Wombat706

She looks very good for her age.

It's 31 here today as well (but 31 Celsius) That's about 88F

I delved a bit deeper and in the "Legal information - Booking Conditions- Australia and New Zealand" at: https://www.cunard.com/en-au/advice-and-policies/booking-conditions-insurance-crime The section on Alcohol does not mention a limit, so I will be carrying a copy of this with me when I board this Friday. "23. Alcohol & gambling We are committed to the responsible service of alcohol. There may be times when We consider it appropriate to refuse the service of alcohol to a guest for any reason. To consume alcohol or gamble on board, guests must be 18 years of age or older. However, whilst in U.S. waters, Cunard enforces and abides by the U.S. legal drinking age of 21 years. Photo identification may be requested.Alcohol or casino credits cannot be added to a booking as a gift for guests under 21 years of age. On the day of embarkation, guests over the above minimum ages may bring on board wine or champagne to celebrate special occasions. If consumed in the dining rooms, alternative restaurants or bars, each bottle will be subject to a corkage fee of US$20 (fee subject to change). Any other alcohol purchased ashore will be collected at the gangway for safe keeping and will be returned to You on the last day of Your voyage."

I know the original question was about Southampton, but look what I found today at: https://www.cunard.com/en-au/the-cunard-experience/what-to-pack "You may bring one bottle of wine or champagne on board to enjoy within your stateroom. You are welcome to buy alcohol ashore as a gift or souvenir, which will be held for the duration of your cruise, and returned to you when you disembark." - this is new as far as I know and I'm not happy about it either.

I actually changed my strong (very) painkillers before going to Abu Dhabi as they were restricted there and I would have had to apply through their medical board and all sorts of dramas to bring even the small amount I had.

There was an episode of the NZ Border Security where an unknown powder in a plastic container was causing the officer concern and the German? backpackers were having trouble explaining what it was. Finally, it turned out to be protein powder but because it was in a generic storage container (not the original packaging) it was confiscated and the backpackers given a stern talking to and an official warning (I don't remember if they were fined or not).

Can someone please give a link or the actual title of the thread about wafflegate - I tried to search for it but failed miserably.

Sorry, I haven't flown back to Australia since before Covid. But from memory, the initial 'declare' line moves pretty fast as it is just an officer/s asking 'what you are declaring' and they decide to either send you through the green channel and you just walk out or they send you for further inspection. Hopefully, someone else can clarify the current process.

Thanks for that - I stand corrected 🙂 You can bring up to 10 kilograms of commercially prepared and packaged chocolate or confectionery into Australia (that's a lot of chocolate). However, the list of what food you do not have to declare is still limited to only a few things and I still advise that if you are unsure answer YES. cheers

The Jarrah coffee comes in a few varieties (eg French Vanilla Latte, Brazilian Cafe Latte, Salted Caramel Latte and Swiss Cafe Mocha) but probably not all will be available in 1 store. Nescafe and Moccona also do sachets of premixed coffee varieties (also, Coles and Woolworths have their own brand of sachets). Also, I have heard that some people use coffee to mask the odour of more questionable substances 😮 Many foods are OK to bring into Australia, but the form is asking if you are bringing them in, not if you think they are ok - questions 6 and 7 would encompass almost all foods (coffee is a seed, chocolate may contain dairy, cakes and cookies probably contain multiple items). As the form says, if unsure answer YES, you will be asked about the items and if they are ok, you are on your way with said item/s. If not ok, they will be confiscated and you are on your way. If you answer NO, and are then pulled aside (and there is every chance if you are carrying something not declared, you will be) you will go through a full bag search, the item/s confiscated and you will probably incur a fine. The form is a legal document, our customs and quarantine rules are strict for very good reasons.

You mentioned that your preferred coffee product is a mix (coffee/creamer/ sugar) - the creamer is probably milk (dairy) based, so if you do bring it, declare it (tick yes to number 6) just to be on the safe side.

You could start from your hotel and do the following: Walk along George Street to Metcentre (273 George Street). It is an easy 450 metre (less than a third of a mile) walk from the Four Seasons. Woolworths is down an escalator. Metcentre is a connected to the station complex and Coles is above the station. Walk from Wynyard Station to Town Hall Station (800 metres or about half a mile). There is a Woolworths here and nearby you can find Citi Super Asian Supermarket at 580 George Street (I have not been here myself but it does appear to be open) and Miracle Asian Supermarket downstairs in the World Square Complex at 644 George Street (there is also a Coles Supermarket here). Walk from Town Hall to Chinatown via George Street, Liverpool Street and Sussex Streets (about 1.1 km or three quarters of a mile) to the Chinatown area. Some supermarkets around here are Tong Li Supermarket 79 Quay Street (south end of Chinatown), Thai Kee IGA Supermarket in Market City, Hay Street (above the city markets 'Paddy's Markets' which are open Wed - Sun) and New Yen Yen Supermarket 8 Quay Street. There are many more but I can't be sure which are open and if they have what you need, but they are always interesting. The walk back to the Four Seasons from Quay Street is about 2.4 km (1 and a half miles). This Quay Street has nothing to do with Circular Quay (near your hotel) but for the now gone quays and jetties to the west. You could walk about 450 metre (less than a third of a mile) to Central Station and catch a train back to Circular Quay or catch the light rail along George Street.

Aussie supermarkets (I think the closest to your hotel would be the Coles Wynyard and the Woolworths Metcentre ones at Wynyard Railway Station) sell pre-mixed coffee selections by Jarrah. Another option is the Asian supermarkets in/near Chinatown (near Central Railway Station) - they may have what you currently use.

You are 100% on the money 🙂 I've yet to find a good (not great, just good) one on a cruise ship yet.

Thanks for the update

Would you mind sharing what suite you are in? Is that setup in every suite? We have not sailed Silversea before but are booked to do so in November and trying to find out as much as we can about the experience. Thank you

If you are boarding at Sydney's OPT, just be aware WiFi availability is often patchy. We make sure that we have paper copies of our docs.

Thanks for that - I decided the tours were too expensive for what they were anyway, so I haven't bothered to try anything else.

Cunard is another that does not include gratuities, booked in Aust in AUD.

Priceline Pharmacy 413-421 George Street, Sydney appear to do the supervised RATs https://servicebookings.priceline.com.au/corporate/Priceline/search?specialty=COVID-19 Testing&_ga=2.168852322.299001527.1671417866-190975855.1654111413

Yes, unable to book any of the 35% off tours - something is 'off'.

Some of the tours on our March 2023 NZ cruise have gone up and some have come down (not taking the 35% sale into consideration). There are just a few with 35% discounts. I've just noticed our itinerary has changed since booking (days 7 and 9 - Picton and Wellington have been swapped). All tours for these ports are 'currently unavailable' but some are 35% off !!!

Beware of third party sites offering the eTA etc (claiming a faster or easier service) - they are out to rip you off. Possum52 has provided a link the official site.

They were B2B but not covid positive (if the information conveyed to us was accurate). The ship was coming from NZ and going onto an Australian domestic cruise, so it was a case that the ship had to be fully disembarked due to customs etc. We were later told Border Force officers actually had to go on board and 'assist' those passengers to disembark.

We received an email for our Nov 2022 boarding on Celebrity Eclipse saying it would be delayed by 2 hours because it would be late arriving due to rough seas on the crossing from NZ. We then received another saying it would be delayed by 3 hours. The ship actually arrived about 5 hours late and then about 16 passengers refused to get off the ship. So it was a frustrating afternoon. I think we boarded about 4 hours late.