arxcards

Yes, it was just a gee-up. When the waiter comes up to ask how everything is, I have been known to say that my tartare is undercooked.

We just consider it as an extra day of our cruise, and are happy to pay for a room with a view of the ship, within reason. For ships going to White Bay, it is awesome to watch your ship cruise past your window at Harbourside Apartments, Macmahons Point. For CQ, Rydges has the rooftop pool. Super convenient, but very limited views from the room. Love the views from Quay Grand, Quay West, Shangri La, Four Seasons, North Sydney Harbourview. Trying out the Marriot next week. I know the view will be of a tighter angle, but I know plenty that love the hotel.

With omi, an elevated temperature isn't a typical symptom and is considered an unreliable form of screening.

I have a string of pics of Coral at the wharf, but not a lot else. Not a big food snapper, but I did get a photo of my undercooked beef tartare, hiding under the quail egg - yum. Crown Grill a la Bayou has lovely food. Waiting for the rains. Very quiet on deck at 11:20am, time for a drink. Beef Tartare starter at Bayou (minus a bit of polenta stick) Coral and Cruise centre x 2 Despite a bit of bogan commentary of the beautiful sunset, this is the full moon rising from the sea (medallion working fine @Chiliburn) Tap your medallion on the screen for an animated clinking of glasses

You most definitely can, dependant on availability.

The Brit and Yank health guidance is wrong?

That is pretty close to the mark. It has been months since they were worried about the infection of an individual. All the way through, it has been about numbers. Remember the original government advice, backed by state and fed CMO's - Flatten the Curve. That was all about protecting the health system from the same overload that was occurring overseas. And there it is, as each wave flattens, restrictions ease knowing the health systems can cope. The coping isn't even about covid infections, but being able to provide the appropriate treatment of all those other things that have been around before covid existed. Restrictions, compulsory masks & testing have disappeared from everywhere but high risk settings .... and cruise ships. No longer if, but when. I can see them lifting masks/vaxx/testing for cruises up to 1 week sometime soon. Not sure it will be tomorrow, but will be before Christmas.

In the way that street names in cities work, where railway st/ave/rd are usually where the railway station is, I figure Wharf St ran down to the original wharves?

Thanks for that. We stayed at a hotel somewhere near Anne/Queen St many years ago, and they had a photo of ships at the dock, including a migrant liner. We walked the Botanic Gardens during that stay, so erroneously connected the two. It was nice that they had light rail going to the cruise terminal way back then. 😉

Not so much strange, but big enough he should have paid for two seats. Really funny, but not when he started snoring and looking for a pillow.

I know Barb has a few. Just need to get the phone out of her hand long enough to snag them.

I don't know how it compares Lucy, but I do have friends that have done discounted cruises on Princess (as well as Carnival, P&O, Royal Caribbean).

Pretty simple. Why pay to maintain two cruise terminals when you only need to pay for one that caters for all ships A boutique small ship can still go a lot further up the river than Portside. I believe they used to go under the Story Bridge back in older times, and there was a cruise wharf somewhere near the Botanic Gardens.

Yes, +1 for us with that. When they do a promo lately though, they often have $99 deposits as part of it.

Hey, I had 20 stone, 3/4 drunk Bubba at a Giants baseball in San Francisco. Really weird, and smelled like he had been drinking for days.

Most likely, unless you accidentally used the app to buy a FCC.

There are social media "influencers" out there driving the no-mask debate, as it is hard to get a good selfie for your blog when you have a mask on 😉 It is heading that way for passengers within the next couple of months, but the crew might need protection a little bit longer.

Yes, Players Club. https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/activities/casino/

That is a bit off the mark from them. You can use a dining voucher if you have one as part of your booking, but have yet to see a way of using OBC for it on the app.

Still our preferred place to stay pre-cruise at the apartments there. On the flip side, the new terminal is chalk and cheese compared to the old one. It is just the location that will take a bit of getting used to.

Portside cruise terminal is being repurposed. As it is now, Pacific Explorer can still make it to Portside, but won't be. No scheduled ship is berthing there. The cruise lines are happy to save the extra hour of transit time up the river, and the restrictions that come with it. With the new terminal, it is up to the cruise lines to provide a decent link to the city. The boutique smaller ships are still bound to make a worthwhile effort of it.

I was a little too fond of that XO cognac on Monday night. The aroma is contagious.

Thanks Stu. Aranui 5 ??

Probably right. My point was that before the lockdown, many of those paired pseudo twins didn't exist. Having the option of one of those twins is better than them not being there at all.

This is partly a covid response. On Princess, many of those paired tables for two would have previously been a table for four. 2 person tables used to be hard to get on Princess, and there were few to go around. What they currently have is a compromise between having enough 2 person tables to go around and having enough room to seat everyone. Yes, in general HAL dining rooms are a bit more intimate.