I think this is a good cruise deal for NZ/AU. It includes flights from Sydney. At $1700, this is $100 per night which is a bargain in my book.
Also another one at $1599. This one is 15 nights and the ship departs from Sydney. They will fly you back to SYD.
Covid is good for your soul
If you know how not to be sucked into the vortex of cruiseline spending then this is a great deal.
What is this Vortex and how do you avoid it?
Live off 2 minute noodles and drink sea water
Username checks out
Dont pay for Have it All, drop room service fee to $0, pay for internet via eSim, book own excursions etc.
Is there any eSim which works on-board?
@SickDmith: Anything for the country you're going to. We purchased a 2 week SEA esim and it work everyday except middle of the Java Sea. Saved us a stack and a lot of ppl were doing it.
$50 2 weeks v $40 a day 🤔
Sydney again with the good deals… (profanity) brisbane.
To be fair Ashumz, the people in Brisbane/QLD probably feel like they have had enough water for the next 1000 years and are only contemplating holidays in deserts or on the surface of Mars
they wouldn't be interested in massive ark like boats that could take occupants (2 x 2 hurrah)?
I used to live there and no longer give af ark about Brisbane
As a Brisbanite I would prefer cruises that leave from Sydney. The Brisbane Cruise Terminal is in an industrial estate, next to a sewerage plant. It smells like a toilet.
It's quite embarrassing. Quite the first impression for intl visitors for a 'world city' thats hosting the olympics. Then when you compare it to the cruises departing Circular Quay!
Because Brisbane is poor,
Does anyone have experience with Holland America? We are going on our first cruise with Virgin next week, so don't know much.
I haven't been on Holland America but my mum has, she said it was fairly classy, it's like the American version of Cunard… Not as classy as Cunard, but it's a decent step up from P&O, Princess, and the likes…
Princess is a lot better than P&O, which I see more as a budget party line.
But at $100 a day I'd give these guys a go!
Princess seems to have more than it's fair share of 'outbreaks' which scares me off them, covid, gastro, norovirus…
@FLICKIT: All cruises have them, but I think because of ruby princess they seem to get more attention.
@CMH: Plus the recent Grand Princess issues, I believe they ended up doing 5 deep cleans before they got it sorted…
@FLICKIT: Tbh I am the sort of person who would be content to spend 2 weeks in a balcony cabin enjoying the sea breeze with a book. 24 hour room service and I'm set.
Having my computer and wifi would be a plus too.
For those who think "you can just do that at home" but trust me, it's much cheaper this way if you're relying on uber eats. If you gotta cook and clean… Well that's no longer the same thing now is it?
@FLICKIT: I think Princess's outbreaks are a result of their passenger demographic.
Princess typically has elderly over weight people. Seem to be the American cruise ship of choice. We always use hand sani religiously (before covid..when gastro was king). But the American's seemed to be a bit arrogant and above hand sani (how dare you suggest they are dirty).. So just a higher risk category people in my opinion.
Side note - The only time we have been sick was on a Holland America ship… but we were on it for 22 nights, in the Mediterranean and SARS (the original one) was running rampant. Man…that was a Flu! Never had anything come close to that since. Thankfully it hit on the last night.
@tunzafun001: I like insulting Americans as much as the next guy, but that's pretty ignorant!
The majority of gastro outbreaks on cruises are caused by norovirus. Hand sanitiser is very ineffective against it - you should be regularly washing your hands with soap and water to avoid spreading it. In fact, it's probably people using hand sanitiser regularly, mistakenly thinking their hands are clean, responsible for a lot of the spread.
@callum9999: last I read soap killed the COVID virus - if in contact with soap suds for 20 seconds (sing Happy Birthday for the duration) - most folks I see in public washrooms put their hands under the tap for about half a second so no guarantee there
@callum9999: Hand washing trumps sani for sure. I actually think a lot of covid complacency might have come from people thinking they are safe with just hand sani. As for the Americans..just a factual observation from the half dozen or so cruises I have done. The "how dare you comment" actually came out of a ladies mouth. I also loved them complaining the duty free is always too expensive (1.125L base spirits were US $12.50 a bottle). It just appears to be their thing. Again..just my observation.
@tunzafun001: Again, hand washing isn't merely "more effective" - hand sanitiser is COMPLETELY ineffective against norovirus. You might as well not use it at all.
I don't care about your insults towards random Americans, I care about the holier-than-thou attitude you have towards them, congratulating yourself about using hand sanitiser religiously despite it doing virtually nothing to stop norovirus outbreaks (you bring COVID up, you specifically bragged about doing this before the pandemic).
I don't know if you want to just keep digging, but a humble "I didn't realise, I'll keep that in mind when washing my hands on future cruises and think twice about making snap judgements about other people" would be great.
@callum9999: Calm, calm …I'm very aware of Noravirus capsid protection that renders hand sani useless. But there are plenty of other pathogens that hand sani is effective at destroying. Most notably flu / COVID strains..which is the subject of this sub thread (People mentioned Princess seeming to have more outbreaks). Princess is dominated by elderly American passengers. No issue with them whatsoever, other than arrogance or ignorance around disease. I was told several times that I will get the flu if I don't put a jacket on..that sort of thing. Just data points and real world observations.
So you need to hand wash and sani. Some bacteria are soap resistant. As I said actual Influenza ran rampant on my Holland America cruise ..and I was not happy people refused to use hand sani. I don't need to apologise for that.
Lastly, as I said earlier, there tends to be a lot more people in the higher COVID/ Flu.. whatever risk bracket on cruises, ie older, overweight, respiratory issues etc..yet they won't even use sani. Can't vouch for their hand washing.
@tunzafun001: I don't believe you for a second, but now it's been confirmed that your "religious use of hand sani" is useless against most gastro-causing infections, my work is done!
@callum9999: Umm..ok. Not a handi sani guy.. gotcha….wont work out for you on a modern cruise ..but you do you. No idea what you dont believe me about..but let's say your right if that helps.
Is it the Influenza and SARS outbreaks on cruises? 1 in 4 US travellers refuse to get a flu vaccine. Just google it..something like this https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/25/1/tay146/5238721
@tunzafun001: I'm not a "use hand sanitiser to prevent the spread of gastro" guy, actually.
I don't believe that you already knew about the permeability of the norovirus capsid (or even what a capsid is) to alcohol. If you did, you wouldn't have bragged about using lots of "hand sani" to guard against gastro pre-covid. "I know that hand sanitiser is useless against norovirus but I use it religiously to guard against gastro"!? I am right - you've already agreed that I am, no need to "just say".
You're clearly too arrogant to gracefully accept you were wrong (maybe delete your post if you're going to keep pretending!), so I'll just leave it there and let others be the judge. The only reason I'm pressing this point, by the way, is your snide judgement of the hygiene practices of fat Americans while bragging about how great you are. People make mistakes, but if you're going to make rude comments about others then you should be prepared to be judged back.
@callum9999: Ok..went back and re-read the posts. I think the trigger is that I referenced gastro and not using hand sani? I think of "gastro" in the broad sense (ie voms and runs) with many causitive agents. While you are right, Nora is the most common in adults (and ethanol is indeed useless against it), cruise ships wouldnt waste 5 cents on sanitiser unless it had a purpose. Scientifically it does wipe out a lot of pathogens. I see not using hand sani as general poor hygiene, and somewhat disrespect for those around you. We'll agree to disagree if this is snide. I definitely got triggered when I was on a cruise ship riddled with influenza and people refused to use hand sani (which ethanol is effective against). People were taken off in bags on that cruise..but some passengers still couldnt rub ethanol on their palms, or stay away from crowded areas / cough in an elbow while coughing etc etc.
As for the rest, it was purely my perception (and i also linked in some real world data) of why Princess in particular seems to pop up in bad press. I'm just a numbers/ data guy and report as I see it. They carry higher risk people in confined spaces. I'm a bit on the spectrum and sometimes offend peope without trying. So apologise if I have done so.
@tunzafun001: I wasn't offended, I was irritated by you acting like you were right all along instead of accepting my criticism and correcting yourself.
You've repeatedly brought up irrelevant points to try and cover that up, which is frustrating. You bragged about using hand sanitiser religiously "when gastro is king". I don't care about flu, I don't care about covid. If you simply accepted that at the beginning instead of deflecting then this would have all been avoided…
As I said, I only brought this up because you were bragging about how great your hygiene is while insulting dirty Americans. But apology accepted, and enjoy your next cruise.
As for HA being better than Princess. Not quite. I have been on a few and it's difficult to compare, as each have different vintage boats. But the food, accom and entertainment on Princess is much better than Holland America. Holland America had some nice touches (a custom egg chef making several types of eggs benny is a nice touch…by the third morning I just gave him a nod, and the eggs were made). HA is better than P&O and Carnival, but just below Celebrity…BUT…
Celebrity ships look nicer, but they changed their drinks offer AFTER we left port (we had an unlimited drinks package..that they changed to basic drinks only the day we boarded, and they simply popped a flyer under the door while we were at the sail away party to inform us. Front desk had no concern, no interest in refunds… Dodgiest thing I have ever seen, and hope they just disappear.
Cunard are up the top, but I still like the balance of Princess (people aren't too snobby, not too many kids, core group of young 'uns…but they aren't spewing in the pot plants (looking at you P&O).
Good insight thanks :)
@FLICKIT: No worries, read many of your posts in the past that have been super helpful. Glad I could give some insight back.
Just come off the Westerdam last month. Age group is 55+, kids are rare. Good rooms, low activity, think slow pace cruising. Staff are excellent. Food is too American centric for my tastes and needs a kick in the pants. Not bad, just not Australian. Very big on gratuities and upselling so you need to watch yourself.
As for illness, no issues. Place was OTT about cleanliness.
great deal for $100 a night
Is this a usa cruise company? Ie do you have to factor in tipping?
Yeh, owned by Carnival Corporation, they own P&O, Princess, Cunard, Holland, plus others…
Carnival Corp brands:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Corporation_%26_plc#B…
I believe Holland have a $16usd $17usd per day service charge… I assume it's the same as Cunard, you can go to the Pursers desk at the start of the cruise and request not to pay it.. Double check that yourself if it's a concern…
Edit: they've bumped up the service charge:
For sailings departing on or after February 14, 2024, the daily Crew Appreciation is $17.00* per guest per day for non-suite stateroom guests and $19.00 per guest per day for suite guests.*
The Crew Appreciation charge is paid to Holland America Line team members and represents an important part of their compensation. An 18% service charge is automatically applied to all beverage purchases, bar retail items, specialty restaurant cover charges, all for-purchase a la carte menu items, and all Spa & Salon services. Local sales taxes are applied where required.
https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/au/plan-a-cruise/get-ready…
This is very valid point. Basically one need to factor in extra USD$17 x 17 = USD$289 (roughly AUD$450 per person). Plus, separate day for a flight = extra day of leave.
I'd give them a call and validate this when booking. I remember gratuities for Royal Carribbean seemed extremely expensive for a cruise a few months ago from SYD to Hawaii and was told over the phone they don't charge these gratuities for their Australian voyages.
@thewiseone: I believe RC and P&O include the gratuity-service-charge in the fares these days, I know Cunard don't include it, it's extra, and from the link a couple of posts above I believe Holland America don't include it in the fare either, they add it to your onboard account…
Also, With Cunard it's a 'per night' charge, Holland list it as a 'per day' charge, which is a bit rude considering you generally embark late on the first day and disembark early on your last day…
We have cancelled the gratuity on Princess, Holland America and Celebrity. All the same. Just tell the service desk.
When cruising the Mediterranean I bought a few different 6 pack of beers and whiskeys at every port. No issue bringing them on, just carried them. Had one or two and gave the rest to the room crew, occasionally bought a second bottle for them etc as we went along. He in turn left little perks (whiskey glasses, ice buckets etc). One night saw the room crew smashing them on their night off in Italy. So I guess the tips were more of a gift. No idea what they pay for booze on board, or if they can get it at all. But this crew got a 22 night stash.
They should just pay their bloody staff!
I Jsut got off Disney cruise and I’m sure it was $5-6000 aud for a family of four. We don’t drink and still spent $1100 for 3 nights
Food was terrible
If this is $100/night
Wow I’m scared for u
Disney cruises are so overpriced much like Disneyland due to the Disney tax. I wouldn't use it as a standard to compare the rest of the cruise industry to in terms of food.
I've been on carnival cruises for less than $100/night that have had great food.
All of my cruises have been <$100 per night (this is the trigger for when we book). They have all been amazing…except for Celebrity (Hawaii to Canada). Douche bag management - see my comment above. The actual boat, crew and food have been amazing on all. On the Celebrity cruise we didn't actually spend the included onboard credit (final bill was -$200), so I got it transferred to the crews gratuity. Not sure what's is going on with Disney..
Yes I don’t think you can compare Disney to other cruises, I do believe other cruises are cheaper than Disney in general.
And yes I did the same as you too, 3 nights Disney cruise in a window room and after usd to aud conversion it was about $6000 😵💫 and then after get the bill for the tipping and whatever else you used (we had room service, photos and souvenirs from their shop) so yep an extra $470 😬
Again the Disney cruise is more geared towards families with kids or for Disney fans that wanted to get the picture with the Disney characters. Overall I was satisfied with the trip but alas if it was half price I would say let’s go again but that’s the last time I’m going on a Disney cruise (or a cruise in general as I knew I would get sick sick 🤪)
while the prices look attractive - I am deterred by the idea of being trapped on a boat at the mercy of a private corporation and the law of the sea (captain makes the rules - and as an employee of the cruise company, likely to follow the cruise company profit-first policies)
I get seasick - last on a whale watching cruise out of Sydney - so cruise ships are not attractive to me
that plus the hidden fee/tip/gratuity/extra costs for I don't know what, and I suspect high cost for low GB internet - and oh - norovirus from shared food buffets and contact surfaces, etc. - and maybe even COVID - again.
I feel the same about Sydney Trains.
Prepare for the haters and their covid comments!