arxcards

I have found as long as I know where I am going in Sydney, it is a breeze. At least the drivers are courteous. Two places I hate driving, as it can be so aggressive. One I face regularly between Newcastle & Maitland is bad on a good day. The other is between Brisbane & the border on highway one.- at least Newcastle to Maitland is only 2 lanes of stupid each way.

Is Con a Cretin?

I rang our T/A one day about a Pacific Sun cruise, to get a name change done because Barb wasn't well enough to travel. She said, too late, but she had a move-over letter in front of her. So, full refund and a free cruise it was, which was fantastic news at the time. This was OK because it was all done over the phone at home two days before departure. Alas, our free cruise was on Pacific Jewel, and it was the worst cruise we have done. Fait to say, we got what we paid for. 😁

Weight rarely isn't when not flying. Space certainly is. Each case has a volume limit.

Yes. You can only use them at the one place you currently don't feel like using them.

I get that. That is why they issue them to pi$$ed-off passengers instead of giving a full refund plus covering out of pocket expenses. The FCC is issued as it benefits the cruise line more than the affected passenger.

Only if you feel happy enough to follow through and make another booking with them. That is the thing that is bodgy about FCC's, is that the cruise line gets it back in the end. A 125% refund it isn't, and they wouldn't want to see that 25% carrot being used with their competitor.

Would Mic-Con-Us into thinking it could be Mykonos?

Tugs at the ready, won't be long!

We like the aft, and have done a few over the years. Absolutely awesome!!. I was going to go for a convenient Penthouse next door to the lounge, but have wanted to try a forward view for ages. A bit of extra walking should be worth it for the view. You will have to give us the goss on the concierge, so we can have them worked out by the time we board. We had a great time in the lounge on Majestic early this month. Still a slim chance we might be able to add Singapore to Sydney down the track, but have to tick lots of boxes first.

Constantinople?

It has been shaping that way for a year. Glad the news media has finally caught wind of it, but Melbournites have been talking about these reduced schedules here for ages.

If it was for something unforeseen, it is dreadfully unlucky and I would hope that they are looked after with any out of pocket expenses. If it was from intentional overbooking, knowing that a % always cancel, it needs to be outed even if it was just an error from their booking systems. Even though the letter has a few options, being handed out at the wharf suggests it was because of something unforeseen. I have seen this happen for a large number of passengers on Pacific Star out of Brisbane many years ago. One of their lifeboats failed an inspection and they had to lose some passengers in a hurry. They mostly received enough volunteers, but some passengers had to be disembarked before they could sail. P&O get bagged for their compensation, but in this type of instance it was a full refund PLUS a N/C move-over cruise of any of same length/departure port/cabin type. The compo applied equally for the volunteers and those given no option.

A hybrid itinerary that includes Sydney & Brisbane in a 10 night loop that also includes Lelepa +1 might even be sustainable year round and can also focus on a shortened Brisbane season on the peak months.

I agree with reef shoes, as the cheaper ones are easily discarded after a couple of tropical cruises. Also a cheap inflatable lilo or the like, which will be small into luggage and optional to bring home.

A tip from Barb. Before going on national TV, one should blend their foundation down past their granny (jaw) line. And the wrong day for the markets too!

The hold is now a booking. I didn't want to miss out on our $12.50pp OBC 😂 Got a good price though, and I am looking forward to trying 360, evenings in the Concierge Lounge, and a big forward facing window.

My pop wore a hat to cover (and protect) his bald patch. It left his head the moment he walked inside, let alone waiting for a venue that requires hats/caps to be removed. Anything is possible, but for most I have met, it is purely about modesty.

I love Sydney - the harbour, the foreshore, the beaches. We would happily live on the harbour, but the CBD is of little interest. It always had that distant fascination of the big smoke when I was a kid, and I spent some holidays there around the time the Opera House opened. The bridge has always been the main attraction for me, for Barb it is the walk from the ferry, through the Corso and Manly beach. My favourite walk is around the edge of the harbour from the Botanic Gardens over the bridge to Milson Point station, then past Lavender Bay and down to Macmahons Point to catch a ferry back to CQ. Ships give us plenty of excuses to spend time in Sydney, and we try to find another gem with each visit. Lots to explore yet.

We looked at the relocation on Discovery, but the extra days and duplicate ports around Singapore were a deterrent. Not to be too ambitious, but we do have 1/2 world cruise ending only a couple of months prior, and it also looks like a bunch of "old friends" might be going retro with a group cruise to PNG in November 2025. That pretty much resigns us to looking for a shortie on Discovery for the 25/26 season, so I just have a hold on 12th March.

I remember the NYE alternate. Newcastle was being readied with amenities & volunteers for the ship to dock for NYE, but a soon as a hint for Sydney Harbour was about, that idea was dropped in a flash. You did well, but it will never happen again - those who had paid for events on the shore and had the view from their annual event blocked by a cruise ship voiced their disapproval loudly. Yes, Champagne Bay is also an awesome spot, that is visited way too infrequently. It is these gems that are such a treat to land on the right side of the coin. Sadly, it seems that with so few alternate ports that the flip side is the norm. Since restart, there have been itineraries split, bugs on the hull, regular medivacs, operational changes around itinerary swaps for Isle of Pines, Mare, Rabaul. In most cases, it is hard to imagine an on the run change being better than the original schedule. We have been generally fortunate. We haven't missed many ports, and those have been mostly weather related. We have got lucky and not missed Milford Sound. We boarded QM2 in Sydney on the same day as the 1st big earthquake in Christchurch, so we scored Wellington instead. We had been to both already, so our plans of staying on the ship didn't change.

When I see a guy with a hat inside, I just presume that the rug is lifting and it is to save embarrassment. Just a bit of empathy 😉

The body language at 38:10 when Virgin is announced as probably their favourite - complete with a head shake and a loss of eye contact. I trust people do realise that vloggers get free cruises by only saying nice things about the ship they are sailing on. It may indeed be awesome, but these vlogs are just fizz. I will wait for you learned cruisers to pass-on your critiques.

Roma St?

Looks like this all ends well, and we are moving from a specific MD mini to a ME guarantee, keeping OBC. Was $6700 with plus, will now be $5750 still with plus. Well worth the effort. I love having an agent that takes his work home with him.