GCHAN

we have been on Maasdam and Rotterdam. Both really great cruises.

On 7/8/2020 at 7:57 PM, MicCanberra said:

It is such a shame things have deteriorated this far. I like Hong Kong and using it as a stepping stone for cruises.

Hong Kong is a beautiful place but i don't think we will go there again. We really love Singapore as a stopover.

1 hour ago, possum52 said:

 

Definitely cream! I rarely see eclairs with custard. Perhaps profiteroles but not eclairs.

 

Leigh

That was all i had when i was a kid. I don't know where the idea for cream came from but totally spoilt it.

A real good donut with jam and cream was worthwhile.

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Chocolate eclairs are my weakness but they must have real chocolate on top, not chocolate icing.

And  vanilla custard not cream

25 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I thought it was when you hadn't had Chicken Pox as a child, you get shingles as an adult.

Other way around. Chicken pox first and then it stays in your system. 

20 hours ago, woodyren said:

 

Jenny.

 

Some cruise companies do not let a person without a USA address book with a USA agent. From what I understand they regulate this by not paying the agent commission for breach of their conditions.

 

Princess, HAL and some of the 5 star lines dont allow these bookings. 

 

RCL, Celebrity, Carnival, NCL and other 5 star lines do allow bookings through USA TA's. I have booked at least one cruise on each of the mass market lines mentioned with a USA TA and have two current RCL bookings through the USA. 

 

From my recent experience which is only with RCL I have found that since the AUD has dropped bellow the mid 70's cents US that almost every cruise once you factor in foreign exchange rates, port charges and tips (which are not included in the advertised USA prices) and even including the extra OBC that USA agent provide it is far more likely that the Aussie price is the better option. 

      

We did a HAL cruise in 2019 booked through a U.S. agent. I think they added 100u.s. per person but it was still cheaper and we received obc  as well. Our fare worked out to $4200 aud for 17days all up for 2 people. We did have to pay gratuities as well. 

We have done about 7  cruises with Celebrity and no problems there and 2 Hawaiian cruises with NCL.  1 Asian RCL cruise as well.

All of these were booked through the same U.S. agent. 

We have saved thousands and have never had a problem.

6 hours ago, Kaylacool said:

Noticing significant differences in prices and benefits from the US Celebrity website to the AU Celebrity website. 

Has anyone successfully booked a cruise on the US site from Austrailia.  Even with the dollar conversion seeing much better deal in the US.  If you've been successful are then any pitfalls or issues I should be aware of in going down this path?

thanks

K

 

i have booked quite a few Celebrity cruises from a U.S. agency and every time we did we achieved better prices and sometimes substantially better.

The main problem is the currency risk as the rate can change after you book. You can buy U.S dollars at the time you book to eliminate this risk if you are worried about this.

Everything else is known as the quote you get should have the total price and then you just add gratuities to work out the total cost. 

We would just about always get an extra obc  as well.

The other thing is the deposit is mostly refundable if you had to cancel before the final payment date whereas i am not sure that is the case with local agents.

Mine would be:

Antarctica

Iceland / Norway

Mediterranean cruise. Greece , Italy, Croatia, Montenegro - Just beautiful

Land trip of the USA canyons again. All the way from Sedona area up to Yellowstone. Just a magnificent trip and would love to do it again.

Sorry that was a bit mucked up.

Does the 50% bonus only happen if the cruise line cancels the cruise?

This is pretty confusing but i have one question if somebody could help please.

If I decided to cancel my cruise(June2020) prior to the 48 hour cutoff the fcc would I receive just what i paid?

Whereas if the cruise line cancelled would  I get a 50% bonus on top of that.

1 hour ago, amatuercruiser said:

 

 

Specialty Sushi..I feel gauged when they charge $10 for 6 small pieces of Sushi.

 

Now all u-can eat Sushi Buffet ON LAND i am happy to pay $20 - $35 per person walk away happy.

 

On a Cruise I will try very hard to go on Holland America Line or Cunard with complementary Sushi on their buffet.

 

 

I thought the Sushi was fine on the Rotterdam. they also had some really nice Asian meals from the same service area. HAL are my favourite cruise line.

On 2/28/2020 at 6:38 AM, lyndarra said:

I noticed that on my last two Solstice cruises. Very few people seemed to be using it. I don't know if it was due to quality or just that not many people, like me, are into sushi. I suspect the latter.

The price was too expensive for me.

5 hours ago, Mylisa said:

Did you take an organized tour to see the Albatross?  If so, who did you use?

 

Also, what bus tour did you take I. Akaroa?

I am pretty certain we just picked up the tour at the Port. We went with 2 other couples in a 12 seater van. Very comfortable and reasonably priced. Maybe somebody else can help me out here as it was a few years ago but quite a few of the ports in NZ have tour guides selling tours on the docks.

In the NZ ports there were private tours on offer when we walked to the Port exits.

In Dunedin we went to see the Albatross which was good and then the tour took us back through the hills and and around into Dunedin town and then we still had time to walk around  The ship had a shuttle back to the port.

In Akaroa we did a bus tour into the farming area in the hills which had beautiful scenery. Also had time to walk around the town before tendering back to the boat.

Auckland has a hop on hop off which is sufficient in my opinion.

In Sydney i would catch the ferry to Taronga Zoo which is fantastic with excellent shows(the bird show is the best) and panoramic views including the opera house and Sydney harbour and bridge. Also the ferry system on Sydney harbour is fantastic and goes to many beautiful places and is worth researching. The city is big but standard and not worth missing all the beautiful views in the harbour.

We went to Tenerife via a cruise and did a Volcano tour.

It was very good value and a really great scenic tour.

We used Tenerife Private Tours and John the owner was punctual, very knowledgable and gave us a great explanation of the island and its history. The car was comfortable and we were picked up and dropped off from the port.

We had such a good tour we skipped lunch because we didn't want to miss anything but of course that was our choice and not necessary.

I would do a tour at this location. 

9 hours ago, amatuercruiser said:

 

When are you going?

 

I loved PNG when I went there by  plane. Morsby & Kimbi.

 

Australia is really lucky to have PNG so close.

 

Please let us know what it was like.

 

I absolutely want to go a cruise to PNG.

On the Sapphire Princess mid year.  I will let you know what it was like. I had heard it was small and the people are very poor. Some people suggested taking supplies for the school kids and hospitals as it is really appreciated. 

Anybody here been to this port who can suggest local tours please.

Just wondering.

Where does the Sapphire Princess dock in Sydney and is it usually 7am.

12 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Yep, and everything on board is priced in AUD.

Thanks. Very good prices then for some of these cruises.

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Not as sharp as it initially looks. Remember gratuities are additional on Cunard.

Does that mean gratuities are included on Princess?

I am a ex Australian defence member and i am aware there is an OBC allowance for that.

I am also aware that if i am a Carnival stockholder I am entitled to OBC.

Am i entitled to both?

We did the same in November and we had a 10am flight. 

We lined up to be in the first group getting off the ship. We were off just after 7.30am and at the airport by about 8am. We then had a nearly 2 hour wait at the airport.

Obviously everything went perfectly for us and the flight wasn't our first choice but Southwest had the right price and they changed flight times on us so we made the decision to chance it and it all worked out very well.

Merry Christmas to everybody. Enjoy the break.

I remember the taxi from Auckland airport to the city was very expensive (maybe $90) They do have shuttles so if you don't have a transfer it may be worth looking into it.

On 20th of November our ship docked at 7am and we were at the airport by around 8am. We were in the first 30 people off the boat and breezed through customs and caught a taxi. We then had quite a wait for our 10am Southwest Airlines flight.

We had booked a later flight but the flight times changed so we decided to risk the 10am flight. As it turned out it was no trouble at all. Obviously everything went perfectly for us and we made sure we lined up early to get off the ship.

The only thing I was a bit annoyed about was the Taxi fare. The driver didn't turn his meter on and just had a fixed price of $32 for 4 people.  If there is time I would consider using Lyft or Uber as I think that would be better value.