CountessCookie

I wouldn't mind stopping in there on a cryise, but I wouldn't be in a rush to be yhe first on these new iteneries. I'll let the work out all the kinks before I go.

Might be worth getting a second pillow for travel? When you get home you can douse it with bug spray and let hit air out and still have a clean pillow to sleep on that night.

I'm so sorry to here that this experience has been so awful for you. The presence of those bed bug would have been bad enough without then dealing with this ongoing fallout. Honestly, I don't blame you for not taking part in the Accurate Affairs interview. Personally I never trust those sorts of shows to present things fairly, they just go for the story which will get them the most views.

The idea of bed bugs and the possibility of bringing them home terrifies me. I've never encountered any, but still always check and take precautions. I'm doing a week trip to Sydney soon and my sister plans to take her own pillow and blanket to the hotel. I would never do that for fear of bed bugs coming home.

I feel I got a pretty good price for my booking too. This cruise is my replacement for a cancelled Vorgin Voyages cruise. Got balcony for a similar price as the solo inside cabin on VV. A little lively wouldn't be too bad for me.

At least it is his team, wouldn't be got to find out a rival team was having their event on your cruise.

Glad to know it should mostly be avoidable and shouldn't impact normal activities too much. It could encourage a slightly younger demographic and I'm younger than the average cruiser, which could benefit me. I'm sure their will be plenty of partners who aren't big into footy and are coming along just for the cruise. 😅

Just saw a news article that the Princess cruise I have booked for January is going to now going to be hosting a Sydney Swan fan events. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid this as much as possible 😅. https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/1555381/princess-cruises-sydney-swans-unveil-unique-fan-experience

Don't have a winter cruise booked this year. Instead my family has a week stay in Sydney booked. I'm now banned form pointing out how we will be spending more than if we did a cruise.

The Great Southern is my go to in Sydney, too. Only short walk to China town restaurants is an important point too.

Isn't that such a truth.

"Free" functional branded items (stationery, bags, etc), is a type of advertisement I'm happy to support.

I love that there are some "not duck ducks," too. The cow is my favourite.

I'm much the same. I'm not interested in finding or hiding ducks. But it makes me happy to know other people are enjoying it and I do like hearing the stories of those who hiding and hunt for them.

I understand wishing for a more sustainable alternative. But seeing as cruises come from all over the world, it would also be important to make sure they don't pose a bio-hazard risk. Which would rule out seeds, or people will be getting their finds confiscated by boarder control on the trip home.

I've booked my first cruise and I'm thinking of combining this cruise with my hobby of decorative planning. I'm thinking of setting up a pretty Traveller's Notebook which I can use to plan my cruise, journal during my cruise and then be able it of a scrapbook/memory keeper after the cruise. I was wondering if anyone has done something similar and have some tips or inspection they could share? I have a some idea of what I want to do, but currently a little overwhelmed by too many abstract ideas and nowhere to start.

I have read a few things about that, but at least this cruise should go ahead. And I get a balcony for the same price as the solo insider I had with Virgin. Hopefully the APP doesn't give me too many dramas.

I ended up booking that cruise with Princess as an alternative to the cancelled Virgin cruise. I booked with Princess, but transferred the booking to a local TA this morning. I told her that I had originally had a Virgin cruise booked. I could just tell by her face that she had a hard week due to those cancellations.

For me, it is less about why they are doing this, than how they are going about that. If Vorgin was being honest about under preforming this season having a role in thwse cancellation, I would be more forgiving. They are a buisness and need to make profits. However, it seems they are solely blaming the issues in the RedSea for the cancellation, which seems to be false and, I feel, in bad taste. The email they sent even said, "Virgin Voyages was embraced by Aussies with such a warm welcome, and together, we celebrated an extremely successful inaugural season — and that love was very much mutual." From what we are hearing, that season wasn't "extremely successful."

I happy with all spirits, though gin is my go to. I'll have to note those down in my things to try list.

So any particular recommendations of the cocktail and Martini lists?

There really is a good choice which ate covered by Plus. Big thanks for these lists Geoff.

I almost get the feeling they are happy to have an excuse to pull out. The whole place holder thing dor Brilliant does seem like a load of BS. Would have been better to if they could have been more transparent and honest from the get go.

It all seems a bit ironic that this big island country is a bad place for cruising.

I must admit that I find it a bit iffy when they use that flippant sounding greeting for emails like this. I felt the same when I emailed them before the before the change in the current repositioning cruise. The reply where they couldn't tell me what was going to happen with the cruise I booked, but I should sign up to their news letter if I wanted to be kept up to date in any changed itineraries. This was about a cruise I had paid for. I sure hope we get an official email notification and not just expected to follow the newsletter as implied in the reply I got. I said it over in the Virgin board and will say it here. I am very grateful to the members of this form who have been keeping us up-to-date. I made the, apparent mistake, of booking without a TA. I would have no idea what was going on if it wasn't for this Cruise Critic members.