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Kangakid

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Everything posted by Kangakid

  1. We did meet Mickey and the Princesses, the boys meet Chubucka and the Storm Troopers. I think my favourite was either Ariel, or Tiana, but every character was fantastic, Goofy was always goofing around…
  2. Marion, the prawns were a decent size, they had them next to the Alaskan Crab claws which were long and thin. They also had garlic prawns in the buffet one day as well, I can attest the prawns were yummy. I didn’t try the Salmon, but did have cod bites and sole (which was rolled) all very yummy. I am not sure of the cost for a single room. But I wouldn’t hesitate in getting an interior on Disney we have always sailed in balcony rooms, but on Disney activities on the go all day until 11pm. We were only ever in our room to shower and get changed for dinner… cheers V
  3. Hi All - just back from the 4 day cruise on Disney Wonder. We were a family of 10 (3 families, Son & Wife and 2 children (11yo, 4yo) and Daughter and her Husband and 2 children (8 yo & 3yo). We had 3 verandah rooms between us. Ian and I had a double room and the rest had a room that could hold 4. They utilise the sofa for one bed and a drop down bunk for the other bed. The verandah staterooms - have a bathroom with a shower over the bath and handbasin and a separate toilet room with handbasin in there. The quality fittings in the bathrooms were some of the best we have seen in our over 20 cruises to date. The ship was absolutely immaculate throughout - for a ship that is 24 yo it was in pristine condition. Disney obviously put a lot of effort in maintaining the ship. To say we were impressed with the maintenance of the ship is an understatement. The ship has an adults only area (pool, hot tubs, bar and coffee shop) they also have 2 bar areas (Cadillacs and the Pub)which are also adult only venues. I was surprised that they had many activities during the day for adults only. The kids are catered for extremely well as you would expect from Disney. The queues to meet the characters were loooong - sometimes over 1.5hour wait to see a favourite character. But everyone was in good spirits. The staff inform you if there is a cut off point - so you can go elsewhere and see another character if you miss out on that particular time. The character viewings are numerous during the day and night - so it can be a bit of wait with queuing and standing for long periods. Food - you are rotated through 3 restaurants for dinner. You will have the same wait staff that follow you from restaurant to restaurant. Have to say the restaurants can be quite chaotic. There is 2 dinner times early (5.45pm and 8.00pm). No buffet is open for dinner -Cabanas the buffet is open for breakfast and lunch only. We found the food fine- they had plenty of seafood available at lunches - (prawns and Alaskan crab claw things) never seen these on other cruises. They have a roast and Mexican - along with typical buffet fare. They had more than enough to satisfy your needs, not. a huge choice but still plenty to eat. They also have food areas outside the pool area - such as pizza, burgers, hot dogs and souvlaki. There is also a section that does salads and nice sandwiches and those poke bowls that are very popular. All soft drinks are included in the cruise fare. Also the ever popular soft serve ice cream. Shows - were absolutely brilliant the best we have seen- they are full production shows - not just the usual song and dance you get on main stream lines. Absolutely top class. They had fireworks on 2 nights on our cruise - Marvel Hero night and Pirate Night - these shows are held on Deck 9 followed by a fire work display -these shows were also top class. It was a bit chilly on deck and the wait time was over an hour if you wanted to get a spot where you could see. We really enjoyed our Disney cruise - I was a bit hesitate before boarding as the price was so expensive - it cost us for 2 of us in the verandah stateroom over $US2,900.00 for the 4 night cruise (this included gratuities of $US14.50 per person per day). Now for the million dollar question - would we as grandparents do this again - probably not but never say never- but I am sure my grandchildren would definitely do it again. Cheers V
  4. See you on board…we have the family all coming along..we have adjoining balcony rooms, but agree price was eye watering to say the least…..and then no doubt the merch that will be a must…at these prices it will be our last cruise unless it is absolutely out of this world worth it… cheers V
  5. I know we can get the gratuity adjusted, but we have never done this and won’t start now, if only the AUD was playing a bit nicer than it currently is, it wouldn’t be so much of a hit. I do wish the gratuity was for adults or kids over say 12. We have 4 under 10 so it seems excessive….que sera, we choose to cruise so just have to bite the bullet…but am hoping the cruise will be memorable and worth all the extra dollars…
  6. Definitely will report back, as it’s a lot of dosh we are putting up, so I am sure the experience will be worth it (says she through gritted teeth)
  7. Sparky, I know, but the big kids and their kids are huge Disney fans, so we have bitten the bullet, but gosh Disney certainly know how to charge….let’s hope everyone has a fabulous time and Bass Strait plays nice for trip…
  8. We have a 4 night Disney cruise planned for this November. It’s our whole family so there will be 10 of us on board. It’s definitely not cheap, but it’s Disney so with young grandkids who all love Disney, it’s was a no brainer. Our TA booked when the booking window was opened, we were lucky and got good staterooms. But gosh, the extras that come with it….$14.50USD per day per person so for us $USD58 per day per room $USD232 per cruise so nearly $366AUD. High Tea with cast members was going to cost $240USD per child (we opted out of this, can’t imagine any high tea worth this type of money). At this stage this will be our last Disney cruise, can’t see how the money justifies the cruise, but I may be surprised and will report once we return. As a family we cruise once a year and usually with Royal and have cruised Princess with the family as well. Wish me luck and hopefully the cc doesn’t take too much of a hit…🤞🏻
  9. Womble99, just recently returned from a Azamara cruise (my 2nd). My husband hadn’t sailed on them previously but we have completed a few Oceania Cruises. Azamara would definitely be on my list. My husband loved the small ship experience. Our cruise only had 480 pax out of a max of around 695. We found the crew great, food good to very good. The drinks that are included are certainly more than enough for us my husband drinks beer predominantly and found he didn’t have any problems with the beers included. I love a cocktail and found the included drinks fine. I have also recently completed a Viking cruise. Enjoyed that very much as well. Ships very sleek, staff very welcoming. Food was good, not fantastic. Wine is included with meals at lunch and dinner. We love the smaller ships. But saying that we have never not enjoyed a cruise, just some more than others.
  10. Sad to hear, he always made time to comment and engage in posts. Thoughts with his family 💐
  11. Recently got pulled out of security at Singapore airport, for having tweezers in my carry on. It took 4 staff to have a look and then ask 2 senior staff if the tweezers were allowed….not sure what damage I could have caused with a pair of tweezers but obviously more than I ever thought…🤦🏼‍♀️
  12. Katrina, you may need to check and see if Pursuit has Euro or British outlet plug, as the US one is only 120volt and your Aussie appliance works on 240volt and will only be half as powerful, so I usually use Euro or British outlet if available as they are usually 220volt. Unless you get a travel hair dryer that has a switch which you can change to either volt…maybe check them out…..cheers Vicki
  13. Great Northern is a firm favourite in our household..
  14. Anjo, have sailed on Cunard 4 times, and recently completed my first PO cruise. No comparisons really, although we enjoyed our cruise on PO and had no complaints really, food was very average but the speciality dining was very good. Cunard you will find all meals very good. The buffet for lunch was fabulous, you have a very good variety and the MDR of an evening is really good. You have the same dining partners each night, so you really build up a relationship with them and also your waiters. I found Cunard offered a variety of activities. Heaps of places to just chill out. If you read the library is the best at sea. I would definitely not hesitate booking Cunard. We never found anyone snobby at all. cheers Vicki
  15. hiya, we did 2 cruises on in December and no account emailed after cruise. I did take a screen shot of my account just before disembarking, to reconcile with my credit card bill, just in case.
  16. definitely do not be worried. We too cruised our 1st PO cruise in November and definitely would not hesitate in booking them again. We found the food good and Luke’s especially fantastic equal to any meal in any fine restaurant. At night after dinner we would head to the Blue room (I think) and have a cocktail and listen to the music, it was never packed, and an older group. The lounge (Encounter/Adventure) was very very busy every night so the Blue room suited us. I am sure you will enjoy. We didn’t expect much and PO delivered much much more…we didn’t do the dress up nights, and found we weren’t out of place, some did dress up but the majority didn’t.
  17. Shuyak, I have cruised PO UK on their Norway 7 night cruise before Covid on PO Britannia. They are now using PO Iona for this cruise. We had a fantastic cruise, happy with everything on offer from room to food. We ate mainly in the MDR and buffet, we definitely wouldn’t hesitate to cruise with them again. But this year we have opted for longer Norway intensive cruise on Azamara. I don’t think you will be disappointed with PO UK. Our TA here in Australia booked this cruise as I believe booking direct with PO UK is cumbersome for those not residing in the UK.
  18. Margo, RCI Quantum sails from Brisbane and that would be a great option. We have recently sailed Coral Princess and thought it was good, we would sail with them again. We have sailed Sapphire Princess out of Southampton and wasn’t overly impressed, so Coral did surprise us. We are cruising on PO Encounter next week, so can’t comment on the comparison yet. cheers Vicki
  19. I have a bit of experience re this…a work colleague had an episode and was rushed to a hospital in NYC. They were treated and spent many days in hospital on the assurance that the bill would be covered. So he was treated and managed without the hospital actually requiring details of insurance cover. Eventually bill was provided on discharge from hospital in excess of $150K. So not the doom and gloom of USA system we had once thought. Care was provided. Bill was covered by insurance and his employer.
  20. Thoughts with you Uncle Les, you definitely have everyone here sending prayers…
  21. Do they use USD for the Singapore cruises based there? Or use SGD? That would be an indicator whether they would consider AUD for year round OZ based cruises…
  22. Cruise lines have been sailing in Aust since mid year and requirement as per the Eastern Seaboard Protocols allow for self administered RAT [antigen] test 24 hours prior to boarding. MVJ indicates the same protocols for sailings from Aust. I know that the cruise that left Hawaii and headed to Aust are requiring test every morning. It appears Viking have instigated these protocols themselves as they are definitely not a requirement of the Aust Government. cheers Vicki
  23. Hi, the cruise departs in 10 days. Fingers crossed we are provided with clarification from Viking prior to the cruise. Thank you Vicki
  24. Viking are insisting on a Certified RAT (antigen) test completed 24 hours before embarkation on this cruise. The Australian Government under the Eastern Seaboard & WA protocols for cruise ships embarking from Australia state Self Administered RAT test completed 24 hours prior to embarkation.. I have emailed Viking on several occasions to get clarification as MVJ indicates Self Administered test are required, but a recent email sent indicated certified test to be completed. Would anyone have any insight as to why Viking’s protocols vary from both the MVJ and Aust Government protocols?
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