Tag: Dawn Princess

Princesses bearing gifts – beware.

princess-cruises-golden-princess-exterior-02-gallery

I’ve known a number of Princesses – Island, Diamond, Dawn, Majestic and have booked future time with Golden (see above picture) & Diamond (again) – see picture below.

DP

My wife & I enjoyed our time so much with each Princess we thought it only right that we share our good fortune with our friends around the world.

To encourage our friends to join us, I told them that they would receive USD $25 each (USD $50 per cabin) to spend on their second cruise, if they accepted my invitation to join us on a particular cruise.
I also told them that I would receive USD $25 for each person that I persuaded to sample the charms of a real Princess.

Two friends from New Zealand and two friends from the UK flew to Rome and joined us for the twenty-eight-day

Majestic

Majestic (see pic above) voyage from Rome to Singapore, which we all enjoyed. I have e-mails confirming that our New Zealand friends had accepted the ‘refer a friend’ bonus in February 2017.
On returning home we persuaded five local friends to join us for a cruise from Sydney to Tasmania later this year, and I told them of the USD $25 that each would be credited for their second cruise. Four of our friends accepted the invitation in March 2017.

A couple of weeks ago I contacted the cruise company in Sydney and asked why the bonus for persuading my Kiwi & Pommy friends was not showing on my account, because I wished to use my share of the ‘encouragement bonus’ for the Tasmanian cruise. I received an answer and have posted two parts of it below –

Unfortunately our refer a friends program has been discontinued as of the 11th May 2017. This means that we are unable to provide you with the benefits of the refer a friends program.

Remember my UK & NZ friends accepted in February . . . and four of our Australian friends accepted in March.

Please also be aware that the program was only applicable for guests who referred guests who lived in the same country. For example as you live in Australia the benefits could only be applied to friends who also live in Australia. The program was also set up for the past passengers and non past passengers to travel on the same cruise.

I couldn’t find any mention of the closing of the program on their web site, and as recently as last week I received an e-mail advising me that one of our Australian friends (the fifth one) had accepted the USD $25 offer! In fact, I have e-mails confirming that all my Australian friends have accepted the refer a friend offer. Now I must tell them that they will not be receiving the promised bonus.
The other concern is that one can only persuade Australian friends, yet the web site states Australian & New Zealand friends . . .and still has the refer a friend active link on the main web site.
I persuaded one couple that a Princess is worth more than a mere Celebrity – even though they have already experienced two Celebrities, and didn’t wish to change – but friendship prevailed, and now I must cancel their promised cash bonus.

I can accept that the UK couple are not part of Australia / New Zealand, but as the web site specifically mentions Australia / New Zealand as a refer a friend ‘catchment’ area why have the NZ friends not been credited?

As a global popular Princess why would you place restrictions on possible future sales just because someone has friends outside their home area?

Our Princess promises that we will ‘Come back new’, but I doubt that the nine friends that we introduced will come back at all . . . and if they chat to their friends statistics tell us that each one will negatively influence between ten and twenty-five others against a certain princess. The negative influence is not a deliberate act, but comes out in general conversation.

To paraphrase Warren Buffet – it takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to lose one.

I sent an e-mail to my Princess, about the whole ‘refer a friend’ system and I received a reply, which stated – Your comments have been noted.

Considering the overall cost of cruising, the amount of money involved is very small, but the principle is huge.

Windy Wellington

dsc07880r

The sun is behind us as it chases us in to Wellington Harbour.

dsc07883rWe are aiming for the gap.

We were fortunate in Wellington because an old friend from my Conway days lives in Wellington and he had ‘volunteered’ to show us around. We’d both joined Conway on the same day, and had been in the same class, and we’d kept on touch since leaving Conway 1962.

Because private cars are not allowed on the wharf we used the ship’s shuttle in to the centre of Wellington, where we met my mate.

We considered using the cable car to the lookout, but decided to drive for convenience later in the morning.

300px-wellington_nz-cablecar-topviewPicture from the internet.

dsc07887rIt was an interesting place because the terminus for the cable car was also a museum.

dsc07889rThey had old railcars on display where the passenger sat on the outside (as well as the inside) – health and safety hadn’t been invented.

dsc07890r

The above is a photograph of a photograph showing passenger of yesteryear. I didn’t see any lap straps, but in those times one was expected to look after oneself and not expect the State to do it for you.

dsc07898r

Old St Paul’s the original wooden protestant cathedral, built in 1866. It is one the best examples of timber gothic revival churches in the world. When the new cathedral was built in 1964 this church ceased to be a regular place of worship, but still remains a consecrated church. The steeple is ‘stunted’ due to the high winds that Wellington has to suffer.

dsc07900rMaureen & our guide. Note the flags, which belong to the Royal Navy, the New Zealand Merchant Navy and the US Marines (second division), which were all stationed in Wellington during WW2.

dsc07901r

The inside had a very calming feel. There were some people siting quiet praying.

dsc07902r

I’m not big in to stained glass windows, but did like this one.

dsc07904r

For my Welsh readers you’ll be pleased to know that the slate on the roof of the church is Welsh slate – the church was re-slated with Welsh slate in 1924.

dsc07906rNew Zealand Parliament House- the building on the left is known locally as The Beehive. It houses the offices of the PM and various ministers as well as support staff.

dsc07907r

Between the two buildings (the Beehive and the Parliament Building) there is a tunnel, which allows the  ‘wets’ and the ‘dries’ to remain dry when they have to vote. OK, so it is a bad pun . . . if you’ve not heard about the ‘wets’ and the ‘dries’ look them up under British politics.

DSC07908r.jpgParliamentary Library – to the left of this building is the Parliament Building and further left the Beehive.

dsc07912r

Another lookout point, Mount Victoria.

dsc07915rand this is a Wellington summer . . . .at least I was able to wear shorts . . .

juna2

This year was my first visit to Wellington in 49 years.
I was third mate in the Juna (7,583 gt) in 1968 and we were alongside the wharf in Wellington on the 10th April, 1968.

On this day Wellington was hit by the worst storm since settlement in the early 1800’s.

The winds reached between 100 and 150 kts (185 to 280 kms / hr) and we on the Juna, had every rope that we had out to keep us alongside the wharf.
Around 6.00 am the ferry from Lyttelton to Wellington, the Wahine began to enter the harbor.

wahineWahine, just under 9,000gt

The Wahine had past the light house and had entered the harbout before being struck by the storm, which had become a cyclone. For a more detailed report may I suggest this site.

The Wahine lost steering and struck rocks, after which the captain ordered his passengers and crew to abandon ship. Some the lifeboats could not be used due to the list.

wahine-listing

police-009

Some of the passengers made it close to shore on rafts and the waves dashed them against the rocks, and many were killed so close to the shore. In all there were 744 people on board, but 51 died as a result of the ship foundering.

police-012Some of the lucky ones were helped by local people and the police.

I’ve used the above from news items of the day – if anyone wishes to know more and watch the troubled vessel check this link  Wahine it is a ten minute news film of the ship in distress, and of some of those rescued.  New Zealand history site for quick overview.

dsc07916r

Even on a quiet day it looks dangerous.

dsc07918r

The same area on a calm summer’s day when we visited the scene.

On a happier not we had lunch at the Chocolate Fish  . . .apparently chocolate fish is the name of a local chocolate bar.

dsc07925rI had the fish, which was very nice, and it didn’t taste of chocolate.

dsc07922rAs we left the restaurant I saw two ships alongside – ours was the one on the left and the one on the right was – The World  – this is the closest that I will ever get to seeing The World.

dsc07929r

As we arrived back to the Dawn Princess we had to pass The World.

dsc07930r

I did like, what I think they are, spa baths on the balcony of The World, remind me to e-mail Princess Cruises . . . .

%d bloggers like this: