Bubbeh

What the???????

Now that's a wonderful suggestion. Good thinking buchhalm.

Yew, yew, yew! I'm itchy all over just reading that. A million years ago my Dad brought back bed bugs from an army camp. It was horrible and very expensive to replace mattresses, carpets, furniture etc etc etc. Mum was so angry and upset, Dad was just lucky he didn't get replaced.

I'm coming to this for a bit of a different angle to most responders. I would suggest doing a circumnavigation of the continent. You could even extend with a B2B onto NZ. Unfortunately, we tend to get a bit forgotten over this side of the country as does South Australia. Others have said it and it's very true, she's a big country and you couldn't hope to get a feel for her in anything less than 2 - 3 weeks. And, yes, I do think Australia identifies as female not male, non-binary or anything else.

And rightly so. Kudos.

Grumpy and I have also made the same decision. Whether it's a natural disaster emergency at home or something overseas/ at sea, we've agreed to meet each other at the nearest evacuation centre. We've also got a plan in case we have to evacuate our home in terms of who takes what; he grabs the hard drive (all our family photos etc are on this) while I get the insurance documents and identifying certificates (birth certificates etc). If only one of us is home, it's the hard drive and insurance documents and if nobody is home it's cross your fingers and hope.

Will await with bated breath.

Sounds just like a Cabin Attendant to me. Butler? Not sure if it's because I'm Australian and to a greater or lesser degree we tend to pride ourselves on being egalitarian but, the whole concept of a Butler makes me feel most uncomfortable. Happy to have a Cabin Attendant but I'll give the Butler a great big miss thanks all the same.

Or even the beerholder. 😉

Wouldn't even consider anything other than a balcony cabin. Once did a cruise on a small ship with no balcony's, somehow kneeling on the bed while struggling to see our to a port hole just doesn't compare to walking out onto a balcony. If I couldn't afford one, I simply would not book.

Common sense and the law sometimes sleep in different beds, Occasionally in different cabins on different decks!

Don't mean to be rude but it's doesn't matter what you agree with or think, it only matters what the decision makers think.

Well that in itself is enough to give them the bums rush!

Couldn't even be bothered getting the suitcase down for anything less than 10 days. And, there better be a few sea days in those 10 days too.

I have only done one P & O cruise and wish I gave it up before that one. But that's enough about me, why?

If you need to ask there's probably no point telling you 😉

I've heard a million justifications for why this occurs and how hard it is for some people in third world countries to make ends meet. I remain unconvinced, to my mind these various scammers are the scum of the earth. Not to put too fine a point on it.

Not that I'm aware of.

Mic, I'm talking about friends not randoms. I have been stung at work dos when everyone was supposed to pay their own and some mongrels decided to order dessert or 'top shelf' and left Muggins to fix the balance. Once one of my former colleagues was actually left to pay more than $300 at a works farewell lunch for her boss. When we got back to work, I put this on the internal electronic notice board and asked for contributions. So many people came and gave her money (she was a well liked lower level single mum and struggling a bit at the best of times) that the following Friday she used the balance to organise a thanks sundowner at the office. Ah the days before random breath tests, license suspensions and responsible adulthood.

Well they wouldn't be invited again, would they?

Also not a gambler and don't bother with the pool or the bars much, equally happy to sit and read on the balcony and watch the world go by. Just love sea days and would be happy to take a very long cruise that never went into a Port at all.

It is the normal practice between our various friendship groups to lunch and when we're finished we split the bill evenly between the couples, nobody cares who had what. Although I can understand that in an M&G situation this might not work so well with people who don't know each other and may not socialise together again. I don't do dinner as I try to avoid eating much in the evening besides, by 6:30 I'm usually cozied up in my jammies and fluffy acrylics watching some rubbish on telly.

Don't ya just love establishments that are customer focused?

I heard it slightly different to that: What's the difference between an Australian and a Canadian canoe? Doesn't matter how hard you try, you just can't get them to tip. My mantra and I'll stick to it here if not in the overseas.

Totally understand the compulsion. One day the front door of my alternative fridge is going to give up the ghost and just fall off it's so overweighted.