jspqld

Still moving ahead slowly is the Brisbane International cruise terminal. Hoping to be operational for the 2019-2020 season.

http://www.urbanalyst.com/in-the-news/queensland/4376-proposed-brisbane-international-cruise-terminal-moves-ahead-following-agreement-between-stakeholders.html

I think Brisbane is going to take the rest of Oz by surprise once this terminal starts getting built. I see it luring both a large RCI ship and possibly a new carnival ship to be based there most of the year. Brisbane is better geographically placed to the sth.pacific islands and northern qld. It can do 7 day turn around cruises easily, and will be conveniently placed right next to the airport. This will become a very busy cruise port.

Sydneysiders won't care for it, but for the rest of Oz that has to fly to embark a cruise it will make no difference whether they have to fly to syd or bne. Sure sailing out of Syd harbour is nice, but at the end of the day most passengers are on there to enjoy the cruise/ship. It's just a lucky bonus that the embarkation port is so pretty. The novelty soon wears off once you sail through the heads and hit cold, rough seas for the next two days as you make your way to the islands. Look at fort Lauderdale in America. It is only an hour up the road from the cruise capital of Miami, yet it hosts the largest ships in the world. There is an airport, oil refinery and shipping docks right next door to it. Not pretty, until you sail past the channel but it works and is very popular.

I see Brisbane having a similar impact on cruising in Australia, & I think RCI & Carnival both know this and are holding ships back until they get decent infrastructure in place.

the Stamford in Auckland is a nice hotel just up the street from the port. It has a nice indoor pool up on the higher floors as well.

I'd say that is almost impossible. I have disembarked a couple of cruises in Singapore and it is always a crazy shambles getting off the ship and then through immigration, etc, especially if the ship has stopped in Malaysia beforehand. They scan everyones luggage and carryon before leaving the arrivals hall. Ques everywhere. The last cruise there I think it took about more than an hour to get off the ship and we arrived at the airport after 10am and we had a mid afternoon flight.

In no traffic it might take only 20 mins to the airport, but 25-35 wouldn't be uncommon.

Most international flights prefer you to checkin at least 90 mins before so you would need to be there by 8am.

Singapore is a fabulous city, save the stress and spend a night there.

Otherwise maybe look at booking the flights through the cruise line. then it becomes their problem to get you home if you miss the flight.

Do you ever! We managed to get a Vista suite on a last minute booking that was cheaper than RCI were charging for an inside cabin on Ovation on a similar length cruise.

Yea I have often seen better deals on the Legend as opposed to the spirit which is here year round. I have twice sailed on the legend in a gt balcony for just over $100 pp per night as well as obc thrown in. One time we even scored a massive premium balcony.

Love the big ships and already cruised MSC once before, so yea would love to cruise on the new 180,000 tonner

Umm, I have sailed on various Carnival Ships & RCI Ships and like to cruise on both Lines. Both have advantages.

Although I grew up in Melb I wouldn't be a fan of cruising from there unless you were heading south. If you're going to the islands you could potentially waste more time and have more rough sea days to and from there.

RCI ships are a step up as in most of them are larger and have bigger and better designed facilities. Better overall décor and if you go on the larger ships you will get bigger entertainment productions on stage and as ice arena shows. The larger ships also have nicer lido decks.

If you consider an Ovation cruise, that is in a league all of it's own and can't be compared to any other ship in Aus.

I have often found carnival to have better overall food and service, their 24hr hand made pizza is pretty good lol.

The Carnival Legend was designed in the era of most of Carnivals other ships by a designer called Joe Farcus. Each has their own theme in the public areas and they are bold and in your face. Having said that after a day or two on board, it all starts to blend in rather well and you get used to it. The legend is based on famous legends of the world, eg, you will see a great big old photograph of Film Oscar legends. The cabins on carnival Legend do look older in design and colours. The Legend is very easy to navigate your way around and plenty of lifts to get you up and down quickly. Pricing is AUD and you sometimes get great deals on this ship.

If you're coming to Australia, drop bears will be the least of your problems! As scary as they can be, It's everything else that really try and kill ya

Thank you for the reply! That does indeed help. We have also read that you can't bring on the wine or champagne, but other on CC here say on cruise reviews that they have. We have been to Australia three times, so it will be fun to see again! This time without the kids!

Yes that's correct you can't bring on wine or similar on Carnival Oz ships. They are trying to adhere to Australian responsible drinking laws, so they don't sell drink packages either. Only soda packages and you can take on up to 12 cans of soda on board in your carry on.

So I am an Australian who has done cruises on both. Originally on carnival usa, then carnival oz and since both. I am still a gold member but have always had my points earned automatically regardless of where I am sailing from. On checkin they always have a gold card ready regardless of what country I'm sailing from. I have always received gold privaleges and on oz cruises we still have a party coz there isn't enough plat members. So I would say as they have told you, you will get all perks. I would bring some VIFP paperwork with you just in case. Maybe it might be different for citizens of the USA, I'm not sure. Carnival is still quite new in Oz compared to the US so there will be a lot of blue and red cruisers. Some of the staff at the Sydney OPT at ground level can take their authority a bit too serious at times, lol, so don't be too surprised if you do get caught in some lines. Maybe arrive their early before all the crowds set in.

So is the Queen Victoria and the Queen Elisabeth, ;)

Actually I think those two ships are more based on the carnival spirit class. The Concordia/splendor are larger. I remember being docked right next to the Victoria in Messina once while we were on the carnival freedom (similar-ish to splendor) and the Victoria definitely looked smaller and with the spirit class humps down the sides, etc.

I do feel sorry for P&O not getting a brand new ship. But I did a Mexican riviera cruise on the Splendor in 2011 and loved it. After you get over the initial pink theme, it starts to grow on you and it is quite a good overall ship. It has a great big double story main pool area with the retractable roof making it good for any weather by day and excellent for night time theme parties. For anyone that has been on the local carnival ships, you will certainly see the carnival similarities and crazy joe farcus designed themes. Being a bigger ship it has two mdr's, a slightly larger theatre with a band pit (if they still use it), better pool areas, another show lounge aft, and a few more things I can't think of right now. lol.

Personally I think P&O will be very lucky to get such a good large ship that will only be about 10 years old compared to the much older ones they usually get.

My first choice would be a stopover in Hawaii if you can get direct flight there from your home airport

2nd would be fly to LA and then to SYD or BNE or MEL. You could also stopover in Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti or NZ if you wish.

3rd would be direct Fortworth to syd. That's a very long time in a plane.

Of course price would have a lot to do with which one of the above I'd actually end up choosing!

If anyone is needing international flights in 2017 to match up with a cruise, now might be a good time to book with all the boxing day sales. I have had quite a few deals arrive in my inbox including flights to the USA and Europe for around $1000 each. I think most of the deals I saw were for flights up until around late May 2017 and on major airlines.

I know this feeling only too well. having got cancer 3 years ago insurance companies don't want to know me, even though I'm relatively fine now. One company may decide to cover you today, but not tomorrow and if they do it's expensive. I can spend days running around in circles till I find some cover. Try Tick and southern cross. I can't remember the name but if you do some googling there is a company that claims to cover all medical, but last time I did a quote with them it was in the thousands.

Build it and they will come.

Yep!

In this region of the world, we seem to have a total negative, re-active way of building things that are needed, rather than a pro-active way as seen in other parts of the world.

Anyone that has cruised the Caribbean or Med has seen the many concrete docks/ports used to tie up all size ships safely. Some of them have no fancy shops or shelter, but hey they work as far as getting passengers on and off quickly and safely. Authorities should be building these all around Australia and the Sth. Pacific.

Build it and they will come. !! Look at Dubai, they are on track to make more money from Tourism and innovative technology by 2025 than what they have ever made from Oil.

You might struggle to get Annual travel Insurance ever again. Most insurers prefer to look at each travel & medical condition as a cases by case basis and then determine if they will give cover or not and how much extra they will charge if they do. Be prepared for a lot of pages to fill out and phone calls trying to find what works for you.

I haven't done Jerusalem by cruise but I have stayed there overnight as part of a land based trip. I too would strongly recommend staying overnight. Inside the old walls there is still quite a lot going on after dark. many shops/stalls stay open late, as do some of the churches. Just outside the walls you can also find a few hotels (not cheap) and many places to eat both modern and old. We stayed at the YMCA which is a beautiful old restored building and a few minutes walk to the gates, but the rooms are basic and expensive.

Yes, it can happen anywhere. I was at fort Lauderdale and a guy grabbed one of our bags. I was about to freak out on him big time and then realised he was a porter and was just putting my bags onto a trolley for the ship. Ended up tipping him instead.

Had a similar thing happen to us in Selcuck Turkey a few years ago. Caught a Taxi from airport to hotel, dropped us off, and there were a few casually dressed men standing out the front near our taxi chatting like locals do. Suddenly one of them went to get our bags, we refused, he insisted and so did we. Anyway, a minute later we walked in rolling our own bags and this same man went and stood behind the counter to check us in. Turns out he was the owner of the hotel. He was really offended we didn't take his hospitality. We explained he looked like some local begger out on the street trying to make a quick tip.

all good and laughs in the end.

We've travelled to a few places across the globe including petty theft hot spots like Barcelona & Buenos Aires. In the past we have researched for hours on what to do and not do, to best protect ourselves. Maybe we have been lucky the past few years but we have never had a problem. We use a lot of common sense in our day to day travels and always try have eyes in the back of our heads. My first over seas trip in my late teens saw me have my wallet stolen in Bali. Sucked at the time, but many years of travel since has made me a lot more street smart, cultured and savvy so to speak.

If we are out on a shore exc we usually both wear pants/ shorts with many pockets. Always have pockets with tight fitting buttons or Velcro and always separate any cash, cards, etc across any available pockets. This way you might lose one card but not everything in your wallet. I sometimes carry my tamper proof satchel for bigger things and my wife usually carries her tamper proof bag, and across the shoulder.

had two cruises with him on equinox, he's one of the best!

We tried to go there once, but as mentioned no taxis to be seen. Then enquired about it within the terminal building and were told we had already missed the one and only bus going there that day. So maybe get off early if you want to see it. We were also told you need a French/English guide if you want to get the most out of it.

 

Is our reasoning faulty? An hours drive doesn't seem a lot when offset by the cost of the flights. Please let me know your thoughts or any error in our logic.

 

Thanks!

No you have not made a mistake. Many people choose to fly in/out of BNE rather than MCY as there is a greater selection of flights and often much cheaper, justifying the drive.

However, allow a lot more than hour for your drive. Especially the one back to the airport. On paper, the road trip might seem like an hour's drive. But in reality it is often much more than this. The motorway and highway you will be travelling on is constantly being upgraded with road works and there are often accidents slowing down traffic.

A great run takes about just over an hour, a bad run which does happen from time to time can take 2-3 hrs. Most Locals catching a BNE flight always allow 2-3 hrs drive just in case. Better to get to the airport early than miss your flight.

We have booked a cancellable reservation at Raffles Moolalaba. Has anyone stayed there or had personal information about the place?

 

We plan to fly into Brisbane and drive to this place (free parking). What is the best way to rent a car (not a tiny car--4 adults + luggage) in Australia?

 

Thanks to everyone who commented and we would still appreciate more comments/information.

I have not stayed there so can't comment on that building. But I live not far from Mooloolaba, and the location of those apartments is great. You have the beach a couple of mins walk across the road, although the sandy section starts about 5 mins walk away. Across from the building is also a major supermarket and the start of the esplanade where all your bars and eateries are. You can walk to everything you need within that area.

You can pre-book rental cars from BNE airport. All the majors are there.

Same annoying thing happened to me when we booked and sailed on a cruise earlier this year including two free perks at the time. I ended up booking through an agent at the time, and they ended up providing me with some sort of written proof that I did indeed have these perks (grats & drinks) and not to be charged for them. All worked out fine in the end, but would have been so much easier if my booking clearly reflected all of this info from the time of making the actual booking.

Had a look at Royals new sale this morning. Around Feb 2017 there seems to be a couple of 10 day cruises where you can get a J.S. for around the $1500 mark each plus $200 obc. Not to bad for suite!

Also noticed their updated booking engine now a bit similar to other Lines, giving you more options of choosing forward, aft or middle.

Recently sailed the equinox and loved it overall. Two of my fav areas are the solarium pool area, and the buffet - the layout of stations and food on offer is great.