BON VOYAGE Coral Princess World Cruisers 2024

[CDaze71]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I'm getting jittery! Excitement with a touch of scariness! 

 

I think (hope) we have everything under control. The battle of the suitcases is scheduled for Sunday. That is going to be a challenge!

Julie, quick question. Did you personally have to arrange any visas or does the ship sort everything? 

[OzKiwiJJ]

52 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

Julie, quick question. Did you personally have to arrange any visas or does the ship sort everything? 

We had to arrange the US etsa, plus a Chile visa for Easter Island which is a bit complicated as you have to have it to embark but you can't apply for it until 90 days prior which is after you embark. Luckily Chile and Princess have been working together on this so you get an email showing you've applied for the visa and Chile will issue it later. Any other are done by Princess.

[Cbtours]

15 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We had to arrange the US etsa, plus a Chile visa for Easter Island which is a bit complicated as you have to have it to embark but you can't apply for it until 90 days prior which is after you embark. Luckily Chile and Princess have been working together on this so you get an email showing you've applied for the visa and Chile will issue it later. Any other are done by Princess.

Your report will be invaluable for any of us who might get to do the dream cruise one day 🥰

[Kiwi_cruiser]

3 hours ago, Pushka said:

I'm just imagining how long this thread will be when the WC return to OZ.

 

The last World Cruise thread I did in 2023 got to 19 pages, so I think this thread will get to that about there or more.

[Pushka]

4 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Who'd have thought way back at the beginning of 2014 when we were discussing cruising on the old Amazon forums, and you recommended Cruise Critic to me, that we'd be going on a world cruise! 😊

 

I'm not sure I've got my head fully around the cruise either and we're embarking on Tuesday! 🤔😲🤣

Life is strange that way hey? I think we were talking about Crystal cruises and a certain TA. And look at you now!  Gosh. That's 10 years ago! Happy anniversary. 😁

[OzKiwiJJ]

13 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Life is strange that way hey? I think we were talking about Crystal cruises and a certain TA. And look at you now!  Gosh. That's 10 years ago! Happy anniversary. 😁

It was before the Crystal TA discussion. It was when we were considering whether we'd like cruising and which cruise line would be best yet affordable. Princess ended up being the best choice then and, although we've tried other cruise lines, Princess has been our favourite so far. At least while they've had the smaller ships operating here. We're not fond of the Royal Class ships and the new class is even bigger. 

[Jean C]

10 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We had to arrange the US etsa, plus a Chile visa for Easter Island which is a bit complicated as you have to have it to embark but you can't apply for it until 90 days prior which is after you embark. Luckily Chile and Princess have been working together on this so you get an email showing you've applied for the visa and Chile will issue it later. Any other are done by Princess.

That's interesting, I think you've also been on prior world cruises? Do you know if Princess always does this for passengers on the world cruise, or segments of it? I'm asking because an elderly male friend of a friend is going on the 2015 world cruise segment from Auckland to Dover. He's not cruise savvy or experienced and booked through an equally elderly dinosaur of a "travel agent" (retired, but keeping a finger in and pretty much useless, other than successfully clipping the ticket).

 

Just curious as he was under the impression Princess arranged visas. It would be nice to be able to give him some reliable info from a CC expert 🥰

Edited April 26 by Jean C

[Pushka]

10 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It was before the Crystal TA discussion. It was when we were considering whether we'd like cruising and which cruise line would be best yet affordable. Princess ended up being the best choice then and, although we've tried other cruise lines, Princess has been our favourite so far. At least while they've had the smaller ships operating here. We're not fond of the Royal Class ships and the new class is even bigger. 

Ahh. That was before our first cruise then in 2015. Thanks for the memory lane trip. Now, back to packing girl. 

Edited April 26 by Pushka

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Jean C said:

That's interesting, I think you've also been on prior world cruises? Do you know if Princess always does this for passengers on the world cruise, or segments of it? I'm asking because an elderly male friend of a friend is going on the 2015 world cruise segment from Auckland to Dover. He's not cruise savvy or experienced and booked through an equally elderly dinosaur of a "travel agent" (retired, but keeping a finger in and pretty much useless, other than successfully clipping the ticket).

 

Just curious as he was under the impression Princess arranged visas. It would be nice to be able to give him some reliable info from a CC expert 🥰

Visas depend on the ports. Last year we went to Srilanka and had to arrange the visa ahead of time. It was done on line and approval came through in literally one minute - even on a Sunday. We also had to get an ESTA for USA and a Chilean visa for Easter Island. One of the up-coming world cruises (probably 2025) is only scheduled for scenic cruising at Easter Island, probably because on only about a third of scheduled visits are they able to land passengers by tender. Maybe the change is to avoid disappointment. Another change will be for the EU where soon passengers will need a visa - probably one they have to arrange themselves.

 

Princess organised visas for other ports. Info about visas required was all shown on the Cruise Personalizer. From memory it was at the bottom of the Itineraries page. I spoke to several people on the ship last year who had paid a lot of money for visas they didn't need because they were going on their TA's advice. They hadn't read the info helpfully supplied by Princess that even had links to help passengers applying for visas.

Edited April 26 by Aus Traveller

[Jean C]

21 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Visas depend on the ports. Last year we went to Srilanka and had to arrange the visa ahead of time. It was done on line and approval came through in literally one minute - even on a Sunday. We also had to get an ESTA for USA and a Chilean visa for Easter Island. One of the up-coming world cruises (probably 2025) is only scheduled for scenic cruising at Easter Island, probably because on only about a third of scheduled visits are they able to land passengers by tender. Maybe the change is to avoid disappointment. Another change will be for the EU where soon passengers will need a visa - probably one they have to arrange themselves.

 

Princess organised visas for other ports. Info about visas required was all shown on the Cruise Personalizer. From memory it was at the bottom of the Itineraries page. I spoke to several people on the ship last year who had paid a lot of money for visas they didn't need because they were going on their TA's advice. They hadn't read the info helpfully supplied by Princess that even had links to help passengers applying for visas.

Thank you, that's helpful. I'll get my friend to check with the gentleman next time they are together. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, Jean C said:

That's interesting, I think you've also been on prior world cruises? Do you know if Princess always does this for passengers on the world cruise, or segments of it? I'm asking because an elderly male friend of a friend is going on the 2015 world cruise segment from Auckland to Dover. He's not cruise savvy or experienced and booked through an equally elderly dinosaur of a "travel agent" (retired, but keeping a finger in and pretty much useless, other than successfully clipping the ticket).

 

Just curious as he was under the impression Princess arranged visas. It would be nice to be able to give him some reliable info from a CC expert 🥰

It's our first world cruise but we've done a few Princess cruises where visas were needed. They depend on the ports being visited. Princess is usually very good at advising which visas are needed. 

[Mareblu]

Wishing you all a truly wonderful and memorable sailing on this epic voyage.  

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Sorry for the late update today.

 

I have been having issues with the Cruise Critic forums 😞

 

Coral Princess anchored off the Bay of Islands, New Zealand today:

Edited April 27 by Kiwi_cruiser

[MicCanberra]

Looks smooth as bro.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Apparently it's been a bit bouncy today. I saw a video of the water sloshing around in the main pool. There were some spectacular splashes. The pool was netted of course. 

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Coral Princess has arrived in to Sydney this morning:
 

Hope everyone has a great time!

 

 

[MicCanberra]

A big day for many.

[Cbtours]

On 4/28/2024 at 5:19 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Apparently it's been a bit bouncy today. I saw a video of the water sloshing around in the main pool. There were some spectacular splashes. The pool was netted of course. 

Beyond excited for you today! It’s like I’m going lol

have the best time and I’m looking fwd to reading your report 🥰🥰🥰

[NSWP]

I reckon half of the 2000 pax will be Elites. Will be interesting to hear about laundry turn around times. 

[MicCanberra]

Just now, NSWP said:

I reckon half of the 2000 pax will be Elites. Will be interesting to hear about laundry turn around times. 

My laundry turnarounds are always overnight.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I reckon half of the 2000 pax will be Elites. Will be interesting to hear about laundry turn around times. 

We've planned for a minimum of four days but could handle longer. I think the trick will be to put a small bag load in every day rather than sending in bigger lots less often. 

[NSWP]

19 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We've planned for a minimum of four days but could handle longer. I think the trick will be to 

20 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We've planned for a minimum of four days but could handle longer. I think the trick will be to put a small bag load in every day rather than sending in bigger lots less often. 

a small bag load in every day rather than sending in bigger lots less often. 

Good idea, are you on board yet ?

[Cbtours]

8 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Good idea, are you on board yet ?

That’s what we do Julie, put any washing from that day each nighttime which works very well.

[mr walker]

ENJOY your cruise - we will be following along Cheers Neil & Tracey 

[boeckli]

Bon Voyage!! Hope you have a wonderful trip.  Looking forward to your reports 😀