BON VOYAGE Coral Princess World Cruisers 2023

[Ellie F]

On 7/2/2023 at 9:01 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Good to hear everything is going well. Thanks for the update.

 

I hope one of the Messina excursions is to Taormina. It's such a gorgeous place and the drive there and back was nice. It was only a half day excursion when we did it in 2017.

 

 

 

[kimncol]

Great to hear about your excursions. We are on WC next year and haven't been to Europe before  so we are grateful for tips and places to go and things to see. Sounds like the trip is going well, even though you missed a couple of places. Was there time to go to Petra on your cruise?

[Tranquility Base]

2 hours ago, kimncol said:

Was there time to go to Petra on your cruise?

Yes, Aqaba stop was simply delayed 24 hrs.

7am - 10:30 pm.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Coral Princess docked in Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy today:

 

[Tranquility Base]

4 hours ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

Coral Princess docked in Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy today:

 

Yep.

Just back from a nice tour to Civita di Bagnoregio and Orvieto.

 

Portoferraio ( Elba ) tomorrow.

Planning a relaxing DIY day ashore.

[Tranquility Base]

Able was I ere I saw Elba.

 

Nice port stop here.

Walked up to a couple of forts and viewpoints for some good photo shots.

Back into Portoferraio for light lunch.

A number of tours available, and local bus around large parts of the island.

As planned an easy DIY, back on ship by 2pm…..last tender is at 4.

 

Marseille tomorrow.

Heading up into the hills somewhere to a couple of towns.

[shine2]

42 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

Able was I ere I saw Elba.

 

Nice port stop here.

Walked up to a couple of forts and viewpoints for some good photo shots.

Back into Portoferraio for light lunch.

A number of tours available, and local bus around large parts of the island.

As planned an easy DIY, back on ship by 2pm…..last tender is at 4.

 

Marseille tomorrow.

Heading up into the hills somewhere to a couple of towns.

Hoping to jump on the Hop on & off bus tomorrow. Booked a shuttle bus through Princess for return journey from Port to Town. Apparently takes about 30mins there & same for return. Elba Island gorgeous! 

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Coral Princess anchored off Portoferraio (Elba), Italy today:

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Given Princess have just increased the corkage for bringing own wines onboard to AU$30 would someone currently onboard please check the prices for speciality dining, Chef's Table, Ultimate Balcony Dinner/Breakfast, and Sanctuary. The AUD prices for these aren't always shown on the Princess website. 

[kimncol]

We were on the Golden Princess, Pacific Circle for 76 days in 2017 and bought wine aboard in different ports, they didn't seem to worry about  it. We drank it in our cabin or took a glass to dinner with us.

[OzKiwiJJ]

19 minutes ago, kimncol said:

We were on the Golden Princess, Pacific Circle for 76 days in 2017 and bought wine aboard in different ports, they didn't seem to worry about  it. We drank it in our cabin or took a glass to dinner with us.

That doesn't necessarily mean that will happen now though, and sometimes it depends on the ship.

 

Usually you can bring a bottle or two onboard at no cost as long as you pour it in your cabin but buying wines overseas can be expensive. 

 

We were considering bringing about four dozen wines with us when we do the world cruise next year and would want to take the bottles to the MDR as we prefer to match our wines to what we are eating so often need a white and a red during dinner. But at $30 a bottle corkage it won't be worth it. 

 

 

[kimncol]

Last cruise on Princess in April , the cheapest bottle of wine was $45.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, kimncol said:

Last cruise on Princess in April , the cheapest bottle of wine was $45.

I checked the wine list photos I took on Grand in March and the cheapest was $51. Their mark-ups are excessive - over 1000% in some cases from the bottle store price and I'm sure they get them a lot cheaper than that.

 

 

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Coral Princess docked in Marseilles, France today:

 

 

 

[Tranquility Base]

9 hours ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

Coral Princess docked in Marseilles, France today:

 

Yep.

Nice visit to Gordes, Roussillon and Bonnieux.

All pretty villages.

Included close up look at some quite large fields of lavender.

 

Currently on our way to Barcelona.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Coral Princess docked in Barcelona, Spain today:

 

 

[Tranquility Base]

Yep,

An easy day for us today.

Wandered the Gothic Quarter for a few hours, leisurely lunch, made all the better by a busker group ( double bass, banjo, clarinet ) near the Cathedral.

Very pleasant.

On our way back to the shuttle spent some time in the Mercat de la Boqueria for some yummy fruit.

 

Sea day tomorrow then Malaga.

[Porky55]

2 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Yep,

An easy day for us today.

Wandered the Gothic Quarter for a few hours, leisurely lunch, made all the better by a busker group ( double bass, banjo, clarinet ) near the Cathedral.

Very pleasant.

On our way back to the shuttle spent some time in the Mercat de la Boqueria for some yummy fruit.

 

Sea day tomorrow then Malaga.

Not sure where you live in Aussie, but don't you find the fruit and veg so much yummier and lusher than in Europe than here? 
 

Our theory is the proliferation of markets in the EU and truly fresh produce 🍇🍓🫐

 

Rose

[Tranquility Base]

Yes indeed.

High quality and full of flavour.

[icat2000]

On 7/12/2023 at 12:45 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

That doesn't necessarily mean that will happen now though, and sometimes it depends on the ship.

 

Usually you can bring a bottle or two onboard at no cost as long as you pour it in your cabin but buying wines overseas can be expensive. 

 

We were considering bringing about four dozen wines with us when we do the world cruise next year and would want to take the bottles to the MDR as we prefer to match our wines to what we are eating so often need a white and a red during dinner. But at $30 a bottle corkage it won't be worth it. 

 

 

I think Princess up the corkage cause too many were bringing boxes of wine on board and Princess sees that they potentially losing revenue. 

[Ozwoody]

1 hour ago, icat2000 said:

I think Princess up the corkage cause too many were bringing boxes of wine on board and Princess sees that they potentially losing revenue. 

I think your most probably right, but then again, if they didn't charge ridiculously outrages prices for basic wine, people wouldn't bother to take boxes of wine with them.

 

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, icat2000 said:

I think Princess up the corkage cause too many were bringing boxes of wine on board and Princess sees that they potentially losing revenue. 

Correct. Corkage, whether at sea or land, is not a service charge but a deterrent to BYO. It had been $15 (I think) for over 15 years, and it seems the price of everything else has doubled in that time.

 

It is still an option though, which is better than a no wine at embarkation policy.

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, arxcards said:

Correct. Corkage, whether at sea or land, is not a service charge but a deterrent to BYO. It had been $15 (I think) for over 15 years, and it seems the price of everything else has doubled in that time.

 

It is still an option though, which is better than a no wine at embarkation policy.

The difference is that in the past it was $15 irregardless of the onboard currency. Then they upped it to $20 and now some bright spark at Princess has decided to convert USD to AUD giving $30 without even thinking of whether that is a reasonable charge. There would be a major outcry if Austalian restaurants tried to charge that for corkage.

 

It's the same with their wine prices. They'd taken what they perceive to be a good USD price for wine then converted it to AUD, again without checking what local wine prices in restaurants are like. That why a de Bortoli wine costs twice as much by the glass than a bottle costs at retail prices.

 

Princess have lost the plot totally.

[Tranquility Base]

I believe there is a current thread where wine fees and such like are already being discussed.

 

PS: Thoroughly looking forward to our next few stops.

Malaga, Tangier and Lisbon.

[shine2]

Do any of the Cruise critic people onboard ever have a get together? Just thought I'd ask as we only boarded at Dover & disembark in London 🥰