Busy Mum

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Happy Easter to all. May chocolate bunnies nd eggs be showered upon you.

Personally I prefer a block of Old Gold Rum and Raisin.

 

Agree Mic, this is one very tasty chocolate! Happy Easter to all. 🐥😀

2 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

Vicki, you are correct. They are not included in the price.  120 days prior to the cruise you may book them. The cost is not charged to your Credit Card.  It will be charged to your on board account.  They allow for cancellations and the tickets you receive on board will reflect when the excursion must be cancelled by in order to avoid a charge.

 

There is no silly or dumb question.  The only one that fits that category is when someone does not ask.

 

I hope you give Crystal a try.  We enjoy it greatly.

 

Keith 

Hi Keith. Firstly, thank you so very much for your quick and detailed reply, it's very much appreciated. I am very pleased that the tours are not charged to your Credit Card before we get onboard and allows for cancellations, if that is needed.

Yes, Crystal does look wonderful, now to look further into their itineraries, fingers crossed!  Keith, do you know when Crystal will release their 2026 itineraries? I do see the 2026 World Cruise has been released but nothing else in 2026.

Thanks again, Vicki. 🙂 

• Good afternoon, I have a very quick question.  Firstly, we have not cruised with Crystal before, but we are very interested as their itineraries and their ships look wonderful.  Now, my question is: are the excursions included in the price? From what I am reading I do feel the answer is no.  Thank you for any assistance you can give me, and I do apologise for the 'silly question'.

Vicki. 🙂 

27 minutes ago, Liz1024 said:

That would be good, thanks. Trish 👍

No worries Trish. 😄

1 minute ago, Liz1024 said:

Hi Busy Mum. The reason I posted was that it was announced that both Virgin and Norwegian cruise lines had cancelled their Australian cruises. As I am travelling from the UK to join my cruise I wanted to know if Cunard had any plans to change their schedule. Carnival, who own Cunard, were reported to be considering their schedules.

Hi Liz1024. Oh yes, I have heard about the season being cancelled from Virgin, thats very disappointing! I don’t recall hearing about Norwegian & I certainly hope Cunard don’t cancel their 2025/26 Aus cruises. Cunard have said they won’t home port here, I think after 2025/26, which again is such a shame. If I hear any Cunard news, I’ll let you know. Vicki, 😄

14 hours ago, Liz1024 said:

I am due to sail with QE on a circumnavigation of Australia in Oct 24. Does anyone think this Cunard cruise will be affected by the latest cancellations with Carnival line?

Hi Liz1024. We are looking at a sector of this cruise. I’m a little confused, what cancellations are you talking about. Vicki 😄

58 minutes ago, jrmende63 said:

I am interested in a voyage on Queen Anne (H616) that goes on sale March 7  for WC members. My question is: I have a WC number issued to me for our upcoming cruise this fall on Queen Anne; so I want to know can my TA book for me on the 7 March because I have a WC number? Or because I have not sailed until October of this year, does he need to wait until the Open sales on Non WC members. 

Great question, I’m wondering the exact same! 
 

Vicki. 😀

56 minutes ago, MylesS said:

I'm unsure if it's different on the Cunard AU website, but here in the UK we are able to see the minimum deposit amount on the accomodation section of the voyage page.

If that doesn't show, a good "rule of thumb" is to take 15% of the cruise fare as the deposit amount.

Thanks so much MylesS, I’ll have another look. The cruise we have booked was on a sale & the deposit was 5%, not that I ever thought it would be that low! Thanks again. 
 

Vicki. 😀

Good morning all. Just wondering if anyone can tell me please what the deposit would be for a sector of the world cruise on Queen Anne, in 2026? I’ve just booked our first Cunard cruise for later this year, a 5 day cruise, our very first Cunard cruise & very much looking forward to it. We are in Australia, if that makes any difference in regards to the deposit required. 🤔

Thank you for any assistance you can offer. 
 

Vicki. 😀

4 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

It will not let me log on...

No, it’s gone again…super frustrating. Saying ‘scheduled maintenance’, will come back to it later. 🤦‍♀️

Spoke to soon, it’s back up but I can’t search any cruises. 😳

It’s back up! 😀👍

Same here, east coast of Australia & it’s 8.30am Wednesday where I am. 🤷‍♀️ 

17 minutes ago, Kristelle said:

 

 

we are doing this exact trip but in reverse - ie Siem Riep to HCMC -  in January next year.

 

Will look out for any information you post about it.

 

 

 

I’ll let you know how we go Kristelle, looking forward to it. 😀

5 hours ago, sayaguru said:

No need to get Reil. Everything has both prices, $US and Riel. If you pay with US$ you get change in Riel close to the current rate.

Just pend that when you get a bit. . Bring small US$ notes to make it easier. 

Thank you Sayaguru. 😄

31 minutes ago, dazadelaide said:

We used $US everywhere in Cambodia.

It was the preferred currency over the Riel even in markets.

Just make sure you have new bills with no rips or damage of any type.

It's strange that $US has to be pristine but if you do have any Riel they will accept it no matter how dirty or damaged it is! 

Thank you.  I've got some 'left over' US$ and I better make sure they are in excellent condition.  How odd they will accept the Riel, regardless of it's condition. 

34 minutes ago, buchhalm said:

Unrelated, but:

Get a bunch of those clip on koala things from a gift shop here.  They usually come in 6 to 10 packs and are cheap as chips.

The kids ( and adults) in Cambodia (and Vietnamese too) are falling over themselves with excitement if they are gifted one.

We usually have one clipped on to our backpack or jacket. People are so happy if we give it away.

 

Thats a great idea and I'll certainly get myself a couple of packs, thanks for the idea, much appreciated. 🙂 

30 minutes ago, resordanis said:

We did a cruise just prior to Covid and we were in Cambodia. All the places we went to during our tours took US dollars, in fact it was preferred. Might be different in Markets, but small shops took US.

Thank you, thinking it’s going to be the US$. 🙂

18 minutes ago, buchhalm said:

Wifey took a school group there.

USD were accepted everywhere. The USD 100 worth of local currency (exchanged at the airport) remained virtually untouched and given to charity at the end of the trip.

Thank you. 

50 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

There are some currency places around Canberra, in the city and also , Belconnen, Tuggernong and Woden. Often attached to an Australia Post shop.

Awesome, thanks so much Mic. 😄

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

I can't help specifically, except that $US is preferred in the hotels, and the riel is best for local bits & pieces, street eats and small purchases.

 

One of the big chain T/A's handles miscellaneous currency, where we have got XPF in the past, but I don't know if they convert to riel.

Thank you. 

Hi all.

Hubby and I are taking a Scenic River cruise from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap in Apri and I am starting to think about what currencies we will need.  The Vietnamese Dong is easy, but the Cambodian Riel seems to be not so.......

Where is the best place is to get our Cambodian Riel?  I've had a quick look online and it's certainly not a common currency and, in some places, it does not even appear!  I've also checked out Smartraveller and it says, 'take enough US dollars to cover expenses'.  Surely it would be better to have the Riel, and I would prefer to have all our currencies beforehand.

Any assistance would be really appreciated.  I've done a search on here and cannot find anything, sorry if this has already been discussed elsewhere but I cannot find it!

Thanks heaps - Vicki. 🙂 

On 11/15/2023 at 10:55 AM, Lirio said:

I am considering Le Laperouse for Kimberly in 2024. Any comment would be great.

Good morning Litio & apologies for my slow reply. 
 

My husband & I have an absolutely wonderful time on Le Laperouse, the ship is stunning & hopefully we will get the opportunity to sail on her again. We had the entry level cabin on Deck 3 & it was perfect. There was a separate toilet from the bathroom which was great & there was plenty of storage for our clothes. The food was amazing & the included drinks were great.

The Kimberley is an amazing place to visit, it’s natural beauty, it’s pristine waters & the remoteness of the area is truly incredible. We saw lots of lots of bird life & marine species which is of great interest to us both. We did go out on Zodiacs & getting in & out of them was challenging for some people. The staff were amazing at helping us all, nothing was ever too much trouble for any of them.  
 

If there is anything in particular you would like to know please let me know. We would highly recommend this cruise, to everyone! 

Vicki. 😀

On 11/7/2023 at 5:11 AM, island lady said:

I called to talk to one of the reps from customer service to ask if they would be doing this route for 2026.   She had no answer.  Would love to do that one, would be for our 30th anniversary.  🙂  

 

But we would also like to add on to stay for one more round through Alaska, from Vancouver northbound. 

My Husband and I are also very keen to look at this cruise 2026.  Does anyone have any ideas when the 2026 cruises will be released?  We have not cruised with Viking but are very keen to give them a try.  We have cruised a lot with Princess, several with Celebrity and we just recently cruised The Kimberly with Ponant.  Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Vicki. 🙂 

@Pudgesmom @jpalbny Thank you both so much for your comments & pictures, it’s greatly appreciated. Hubby & I could not fault our very first cruise with Ponant, we throughly enjoyed the Kimberly, it was just perfect. We certainly hope to be able to cruise with Ponant  again & hopefully in the not too distant future. 
 

Vicki. 😄