dreams_of_travel

Oops. FWIW I'm only "fight fire with fire" after I have politely asked them to be less loud, or to use headphones.

Same! Or I find the most obnoxious music on my phone, and blast it. When the other person asks me to be quiet, I reply that I couldn't hear MY music over their loud conversation. 😛 Recently I've heard announcements on airlines that include to please USE your headphones so as not to disturb your fellow passengers. I am not sure why this even needs to be said! and yet here we are. 😞

My last few cruises in Aqua class, and dining in Blu were meh! at best. Once I discovered I could order off of the MDR menu, or even the kids menu, I was much happier about my food options. I didn't hate everything, but some of their creative choices were not appealing to me. To answer the main OP's question: No, I would not pay for Blu, and unless the pricing was superior to Concierge I probably wouldn't book Aqua class again. YMMV

I just did this trip to the Blue Mountains last month. It was lovely. We did not get the Scenic World pass or visit due to some things being closed/temp out of service. But we did use the HoHo Bus Explorer, and hiked a good bit along the trails for views of the Three Sisters, waterfalls, and other vistas. It was peaceful hiking, Leura was lovely with all the little shops. We did not explore Katoomba on arrival by train but jumped straight away onto the HoHo. I would go back to explore Katoomba, especially the street art area, and galleries. YMMV

Thank you @possum52 for that info. I obviously need to do some more research. @beatleman Good info. I had no idea about getting to that location. Will have to work out the details. Or go with another tour plan instead of this subject. @PerfectlyPerth I think I had found that about the horse touring, but I'm not sure that would work for me. Love horses, but not as fit as I used to be. I will see if they offer another tour option. But of course as mentioned above getting to Mansfield could be an issue. I posted the question, and got great info back. Now to keep researching. Thank you!

I'm doing some research for a tentative cruise in 2025. The cruise ends in Melbourne, and part of our planning discussion was about trying to see the area/s from the movie The Man from Snowy River. Has anyone done a similar day trip or a few days trip based on this? I have found (via google) at least one company that does something along these lines. One was a horse adventure, another a long day trip. I appreciate any info the lovely Aussies in this forum could pass along.

I was able to buy 3 cards today, but had weirdness with it letting me submit the order. Somehow the page had not properly loaded, and would not process/submit it. I ended up backing out to previous page, (checking card info, and order amount), and then going forward again before the purchase finally started going through.

Be aware that sometimes Princess is a PITA if you don't book the hotel through them, and hope to get on their shuttle. I've had issues catching a cruise out of LA using their shuttle when I booked my own hotel using points. I ended up having to Uber to the port instead b/c "there wasn't room for independent bookings" 🙄 YMMV

Excellent advice. I am not a fan of others pressuring me (or anyone) to get the package/s. It is very personal, and one has to make the choice based on their own. I was very pro package purchase before the changes. Three of my upcoming cruises were booked under the old system, and one next fall is cruise only. I am just fine with pay as I go now, mostly b/c it is a whole lot cheaper than paying for things I would not use (hello fitness classes on a cruise LOL!). YMMV

The upside to having applied for a ETA Visa last October definitely made applying again this October a breeze. My passport info was the same, so all I had to do was update the arrival address, and answer the questions. I did not have to scan in my passport again, which was a pita last year. I certainly did not plan my trips down under very well, so I get to apply again next year. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I'm missing that window by 3 weeks. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The correct name of the excursion: Otago Harbour Wildlife Cruise

I took a Dunedin Wildlife Harbour cruise in January. I did enjoy it, and we did see a bit of wildlife, plus I love being out on the water on a smaller ship. It was not a long excursion, not expensive either (under $100). It allowed me time to go into town after the harbour trip, and enjoy walking a bit on my own.

Yes, two times out of the three there was a meal. Once it was champagne brunch, the other was a lovely dinner.

I've been fortunate to have gotten to go the Magic Castle 3 times. It is truly an experience that can't be described. The close up magic room is amazing, and you really cannot see how they do their tricks even sitting at the table. This sounds like it would be a fun experience on a cruise, but nothing can match the atmosphere of the old Victorian mansion. YMMV

Hope by the time the ship gets to Melbourne that the Lotus pool will be open.

Did anyone else notice the very low volume music being played through the whole webinar? I found it annoying b/c who needs background music during a discussion. Perhaps they thought it made it seem like they were more accessible/regular people just having a nice chat. LOL! Overall it was very polished, and did address some of the concerns I've seen on this forum. What I thought was a bit nuts was them trying to sell the All Included as people only want drinks, and wifi. As if you don't have to pay gratuities at some point, or what? One of the reasons I have avoided HAL is how they don't ever (that I've seen recently) include gratuities in their All Included pricing. FWIW Princess has changed their All Included too, and for one cruise next year, I booked cruise only b/c of their new pricing, and my roommate does not drink, so both people having to get the All Included is just dumb. Oh well, I have no Celebrity cruises on my horizon, so their new strategy is moot for me now. YMMV

Here's a link I found that doesn't have a paywall: https://hawaiinews.online/boynton-area-couples-travel-nightmare-thanks-to-australias-new-rule/ I had no idea that was a thing, but it is of note for future travel. I do have to wonder why Australia wouldn't require sufficient travel insurance to help offset any health care costs for those over 75. I understand that health care may be a limited resource for residents, and visitors could impact that, but something to fund that issue could work. I would like to see the statistics on how many over 75 visitors need health care on their trips based on the year.

Here's another write up/how to do this trip on your own: https://sydneyexpert.com/blue-mountains-itinerary-by-train/ @Tedferg when are you planning on your trip? If all goes well, I should be doing this train trip from Sydney in November after my cruise.

The problem with picking up at port is the super long, slow moving lines. I was cruising out of Vancouver last month, and it took us almost two hours to get through the line to pick up our medallions. They didn’t separate the lines into groups either. It was just one huge line. Perhaps this was just how it is in Vancouver, so YMMV. I’d prefer if they would automatically refund the charge for those with status, or particular package on the booking.

Very true. I was just annoyed at the snails pace, but yes emails had to be exchanged, and followup with the various departments. It did tie up a bit of OBC money, but in the end all the excursions were full, so a bit of moot point by then. yikes, tracking our every movement. all for the marketing, and monetizing departments. LOL!

Put the hotel address for the first night stay as your contact. If they have questions, have your future stay info on hand (cruise ship, other hotels). I have flown in a few times to Australia, each time for a cruise, and I have used the hotel info for the first night (or two), and have not had a problem yet.

Yesterday I did finally get this resolved. The Guest Services person who was working on it called me to let me know it was taken care, and the charge removed. Still have no idea why it took them almost 4 days to clear it up, but I'm happy they followed up with me.

Not medallion related per se, but on the first evening, before dinner I noticed a charge for $108.xx for telephone use. I went down to Guest Services to get the charge removed b/c why would I use the cabin phone to make a 10min phone call when we were still in port, and I could use my mobile phone. That was two days ago, they're are still investigating. *rollseyes* I went to guest services again today, they are still working on it. At least I am on a 10 day cruise. 😛

My cruise is a 10day.

I went back and looked at my bid confirmation email. Correction: I put a $300/person bid on standard balcony, premium balcony, and mini suite. I lucked out with the mini suite.