Aussieflyer

Maybe your neck of the woods as well - though perhaps closer to the lake if you can hear Stage 88?

LOL - very droll. We are officially known as Realm Quarters 😂 It's a great neck of the woods to be though - doctor, dentist, chemist, physic. pathology, day hospital (all useful when one ages). Plus enough restaurants to keep us happy.

I was going to say Yarralumla but I am wondering if north of the lake now (owing to Stage 88 as we don't hear anything from there)? More clues please. For me, think of Realm Hotel and DFAT 😁

Oh we are watching Netflix and mercifully SBS has not gone all out with the monarchy so could catch the Le Vuelta race,. The ABC however has not had a regular news edition for the past 2 days. Things continue to happen in the world and while the passing of the monarch is important in many countries, the world does not stop.

Wow - Inner South? Great area to live. We can see PH out the windows in the apartment.

I actually didn't mean to take it up only - both ways is much easier.

I tell you, I am getting heartily sick of the wall to wall coverage

Wellington We have never taken a tour there - but have visited a few times - these are all non-tour type things you might like. Can walk to all except the last one. Te Papa Museum - https://www.tepapa.govt.nz The cable car goes up to the Botanical Gardens - https://wellingtongardens.nz/our-gardens/wellington-botanic-garden-ki-paekaka/ https://www.wellingtoncablecar.co.nz Have also been out to Zealandia - there is a complimentary bus but only a mini bus and far too many people to fit in - maybe a taxi? https://www.visitzealandia.com

I am not from Auckland but have visited numerous times, sometimes to board or disembark from a cruise. In those cases I stay near the terminal/waterfront so I am in walking distance and can just stroll off. Last time we stayed at the Sebel (https://www.thesebel.com/new-zealand/the-sebel-auckland-viaduct-harbour/) (older but close to lots of restaurants etc), also Sofitel (https://www.sofitel-auckland.com) or Mercure (https://mercure-queen-street.besthotelsauckland.com/en/). There is a new hotel at Britomart that I haven't stayed at before which looks like it could be good - https://thehotelbritomart.com. Best bet is to maybe look at a booking site and check out the map, then go to the websites of likely looking hotels.

It was one of the options on the debarkation questionnaire sheet left in the cabin a couple of days before cruise end - just tick it and they charge your stateroom account. If worried, certainly pop down to excursions and book with them. We had a debarkation tour booked but there were insufficient takers so it was cancelled. Went down to excursions on the day before we arrived back in Brisbane and booked the transfer. That was after we had sent back the debarkation sheet (when we did that, we hadn't been notified the tour was cancelled).

We have just had the 96 gun salute at Parliament House which we can see out our windows. Whilst I have a soft spot for her maj, don't forget there were less than glorious moments in the way the family she led treated others, and of course the enormous wealth held by her (with a fight at one stage not to pay tax or disclose what she owned). Not to be political but to temper the hagiography with some reality.

All the good times have gone by then. 🤣 bonox - you can get to the Choose arrival time page but when you look at the times, it will say "0 groups available" - the groups will show up at <60 days.

I thought it was not allowed to walk out of the terminal - oh hang on - these people were going in - still thought not supposed to. Re taxis - only one when we disembarked Coral in mid Aug at 9am. And no Princess transfer to the city, only the airport.

You must have been unlucky - we had a great table and no noisy neighbours. In fact we thought the ambience was better at Bayou than Sabatini's - guess it's the luck of the draw.

Yes, but $40pp additional for a 3 course meal is still within the ball park for what we pay here. People like different things and are prepared to pay or not for some things. I for one would never consider spending money in the casino or paying for photos whereas lots of others see these as fun things.

Felt the buffet was quite lacking when we were on - quality and choice just seemed below expected. We didn't eat there much, MDR was fine, just not wow. Like to do specialist restaurants as the food is often well above other onboard venues and in the scheme of things not a huge additional charge.

We went to both Bayou and Sabatini's on our recent 7 day QLD cruise - and TBH thought Bayou was better (noting of course it was more expensive),

They took new photos but we could leave glasses on - they used mine but my travelling companion had her old one still (the selfie from home) - who knows the mysteries of Princess😁

Thanks both Aus Traveller and OzKiwiJJ - I had a lingering thought that I had read the drink 'up to' amount had been reduced but pleased it is still $16. The cruise fare was showing in $A just not this bit - weird but then the Princess website can be a beast unto itself at times.

Can I just clarify - the Plus package I had on Coral last week included drinks up to $16 but when looking at some new cruises it is saying up to $12 (and when looking at my Crooners menu on the phone there is basically nothing in this range). Is this an error on the Princess site and they have quoted the $US or have the 'up to' prices declined? I am assuming the former.

I cancelled a couple and rebooked for different days - money was refunded to CC within a few days.

I didn't download the app to my iPad but got the hang of swapping devices by typing in the medallion net URL on the iPad and then connect this device - would automatically drop the phone. I am on Princess again in November so will probably load the app on the iPad this time as it would be easier I think.

The cruise director said there were only going to be about 500 or so on board for the leg but sounded rather low. And yes, they were to close the Universe Lounge and have crew activities there.

We had most of our pre-dinner drinks in Crooners. My friend likes sweet drinks only so a few times we asked the waiter to surprise us - and she was not disappointed. She enjoyed the Milky Way and also the Baileys Raspberry. On the last night they made her a Grasshopper! I prefer a bit less sweetness so the Sidecar was a good choice and also the Manhattan and Chairman of the Board. We did try quite a few over the week. LOL

Whilst that of course is your choice, the figures for deaths from COVID indicate that the countries with the lowest number per capita are Singapore, South Korea and Japan. These are countries with a strong mask presence either like Singapore with masks indoors mandated or Japan where mask wearing is common. Vaccination does not provide immunity and many people (me included) with 4 vaccinations have come down with COVID. Although not seriously ill, it certainly was not a walk in the park as they say and I was in bed for a few days, with lingering cough and fatigue for several weeks. Also, there would be immunocompromised passengers on board probably (we saw several people who looked like they were just finished chemo) and mask wearing in my opinion is a responsible way to help to protect them. I have had no issues with wearing a mask onboard (or on a plane) and I do wear one in shopping centres and other places where there are a lot of people.