Mr&MrsCookie

Knowing Brisbane roads, I would be going with the ship excursion too (even though they are more expensive). Only takes one accident on the Bruce Highway and you could be stuck for hours..

If you need any more info, just ask :)

I think we might have been on the same cruise. Lucky you for the upgrade. Don't think I will ever be in the Penthouse but was happy with our balcony. I would have liked to go to the Vanilla Plantation on Lifou but after waiting 2 hours there didn't get to see any of the island - the drivers running the tours didn't bother coming back after church! Loved Captain Tasos and his daily announcements. Food really is subjective - we liked everything about Silk Harvest (but then we were really hungry that night :) )

Not sure how easy it will be to work out a B2B and hard to know now when the itineraries aren't out yet. But if you do an Aus/NZ cruise starting and finishing from Sydney then you will have more choices on cruises up the east coast of Aus. Celebrity, Carnival, P&O, Princess and possibly NCL do the east coast cruises.

Yes, the free drinks package and 3 specialty restaurant dinners is appealing to me. It makes the cost of the trip to Tas/SA in December not too bad - about $270/night. I would hazard a guess and say the perks will be even better when they finally bring out the new itineraries.

It doesn't look like NCL has much faith in the aussie market yet - they aren't announcing their 18/19 itineraries until late September/early October this year. I guess they are waiting to see how the sales for this summer coming go before confirming. I'm still looking for a cruise late next year for a couple of big birthdays and I like NCL itineraries, but not sure if I will be waiting until the end of the year to book...

I emailed NCL about Australian itineraries for 18/19 year and they've replied back saying they wont be releasing the dates until September or October this year:o I guess they are waiting to see how the 17/18 season turns out...NCL are booked in at the Sydney terminal from 8th October next year though. Doesn't really help me when I want to book something now for next year.. I really like their itineraries but not sure if I want to wait until October to book something...Celebrity's dates have been out for months.

A big yes from me (not sure on the plan though). Gold Coast always looks better on the itinerary than Brisbane- and I live in Brisbane. I think there is room enough for terminals in Brisbane and GC. As seen with Royal Carribean this week, we don't have enough room now with the growing market

I think Brisbane is going to take the rest of Oz by surprise once this terminal starts getting built. I see it luring both a large RCI ship and possibly a new carnival ship to be based there most of the year. Brisbane is better geographically placed to the sth.pacific islands and northern qld. It can do 7 day turn around cruises easily, and will be conveniently placed right next to the airport. This will become a very busy cruise port.

Sydneysiders won't care for it, but for the rest of Oz that has to fly to embark a cruise it will make no difference whether they have to fly to syd or bne. Sure sailing out of Syd harbour is nice, but at the end of the day most passengers are on there to enjoy the cruise/ship. It's just a lucky bonus that the embarkation port is so pretty. The novelty soon wears off once you sail through the heads and hit cold, rough seas for the next two days as you make your way to the islands. Look at fort Lauderdale in America. It is only an hour up the road from the cruise capital of Miami, yet it hosts the largest ships in the world. There is an airport, oil refinery and shipping docks right next door to it. Not pretty, until you sail past the channel but it works and is very popular.

I see Brisbane having a similar impact on cruising in Australia, & I think RCI & Carnival both know this and are holding ships back until they get decent infrastructure in place.

The premier has knocked a few big projects on the head, but hopefully she won't stop this one. Definately won't be as nice as Sydney to leave from (hopefully don't get to see the neighbouring sewerage treatment plant) but I won't be complaining. I did read that Radiance of the Seas might be based here if it happens.

Poor woman. Other news sites (and probably more reliable than daily mail) report that she hurt her hip and didn't break her legs though.

Thanks. It does look like a very nice bar.

 

But I can see there are definitely going to be issues with lack of bar seating on the Aussie cruises.

I'd be happy if she has an outside bar overlooking the water - I think the Wake View Bar and Pool Bar might do me :D. Finger's crossed they do a few changes to cater more for the Aussies when she comes here. I think Ovation of the Seas make some changes before coming here from Asia?

Thank you for the review, Canadianburger.

Mustn't be. It was low tide yesterday when she left. Maybe the river gets too busy at peak times?

Yes, was after 2pm. 2 seems to be the common time for P&O to leave Portside.

Saw the Aria go past on her way out this afternoon:)

I think there will be a lot of curious aussies on board. The free drinks package may have something to do with it too;) I'm tempted by some of the itineraries and deals but don't know if I can get over just how ugly the decor is..lol

Watched the show last night just out of curiosity. Seems like one big ad for P&O (for bogans). Only seemed to see the good bits of the ship - balcony cabins, free specialty dining etc. Didn't see any of the inside cabins, old bathrooms, the pigs at the buffet etc. Even the 'posh' couple were shown in a balcony cabin having a good time - surely putting them in an inside cabin next to something noisy would have been more entertaining ;)

I think as you were on the 'trip from hell' cruise, you will probably find fault with a lot of things - understandably. NCL fault though, not Australia/New Zealand. Unfortunately you weren't able to go with the flow and make the best of a bad situation. I don't know of places that have ports free for a cruise ship at short notice - definately not in Australia so you will be tendering. You stopped at some great places - with a positive attitude and a bit of research you would have had a better time - and found some kangaroos and koalas.

We had to pick up our alcohol on the last night on Solstice in January too. Wasn't any queues though. Was surprised actually that it was so easy to pick up. I think it was in that little shop at the back of the sunset bar and it was full of alcohol awaiting collection - us aussies like a drink or two! :)

Love this one..:D lol I just took a pic of Pacific Aria going past my new office, have no way of posting it at work. Unfortunately I'm on the wrong side of the Gateway Bridge so I only get to see the baby ships going past.

Glad to hear you had a good time. I'd be surprised if you didn't though. I don't think I've seen a review yet where someone said concierge was worth the extra money. The only staff member on our cruise that never acknowledged us by a smile or hello was the concierge lady. And we always had to walk past her to get to the lift on our floor...After all the friendly staff around she was noticeable by not being so.

I thought the tv was funny in that with all the crappy channels, I still couldn't escape a Big Bang Theory episode (it's on every night at home on multiple channels)

Hmm, The site I normally look at to find all the itineraries isn't as reliable as I thought as it only goes up to January. Even the Celebrity website is more up to date! Don't hold your breath about a second ship though. And it looks like the OPT is chockers for then anyway so no room for another ship.

I think in Feb 19, Solstice will be mostly in NZ. The last listed cruise is a 12 nighter from 31st Jan that finishes in NZ. The next one will most likely be NZ to Sydney. Will have to wait and see when they bring out future itineraries - normally do it around change of seasons.

Would be great to get another Celebrity ship here but unfortunately no talk of it at all. I'd love it if Reflection came here :D

Bugger - would have gone for a closer look if I had known it was QM2. We saw it from a distance while driving around and saw the red and thought it was a Carnival ship.

Was this taken recently? I didn't think ships have been stern in since the terminal was extended

I haven't seen a single ship stern in - in the last year or more that I've been watching them come in. So definately not a 50/50 chance

I

 

All P&O Itinerary's from Brisbane are ALWAYS more expensive than the eastern states due to this.

 

Never noticed this before...always wondered why people said P&O are cheap - they sure aren't here. But when there is no competition I guess you can charge what you want