Ozwoody

On 4/22/2024 at 8:05 AM, MicCanberra said:

Wow, Max 4 pairs for me. Slappers, Walking shoes ( Hoka or Merrells), Boat shoes and possibly sandals if it is a warm weather location

You over packer you.😄

I only take three pair, my trusty walkers, boat shoes for around the ship, and a formal pair.

28 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

I saw there was a Syd Capetown leg. If you’re at the actual waterfront, the V & A hotel right on front is where we are spending Christmas week! Our fav spot

That is a beautiful spot, we dined there twice in 2019, when we stayed in Capetown for a week prior to catching the QE back to Australia.

Great menu selection too, was hard to chose which to have.

12 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

Sounds like awesome trip 🥰

Oh it was, with out doubt one of the best cruises we have done.

Thoroughly recommend if you can do a WC.

43 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, we've almost got all our stuff organized, we just have to pick up a few things from the chemist tomorrow. The battle of the suitcases occurs next Sunday! Clothes are the easy part, it's all the other stuff that's going to be a pain to pack.

Oh so true, especially for a world cruise.

What follows will probably put some of you in incredulous horror.😵

For our last WC in 2018, once we finished packing we had 6 check in bags.....

Don't get to excited yet.

We also had two carry-ons each as well.

But when your away over three months, there is a lot of other stuff, yes there was extra clothes as most of the cruise was in warm regions, but there was a reasonable trip through the artic circle, requiring warm heavy clothes.

And then there was Hil's art gear, brushes, paints, canvases, etc.

Plus heaps of, health stuff for three months, electronic stuff like charges for shavers, phones, tablets, tooth brushes, hearing aids, trimers, etc.

And I won't go into shoes, women will know what I mean.

When I seen the line up, my eyebrows were just as high as some of you are now.🤣

By the way, never used any of the cold weather clothes, it was warm barmy weather all through Iceland, Greenland, and northern Canada.😄

Oh there was a few bottles of wine went with us as well.

Thank Goodness It Was A Home Port 15min from Home.

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We've switched from very large suitcases to medium-large expandable suitcases and overnight bags that sit on top of the suitcases. So our regular luggage consists of two of these sets plus carry-ons. That works everywhere unless we have to fly to the US as their baggage allowances aren't based on overall weight, but on number of bags of no more than 23kgs. Virgin Australia is now using this type as well for domestic flights. So when we went to the US in 2018 we had to buy another suitcase as we could not be able to expand our usual ones for the flight home ... serious shopping was planned on that trip. So we flew to the US with three checked in bags but came home with five - we'd packed the overnight bags in our suitcases to use once we got to the US.

 

For our upcoming world cruise we've had to buy another suitcase as we have a lot of "consumables" to take on that cruise. Packing day, next Sunday, is going to be a battle I think!

In one of our bags lives a collapsible bag, about the same size and shape of a medium size suit case. takes up minimum space and weighs about 200 grams.

Inevitably coming home we find we have more than we started with.

No idea where it comes from, don't need anything, don't plan to buy anything!

But some how that jolly collapsing case comes in handy....🙄

10 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

The issue we have is we often have other travel and flights as well. You don't want to be lugging big bags around when doing all of that.

We've never found it a problem, but then our flights are fairly simple ones.

Get taxi to air port, take bags direct to drop off, take flight, grab bags, take to car hire, stow bags in car. Usually stay multiple day at each stop. Come home via cruise ship. Voilà done!🤗

When we go on a cruise, I go on a holiday, I'm not planning on mucking around doing domestics.😁

On cruises less than 14 nights I take underwear/socks for each night, & clothes for half the cruise.

Cruises over 14 nights its 14 changes of underwear/socks, 7 days clothes.

World Cruise 21 days undies and clothes for 14, if we were not elite, probably add a bit extra.

OK, I'm probably an over-packer, but Unashamedly so.😜

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I think the original quote is "lies, damn lies and statistics". Attributed to Mark Twain. 

Your right, my old brain is loosing it.🤣

26 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Interesting, Damn statistics hey

My Dad always said, "there is statistics, and statistics, and damned lies".

17 minutes ago, SeaDays4Us said:

When checking in for my cruise from Perth up the west coast and back I’m only given the choice of a passport number, as ID 

My adult daughter doesn’t have a passport. How does she complete the check in on the app.

Which cruise line? Normally cruises within Australian waters for permanent residents, you only need your drivers licence.

8 hours ago, icat2000 said:

Least you have a Princess ship. Try being Melbourne as your home port. Nada for us.

Yes your right, I'm being greedy,🤦‍♂️              But would still like a Princess (or similar cruise line) Fiji from Brisy. Just not keen on P&O, to party ship for this oldie.😉

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

We are the minority John. The mainstream lines are catering to the boring bottom line and are selling cruises in a way to fill the ships. Sydney attracts international cruisers, and they help to fill these 2-week Pacific itineraries out of Sydney. 

 

Karen from Princess marketing things that anyone from QLD only wants to cruise for more than 9 nights if they are going to NZ. Aside from the dual porting of the long voyages, it is a bit of NZ, a bit of Tassie, one to the Pacific and one to PNG, Everything else is 8 nights and under. On top of that, your Princess QLD season shrinks rapidly with Coral Princess leaving.

 

Phyllis from P&O agrees. They do a few PNG with encounter, but mostly out of peak season which is also out of cyclone season. Encounter is your year-round ship, yet between now & early 2026 they go to Fiji once (in May) and a Bounty cruise in August. They are both off-season and outside of school holidays. Very few cruises longer than 7 nights. Short cruises from Brisbane are an easier sell for P&O.

 

Carrie from Carnival is in the same boat. The only local Luminosa cruises longer than 8 nights go to PNG, of which there are 3 over the next 2 seasons.

 

I haven't checked Royal, but suspect Voyager will be the same as it was for Quantum, with most cruises up to 8 nights.

 

It costs me less than $10 to get from home to OPT, yet we have cruised out of Brisbane in 2022, 2024 and have two cruises out of BICT next year. I actually like the option of doing 7-night cruises from Brisbane. It isn't that far back that Brisbane only had a single ship from P&O, so hopefully there are incredible alternatives ahead in the next few years.

 

I can see what you say, but if we have all of them doing the same thing, isn't that reducing their customer base if all the offerings are the same boring repeats??? If they had more options then people would not be going overseas to get more variation in cruising.🤷‍♂️

2 hours ago, rkmw said:

Princess is having one cruise to PNG in 2 years time but p&o go there quite a bit Brisbane and it would be nice if Royal can mix up the cruises a bit and go different ports instead of the same ones, South Pacific or Cairns 

Exactly

I know I keep saying this,,,,, BUT why is there 3 princess cruises out of Sydney to Fiji in 2025, yet not even 1 from Brisbane?????

I know there is 1 Fiji cruise out of Brisbane by P&O, but what is Princess thinking that Brisbane only wants the same old ports, be great to have at least one more option than the same old same old.🤬

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Still a bit sore, but mending well.

Your no doubt on a fairly comprehensive physio regime.

Follow it all the way, do everything they say to do, you don't want to have those tendons seizing up, giving you a permanent limp.

When I had my knees replaced, I have been very glad it was stressed how important it was.

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

😲 ooh bugger that looks very unpleasant, really feel for you.

15 minutes ago, lorri111 said:

send some rain over to Perth, we haven't had rain for months

If I had better contacts with the gentleman up stairs, I'd put a request into him, to send it over.😁

7 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The weeds are loving it though! Especially when there is a warm spell between the rain. 😡

Have you been spying on my garden? 😂

On 4/3/2024 at 1:33 PM, Bubbeh said:

We returned home from Sydney last week and I can attest that there sniffer dogs in use at Perth domestic airport.  The dog and its handler go past every bag and person including the bags coming out onto the carousel.  

In 2019 we came back from a cruise where Perth was our first port of call in Australia, as we came through customs for a day visit, one of those dogs got interested in Hilary, the customs guy ask her if she had any food or plants, she said no, but they actually took her carry bag and searched it, low and behold down in a bottom corner was a semi dried flower that had been put behind her ear at an island stop on the way. she must have taken it and put it in her carry bag during the island visit and forgot it.

The customs guy what to her embarrassment was very strict and advised her that he was recording the incident and if she was found to have failed to declare in future she would be fined.

The fact that she hadn't realise it was there was no excuse as far as he was concerned.

I still tease her about being carful when we're coming through customs.

3 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Warnings are currently being made about a major rain event which is unfolding across Eastern Australia. 

 

I hope everyone is safe from torrential rain and local flooding.  

 

Not a good time for camping and cruising.

At least the NSW school holidays don't start for another week & a bit, hopefully for them the rain has run its coarse and they have fair weather then.

Quite frankly I'm sick of this constant rain, just as my veggie garden starts to revive, we get another down pore flooding the ground, and killing the roots.🤬

7 hours ago, PerfectlyPerth said:

Can assure you the WA/SA and WA/NT border crossings and vehicle checks have always existed and do indeed exist today. 
I really thought people on this forum were more well travelled to be honest. 

Interesting. is that to stop things being taken in, or stop West Australians escaping?

36 minutes ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

I certainly remember the car stopping and inspections coming into Victoria when I was young.  Obviously they have given up now. I was surprised to find out that fruit fly is in Melbourne.  I spent last week destroying a very abundant crop of mandarins because each ripe mandarin I peeled had several worms crawling through it.  Hours of work harvesting fruit and microwaving kilo after kilo of mandarins to kill the little buggers. Now I know that I need to be vigilant next year and use fly traps and netting etc.😢

Being sub tropical, qld seems to attract all sorts of pests, fruit flies, cane toads, root knot nematodes, flying foxes; bipoded denisons from south of the qld border.

I must admit at lease the last ones don't attack my garden, so their sort of accepted up here.😏

20 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

Yep, used to be one on the border of NSW/Victoria - Albury and Wodonga. Stop it! I'm not THAT old!!!!! Well, comparatively.............. then again .............😒😂

There was a funny story told to me by a border guard on that border stop, it seemed a big American car was stopped a few months earlier with three guys in it, who were acting quite suspicious, not very co-operative at all.

Very reluctant to allow the boot to be opened, a guard insisted on having the boot opened, the drive finally released the boot lid, and the office lifted the lid, as he lifted it up there was a forth guy in it, who popped up and yelled "I'm a fruit fly", the guard got such a fright he jumped back slamming the lid down as he did.

The guy in the boot had to be taken to the local hospital for concussion.

Moral of the story, Don't Mess with the border guards.🤣

11 hours ago, PerfectlyPerth said:

Not "once upon a time". It's never changed. Haven't you seen the AQIS bins at airports? And the sniffer dogs. And border stations ? All normal everyday situation for Aus border crossings. 
https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/policy/biosecurity-matters/domestic-travel

All true, except by car, at least on the east coast, and SA.

No border check points now, there was when I was a young fella, but a half century later, and everything is changed.

Not sure about WA; Tas; and NT, but can't imagine they would have road border check points these days.

ps: yes I know there is a little water between Tas and Vic, but you can still drive via the ferry😁

20 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Baked Beans - a concealed weapon? 😉

For Norfolk Island as an Aussie, is this more of a quarantine thing vs a customs requirement?

Yes & No & Both😁

The photo was an example of what I do.

Going both ways regards Norfolk island is an internal thing no passport require for Australians.

But going and coming back there is a customs quarantine requirement.

However if your an international traveller its still not a customs thing, the customs part of the check is to see if your bring prohibited things and/or excess in duty free allowances, during your customs check they also check for quarantine items if any found they have quarantine personnel on hand to check out suspect items.

So either way its a quarantine thing.