SinbadThePorter

It was said by Mark Twain, but he himself attributed it to Benjamin Disraeli. But Disraeli is not known to have ever said it. It seems to one of those sayings that appear out of nowhere that everyone thinks was said by someone famous.

We're onboard Explorer in two and a bit weeks. It's good to know the old girl is still floating. 😁 Last time on was in 2017, just after the move from Princess. So my expectations are being very well managed. That pool in the "Sanctuary" is only ankle deep. I'm not sure it's deep enough for the kiddies.

It used to be that Princess cruises to and from Asia were in $A and included grats and cruises to and from North America were not. That was pre-covid. I don't know the current rules.

I think RCL believe that they have hit the motherload in the form of three to four day cruises for young families out of Florida ports on gigantic ships going to their private islands. The demand seems to be there, so they are charging what this market will bear. At the moment that's a lot. There seems to be a flow through to all their markets, including ours. At this rate all that COVID debt is going to get paid off pretty damn quick. 🤑

Usually you can put your Drivers Licence number in there. There is no reason any cruise should require a passport for a domestic only cruise. If there is a problem with entering it, give them a call. At check-in they may ask for a passport, but they will accept a drivers licence.

She is 290m long. Many ships that length have already docked in Cairns.

Groucho Marx resigning from the Hollywood Friar's Club.

We can hope for the best, but the outrageous pricing at Coco Cay is not encouraging.

Did Yorkey's last month on Quantum. Completely hopeless getting 4000 people off and on by tender. Never again.

I can't see that any ship over 290m length has gotten onto Cairns wharf. Voyager is 311m.

There is a hazardous surf warning from BOM for the Hunter coast south on Friday and Saturday.

Diamond.

So do I now. I was once stopped and searched in customs on returning and to save space I had my medications in the foil strips they come in, but not in their original prescription boxes. I was told in no uncertain terms that this was inadequate and was asked to explain what each and every different pill was for. I was then told not to do it again.

That's appropriate since the passengers operate on ethanol.

Queensland Rail is not likely to setup a bus service just for the BICT. The buses are for use during track closures, stoppages and linking country towns. It would be impractical to have them unavailable for their actual purpose on cruise days. I don't understand this insistence that the BICT has to be another OPT, with the facilities that the OPT has. It would be much fairer to compare it to the White Bay Cruise Terminal. Or even more appropriately to the Grain Terminal wharf across the river. The OPT happens to be sited next to Circular Quay, the best public transport nexus in Sydney. Which was not built in order to service the OPT or even with the OPT in mind. The BICT is not and never will be the OPT. If someone wants to run a bus shuttle service to there, I'm sure that Port of Brisbane would oblige. In the meantime if I want to catch the public bus, I'll walk to it.

What's going to affect the cruise industry first is various ports mandating on shore power. New York City has just done this, although the details are yet to be worked out. In a few years, ships that don't have on shore power capability are going to be limited in their choice of ports.

The Brisbane bus and ferry network is owned and run by Brisbane City Council, not the rail service which is state owned.

I've done that walk. It's not particularly difficult.

If you didn't mind a flight back to Sydney, four days would be just enough for a drive to Brisbane up the Pacific Highway. I'd recommend Myall Lakes, Southwest Rocks, Dorrigo, Bundjalung National Park or Byron Bay as stops along the way, but there are a host of places along the coast worth a visit.

Because that would take buses away from scheduled services at very irregular intervals. But the main reason that there is no public transport is that nobody thought to built a Circular Quay right next to it. There actually is a bus, the 303. Which goes from the corner of Main Beach Road and Marine Road (which is the road that leads to the Cruise Terminal) to Doomben train station via Portside. It takes about 30 minutes. It leaves Myrtletown (the suburb of the Cruise Terminal) at 6:50am, 7:19am, 7:57am and 8:27am Monday to Friday. It's about a 20 min walk from the Cruise Terminal to the bus stop. You aren't actually supposed to walk out, but nobody seems to care. I've done it several times. Getting back is trickier as the bus only starts afternoon runs from about 3pm.

Maybe you didn't see it because you're Platinum. Nowadays rewards go to new passengers not loyal ones. 🤑

Woolworths do sell magnetic hooks, but in the CBD they only have cut down Metro stores which may or may not have stock. If they don't have any, Officeworks in Hunter St and Pitt St are sure to.

If you want it, always book the price in hand rather than the one around the corner. You can always cancel and rebook later if you see it cheaper.

I'll give the optimistic answer. If the ship arrives on time. If you can disembark by 7:30am. If you can get to Circular Quay station with all your luggage by 8:00am. You will get to Sydney Airport International train station before 8:30am. Then you can check luggage, pass security and find your lounge, probably before 9:30am. Then you pull out your book and have a read for 2 hours. The choice (as with the risk) is yours.

Princess need to hire away Virgin's bathroom designer. The bathroom was smaller, yet the shower cubical was so much better than on Coral. They just need to add a few shelves. My experience with the restaurants was that you could almost guarantee a walk in seat at 5:30. Even if not, they would generally tell you they will try to fit you in later.