USAWanderer

Hello All. Haven't posted since my 1st cruise in 2017 but wanted to chime in. I read all 9 pages of comments and there are some good topics and points of view discussed. Personally, I enjoy cruising (and camping). I was on the Sun Princess (February 2020 - March 2020) when I first heard about Covid-19. Although the ship and its occupants were not welcomed at 2 ports, the 46-day cruise turned out to be pretty good in my opinion and no one on board had/got Covid. Now, given all the deaths caused by Covid, the people who found themselves stuck in limbo on cruise ships (some staff still are), and all the cruise cancellations currently going on, I decided not to cruise before 2022. I am hoping the cruise lines will have their safety protocols ironed out and will have had several cruises by then to test those protocols.  I recently found 4 cruises ranging from 10 to 50 days that I want to take between January 2022 and April 2022 on Princess, Carnival, RCI and NCL and I am praying they don't get cancelled. As a solo traveler the balcony prices were pretty good, even with the single supplement and I got freebies with some of the bookings.  You have to beat the cruise lines at their own game when you can and booking early has its perks. I don't gamble so I have to get my perks somehow. I don't think I would like walking around with a mask on all day or shouting across the table to talk on the pool deck. But, if it keeps everyone safe and well, I'll make the sacrifice. I only do balconies, so not worried about air re-circulation or being confined to the cabin. I often go back to the cabin mid afternoon and sit on the balcony and watch the flying fish, occasional ship{s} that might pass by in the distance (binoculars are a must for this) and to just listen to the waves and maybe doze off. I have been told on a past cruise that having the balcony door open screws with the ship's a/c but between you, me and the rest of the world, I sometimes open the balcony door about 9" or so, especially at night. The sound of the waves lullabies me to sleep. As for Carnival (and NCL for that matter) being the "fun/party/family" cruise line, I have been told by their booking reps that most of their ships are designed for such. I am more of a low key person so I tend to book my cruises when US children are in school (NO OFFENSE ANYONE) when there are less young people on the ship. I agree with you FYREE re: Lower Capacity. Less isn't always a bad thing. I am surprised the cruise lines are still taking bookings for 2020 cruises. I agree, a lot, if not all, of these cruises will probably be cancelled. Maybe the cruise lines are actually doing this to get the cash under their belts (like mentioned earlier) knowing a lot of people will accept some kind of cruise credit deal instead of wanting their money back. I made sure my 2022 reservations are refundable. I prefer money to credit because there is a time frame to use the credit and if the cruise line doesn't sail where I want to go within that time frame, I am left with nothing. Well, happy cruising everybody (when cruising starts) and please stay safe and well.

I just checked the links provided by GradUT and possum52. Thanks for the links. Plenty of luggage storage facilities and a nice selection of Fremantle and Perth activities I can choose from to past the day and early evening. THANKS GUYS. I enjoy planning my trips and I will have a ball planning my after cruise day activity.

Thanks for the suggestions every one. I should have mentioned that I have spent time in Perth after a past cruise. However, I have not visited Rottnest Island and that sounds like a good idea. I think I will start by taking Cool Cruiser's idea and see if I can book a hotel room for the day, valet the luggage, and go from there.

Hello all. There are 187 pages of topics under Australia & New Zealand. Too much to check and extremely time consuming. I apologize to Cruise Critic and the public if my topic has been posted but, I need suggestions.

I am going on a 46 night Princess cruise in 2020 and disembark in Perth on a Tuesday morning. My flight home to the US does not leave until 11:00 PM. I truly don't want to spend all day and evening at the Perth airport. Any suggestions on activities/places to visit in Perth that will past the time? Where can I store my luggage to keep from dragging it around all day/evening? Is there a hotel or other place with a view (say a rooftop garden/restaurant) where my luggage & I can hang out, have some lunch, and just relax until time to go to the airport?

I slept on the balcony 1 night during my 1st Royal Caribbean cruise however, I did not take the furniture onto the balcony. I used the 2 chairs that were there. I put the chairs across from one another, draped a bath towel over the seat & back of the chair I was going to have my upper body in, used 1 bed pillow for my head and put one under my bum. The pillow was large enough to position to cover the hard armrest. I used another bath towel to cover my feet up to my thighs (it was warm, no full cover needed). I turned on my side & scrunched down in the chair as best I could with my legs & feet up on the other chair (I sleep in the fetal position anyway but was able to stretch out my legs during the night).  I placed the table beside me, I had some juice and a bedtime snack on it. I was able to get comfortable enough that I actually fell asleep.  Because I am a light sleeper, I woke up early the next morning in time to put the balcony furniture back in its "normal" position and go into my cabin before any neighbors came out. I did not have a problem with the salt spray as I was on an upper deck, 9 or 10 if my memory serves me right. I have not done it since, but contemplated it during my cruise this past April. Maybe I'll give it a go again on my upcoming cruise this January (temperature permitting).