Gold Coast Cruisers

I believe one of the large Car Parking companies located at Portside runs a free shuttle to the F1 Grain Terminal for pax that park their car with them.

That's good to know, I wasn't aware they did that. We use them when departing from Portside. This week we're boarding QM2 and have had to book a private transfer from home to the Grain Terminal. Never even thought of the long term parking people providing a transfer way out there.

Jill:)

Now I understand.

There will be no facilities for embarking at Webb Dock , so you will report to wherever the tickets say, (I assume it will be Station Pier,) and you will be processed there and put on a shuttle over to the ship.

When we boarded in Sydney a couple of years ago we had to go to Glebe Island where a huge marquee had been erected. We went through Customs and Immigration there and then onto a catamaran which took us to the ship and we got our cruise cards in the Queens Lounge Ballroom.

Also for transit passengers there will be no access to Webb Dock so the shuttle will ferry you back and forth.

For security there will be no public/passenger access to the Webb Dock, other than the Cunard arranged shuttle.

 

This happens quite a lot overseas..In Singapore once , Diamond Princess was at the container wharf and we reported to a building that was used for the Singapore Grand Prix. In Santiago/Valparaiso we reported to a Hotel. I have also seeen Hotels used for Civitavecchia

for Rome.

 

I remember when we boarded Celebrity Mercury at Ensenada in Mexico to cruise to Sydney we had to check in at a hotel and then were transported to the ship some 15 minutes drive away.

Jill

Now I understand.

There will be no facilities for embarking at Webb Dock , so you will report to wherever the tickets say, (I assume it will be Station Pier,) and you will be processed there and put on a shuttle over to the ship.

When we boarded in Sydney a couple of years ago we had to go to Glebe Island where a huge marquee had been erected. We went through Customs and Immigration there and then onto a catamaran which took us to the ship and we got our cruise cards in the Queens Lounge Ballroom.

Also for transit passengers there will be no access to Webb Dock so the shuttle will ferry you back and forth.

For security there will be no public/passenger access to the Webb Dock, other than the Cunard arranged shuttle.

 

This happens quite a lot overseas..In Singapore once , Diamond Princess was at the container wharf and we reported to a building that was used for the Singapore Grand Prix. In Santiago/Valparaiso we reported to a Hotel. I have also seeen Hotels used for Civitavecchia

for Rome.

 

I remember when we boarded Celebrity Mercury at Ensenada in Mexico to cruise to Sydney we had to check in at a hotel and then were transported to the ship some 15 minutes drive away.

Jill

Four more sleeps for us......can you tell I'm a tad excited...:)

A big thank you to Sandi who will be putting my blog up on here. I have been asked to put it on my Facebook page too so she will paste from there to here for me. I will check in on here along the way so any questions about QM2 please just ask.

Just tried to access the live webcam in Melbourne today to watch her depart but can't get on the site....everyone must be queueing for their turn on the webcam...:)

Jill:)

In Melbourne today Mon 17 Feb 2014

 

Great capture David. I did not know it was a live webcam until today....lol. I'm going to try and watch her leave "live" at 1700 local, if I can get on the webcam. Must see if there's a wrbcam for Brisbane at "Luggage Point/Fishermans Island/Grain Terminal....it's called so many names, not the flashest of wharfs that's for sure.

Jill:)

well we were on the previous cruise. we:

- didn't see any drunks

- had one experience where the wine we ordered wasn't available

- did smell a bad smell on embarking (deck 10) and later in the cruise for one day

- saw one of those carpet drying machines on deck 10 for most of the cruise

- did not see any evidence of norovirus

- didn't get sick (we are also like others very cautious)

 

It wasn't our favourite RCI cruise (we have quite a few) but for us it was ok. We are not really keen to go on another just now - might try a different cruise line even though we are now diamond

Have a look at Celebrity, just a suggestion. :)

Jill

We were on Voyager of the Seas for 42 nights. We didn't have any nasty smell anywhere that we noticed. Also there was no Noro Virus either.

Maybe we should be looking ourselves and peoples hygiene and not blame the ship.

Jill

Yes I should have been more specific ... Alcohol based hand sanitisers don't work against Norovirus. Alcohol rub sanitizers are not very effective against Norovirus (winter vomiting virus) unless they are combined with benzalkonium chloride in a hand sanitizer.

I use a sanitizer with benzalkonium chloride and is a foam not a gel and I take it everywhere we go. It's available in Australia and is excellent. Have been using it for about 3 years now.

Jill:)

Don't worry about quad share on P&O, they could convert it to dormatories to get few extra passengers. ;);)

Jill;)

Thank you Pepper for making available so many photos of in and around QM2. We are boarding this magnificent ship for the first time next week, and your photos have made me even more excited than I was in the first place. :)

I'm going to do a little blog of my experience onboard.

Jill:)

Nice looking ship and is a great ship to cruise on. :)

Jill:)

What date do you embark Jill?

 

 

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In 10 more sleeps. :) :) :)

Jill:)

She is arriving in Fremantle as I post...

 

How exciting, she's finally here in Australia for 2014. Thanks for posting this David.

I'm REALLY getting excited now....can't wait. :)

Jill :)

I bet there were thousands to see the ships sailaway. There were when we were on QE last year. The Captain sounded the horn in reponse to the crowd as a thankyou to them and the city. Everyone was whistling to shore and visa versa.

Jill:)

I forgot to mention this and agree with you, it is nice to sail without children every once in a while!

 

BTW you will love the South American trip. We did that on Arcadia last year and the scenery as you sail through the Chilean Fjords is just breathtaking.

Are they still not permitted to call at any Argentinian ports if visiting the Falklands? It caused an uproar reading the blogs from last year..

Jill:)

Nice.

 

I see from the Captains link that there is a changeover in Sydney with C Wells boarding in Perth.

We had Captain Christopher Wells last year on Queen Elizabeth. A really nice guy who was very informative everyday with his "this is the Captain speaking" midday broadcasts. Quite often on port days he was ashore near the gangway casually chatting to people as went to and fro the ship.

Jill:)

We have a balcony port side Deck 5 sheltered which is great. :)

Jill :)

Looks like there's a few showers today, hope they didn't last long.

Jill

Thought I would start my blog by heading the Senior Officers listed for the QM2.

I will do my blog direct on here and my Facebook page.

Counting down and getting excited.

Finally got our cabin allocation today.

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/senior_officers

Jill:)

Love your 'cam of the day' David. Gets me in cruise mode with every pic you put up. Thank you. Do you ever find any QM2 ones? I've been looking these recently but didn't find any. I think she's on sea days now enroute to Fremantle.

Jill :)

Is there a clase of ships in port on the day? Because Sun Princess is usually docked at Portside. Maybe check online by googling brisbane shipping schedule just to double check.

Jill:)

Terribly sad.....

(7:54 p.m. EST) -- A young child drowned onboard Norwegian Breakaway Monday morning while the ship was en route to Florida. The child was one of two found unresponsive in the adult pool. A second child was airlifted to a hospital.

"We are extremely saddened to report that a tragedy occurred on board Norwegian Breakaway this morning," Norwegian Cruise Line said on its Facebook page. "Our emergency medical team was called and notified that two small children were rescued from the adult pool, but were unresponsive on the pool deck. The team responded immediately and quickly administered CPR to both children. The older child was then airlifted by the U.S. Coast Guard to the closest medical facility, accompanied by his grandmother and a nurse from the ship. Devastatingly, after many resuscitation attempts, the younger child passed away on board.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the family during this extremely difficult time and are providing full assistance and support."

According to Wate.com, the website for local Tennessee TV channel 6 ABC, the rescue occurred off the coast of North Carolina and the child was transported to a hospital in New Bern. The site further reports the child is in stable condition.

It is unclear whether the children were related.

Breakaway was on the second day of a weeklong cruise from New York to Florida and the Bahamas.

I can't seem to find great JS pricing for that cruise on any website. :confused:

Jill :)

I am not so sure that the personal policy of NOT using public toilets onboard is a good one. I know that may seem counter-intuitive for some , but my thoughts go like this. I believe that it is most important that we all wash our hands very frequently when onboard cruiseships -- and especially before we eat or drink anything. As we get around the ship, we touch things - even when we consciously try not to ( eg stair railings and lift buttons) - hence the need to wash hands frequently. If we only wash after toileting in our own cabins, this may mean that for some, hands are not washed enough during the course of the day.

 

I have no worries at all about using the public toilets -- as I wash my hands thoroughly after using them - and indeed I will go into a public toilet just to wash my hands before eating/drinking. ( public toilets often being placed close to eating places)

 

Barry

Do you use an antibactarial as well Bazza? I think that's of added importance.

Jill:)

I can't speak for Princess, but that's been a major focus for Royal Caribbean, more than this region, and the primary reason Voyager came to these waters.

 

RCL have been doing significant recruiting of Asian speaking crew, to the extent English is not a priority for them, and see it as a key market.

That reminds me of our cruise on Voyager's maiden voyage from New Orleans to Singapore when they had employed dozens of Asian crew. Well what a fiasco that was, lots of hoyking and sniffing going on in the public areas. Their English really wasn't up to a standard for working in a public area at all. They even put one poor girl on to do the Trivia one day, what a hoot, absolutely no-one could understand the questions she was asking....thankfully we all saw the funny side, including her.

The Management on board soon taught them all what to do and what not to do, and I'm sure their English improved as time went by because they needed to speak it all the time.

Jill:)