Blackduck59

@coldweather, I see you have maybe abandoned your thread. I can't comment on the weather but I do know that there are very few cruise ships down under during the southern hemisphere winter. The ships Holland America and Celebrity have down there during their summer are up here for our summer and the Alaska season. After 2 cancelled attempts we will finally get it done (we hope) in 2025. We had a shorter plan even up until last week, then we decided to go all in as it were. The cruise we had booked was in fact the last cruise of the season for Westerdam and the next cruise would be the Pacific crossing as she transfers to the Alaska season. We decided we should be on that repositioning voyage and eliminate the long haul return flight. Our 14 night cruise will now be 43 days. About the weather, I'm afraid no one can guarantee that, it will be what it is.

@Seasick Sailorthat looks more like lobster Thermador. I'm pretty sure I would be sending that back. A chat with the maitre de and an early exit to get the charge reversed on my account.

Clearly doesn't address the issue of pets. Service dogs are a different critter.

Wow $28.00, I'm looking at the B52 as a bargain now. I think we will have to get rooms with kitchenettes when we go down under and make our own breakfast.

Thanks for the update on Bob's condition Leigh. Hopefully he will have a full recovery and won't need the walking stick for long. Take Care, Lyle & Lynn

The picture is of a B52 breakfast from Spitfire Grill, it's about $19.00. Very similar to a "Full English" but no beans or black pudding.

Yes the potato is baked, then cut horizontally and the flesh removed from the jacket. Then you mix in some butter, sour cream, chives (green onions are often used), bacon bits if you like and these ones had cheddar cheese too. Put everything back in the jacket and bake again. The beetroot is cooked (probably too much) to be quite soft. They started out deep red with paler rings. There is a huge variety of beets available depending on the time of year. The cauliflower comes in a jar of sweet mixed pickles.

I would be pretty choked if someone plunked that plate down and expected to pay $19.00. For that price there better be 2 snags, 2 bacon, a slice of ham and don't forget the grilled mushrooms and tomato. There seems to be an awful lot of plate where the hash browns should be too. Something more like this

@Haljo1935 Thanks for taking us along on your voyage of firsts. I have to say you handled the arrogant guests with pets issue much better then I would have. While I would have done everything you did meeting with the staff; I'm not sure I would have waited for my food at the RDC without saying something snide and or most definitely rude to the Mutt with the mutts.

Thanks @Mareblu, in the original plan we were doing a one way car hire but really didn't get into the details of that one aspect of the trip (they got cancelled so far in advance). I think we would probably do better with a one way. Fly in to Sydney, do the road trip, see as much as we can without being hurried. So often we try to pack so much into our trips for fear of missing something, that we really don't see anything. We need to make the stops long enough for a nice visit without wearing out our welcome 😉.

With the likely change of plan we are looking at our options for flights. I think we will probably fly direct Vancouver to Sydney in Qantas premium economy. It seems like the way to go. We would arrive in Oz mid February 2025; that would give us about 4 weeks in OZ before the cruise. I'm wondering about the hire car, my original thought was a one way rental (pick up the car in Sydney and leave it in Melbourne) now I wonder if we should plan a round trip. I know we want to meet up with as many CC friends as we can. So Lake Macquarie, the blue mountains, Canberra, and Melbourne are already on the list. We also have someone we would like to visit in Warrnambool. I am aware that this a rather ambitious route to complete on the road in 4 weeks. especially if we do a round trip to Sydney. Is a one way car hire possible? Especially when we are leaving the car in a different state?

I agree with you. What is tedious is that HAL makes a menu without pricing, what a joke. Who does that? Of course there are many who would still ask if it's covered even with the pricing on the menu. And then there are a few items that are below the price threshold but not included in any package. The screw top cans of water come to mind and some of the other larger format waters (sparkling and still).

It almost seems a no brainer, frankly the air travel part is very much starting to affect our interest in travel. I think this may be a last hurrah for us travel wise, although there is always Alaska or maybe a ship repositioning to the east coast via the panama canal and ending in Montreal or Quebec City. We could take the train home from there (another thing we have thought would be good.)

So there may be a new wrinkle in the down under adventure. With my increased disinterest in flying and Lynn isn't that keen either we are looking at changing the itinerary. As it turns out the cruise we have booked is the last of the season for Westerdam, she is leaving from Sydney and heading back north with some interesting stops along the way. It's a 29 day voyage and she stops in Victoria before finishing in Seattle (gee I wonder where we're getting off). This looks like an elegant solution to the long haul flight issue. We are looking at the costs now, it will obviously cost more than flying but hey we don't have to pay for the flight home. We also have to look at as how much would a separate vacation to Fiji and the other ports on this cruise? And let's not forget the flights involved for such a trip. So I think our 14 day cruise will probably turn into a 43 day cruise, and the road trip which was goin to happen before the cruise will actually happen before the cruise. Hopefully people will still be home in late February, early March 2025. Maybe some of you may decide the Sydney to Seattle itinerary is interesting and we could be ship mates. It's all up in the air right now but I think we are probably going to make this a true down under adventure, with many interesting stops on the way home.

I'm so sorry for my feeble punctuation. I humbly apologize, it seems I failed elementary school like so many others on these boards. Sorry teacher I'll try to do better. Oh, by the way the statement still stands, Fat is Flavour. I always laugh when I am at the butcher shop and I see Barbie looking at the steak case, they check the price (more expensive is better right?). So they are looking at the Delmonico Steaks (the most expensive in the case) and the next words out of their mouth is "could I have the lean ones please". The counter person just looks at them, and gets them the worst steaks in the case. I'm sure they couldn't understand why the steak was probably a little chewy and dry and short on flavour. I bought the expensive ones honey, you must have done something wrong when you grilled them.

Well you'll have to come up and give them a try 😉 we usually have a jar in the fridge.

I really like it. We get it in the Bicks brand sweet mixed pickles. There are a few pieces in the jar and a few onions along with mostly crinkle cut cucumbers about 12mm thick rounds.

Up to 15 drinks a day 😉😇

How much is my time worth? Hmm let me think, whether working or retired my time has been worth more than $11.00 per hour for many years. Don't give me "the principle" thing. If it was that important you probably should check your account, daily or twice a day even. Like others have said, pick your battles and use some finesse. If you really have a need to pursue your $11.00 and your next cruise seems the place to do it, then customer service on the ship is the place to try. Feel free to stand in line for the next available agent and ask them nicely to help you with your issue (demanding a bottle of wine to compensate your for your "trouble" probably won't get you far). Remember to bring your cruise statement with you so you have the error documented and see if they will give you a credit. Keep in mind you have paid how much per hour to be on that ship, enjoying your vacation.

On our only HAL cruise so far it worked the way @aussiedisneyfan suggests. The amount you pre-paid goes on your account and is drawn upon daily until it is gone, so if there is an increase then the prepaid amount would be depleted faster. I think if you have the "enhances" HIA package that includes "crew appreciation" and premium drinks etc. then you're covered because it's not a separate dollar amount it's "crew appreciation".

The HAL description states that they use "28 day wet aged USDA Prime steaks". I'm afraid it's pretty hard to tell a "Prime" steak from "Choice" once it's cooked. It is after all about marbling. Keep in mind that a poor cook can destroy even the best cuts of meat. If you have a problem with the steak the time to do something about it is after the first bite. You are paying extra for a superior meal over and above the meal you already paid for in your fare. I'm afraid Filet Mignon is a very over rated cut in my opinion, while it should be tender it is very lean so cooking it as far as medium may make for a drier steak. Remember people fat is flavour and a prime steak is all about quality marbling.

We had snags for supper. The plate fillers are beetroot, a jacket potato and some pickled cauliflower.

On our cruise aboard Zaandam in August we had dinner in Pinnacle on embarkation day. It just happened to be my birthday. Pinnacle was not busy but not empty either.

Technically it is, the whole event is owned by the ship. Do they let Mom & Dad take pictures of their kid with Santa at your local mall? No you pay for the photo from the photographer who pays a fee to be there.

You are correct