Esilef

On a recent cruise we had my sons small suitcase go into the Brisbane river.

luckily I’d picked up tips on here. Such as laminate your suitcase tags. Only pack clothes in your suitcase. Medicines and electronics only go in your carry on bag. Carry a spare set of clothes in the others bag.

I burst out laughing when I was told to come to guest services. I found it funny and felt sorry for whom ever had to get it out of the water.

the cruise line wasn’t laughing with me but did everything they possibly could to resolve the situation. My sons clothes were all washed, dried and ironed that night and dropped off buy an apologetic person. He was just wearing his spare clothes and was none the wiser.

what benefit would it have gained me to be rude and nasty to the staff? None and I would have hated myself for it. Accidents happen and with this one it was sorted out very quickly. 

I did a cheapo Carnival Luminosa and really loved every second of it. Hard to believe it was a carnival ship. 
 

ATM I’m looking out for cheapo Christmas cruises to NZ as I’ve never been able to do or complete a cruise there.

when is my best time to look seriously? 

We missed our flight back to Melbourne due to our own fault and when I get credit cards thrown at me. I tend to book nice.

adina apartment hotel was loverly in Brisbane and such a great location.

We did the carnival Luminosa from the new passenger terminal in Brisbane.

we stayed at Novotel skygate which is right at the Factory outlet stores but has supermarkets, chemists, cafes and restaurants.

from Brisbane airport there is a free shuttle bus. We used this to get back to the airport and then take the train into the Brisbane city for some sightseeing. Loved the kids water park and all the gardens in Brisbane. Such a beautiful city.

the novel has a shuttle service that they arrange to take their guests to the port. I think it was about $40 pp?

On 4/10/2023 at 7:18 PM, resordanis said:

Currently on Ovation and we will miss Wellington tomorrow. We have already missed Dunedin.,I understand from someone on board that Majestic missed 3 NZ ports this week. Seems to be a pattern this cruise season with bad weather unfortunately.

we were on the Sydney to Auckland majestic princess cruise. We only had 1700 and 700 got off at Auckland.

we were meant to visit Tauranga, the bay of islands and then Auckland. We missed all and stayed on the ship looking into Auckland. We did get a helicopter emergency visit for a passenger.

majestic Princess is a beautiful ship but what makes this ship special is its staff.

Adirondack trains travel daily between New York City and Montreal. Total trip time is about 10 hours, with many stops in upstate New York. Very scenic, it’s a popular train ride for viewing fall foliage, traveling to wineries and visiting Lake Champlain. 
 

you could fly into New York and then take the Adirondack train to Montreal, spend time there and then catch a flight to Vancouver.

The other thing to do is to sign up for the “typical” Australian email newsletters where travel agents sell their tours. My father managed to get a very good bus trip from Calgary to Vancouver on one of these. Date was selected as it allowed for a week in Vancouver prior to the 2 week cruise. he is doing 4 nights in Calgary prior to the land tour because of jet lag and Calgary allows for some world class day trips.

We have booked this exact same cruise but In July 2023. Flying from Melbourne we have noted that flights are just coming up for this time next year.

my father and brother are doing a bus tour from Calgary. The flights over stop in Vancouver and then you can catch a connection to Calgary. Once the 10 day bus trip is over they will spend a week in Vancouver. I will meet them there before the cruise.

the reason we wanted the 14 day repeat port cruise as this will give us time to really see what we want to. Having a look at the tours there is plenty of options that we love.

just be aware that June/July is a busy time over there as it can be the kids summer holidays. 
 

there is some great specials at the moment and as it’s on your bucket list, seriously think about doing a part land tour with the trains. 
 

we are flying out of Vancouver via Japan. 

Actually I’m already planning on travelling and WFH or travel locations. We have already proved that we can wfh and I think this will make travel and cruising more flexible with work. Just as long as there is a balance between travel & work.

18 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

23 night Transpacific from Seattle to Sydney on Carnival Splendor sailing on 6th September 2022. Interior cabin from $1,716pp on the Australian Carnival website. That’s less than $75/night!

can you Work from home on a cruise ship? Asking for a friend……..🤔

Well we ended up booking these cabins as we needed two obstructed cabins side by side and the obstruction doesn’t seem too bad. If the noise is too bad from the theatre we will just have to go and watch the shows or take ear plugs.

I just want to be on a cruise ship. It’s the only place I can really relax.

Just looking at booking an Alaska 14 night cruise July 2023.

is it true that we have to use our Princess credits by the end of August 2023

?

we are looking at booking the grand Princess in obstructed ocean view rooms e211 & e209. Are these any good? Any very special (affordable) cabins on that ship we should aim for?

the 3 for free offer looks good

Those prices make our princess cruise in October 2022 look cheap! I might have to get all poshed up at those prices.

BTW prior to going to New Zealand last school holidays I got AstraZeneca and I’m not dead.

William aged 12 will get his first Pfizer next week under the children’s additional needs category.

Let’s face it, SloMo can’t arrange, anything so it’s up to us to talk to our doctors and get vaccinated when we can be.

as for the anti vaxxers, I don’t want them next to me at the bar on a cruise ship so they can’t just stay at home and isolate whilst we all enjoy our lives

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

They could also be limiting the number of cabins they are currently selling in each category. I suspect when cruising does recommence there will be restrictions on the number of passengers for quite some time. Plus cruises for that period this year have been cancelled and Princess offered move-overs to equivalent cruises next year.

That may also explain why this cruise is so much more expensive than I’m used to paying. $1500 for an inside for 7 nights. 
 

is it worth getting the princess premier package with alcohol drinks and internet?

Oh yes, we will go with the Grand Suite!

we are actually doing a European river cruise 2 months after this, so we’re hoping to get out of this “cheaply”

it seems that this 8 day cruise from Auckland to Sydney then 2 nights to Melbourne has been popular as a lot of the good cabins have gone.

we might just stick with the inside for myself and my son and let grumpy grandad have the extended balcony cabin directly opposite our room. 
 

what’s the worst that could happen? It could be cancelled again.

We are about to put out credits onto a 8 night grand princess cruise in October 2022.

as I have learned on here, not all cabins are created equally.

so is there any hidden gem cabins on the grand princess. I’m talking extra large balconies or cheap and cheerful cabins with something special.

I have already discovered the 4 window cabins at the back of the ship but they are sold out for this cruise but are available for the repositioning cruise straight after which we will do to Melbourne.

currently have a cookie cutter inside and a balcony on deck 10. Yes the extra sized balcony.

7 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

sick of the uncertainty and the cancelations.

 

Even our meeting on Ovation was brief,it was a great cruise.
Thinking of you ,your dad and brother.

 

It was a fantastic cruise and great to meet you.

let’s hope when cruises start again all of us on this forum can have a meet up and a couple of drinks.

1 hour ago, Elorac123 said:

That’s a bit rude ! Would not dream of asking a visitor to my country if they were vaccinated 

Cheers Carole 

People seemed very happy to hear that we were. 

6 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

That’s it give it back to the Princess cruisers.

Hows the family going?

Family and I are land sick! Need a good cruise with a cocktail package. Hope your family is all surviving the great cruise draught 

We have princess credits.
 

Just wondering if these have expiry dates?

Can you use them on Cunard cruise or any of the other groups lines or must they be princess cruises?

if you decide not to use these credits, can you give them to other members of your family?

looking at Europe 2023 but really have no idea if we will ever get there

On 7/16/2021 at 1:18 PM, NSWP said:

I have no problems with female Captains on RCI or any other cruise line.  Bug will like the new ship.lol.

Don't think Wonder of the Seas will ever be in Australia, well perhaps in 2040 when she is getting a bit ancient for the Americans, lol.

Oh yes 2040 the year Australia might start cruises again…..

We just managed to get into Auckland from Melbourne. 
 

travel in Australia & New Zealand at the moment is very risky as boarders shut constantly.

in Auckland we stayed at the oaks apartments in the nightclub area a short walk to the viaduct. It was great having a washing machine and cooking facilities but I’d prefer to stay right in the viaduct area.

some hotels do have builders fences around them, so works are taking place.

I very much doubt that we will see cruiseships in the Australia/New Zealand region for at least another year and a half. When we do they may choose to only to allow residents of the boarding city on the ship ie only people from Sydney on one cruise if they have no cases and the crew would have been quarantined.

the Australian government is going to be extremely hard on cruise ships after how badly they stuffed up the ruby princess.

New Zealand is also still dealing with the aftermath of the ovation of the seas.

talking to people in New Zealand and we were asked about being vaccinated and told them that we were. They have worked extremely hard to stop coronavirus and they seem happy to have tourists but would prefer them to be vaccinated.

The Australian government has totally stuffed up the vaccination role out and is continuing to do so. New Zealand has done far better.

My question is with the vaccines. 
 

Do you think cruise lines in the future will be able to enforce the vaccine mandate that all crew and passengers are vaccinated? 
 

At the moment those whom are most at need are being vaccinated and this is not the demographic of cruise ship employees.

also we seem to have a world where different vaccines are being used, some are researched as being more effective than others.

this said will the cruise lines and the Australian boarder force be able to state for those cruising or entering this country or New Zealand, that vaccine xyz is required.

Should travel companies be able to purchase vaccines when supplies are available and have travellers vaccinated and approved before travel.

BTW I am still planning my river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam in December this year. APT is holding all our money as credit. If that doesn’t go ahead we will keep moving the river cruise forward.

I would be really happy to book a coastal viewing cruise even if the ship doesn’t stop anywhere. The Australian coast is spectacular. 
 

We just did Hobart and what a beautiful place it was. The food and wine is some of the best in the world. Tasmania really is a hidden gem. 
 

that said I would be happy to cruise from Melbourne to Tasmania.