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Everything posted by arxcards
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Townsville is upgrading their cruise terminal to cater for larger ships. There is no mention of the wharf capacity, which I believed to be too small for most of our homeported ships. Townsville is showing in some P&O and Princess itineraries, with no mention of a water shuttle. Great news, especially for those QLD coastal itineraries that are full of tender stops. https://www.townsville-port.com.au/quayside-terminal-transformation/
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A Brisbane bound Crown to replace the Grand pull
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I had thought the terminal would only handle the smaller ships. I recall it was designed in the days of Pacific Sun/Star, yet Brisbane had already scored Pacific Dawn by the time it was completed, and she was too large to dock there. But good news - last month they announced an upgrade to the Quayside terminal. Really, this is awesome for an itinerary that is loaded with tender stops. https://www.townsville-port.com.au/quayside-terminal-transformation/ -
New Caledonia locked down.
arxcards replied to MicCanberra's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Yes, P&O's two ships have returned, and Carnival Splendor will be back in Sydney on Tuesday. All ships dropped Lifou & Noumea from their itineraries. For Carnival, it would seem that Luganville will be substituted for the Noumea stops, and for many months to come. P&O itineraries are a bit more varied and the itineraries will have different alternates to suit. Something official would be nice, but I expect our current ships will be out of Noumea until at least the start of cruise season (Oct). Even if the unrest dies down, the uncertainty will linger for a while. Lifou could be a bit different, as they don't have an expat population to fight against, but cruise ships won't return until they can assure passenger safety. Next affected departures: Adventure departs today for Fiji, with Noumea as the first scheduled port. Port Vila is a logical replacement. Splendor - 11th June Encounter - 22nd June Explorer - 8th July -
Now for something completely different
arxcards replied to Blackduck59's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
@Bubbeh I find it annoying at times, as I use ampersat for other things when I type. -
It is largely the same the world over. Different lines share the terminals, which are staffed via the shipping agent by sub-contractors. When the cruise line advises check-in times, the terminal is appropriately staffed for those hours, including luggage drop, check-in staff & customs. I agree 100%, someone who cruises out of Honolulu regularly will be best able to advise on how the terminal operates. Late departures are common in Honolulu.
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A Brisbane bound Crown to replace the Grand pull
arxcards replied to arxcards's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
I noticed these itineraries were available online yesterday, but I had forgotten to check for a couple of days prior. Now that we have locked in our rather unique cabin, I thought I would share. How close were the guesstimate itineraries above? 10/10 The 21st & 24th December itineraries are also available as a combined 14 night Sydney to Brisbane cruise, which would offer similar ports to the original Syd-Syd cruise. Alas, there is heaps of cabins available, so there must have been plenty of existing passengers jumping over to Discovery Princess or cancelling. Syd-Brisbane-Noumea-Lautoka-Suva-Dravuni-Brisbane. All those in bold have swapped over from Grand to Crown with the same itinerary. These are still unavailable for booking yet until they have sorted the current swap-over passengers. The 2 x NZ itineraries are yet to be uploaded. 10th March - Airlie-Townsville-Yorkeys-Port Douglas-Willis 18th March - Newy-Syd I am curious that Diamond Princess docks in Cairns in 2024/25, yet Crown Princess is at Yorkeys in 2025/26. The QLD itineraries also show Townsville as being berthed, and that surprises me. -
Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Sandfly bites aren't fun. I had a few encounters when I was young, one of the downsides of getting around with a yabby pump. My nan's remedy seemed to work - Sunlight liquid on the bites. It certainly took away the sting. -
Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
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Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Pun of the week. 🤣 -
BON VOYAGE Coral Princess World Cruisers 2024
arxcards replied to Kiwi_cruiser's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Sounds like an awesome time in port. Thanks for sharing your experience and those fantastic photos. -
I can't offer much detail. Our Honolulu departures have been late night, and midnight departures are common. Yes, general information for the day in port is 7am till 11pm, so 10:30pm would be the all aboard time. We board much earlier, so I can't be certain of how long the terminal is staffed. Normally there will be some staff to handle the later arrivals, but I can be nowhere near sure about that. I would agree with the earlier comment, and wonder if it is possible to drop luggage early and pick-up their tour from the wharf instead of the hotel. I guess that would mean they would be carting their carry-on around on their tour. Alternatively, they could use @Jean C as their luggage mule and have a carefree day. 😁
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I believe that cruises departing Vancouver are handled as two separate B2B cruises. Those doing the full trip can essentially treat Honolulu as a day in port, but are doing it as "transit" passengers. Princess sell it both as two separate cruises and as a full crossing.
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Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
The bedbugs can't afford to cruise on Royal at present. No pizza is free - It is included as part of your fare or it isn't. -
Invisible Bed Bugs?!
arxcards replied to Mycruiseobsession's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
There is a big bad bedbug story on ACA tonight. -
I had a sensational beef, cheese & bacon servo pie for breakfast this morning - you have to get in early before the crust dries out. It appeared to be a local Newcastle area pie from Thompsons bakery at Charlestown.
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New Caledonia Conflict - I'm Clueless
arxcards replied to JJK2008's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Enough bad news circulating without searching out more of it. I am happy to stick to viewing bad news on a need-to-know basis. Much more fun searching for new McMop memes today. -
There are known issues with sending emails to Bigpond addresses. This has been going on to some degree for over 6 months. It is complicated, but in short, Bigpond is rejecting the emails with their SPAM settings.on their servers. Cunard can adjust their settings to overcome this, if they choose to. Otherwise, just use a hotmail or gmail address for your Cunard emails.
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New Caledonia Conflict - I'm Clueless
arxcards replied to JJK2008's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Plenty of news here on the Oz brothers and their US friend. Another cautionary tale. When we were last in San Diego, it was a day-to-day proposition on whether it was safe to cross the border and go to Tijuana. Travel can come with plenty of adventure, not always positive. -
New Caledonia locked down.
arxcards replied to MicCanberra's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Some of the cruise lines run a "cheapish" bus shuttle around to a beach just a few km away. Kudos also to those who market the alternate names for Inyeug and West Molle Islands. -
New Caledonia locked down.
arxcards replied to MicCanberra's topic in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
Often ends in tears.