Snoopkat

19 hours ago, sewgood said:

I had a phone call from P&O today explaining to me that in their discussions with the Government that there would be a requirement of vaccination certicates to be sent to the cruise line two weeks before the cruise. This could also include the booster shots if this became a requirement.

He also told me that there would be testing at the terminal and they are discussing with the government two different ways to do this.

When I asked him about when cruising could be back he said that cruising could be back soon (December was mentioned, ha ha I really don't think so) as the Government wants to get the tourism industry up and running again.  Of course this guy does work in sales and would say what the company told him to relate to clients but it does sound promising so you never know your March cruise might happen as long as it is a domestic cruise.

Last time I was speaking to him he seemed to think that June or July would be the first cruises back.

 

 

Thanks for the update. It's a domestic cruise taking us to Moreton Island but if the QLD border doesn't reopen, I would be happy to just cruise around NSW waters. Heck, at this rate, I would even settle for the ship going round and round the Opera House!

We're also booked on the Pacific Adventure for March next year. Not sure if it will actually go ahead but hoping I'm wrong.

I don't understand why there needs to be a travel plan specific to cruising as opposed to an overarching plan for all travel (land, sea, air). Qantas is taking the lead on developing a vaccination passport, wouldn't it be better for all the industry powers to be to band together to come up with a national plan that benefits everyone? 

I read in a couple of threads on the US/UK forums that children under 12 were allowed onboard the ship but they (and their parents) aren't allowed to join in shore excursions. Can't remember what restrictions they have onboard. P&O AU might adopt something similar.

Fantastic news, hopefully other cruise lines will enforce the same policy.

3 minutes ago, By The Bay said:

One change that was announced was that the NSW QR app would include your vaccine status for entry into venues for only vaccinated people. 👍 I need to get my haircut, it is getting a bit shaggy.☹️

Some hairdressers do not want to enforce the vaccinated people only rule because it's too hard. I didn't know hairdressers have their own council, you learn something new every day...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-26/hairdressers-prepare-to-reopen/100406848

I don't want to pooh pooh on her parade but how are the outdoor gatherings going to be monitored to make sure that every single adult is compliant and vaccinated?

39 minutes ago, getting older slowly said:

 

As one thought Leigh....

 

The motto of our government seams to be 'Too little too late'

 

nothing like throwing in the towel when thing get hard   ( could be a shortage of towels )

 

Don.....  remember carry your towel

 

Towel :-

Within the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy universe, towels are regarded as indispensable equipment for experienced travelers, since they can be put to a wide variety of uses. Consequently, a person who can quickly adapt to virtually any new situation is said to know where their towel is.

They're too busy pointing fingers to check for towels.

The quote was based on the $1 deposit P&O cruise we booked but this is what I get for 7 and 14 days.

29 minutes ago, NSWP said:

ANZ uses Allianz, it would be them who dictate the travel insurance policies.  ANZ used to use QBE, they were good, but Allianz are tough, they knocked me back two years ago.

 

According to a bloke on your Coral Princess WC Roll Call, NO Travel Insurance is available until reopening of Australia's borders.

I just did a dummy quote on CoverMore and was able to get pricing on a domestic cruise. No pricing available on InsureandGo though.

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I just got an email from Cruise Critic for a quick survey about cruising restarting. Good, basic questions which hopefully will provide them with a positive response towards a restart.

I did the survey too. I can't remember all the options but I ticked mandatory vaccination, masks and social distancing as the pre requisites.

8 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

Royal Caribbean Group are introducing purple wristbands for vaccinated Passengers.

If you don’t have one you can’t eat in the restaurants ,you have to eat in your cabin. And no entertainment, no drinks at the bar.

They look like the paper ones you get from music festivals...I hope they give out a new one each day as they don't really last more than a day or so. Would have made more sense to have the information on the sail card and make scanning into dining venues and what not mandatory.

On 8/17/2021 at 12:25 PM, NSWP said:

And for those clowns who are anti vaxxers and on Welfare, cancel their payments whether it be disability benefit, aged pensions, unemployment benefits. They can starve for all I care, they are ruining life for those of us who do conform.

And for those anti vaxxers who are employed and pay taxes, there should be an additional health levy on top of the Medicare levy if they want to access the public health system. 

On 8/17/2021 at 11:39 AM, Chiliburn said:

I was listening to some senior legal eagle on the radio about  enforcing mandatory vaccination.

He said he couldn’t see a problem ,the only place he could see it not being in force is government public transport.

The government is legislated to  provide transport to anyone.

But a public company is in its right to protect its workers and customers.

Hence why I fully support Qantas position on mandating vaccination for their staff and the proposed no vaccine no fly policy.

Based on the comments I've read on other threads, anything less than 100% fully vaccinated (with the exception of kids) is just asking for trouble. And there must be stringent checks in place to avoid RCI Karen type situations. 

13 minutes ago, Docker123 said:

26 were crew members. 
 

I know, but the anti vaxxers and anti cruisers are not going to care that.

1 hour ago, Docker123 said:

Today’s lotto numbers

 

NSW: 452

Vic: 24

Qld: 1

ACT: 17

 

NSW numbers are meant to rise significantly according to the Premier. How soon before we hit '000?  A friend just sent me a link about 27 people testing positive for COVID on Carnival Vista. All of them were vaccinated. Unfortunately, this will give the anti vaxxers another reason to shout about their thought bubbles.

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

My themometer shows 60 at med-rare. 

 

But the definitions for steak doneness vary a lot. I've seen a rare steak described as what I would call med-rare, and at other times what I would call blue.

Oh wow, 60 is definitely in the medium well category for me.  Half the fun of cooking is in trying out different methods and seeing what works best. A friend and I were debating the merits of cooking steak using a sous vide. I thought it was a waste of money, he thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. We're planning on having a cook off once this bloody lockdown is over. 

46 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That looks great. I have a very good meat thermometer with which I can choose different settings for various types of meat, poultry and fish. But it has a long cable so not as good as your one. Can yours be used in the oven?

Yes it can though I haven't tried using it to cook roasts. The only issue I have with it is the preset internal temperature is alot higher than I would have liked. For example, I like my steak medium rare so the internal temp should be around 46. But the preset temp for a medium rare steak is at 55-59 which is way too high.  

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I'll have to try them one day. I do like the Coles middle-cut tenderloins though as I can cut them to suit. They are around 750g and vac-packed so have a decent shelf life.

 

Our Woolies has a fresh meat counter and I've bought the steaks on a huge bone (tomahawk steaks?) a couple of times. It's a bit tricky to get them cooked correctly though. 

I use this when I need to cook thicker cut steaks to the desired doneness. Works better than I expected. I've also started using the reverse sear method for the more fancy cuts, it's a bit more work but worth it.

https://meater.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwmeiIBhA6EiwA-uaeFb6p0kTYifa63ATnE9MPFEY2dgkyYwQU2IB8zN5rzOUe--Ltmtd_uxoC-SUQAvD_BwE

29 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Was up in Townsville before the borders closed had the most tender melt in your mouth salt and pepper squid at the Rock Paper fish and chip shop, it was also not oily and had a good coating of pepper🤗. So yummy. 

That sounds amazing. So hard to find a decent fish and chip shop these days, let alone one that does good S&P squid.

2 minutes ago, NSWP said:

The shire used to be great back in the 70' and 80's.   Northies was always a cess pit frequented by boofheads.  I worked in the shire👮‍♂️for many years, seen it all, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Cronulla is the new Bondi judging by the number of people from the UK who have moved there. 

3 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I don't like Wagyu all that fat marbling. I like a nice lean eye fillet, medium to well with a peppercorn or mushroom sauce, might cook one up this evening.

We're not a big fan of wagyu that's too fatty, anything that is 5+ and above is too much for us. Our sweet spot is at the 3+ mark.  I like eye fillet wrapped in bacon and cooked medium rare.  We have a tray of chicken thigh fillets defrosting in the fridge, might make satay chicken and peanut sauce.

2 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Ah ye olde Shire, we lived at Engadine 1975 to 2005 before migrating to Batemans Bay. Loved the shire, but too busy now.  I am still a Sharkies fan.🦈

Haha we are the atypical Shire people. Don't like Sharkies, don't like footy/cricket/any sport in general and not really a big fan of Cronulla.  Too many boofheads these days, especially outside Northies. I grew up in Singapore though so I have an excuse. Partner is born and bred here.

8 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Sadly it's already happening and they are expecting it to be worse than last time. 

I read in the ABC news that there were reports of the Taliban demanding lists of girls 15 and over for forcible marriage.  And the boys that were rescued were so mentally damaged that they were beyond help and could likely never reunite with their families. How did we as a society get to this?