MelbTone

Yes - strangely though the instructions are to report it to your cabin steward if positive, bin it otherwise. There doesn't appear to be any check on some testing positive and binning the wrapped test.

You can't have looked very hard: Princess CruiseHealth FAQ

I've never even been remotely tempted by the works on offer. But if I was on QM2 and they were offering prints of Stephen Card's Cunard ship paintings, I'd be seriously tempted. But as a substitute I have got the book Cunarder which contains lots of them.

2023 New Zealand cruise, 13 nights. I booked when it first went on sale A$8,566 (solo, mini-suite). Just a handful left, one a few doors from me, A$11,892

Interesting question. In Feb I am doing a Sydney-Barrier Reef-Sydney cruise whose first port of call is Eden, ~500km in the wrong direction - but no visit to Brisbane (perhaps for capacity reasons?).

Sunny 32C (90F) Christmas Day here in Melbourne (Aus). I was great to go back to my normal pre-Covid Christmas: living on my own and having no family here, I was at church in the morning, then the lunchtime 'orphans picnic' held in one of our parks, then hosted my 'open house' - 15 came; it was like the United Nations, not one of us born in Australia. So good to be able to do this. Next weekend I start my self-imposed semi isolation before my first cruise in three years. I probably ought to go on a week's fast too: diet-wise I have been pretty tough on myself since a heart attack but all rules are suspended while at sea! Two to follow (2021 and 2022's cruises cancelled and rebooked) so I will get to compare Princess, Cunard and Celebrity in quick succession. Third cruise on the QE; traded my longer cruise cancellation FCC for a three-nighter in PG.

Yes, reported by Emma on her Emma Cruises FB page https://www.facebook.com/emmacruisesFB/ .

I'm booked on a Celebrity Eclipse behind the scenes tour next March

For me the answer would be "No, but I have a shortlist", in my case Celebrity, Cunard, HAL, Princess.

Assuming that cruise line is 100% honest in distributing the money, one plus of crew appreciation is that if it's a really full cruise the crew members know they'll be getting a bit extra in their pay.

Grand Princess leaves Melbourne this afternoon for a round New Zealand cruise. If I'm reading the PoM schedule correctly, this is the first post-Covid cruise originating from Melbourne. Bit fuzzy as I took the pic from Webb Dock lookout.

Station Pier, Port Melbourne

Great to see the ships back.

How about 'karaoke' lectures? The cruise line makes a suitable space available for guests who volunteer to give a pre-prepared talk. Submit your proposal beforehand and they put together a list of those they think will have some appeal. Some while back I gave a illustrated talk on the port of Melbourne to our local history group. I'm no expert so am definitely not in the guest lecturer category but it would probably be of interest to some on my Fremantle-Melbourne cruise. I'm sure that on most cruises there are 5-10 people who would like to share their knowledge/experience in a smaller setting and many more who would find this of interest.

Out of idle curiosity, how does he know? Do they put a 'corkage paid' sticker on the bottle?

No, I stand by my original comment. The saving to the cruise company of having a single occupant in a double cabin is minimal. They lose what the second person would be spending - huge areas of ship real estate would not be given over to shops, casino, art gallery, speciality dining etc if these things weren't significant revenue generators.

No, it makes perfect sense. Cruise lines are in business to make money and solo travellers occupying double cabins saves the cruise line very little (only food really: ~$30 per day?) but halves the onboard and excursion spends which are key revenue generators for the cruise line. Would the cruise line rather have me paying $3000 for my cruise, or a couple paying $3000? The latter, I'm sure.

Do tell .....

Late to the party but the best pie I ever ate courtesy of Star Inn, Lingfield UK, 2013

I did the Queen Elizabeth tour pre-Covid. I didn't keep notes but from memory it included theatre backstage, medical unit, bow anchor chain space, control room, print shop, stores, refuse disposal, galley and bridge. It cost around $150. Note that no photos are allowed, also they book up quickly.

My last pre-COVID cruise was on Queen Elizabeth: Melbourne - Adelaide - Kangaroo Island - Hobart - Melbourne. Well it would have been, but we had to skip K I because of fires. Good itinerary for a short Australian cruise.

My last cruise was Jan 2020 on Queen Elizabeth. There was at least one programmed solo event (coffee mornings, solos lunch, afternoon tea etc) each day organised by designated crew host Cordelia and she did a brilliant job. From memory about 20-30 people of all ages showed up. Otherwise it was generally the case that people sitting on their own in public areas were happy to approached and chat. And for those who feel diffident about doing this, get the other person to tell you their stories - most people love an audience.

Not retired, but I had that problem during Covid lockdowns with all the regular things that punctuate the week being cancelled.

Yes, I booked Fremantle-Sydney QM2 Feb 2024 on Tuesday night just after bookings opened. No problems.