ilikeanswers

It would be nice if cruise (and I would also add airlines to this pet peeve) websites clearly listed all the additional payments. One of the things I hate is having to do a mock booking just to discover the additional payments. A simple drop down box with all the listed prices of add ons displayed on the selection page would make working out the total cost of a cruise or flight much less tedious.

You should check if there is not a refund due to medical reasons clause. My mum's flights were suppose to be non refundable but I did a little digging in the terms and conditions and found you could be eligible for a refund if the reason for not travelling is medical. So we gave it a go sending mum's discharge papers through their enquiry box and it worked she got refunded. It was a pleasant surprise to an otherwise horrible situation.

I really feel for you as my mum had similar situation with her trip. She was suppose to be in Greece right now but a week before flying out a cyclist hit her breaking a bone in her foot. Doctors say it might be up to six months before it is back to normal. Sadly it is the second time she has had to cancel her Greece trip, the first because of the Covid pandemic☹️. It really sucks to have to cancel a long awaited trip. Hopefully you can retry for your trip when you recover. Good luck and heal well🫂

Hawaii is an archipelago state so I would assume based on my experience with island countries the airport was built with the goal for islanders and goods to be able to get on and off the islands. I am sure there is always hope for tourism when building an airport but I think it would be a heck of a gamble to build an airport to try and attract tourists. If you build it they will come only works in the movies😂.

I think you misread my comment. I clearly said tourism is an incidental benefit so I never said tourists do not use airports but airports are not built for tourists the way cruise ship ports are. The main purpose of airports is to connect locals to wider communities and networks. It is why so many airports around the world are in debt and usually heavily subsidised by governments because they view isolation as having worst consequences than the debt of an airport. Obviously if a place becomes touristy resulting in more people using an airport it can lead to expansion of the airport because of tourists but airports don't get commissioned for the sole purpose of tourists.

Checked his profile page, last post was 26/8. Lyle got the honour of his last post.

I think the whole issue with cruises is part of the issue of mass tourism in general. Even the article which focuses on pollution states the locals only saw it as a problem when the number of cruise ships visibly increased. With countries like India and China and their growing middle class you have even more people with means wanting to travel overseas so visitor numbers are only going to increase. Unfortunately people's holiday time isn't increasing so you end up with more day trippers than overnighters. At some point there will probably be no choice but to have daily visitor quotas.

I would say the main difference is airports and train stations serve the locals as functional transport. They are not built for tourists, tourism is an incidental benefit. Cruise ports would mainly serve tourists like hotels serve tourists and local authorities rarely pay for hotel builds.

What sad news. His contributions were wonderful. Especially during Covid I loved reading his stories of him and Maxie😔. RIP @GUT2407

That is odd. There should not be a paywall🤔. Maybe I linked it wrong? Second attempt though I suppose it is old news now 😂: Sydney couple stuck on luxury cruise ship as COVID cases reported

Interview with people on board: Sydney couple stuck on luxury cruise ship as COVID cases reported Sounds like they are in good spirits.

I don't know if I am "spoiled" but I do miss expedition cruises being expeditiony😝. Over time they have become more luxurified which obviously means the price goes up accordingly on top of which I don't real care for all those luxury trappings. I love the itineraries but I would be happy with a more simplified ship experience. Unfortunately that is the down side of change when you become the target market minority there will be less products that cater to what you want. And I think that might be the core difference when it comes to CC. Most people on this site are prolific cruises who have experienced many cruises over many years so they have a lot to compare with while the reality is most cruisers only cruise a few times in their whole lives so they don't see the changes the way CC cruisers do and are more accepting of the changes than those who remember how it use to be.

Last month I had a business call me asking why I still haven't cashed their cheque. I was so confused as I didn't even know I was getting this refund and obviously hadn't received this cheque which according to their records had been sent in January😯. I asked if they could just EFT the amount and they said "no we are only allowed to send cheques". Have to admit I didn't think cheques still existed😂.

I do the break up the journey as well though not in a five star hotel😄. It is the only way for me to feel rested when I reach destination. I can't afford business class either but one time I did get an upgrade with Etihad and found I still couldn't sleep in those lie flat beds as the whole environment wasn't really geared to restfulness so I prefer the breaking up of the flight journey anyway.

I have used many website but lately I have been using Google Flights to see all the options but book with the carrier. Only once have I found a third party website to be cheaper. Unfortunately fees of some sort (booking or payment fees) are popping up everywhere even direct with carriers so it is getting harder to avoid but still even with fees I find booking with the airline cheaper. If you have an idea of your dates you can set up alerts to let you know if the price drops.

First cruise was almost all booked out so we went for the balcony as it was the cheapest option left. Anyway it turned out to be a great option since it was a ship that allowed you to keep the balcony door open. Never forget the experience of sleeping with the sound of the sea surging past the ship.

The packaging is just to trick you 😂. You see it even with Woolies and Coles homebrands they always try to make them look like popular brands.

When I visited Monte Carlo I saw mostly workers than rich people. Maybe because we visited in the afternoon so we ended up coinciding with the rush hour home. It is fascinating how much Monaco empties by the evening😂. Just buses and buses of people returning to France, it became a bit of a ghost town after.

It's called the Carriageworks Market in Redfern. I don't go that often but when I do I head straight to the pie man stall. He makes some amazing and unique pies with a rotating list of flavours.

That would make sense but if CC is any indication it would seem most people see room cleaning as pampering and I'm part of a tiny minority so hopefully I am not causing to much hassle. To be fair I don't usually put the Do Not Disturb sign through the whole cruise I just don't want cleaning every day. Though perhaps in future I'll let them clean the day before the end so they don't have the extra 15 minutes on turn around day.

Got some shawarma spiced lamb pies, 14 hr wagyu roast pie and a massaman curry beef pie at the farmers market. The curry pie was lacklustre but the shawarma and wagyu yum😋

Fatu Hiva French Polynesia. One it is fascinating to see a society that lives in extremely isolated conditions and two it is one of the most gorgeous places I have visited. Certainly most spectacular place visited by cruise ship.

I would another side. I don't want to spend my holidays answering every tiny detailed question about my job😬. I don't care if you find my job interesting, I am not your cruise ship entertainment and if I wanted to talk about work I would have stayed home and worked😂.

I'd like to think I'm not that particularly messy that, it would make such a difference on turn around day😳. Though thanks for reminding of another concern. IMO when a cruise finishes all passenger data, should be deleted. With all these increasing data breaches you got to wonder why companies keep your ID data for so long even when you stopped utilising a company a decade ago🙄. But I am wondering if dust is so hazardous why have Do Not Disturb signs at all? Why not tell passengers it is mandatory to have your cabins cleaned due to fire hazard?

I figure I am doing them a favour one less room to clean🤷‍♀️. My mum always refuses to use the Do Not Disturb sign even though she too dislikes daily room cleaning but the way she sees it, it's included in the room price so she wants to use. I have said the Do Not Disturb sign is also included in the room price so why not give that some use🤪.