Dobby_The_Ship_Elf

On a day trip to Savala Island Fiji one of the locals warned everyone about the slippery rocks.......

Yup - you guessed it, lasted 20 mints for Mrs Elf to go A over T on said rocks :mad:

Followed 30 mins later by my good and embarrassed self on the same rocks :o

Two very sore and sorry Elfs for the remainder of our cruise :(.

If you could swing by R215 and slip a few spare OBC vouchers under the door for me to find t'would be appreciated.

Failing that - tell me are the swimming pools heated and if so, what temperature - ask one of the pool stewards. Only ask because Mrs Elf has muscle issues and cant get into 'freezing' cold pools.

Have a great cruise and don't drink the bloody ship dry - we are on it just after you :D

I have only ever been to Picton once, we arrived on the Interislander Cook Strait Ferry and the arrival through the Queen Charlotte Sound and into Picton were some of the most scenic views I have ever seen. We had dolphins surfing the bow wave - mega cool

We rented a cheap hire car and drove to Blenheim where there is a fantastic aviation museum but that's me I am into aircraft :D. Note - there were no dolphins in Blenheim.

If I had my druthers I would get the Captain to reverse out and go do the arrival a few times to see the dolphins.

Did I mention dolphins? :p

Hi everyone ! Im a newbie about to have my first cruise on the Magellan. My question is what tips would you suggest for embarking smoothly? Then what do you do whilst waiting for your cabin? My husband doesnt get on well with crowds and is also in a wheelchair, so I understand that avoiding the buffet is a must, but where else to go for coffee and a snack? Sorry if this question seems daft but its our honeymoon and I'd like for things to go as smoothly as possible. Thank in advance.

 

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OMG** envy ** - you are having your honeymoon on your first cruise. I have no doubt the cruise staff and your fellow cruisers will make sure you have a fantastic experience ................. but please make sure the cruise line know that you are on your honeymoon and your DH is wheelchair bound. I truly wish you all the best for both your marriage and your cruise

Put the cats out.

does this answer the age old question ....

who let the dogs out ???? :-)

I'll get my coat

Thank You JimmyVWine, that will help my DW with her machine at night. we won't need a long cord to plug it in, Thank You so very much.

dont stress - if you need a longer cord just ask your cabin steward

you are on a cruise - don't stress

Thank you so much for this info! Super helpful! We will be visiting some of these ports in March 2017. If you (or anyone) has comments or answers to my questions below, I'd appreciate any additional pointers!

 

Thanks again!

Hi lalenalei,

RE: Vanuatu - We have booked a local tour with JJ Manples in Dec 16. Look them up on trip advisor.

We have previously done "The Barge" - Blue Lagoon tour, - peaceful and relaxing

hope it helps

We are travelling to Australia and New Zealand this coming November.

My confusion is,

Looking at my cruise personalizer the excursions are priced in Australian Dollars,

the drinks package and all other pre cruise bookings are priced in UK pounds and the on board ships costs are in US dollars.

Why have three different currencies?:confused:

When we get the final bill at the end of the cruise it will be in what currency.

mklions.

OK I am going to preface this with the fact that I am NOT an expert on this matter and am happy to be proven wrong.

As far as I know if you board in Aussie, the cruise is entirely in Aussie $. There is something hinky with the Cruise Personaliser and the currency exchange rate software which does crazy things to on board prices.

For example the on line cost of the All Inclusive Beverage Package is $AU65+/day however once on board it is $AU59/day.

I imagine the excursions would be the same.

As to whether or not that constitutes value for money due to exchange rate - I am so far out of my depth there I cannot help

We cruised on Emerald last week. My husband smokes and was disappointed in the smoking areas. (We cruised Carnival Glory last year and he said the smoking areas were laid out really well on that ship with nice seating and in nice areas. I can't stand the smoke so I wouldn't know other than what he tells me.) We had an aft suite on Emerald and I know for certain that besides the cigar bar, he smoked on deck 7 aft and deck 17 aft. There was also one small area at the Tradewinds Bar, forward, where smokers could actually sit at a couple of tables. That was one area I did see because we were able to get lounge chairs far enough away from the smokers but still in good sun.

thanks for this response, now we know where to avoid due to my wife's asthma :D

One of my groomsmen (Ex Navy bloke) was standing on his balcony enjoying a frothy when this all happened, he was too dumb struck to grab his video camera, besides doing so may have caused him to spill said frothy.

He says it seemed like they didn't back out far enough before they turned for open water, realising their error they made full noise on the azipod thus the resultant carnage.

Carnival Vista destroys marina.

https://youtu.be/0_FnuGWoo8Q

 

Carnival Legend listing as Azipod malfunctions.

One of my mates (groomsman at our wedding) was on board the CV when it all happened he said it was all over and done so quickly he didn't have the where with all to grab his video camera. He stood there with drink in hand and jaw on the deck. Apparently the ship was under the control of the local pilot

The $69.05 does include grats. It is my understanding that if you find the package is not of great value you can cancel on board. I don't normally drink that much however it is really great to just be able to order whatever you want and if you don't like it then just leave it and order something else (I have, in the past, ordered a cocktail, not really liked it but drank it anyway because I had paid for it, ha ha)

and then you will get conspiracy theorists who tell you that the ship will cut off your alcohol intake cos if you have drunk the amount you have charged to your card then you MUST be way drunk

oh wait ..... maybe that explains all them nights I cant remember with friends I'll never forget *wink*

I am currently in discussions with a company called "Discover My Fiji" via Facebook.

They offer tours in both end of Viti Levu.

They are only contactable via FB, they seem to get a good write up by others that have used them

First off I have to admit that Sydney Harbour has to be one of the most picturesque places to experience a departure and arrival on a cruise ship.

In fact I love it if you can get the sun reflection off the city buildings as you enter the harbour on arrival.

The first sights of the bridge and then the Opera House as you pass through middle head and into the harbour proper have brought me to tears on a previous cruise - don't ask - still hurts.

So the current push is for Ozzie to become a republik if that happens we won't need Kirribilli House (or however you spell it) for the President to live in Oz will build our version of the White House.

I call for all cruisers to support the move to replace Kirribilli House (cos who cares about heritage) with the new OPT ...........

Oh dear I know I am going to get some heat for that .....

And thanks to folks on this forum, I won't get stung with the pre-purchase issue!

 

You gals and guys are the best. :)

Being the best is what we do :D

It helps when others ask us questions cos sometimes it reminds us about that one thing we may be talking about

ok so maybe I am being a bit liberal with the term we *wink*

thanks cheznandy

I got stung by pre-purchasing the AIBP last time - this time I shall be purchasing the AIBP on board.

As a result I may even shout you a frothy *wink*

Cheers

Hi kunoichi, you are on our cruise and rollcall, as advice from others above, there is no advantage to purchase anything prior to boarding, it is AUD onboard.

I have checked our personaliser for the cruise, which will be the same as yours as we both booked in OZ......drink packages and coffee card are incorrect and show incorrect pricing......I think we discussed it earlier on on our Rollcall.

No advantage to purchase OBC as our cruise is in AUD:)

what about Shorex? If we fail to book early we may miss out on a place. Does the same exchange rate shenanigans happen via Cruise Personaliser for shorex?

I just reviewed my video from Dec 2015. There definitely is power in the school as I captured both light switches and power points in the video. However I didn't see any evidence of a TV or DVD player.

I have attached a screen grab of the make up of the school for reference regarding ages & school numbers

:):):)

We are visiting Dravuni in November, been twice before, just wish we had more luggage space to help the locals.

A big hello to you from wet Wauchope:p

Heya fellow cruisers, we too are joining you with the donations to the school in November - do we coordinate our donations to avoid on double ups on a thread like this or do it on the roll call?

Thanks in advance

If anyone is going to visit this shop when in Noumea I would very much appreciate it if they could get a price list for the booze.

Marlene's booze shop is immediately across the road from where the shuttle bus drops cruisers.

 

Thank you

I have found Noumea to be very expensive.

I notice you are on the same cruise as us in November. If you want to see cheap duty free alcohol wait until you get to Port Vila. The place to go is Fung Kuei - its easy to find, you just follow all the rest of the aussies (me included) making a bee line for the joint :D

We are sailing on Carnival Legend in December and will be in Port Vila on a sunday. Does anyone know if most things will be open or closed? I am hoping the duty free stores are open but it would be a shame if we missed out on seeing a lot of the other things due to them being closed.

Vanuatu is a relatively poor country, I cannot see them shutting up shop when hoardes of cashed up tourists will be roaming the streets.

Perhaps you can try emailing the most popular Duty Free shop to get it first hand fungkuei at vanuatu. com. vu

PS .... when going into town take the water taxi - not road taxi ..... you can thank me later :)

OK so how you guys would make a Dirty Banana is waaaaay out there I think you guys has converted me to drinikin Fosters beer ,,,,,,, yes it has got that bad LOL

Another option would be taking the water taxi which docks next to the port exit it is $5 as well and drops of near the Grand Hotel with a five minute walk down to the Anchor Inn.

The wharf is being reconstructed so there could be changes. Normally the buses are parked a 5 minute walk from the terminal they charge $5 per person and don't leave until the bus is full. Most of the times we have been there we have been of the ship by early and into town before the shops even open.

 

 

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+1 for the $5 water taxi - lots cooler and scenic plus you don't have to breathe in all the stinky diesel fumes from the traffic. Take a handful of aussie $5 cos they don't do change very well

we also get off the ship early, hit the duty free shops as they open and then we have the rest of the day to ourselves

to get back to the ship head to the same place the water taxi dropped you off, or catch a B bus .... simples :D