wagtail_syd
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Posts posted by wagtail_syd
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I'd always assumed that that ships visit Noumea for re-provisioning. Is that correct?
I don't really understand the hate for Noumea. In 3 visits I've never found the locals rude at all. They're just going about their normal lives. We spoke to quite a few people getting help with local bus tickets etc and they were friendly and helpful and kind. The dock itself isn't pretty but then neither is White Bay and I don't rate the whole of Sydney based on that. It's a city, not an island resort so kind of unfair to compare it to Isle of Pines or Mare.
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I would go up straight away when you board and register them.
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I love the lower decks. Perhaps not such an issue on large RCI ships but have had some very rough seas leaving and returning to Sydney on smaller ships and people were vomiting everywhere. We could escape back to our nice, still, quiet deck 2 cabin if it got too much up on the pool deck and felt better immediately. Also very handy for the MDR and theatre. And if I had eaten too much at breakfast I used the stairs for the rest of the day and then felt justified ordering dessert at dinner. :)
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I would catch the bus or taxi to Lemon Bay for a later afternoon swim and then enjoy a drink at one of the nice bars along the beach while watching the sunset. From the map it looks like Lemon Bay faces west so should get a lovely sunset over the ocean. Then taxi home.
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Hi Mr Walker. I totally agree. My husband, brother and father have all been actively deployed at various times while in the Army Reserve so I'm not in any way disrespecting ANZAC day or our service personnel. However I'm not a fan of combining drunken crowds with young kids even if it is supposedly in memory of the fallen. I'm hoping they'll have a dawn service on board the boat for us to attend? It is RCL so not sure if they will do it.
Will check out Crocosauras Cove, Mic. Thanks.
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I can only comment on KL.
I am not a great shopper but even I found KL great for shopping. I bought shoes and handbags. Not clothes as was a bit paranoid about getting my Western sized butt into tiny Asian sizing. I really like the shopping centre under the Petronas Towers for a day out as you could combine shopping with sight-seeing and also nice lunch. I really liked the food at Little Penang cafe and there were some nice bars for a drink looking out over the fountains at the back of the centre.
Where are you from? Coming from Australia the range in KL was so much better and prices perhaps slightly cheaper. If you are from the US you'll probably be disappointed as you have such great range and prices at home.
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Hi
Our cruise will be in Darwin for ANZAC day next year. We aren't planning to do a ship excursion, just hoping to hang out at the man made beach and then head into town for a wonder around and to use the laundromat. We've got 3 kids so wanting to keep it low key. Will Darwin be packed with drinkers from midday on like say the Rocks in Sydney is? Will anything be open?
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I would also try for traditional dining for a large group. Your travel agent should have asked you when you booked what your preference was. If you don't have kids go for late dining if you can. ;) We loved the food and service in the MDR on Legend.
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We've booked triple inside and once had a sofabed and the other time had a bunk so definitely worth calling Carnival before booking. I found their customer service line to be very helpful.
I'm not sure how much more comfortable the sofabed will be though. It looked short and not that great when we cruised but luckily my 9 year old was not fussy.
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We've also been looking at Asia cruises but haven't booked anything yet except for a re positioning cruise from Sydney to Singapore for next year. One thing to be careful of is how far the cruise port is from the city/town. I was excited to see cruises stopping at KL and Bangkok until I looked closer and saw that the ports were hours away from the city. I would love to cruise into Hong Kong one day though. Would be spectacular.
Another thing to mind is the smoking policy. In Australia we are lucky to have many public areas smoke-free now. Not sure how I would cope on cruise where smoking was permitted inside some of the bars.
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If you use the cycling directions option in Google maps it will tell you the terrain you'll encounter from one point to another. Very handy. Thought I would let you know in case it helps you plan the rest of your stay in Sydney.
Here is the link for your walk from hotel to cruise terminal:
The hill in the Rocks runs up towards the Observatory.
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This offering from Vodafone looks like it could be a good deal for you: https://vha.secure.force.com/NZPack
It would give you a prepaid sim in in Australia and option for roaming in NZ without the hassle of having to buy an additional SIM when you arrive there.
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Happy travels upgrayders! Enjoy those business class perks you lucky ducks.
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Yes it is tricky. How old are your kids? Under a certain age (I think usually around 11) they can't sign themselves out so you know exactly where they are...in kids club waiting for you to come and get them. :)
For older kids we usually made a time at the cabin to meet or told them a list of 2 or 3 places we were likely to be if they were looking for us. We sometimes left notes on our cabin door. Slightly easier was to use the cabin's voicemail to leave each other messages as you can your voicemail from any phone on the ship so don't need to go back to the cabin to check. Does RCI have a social media app? I haven't used that but it would also be an option although potentially costly if you have several kids.
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The beaches in Newcastle are absolutely beautiful but I've never snorkeled there. Most are too rough for snorkeling. Perhaps if you took a ship's tour to Port Stephens you could find somewhere. As others have mentioned definitely no snorkeling in Darwin on Brisbane.
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I think it is funny! What possible connection is there with McDonalds except for the first two letters? Using that logic about 90% of Scotland is sponsored by Maccas.
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I'm personally not a fan of the overnight stop. Even on 24 hour plus flights I'd rather just get it over with in one hit rather than prolong the pain. When we have stopped overnight we've often ended up not enjoying the stopover as we were too tired and the time spent clearing customs, checking in to the hotel etc just added to the already long trip. Also didn't sleep well as worrying about the alarm not going off/missing connecting flight.
If you are flying business class you will have access to the lounge anywhere you are transiting so you'll at least have the chance for a shower and a change of clothes.
I had a look at options from Miami to Bangkok and it does look pretty grim unfortunately. Most options include 2 stopovers and are >24 hours. Qatar fly Miami to Bangkok with only a short stop in Doha. I have flown long haul economy with them before and found them to be excellent. Other options with 1 stop are British Airways (yuck!!) and Austrian (haven't flown with them since the 90s so no idea what that would be like).
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Do you have health issues? If not the flight is likely to be a bit boring and tiring but otherwise fine, especially as you are flying business class. On a long haul flight I usually have dinner, watch a movie and then at around 11pm I'll have a glass of wine and 2 valium and that usually does the trick. Noise cancelling headphones and an eye mask are handy as are comfy clothes and nice warm socks.
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Cruising on the pacific Jewel from Melbourne for New Years Eve this year on our honeymoon ,also booked a wedding vow renewal done by the Captain .booked after same cruise a year ago through P&O, requested the same cabin as last time was told we were guaranteed a BA class balcony and could not request a room but the put down which room we would prefer cabin 11101
having called P&O 5 times throughout the year to see if we got our cabin but found out last week no we didn't. Offered us a choice or 2 interconecting cabins hope people next door know we are on our honeymoon Oh and they threw in a cake big deal
Sounds like P&O have not explained the system to you properly. Guarantee means you don't get to pick your room. Usually you can pay more to choose the exact cabin. If you save money and choose guarantee you have to take pot luck and often don't find out your cabin until close the cruise date. So in this case you have got exactly what you paid for.
Please try to be considerate of the people in the cabin next to yours. They are trying to enjoy their holiday too and most likely have no interest in whether or not it is your honeymoon.
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No taxi queue whatsoever when we disembarked. It was all very efficient. Agree about sharing with another couple to keep the costs down. Plenty of people will be heading for the airport.
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We always book school holidays and I find July to be the most expensive time to book. As mentioned there is only P&O and Carnival. Carnival only has Spirit in Australia in winter so prices don't really come down leaving just P&O.
I personally would not be keen to sail out of Sydney in winter on either Aria or Eden just because you have the chance of really rough seas and they are such small boats. I love cruising but would be tempted to go for a land-based holiday somewhere like Hamilton Island in this case.
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Thanks so much for the review as we are cruising on Voyager from Sydney to Singapore for 14 nights in April. I too hope they improve their theatre shows by then !!
We're booked on this one too. Can't wait! Very glad to hear that there won't be any smoking indoors. Yuk!
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We are sailing on Radiance of the Seas and are having the same issue. The ship returns on 11/29 at 6:30am. We booked a 12:30pm return flight the same day, and United changed the flight to 11:50am. At this point I would hate to try to change the flight because we are confirmed upgraded to business on our current flight.
We will get off the ship as early as possible. Are we better with an uber, taxi or the train on a Wednesday morning?
Please report back on which flight you took. Best of luck.
As long as you can manage the 5-10 minute walk from the terminal to the station I would catch the train - less stress about getting stuck in traffic.
To make things easier I would buy Opal cards before you board the cruise so you know you have them ready to go. It will cost $16.81 each to the airport so make sure you load enough credit onto them. You can look up the train timetable here: https://transportnsw.info/#/
Trains to the airport usually go from platform 2 (the water-side) and take around 20 minutes. Head to the ends of the platform to avoid crowds. All going well you should comfortably arrive at the airport within 45 minutes-1 hour of debarking the ship.
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So frustrating. I only discovered that another woman with the same name (different middle name) as me and same month and year of birth lived in my small apartment block (18 apartments) when my doctor refused me a pap test because "you only had one 9 months ago". They had completely merged our medical records since we both had the same GP!
I hope you can sort this out with minimal fuss. Be comforted by the fact that the vast majority of people have no interest in stealing your personal details and are probably as stressed as you about possible security breach.
Review of the Pacific Eden - 8 nights to the South Pacific
in P&O Cruises ( Australia )
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Yes it does have a cinema. I didn't go there but my kids did. It is on deck 7 midships near the atrium.