the waves which, I'll be honest, I found quite frightening - you could hear the hull hitting the water very hard.

 

I'll do it again next February!

 

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

No, not at all. The seas seemed very calm - except for one lunchtime when the contents of the pool were seen from the dining room cascading over from the deck above which was very entertaining. I had a cabin on the highest cabin deck and almost at the front - very stable and no distressing movement even up there.

 

The following year I did the same route (crossing the Tasman) on the Queen Elizabeth and while the seas were mostly pretty calm there were a few exciting occassions. Some pretty solid 'listing' (I know this isn't the correct terminology but it describes what was happening) at one stage (captain came on the PA to explain what was going on which was reassuring), and on another occassion when I was in the theatre (low deck and in the bow) the ship was thumping down onto the waves which, I'll be honest, I found quite frightening - you could hear the hull hitting the water very hard.

 

I'll do it again next February!

 

The QM2 is the only true ocean liner, having ben on her she handles the big seas.  As for Queen Elizabeth, she is basically a Vista Class cruise ship, like many of the Holland America Fleet and P&O UK Arcadia. Whilst the Vista Class are  good ships and having been on them in heavy seas, they do move about and creak, unlike the stable QM2, she is unique.