lyndarra

Eight hours and 800ks from my place to my sister's place at Wishart. About another 45 minutes to terminal from there IIRC.

I usually buy a newspaper if I have a doctor appointment. I arrive on time but can often wait an hour. There is a newsagent next door to the surgery so I buy a paper and do the crosswords and puzzles. Before COVID the surgery had a stack of old National Geographics available, which I love reading. A few times I'd be reading an interesting article when I got called in and finish reading it after consultation. I wonder when the NGs will be back. Oops, gone a bit OT.

Means bright or enlightened. Something like that.

Makes driving to Brisbane an option if you have somewhere to park cheap - visit rels perhaps? It could work for me. A tank or less of diesel each way. Not good if one dislikes driving.

Have you noticed recently that QANTAS points don't seem to get you as far as they used to?

This reminded me of the dolphins we saw from the ferry going from Spain to Morocco last month. Always great to watch them.

I've found that balconies mostly suitable if cruising in the tropics. Nice to sit outside in the evening with favorite beverage in hand. Most of the time, for me, it's too cool out there. So climate is something to consider. My last last Alaska cruise we had an inside. To upgrade was USD100 each per day (7 days cruise) to go to ocean view and another hundred PPPD for balcony. We saved the extra for another cruise.

BTW. Smallest Aussie note is $5.

I've done several cruises with Royal, all of which I liked very much. Have done one cruise each with Princess and Carnival and neither were my taste or up to the standard I've experienced on Royal. Next, having said that, Celebrity and HAL vie for my affections. Both pretty much on par for service service IMHO . HAL often has slightly better itineraries and Celebrity just slightly in front on food and dining, MDR or buffet.

Just heard the ad again, it was on the radio. "Medallion Class" cruises

Yesterday I caught the end of a Princess ad on TV which mentioned Princess "Medallion" cruises. Have we gone from sea pass to a new advertising buzzword?😟

There are a few Oz TAs ( can't mention TAs here but with a little insight and imagination you may be able to work it out) that offer flights (Qatar) included for MSC cruises. For my return from Miami to Sydney (30 hours flying time) I was able to upgrade (when I originally booked the cruise) to Business for about AUD6500. It was worth every cent. While I was in Miami I went online and checked cost of a flight BC from Miami to Doha - AUD9000!

Agree. I rarely have more than $10 in my wallet. About the only time I use cash is to perhaps buy a newspaper. Anything else is tap and go. I now have a new phone and will look into using it once I've come to grips with the technology and am confident in the security.

Bugger. Find yourself a good specialist.

I thought this bit covered it unless I have read it wrong. "Onboard Credit offer is based on Promo(s) ZH*. Limit: One (1) onboard spending money credit (“Offer”) per stateroom. Offer is only applicable for eligible first responders, healthcare workers, and active, retired and veteran military service members. Offer is valued at US$100 per stateroom. "

They do. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/deals/military-healthcare-firstresponder-appreciation/cruise-deals.html

It was Sea Princess but I thought it was earlier.

Correction re New York cruise. It was this month deptarture on the 12th - 26 days $3999 inside cabin.

I think it was a New Zealand cruise.

The Puerto Rico problem is not new. I have experienced problems on MSC Divina but it wasn't the fault of the ship or crew. In my case it was processing delays by US customs - faulty computers and lack of staff. Everyone was required, by US Customs, to disembark. Full disembarkation was delayed by about three hours. Further delays were caqused when people who didn't want to go ashore wanted to reboard but had to wait. This is where the mob became unruly because there was little provision for people to sit and wait. Queue jumpers were causing problems leading to fisticuffs. It was here that there was some lack of control by MSC personel but it wasn't their fault. On MSC you can't avoid the multilingual problem(?) especially as English speakers are in the minority. The majority were Italian, German and Spanish speaking. Yes, beautiful and BIG ships but I found pax no more rude or polite than on other cruises. It wasn't my best cruise but now knowing what to expect, I would consider doing another. There was a good deal recently Genoa/New York maiden voyage this November, I can't remember the ship. Very tempting for the price which included airfares.

Have done a few HAL cruises (great itneraries) and never had any maintenance problems. Some ships were getting a little worn but that was merely cosmetic. I've had one Princess cruise where there seemed to be constant water, and by the smell, sewer pipe leakage problems. Our toilet backed up or wouldn't flush several times. That was about eight years ago and that ship, up until recently, was still part of the fleet.

I prefer the smaller HAL ships, Zaandam, Maasdam (until it was sold). Perhaps I was spoiled/influenced by my first HAL cruise on Volendam in 2012. The smallet ships seem to have slightly better itineraries but, as mentioned above, any HAL ship would be nice for Alaska. (Disclosure. My only two Alaskan cruises to date have been with Celebrity although I have one planned with HAL next June).

Good to see, thanks. Hopefully this will soon se a change on this forum from all the P&O, Princess, medallion guff.🙄

I'm not registered on FB but I could view it.

Has anyone here in Oz received benefits? A couple of days ago I registered as a veteran with HAL and was approved but unsure what to do next. I have one cruise already booked for Jan 2023 and hope to be booking another for Jun 3023.