wynkys

I have just booked Queen Elizabeth's seven night Tasmanian cruise out of Melbourne in December2022.

This will be my fifth journey with Cunard with the first seventy years ago and the others spaced out over the

years/

In August 1952 I was on the Georgic crossing to New York then in 1979 on the QE2 in conjunction with the

Concorde. In 2004 I travelled with my mother on QM2's inaugural crossing which left Southampton on what

was my 60th birthday. Then in New York we transferred to QE2 for the first tandem  crossing back to

Southampton.

So, I have been travelling Cunard as long as Her Majesty has been on the throne.

Thank you all!

On a recent Symphony sailing, I noticed that a discounted package was being offered on embarkation.

Is this a common practice across the fleet?

Thank you for all your informative reporting and good fortune for the future.

What an adventure for you to relive whilst in isolation.

n

I have just returned from the Sydney return cruise 17 Nov and I started a separate thread entitled 'Live from Explorer Dream' and I made my last comment earlier today.

I was off the ship just before 8am and after finding out in the terminal that the only available transport option was a taxi, I took one to Central Station and I am now facing a four hour wait for my flight to Melbourne.

I used points for my flights and whilst I was hoping to change to an earlier flight, that wasn’t possible to arrange at check-in due to the Frequent Flyer rep. not being available. So, I’m stuck.

 My final thoughts on the cruise are that the whole onboard dynamic changed after Brisbane. A far livelier crowd boarded there and as most were only on for the two nights to Sydney, they were out to have a good time. The staff attitude also changed

and, amongst other things, people were suddenly seated with others for dining.

Because of the user unfriendly terminal in Sydney, if I was to do the cruise again, I

would consider the round trip from  Brisbane as the better option.

12 hours ago, Janet&Carl said:

 

 

I am taking my elderly mother for her (probably) last cruise.  She is a cruising fan but is nearly 90.  We wanted something closer to home because long haul flights would be too much.  I'm glad you found your feet already and you sound like you are starting to enjoy yourself.  We join her on 1 December for a similar itinerary to you with our first stop being Newcastle.

 

Overall, it is a good product, however, the cruise line needs to iron out its shoreside operations as the use of the White Bay terminal in Sydney is not very user friendly and I have just had it confirmed by the front desk that the only transport options on arrival tomorrow are taxis.

My opinion of this ship and it’s offerings improved immeasurably yesterday after I finally conquered the dining options.

Last evening I had a very nice meal in the Chinese dining room, The Pavilion, and followed that by attending the first of several production shows. The performance overall and the stage effects were of Broadway standard.

I then went to The Palm Court Lounge for superb music and dancing - a great evening all round.

This post will cover embarkation in Sydney.

The ship was berthed at the White  Bay facility which meant that it sailed under the Harbour Bridge on departure.

I flew up from Melbourne that morning and I had researched online how to get to the terminal from  Circular Quay after getting there by train from the airport.

Captain Cook Cruises run a ferry service from the Quay to White Bay, however, it was only once I arrived that I found out that they don’t run the service on a Sunday, which, of course is turn-round day for Explorer Dream.

A $30.00 taxi ride later, I arrived at the ship only to find out that at check-in, the system wouldn’t recognise my photo ID. Once on board, I found that my interior cabin on Deck 8 was perfectly adequate.

The ship is well-appointed with friendly and efficient staff.

Hi,

We are just completing our first sea day since leaving Sydney last Sunday and having visited Newcastle yesterday.

This is one of Dream Cruiseline’s initial cruises on its first deployment to Australian waters.

It is, obviously, still working out what appeals to Australian customers and we are currently sailing with a mix of local and Asian guests and are well below capacity with around 900 paying guests.

I am travelling on my own and am finding the lack of traditional bars with lounge areas serving drinks and the open dining arrangement where you are seated with whoever you arrive with, not

conducive to meeting other passengers and I find that I am drinking and eating on my own.

I intend to continue to report regularly for the remainder of the seven day cruise with my developing opinions.

Thank you for your reports to date and I look forward to your future ones.

I visited Antarctica with Ponant (Le Boreal) Christmas/New Year 2010/11 and it remains

one of the highlights of my travels.

What a great outcome!!

Hi,

I went through the Suez Canal way back in 1952 whilst traveling with my family to the US via the UK.

As an eight year old I remember standing at the ship's rail and watching grown men along the banks waiting for our ship to

pass and as it was a British ship and we were in the middle of the Suez Crisis, they would drop their trousers and turn with their back to our ship and defecate to show their disrespect. I couldn't believe that I was watching adults behave that way.

Can anyone enlighten me as to what the current prices across the bar are for a Chivas Regal and ice and a glass of red wine, say Merlot, are?

Thank you.

Hello All,

I have read this thread with great interest as I have a soft spot for Seabourn after

only one cruise with them.

I was lucky enough to be able to visit Antarctica and Environs over Christmas and New Year

2010/2011 on an A&K charter on the French ship Le Boreal and it truly was a once in a

lifetime experience.

Anywhere on Seabourn would be fine by me, however, accommodating four hundred

people for landings would be a real challenge from my limited experience.

I wish all well who will sail on Quest, however, from my point of view, do not seriously

consider any itinerary that does not include South Georgia Island as that is where you

will truly experience all the wonderful wildlife that the Sub-Antarctic offers.

Wayne

I have gratefully received a coupon thank you.

Wayne

Hi,

I am booked on the Pride 22May10 and would appreciate receiving a coupon please.

I am contactable at wkeys1atvirginbroadbanddotcomdotau

Thank you,

Wayne

Hello to All,

I have just booked and paid in full my first Seabourn cruise. It is the 22nd May from Beijing to Hong Kong.

I live in Australia and would appreciate receiving a referral coupon from someone please.

I can be contacted at wkeys1 at virginbroadband dot com dot au.

Thank you,

Wayne

Donald,

There is a Labour Day holiday here in Australia but as originally with the railway gauges ,it was hard to agree on a mutually acceptable date. This year, for example, Labour Day was celebrated on 5 March in Western Australia, 12 March in Victoria, also 12 March in Tasmania but referred to there as Eight Hours Day, 7 May in Queensland, also 7 May in the Northern Territory but referred to as May Day and 1 October in New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. So go figure!

Referring to the previous discussion on differences in language, years ago I went to Club Med on Bora Bora and one day attended a body painting competition. Contestants were paired off and an American girl had an Australian fellow painting her. There was a time limit imposed and the Australian fellow was doing very well until his partner screamed to him to paint a target on her 'fanny'. This term in Australia has almost the exact diametrically opposed meaning to that in the States and the memory of the look of shock and confusion on the Aussie's face remains with me to this day.

Ruby, I am thoroughly enjoying the report of your trip and look forward to the remaining episodes.

Wayne

Hello Graham & All,

This part of the night shift is reporting in. I'm still monitoring the thread and like everyone else am eagerly awaiting Ruby's review.

Wayne

Graham,

For the tandem crossing departure from New York, QM2 left the dock first and then anchored in the harbour and then we on QE2 joined her for a fireworks display around Liberty before we led the departure under the Narrows bridge.

On the crossing, we sailed within easy sight of each other all the way and at noon each day the ships switched sides. We got within a couple of hundred yards of each other when the RAF took photos the day before we arrived. Ian McNaught, the captain on QE2, took great delight each day in his announcement pointing out where the 'car ferry' was in relation to us.

QM2 arrived just before us at Southampton early morning.

All in all a memorable trip, as yours should be.

Wayne

Apart from the QE2, none of the more modern ships that I have sailed have any elegant external lines, however, their internal accomodations can be pleasing. I was not impressed with Silversea's service and overall ambience but their Silver Suites are very nice. As an overall cruising experience, I found Celebrity's Infinity to be very good and the dining experience in their speciality restaurant, the SS United States, was exemplary, without doubt the best dining experience I have had at sea.

Overall, a ship that I really enjoyed was P&O Cruises Sea Princess on which I had a two week South Pacific cruise in 1988 that concluded with us anchored near the Sydney Harbour Bridge for Australia's Bicentennial celebrations. It was a nice size and built along classical lines and I see that it is still sailing today as The Scholar Ship.

By the time we sailed on the Georgic it was well past its best days and sailing as one class it was really just there to take the overflow from the Queens.

Wayne

Graham: Stratheden was a P&O ship which took part in the North Africa landings and did a few Transatlantics but was used principally on the Australia run. Cunard inherited Georgic from White Star and it had been reclaimed after being bombed during the war and you could see the warping in the passageways as a result. Aorangi belonged to the New Zealand Shipping Company and our trip was one of the last it did.

I have 1250 scale models of the Stratheden, the Aorangi and the QM2 and am constantly amazed at their relative sizes.

I'm not aware of the Earnslaw.

Donald: The crossing on the Georgic was in 1952 and the only other Australians on board were some members of our Olympic team returning from Helsinki to their colleges in the US.

Wayne

Hello to All,

I have enjoyed reading this thread and check in regularly to catch up.

The mention of the Galileo revived memories for me. As a student at Sydney University in the mid-Sixties, I was always looking for novel ways to travel home to Melbourne and one time travelled First Class on the Galileo. It was a two day trip and because it was the beginning of the return trip, there was a traditional send off from Sydney for those Europe bound with lots of streamers and tears. Even with my short time on board, it was a very nice ship and the meals were memorable.

Twelve years earlier I had sailed with my mother and grandparents from Melbourne on the Stratheden bound for the US via England and partly because we only lived a short distance from the pier, we had what many of the crew maintained was the largest Bon Voyage party any of them had seen. After a month in London where we were on standby for either of the Queens, we finished up doing the Transatlantic on the Georgic.

We eventually returned home across Canada by train and then on the Aorangi across the Pacific.

I did some cruises in the Pacific and Asia in the Seventies and then while working in the US for a couple of years, I flew Concorde to London and returned to New York on the QE2. In recent years I have sailed NCL around Hawaii, Celebrity's Infinity through the Panama, Princess to New Zealand, Silversea's Silver Shadow to Asia and I celebrated my 60th birthday with my mother when we took the Orient Express to Southampton and the QM2's inaugural to New York. We then finished it off taking the QE2 back to Southampton on the Tandem Crossing.

All wonderful memories.

Wayne

Hi Susiesails,

Good to see you posting again as you have been missed.

I certainly hope that your health issues are being resolved.

All the best,

Wayne