Bubbeh

I agree with By the Bay, I believe that you can bring on board one bottle per adult passenger at every port without paying a fee.

35 minutes ago, challis said:

i thought i got a good deal,and i am savvy to bag   a 8 night princess 5 dec cruise

 

$1200 balcony p/p. 2 weeks ago.$150 per night

 

.today same cabin is $981at OZ website.  $123  per night.if you ring princess ,

I remain in jealous awe of those living on the eastern side of this great country.  So many cheap and interesting cruises are available out to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne but, it you're over in the west you can only dream of such options.  By the time you add you airfares, airport parking and at least one night's accommodation into the economic mix, you're no longer looking at a cheap trip.  Good for all that can take advantage of such special offers though.

2 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Which s why I apologised to you in my post above. I misread your post and thought you said that a continental breakfast had hot dishes.

 

Leigh

Not to worry Leigh, it's all good.  So easy to misread posts, especially when you're in a hurry or doing two things at once.  Have a nice evening, Dee.

4 hours ago, possum52 said:

Sorry to disagree with you Bubbeh, a continental breakfast is a light meal and doesn't usually include hot dishes other than perhaps porridge. It will be cereals, toast and pastries. A full buffet breakfast will have all the continental breakfast items plus hot dishes. 

Actually, that's my point.  Unless it specifically says that it is a continental brekkie, it will be a full buffet.

On 10/13/2019 at 5:14 AM, floridababa said:

Looking to stay for 4 nights.  It says breakfast included but is it just cold buffet or is it a buffet spread with lots of choices and egg white omelette

At US the holiday inns serve premade eggs

Also is this better than the intercontinental hotel?

Thanks for the assistance

The Holiday Inn in Darling Harbour is a lovely centrally locate place to stay.   However, for my money I prefer the Amora on Jamison - https://www.amorahotels.com/hotels/amora-hotel-jamison-sydney .  This is where we stay when visiting NSW pre-cruise, easy distance to the Quay and lovely hotel. 

With regard to the breakfast query, unless it specifically says that it is a continental buffet you should be confident that there will be the usual range of calories and cholesterol - bacon / sausages / hash brown / mushrooms / eggs / tomatoes / pastries / toast / cereal / yoghurt / fruit etc etc etc.   Many places will also offer to make eggs to your specific request and I'm sure that an egg white omelette should not be too difficult but if it is, maybe one day without eggs wouldn't be the end of the world.  

You could try Con-X-Ion a transfer company which will take you door to door (Sydney International Airport to Circular Quay Cruise Terminal) for $44 per couple.  It also offers a return service which you can arrange for $88 per couple.  https://www.con-x-ion.com/Bookings/Airport-Transfers  I'm a big fan of this group as it's not let me down yet.  Although to be honest a taxi at $50 is probably a better bet, unless you'r paying extra for luggage and any Christmas Day surcharge.

19 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

I think she wants it for hair gear, and what’s a vibrator is that for massages

It certainly is, an especially pleasurable massage.  So I'm told.  

As everybody has already said, familiarise yourselves with the links and then declare, declare, declare!  You don't want to end up with a starring role in Border Security or a body cavity search............but, then again, I don't know you so maybe you do????????????

Yew yew yew and oh poo(h)!  Not enough toilets on trains for such an awful event either.  Can just imagine standing in my gold class dogbox bashing on the door for my partner to get out.  Ugh!

I was very keen to take a river cruise and I still pretty much am.  Like many, I was also looking at Budapest to Amsterdam (my late parents honeymooned in Amsterdam) and then onto the Rhine.  However, when I checked out the various providers (Avalon / Scenic etc) I discovered some fairly concerning sections of the T & Cs which have put me off.  The situation in the link is actually made fairly clear in the contract. 

For my peace of mind, I'm happier to cruise the Irrawaddy /Mekong/ Mississippi / Murray/ Kimberley etc rather than a European destination, these cruises never seem to have any diffculty with water levels.

8 hours ago, floridababa said:

I heard that we cannot carryon any gum, chips, pretzels etc

My blonde brain my be in overdrive today; I read this as I heard that we cannot carryone any guns, chips, pretzels etc.   Just about had apoplexy!  😂

8 minutes ago, sewgood said:

So your recomendation would be not to take a cruise on them?  😁😄

To be fair, they may operate very well in their own area of expertise ie the Mediterranean.  The Freo-Rome cruise in 2015 was their first foray into the Australian market and may well the reason why they don't seem to operate out of our ports any more.  They just seemed to miss the mark entirely with Australian expectations.

We did a 35 day crusie with MSC in 2015 - Fremantle to Rome.  While I loved the ports and the holiday, MSC were woeful.  I would never ever take a cruise with them again.  The food was awful, they oversold drinks packages and ran out of beer (other than Amstel Light,) Baileys and an awful lot of spirits before we reached Colombo.  They also did not correctly anticipate the food requirements and were running out of heaps of usual food stuffs prior to Colombo, as well.  At every port we waited in specific areas for between 30 minutes and two hours to disembark and after one shore excursion more than 2000 people waited on the freezing concrete of the port for more than two hours to reboard.  One elderly person was so affected by the cold and waiting times that she collapsed and had to be taken on board in a wheel chair.  This is just a very few matters which caused dissatisfaction with every passenger keen to enter into discussions about why they would never take another MSC cruise.

We found the staff attitude (not cabin or buffet staff) appalling.  We had paid for a certain level of cabin (middle deck mid-ships balcony) and when we boarded we discovered our cabin had been downgraded.  Customer Service staff were not interested and we were told that as the ship was full we could either like it or lump it (I'm paraphrasing as they had limited English or pretended that they had limited English) .  We were also refused a reimbursement for the more expensive cabin.  We pre-paid laundry packages and a few days out of Rome, I put a number of bags of laundry out for washing etc, and they laundry refused to take them as they were 'too busy'.  Complaints fell on deaf ears and once again, we were refused reimbursement of our packages.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as many people suffered loss and damaged clothing after sending it to the laundry.

Look, I could go on for hours about the disaster that was a very expensive experience with MSC but if I could just leave you with the following thought; I would rather rub liniment in my eyeballs while simultaneously shoving bamboo under my fingernails, than take another MSC cruise.  In fact, it I won one in a raffle, I would refuse to accept it.

8 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Typical that when the good solstice deals come out, I am booked out on other cruises.

It's a hard life and no denying that fact. 

14 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Both are practical items, you can use the glass a few times, wash it and then dry it with the tea towel.

Yep, that's me, practical to the very core.  😀

4 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

Never know if there’s going to be a knock on the cabin door in the early hours.

 

Captain chiliburn,you’re needed on the bridge.

we have icebergs and our captain has lost his nerves.

Hmmm... gotta be ready for all eventualities I suppose.

2 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I collect martini glasses 

Cool dude!

16 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

some people collect cat,some endangered lizards and some collect ship models.

I collect tea towels and wine glasses - what does this say about me????

11 hours ago, Docker123 said:

We used to do this as kids, also on grass banks, in Perth. As my mother says, “there’s no snow in Perth you silly child”.

When the kids were young we used to spray Pure & Simple (do they still even make that?) on the bottom of large pieces of cardboard and they'd toboggan down the grass slopes of the local park.  

2 hours ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

The bags are quite usual......you start to worry when ropes go out in order to get from one side of a hallway to the other....😳

Oh crikey, don't take me there.....

3 hours ago, lyndarra said:

You've just made me go look at my Aldi receipt from this morning. Initially, a few years back, one had to hit the ok button on the card reader to confirm or acknowledge the CC charge. I'd forgotten all about that till now. I bought a new motorcycle helmet this morning for $79.99 and when I looked at the receipt just now it was for $80.38. They add 0.50%.

Glad to have been of service.  😁

11 hours ago, vozzie said:

Thanks. We have no concerns about our safety at all. The Carnival Operations Centre is all over this. The only problem is that Florida will be getting wiped out as we arrive....and we have flights to catch and another cruise to get to. In discussions with Insurance Company on best plan of action. We may have to leave the cruise at Nassau and fly back to Florida and get flights out...before the real action starts. Boy am I glad I opted for the Natural Disasters add-on to the insurance policy.

Sounds like a logistical hiccup at best.  Good luck with the re-planning and execution.   Also, thanks for the heads up about Natural Disasters add-on, just checked my annual policy and it's included.  Phew!

Crossed the ditch to NZ while Cyclone Debbie was battering the QLD coast.  First time in my life I've been sea-sick and actually threw up a couple of times.  Not a nice feeling but shared with most of the passengers, never seen so my sick bags strewn around a ship in my life before.  🤢

In January my daughter reimbursed me for something with $25 cash.   It's still in my  phone wallet  sharing space with my VISA card and believe me, I've not gone without spending since January. 

Cards are the way to go and the occasional vendor that charges a fee becomes a situation of either cop it or, find one that doesn't.  Having said that, all airlines will charge, most ticketing agencies will charge and some hotels; everyone charges for Amex.  General shops like Woolies / Coles etc will not but Aldi will.  Mind you, the savings you make at Aldi far out-weigh the CC fee. 

So basically, it's up to you of course, but rest assured we are a first world country with significant infrastructure and population and charges to use CC, sometimes.

17 hours ago, flick_au said:

The fee ended up being waived once I sent an email using an ACCC complaint template

Firstly, I feel your pain.  After one failed attempt with P & O, I will never, ever consider booking with them again.  Secondly, can you please provide a link to the ACCC complaint template?  

8 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Do the6 make any in Aus anymore???😳😱🤪

Yeah but not at the cheap souvenir shops.  If you go to a specific tourist destination (eg, Maggi Beer's place in the Barossa) you;'ve got a chance of getting a locally made souvenir.