begagirl

Recently stayed at both the Kingsford Smith Hotel and the Ibis Brisbane Airport (not the Ibis Budget Brisbane Airport).  Recommend either one, especially the Kingsford Smith which is clean, comfortable and within walking distance of a number of restaurants.

19 hours ago, emmas gran said:

I wish there was  - some men should never wear the swimwear they do!!

And nor should some women!!

I have pre-existing conditions including two strokes and diabetes and have traveled to every continent both on cruises and on land trips.  The only travel insurance I could get (especially for North and South America) that would cover me for everything was Medibank Travel Insurance.  Expensive, but not ridiculously so.

6 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Just been looking at some insurance products, between COVID and all my pre existing conditions if I can get coverage at all it looks like it will cost more than a cruise.

On 6/11/2021 at 8:30 AM, jelayne said:

Bound to happen sooner or later.

I think this is definitely "sooner" rather than "later".

On 12/24/2020 at 2:19 PM, Blackduck59 said:

So being that you guys are hours ahead of us, it's Christmas Eve there already (Yes I know you are well aware of that😉) I thought I would send a little tune.

 

I'll send a Canadian one tomorrow. Cheers everyone enjoy your Christmas Eve. If you are gathering together please be safe. If you have made that hard choice to pass the big gathering this year, respect and best wishes to you.

Loved it.  Brought back lots of memories from years ago.  The singer might not be the best person but just enjoy the song.

We did an Amazon cruise from Rio to Miami a few years ago on Regatta.  Probably the best cruise we have ever done.  

Received full refund (albeit paid as two separate amounts a week apart) for cruise booked for 8 May on Reflection.  Money paid to travel agent who then credited my account last week.

We had two cruises booked (one with Oceania from Buenos Aires to Lisbon on 4 April and the second Dublin/Dublin with Celebrity at the beginning of May).  Our travel agent received full refunds from both companies about a week ago and the money has been put into our bank account (we had paid with cash rather than a credit card).  Still waiting for refunds from Air New Zealand, KLM and Singapore Airlines.  

Today Travel Agent received full rebate for our 4 April  Marina cruise from Buenos Aires to Lisbon.  Much better service from Oceania than Celebrity who are still returning refunds in dribs and drabs.

We're due to fly in to there on 1 April to pick-up Oceania cruise.  Haven't heard anything yet from our airline (Air New Zealand).  Barring a miracle we are going to cancel.

12 hours ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

I have no idea if this might help but I just read this on Loyalty Lobby.

https://loyaltylobby.com/2020/02/19/singapore-airlines-silkair-trim-flight-schedules-through-may-31-2020/

Rosalyn

Thanks for the link.  We are booked with Singapore Airlines SQ323 Amsterdam to Singapore on 20 May and SQ288 Singapore to Sydney on 23 May.  So far these flights are still okay.  Fingers crossed they remain so.  

Josie

2 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

I'm so sorry you have had that experience here and wish I had jumped in again earlier when I saw the tone of some of the replies. Your question was perfectly reasonable and your suggestions quite appropriate. Just why some people have to take such a tone is beyond me. In my experience those people are not indicative of the types I have met on board the Cunard ships. I do hope you give Cunard a try one day and I hope you enjoy the cruise you ended up booking.

 

Thank you very much for your support.  

In response to some of your replies to my query:  "not being allowed to mingle"; "please do not try to lower that level"; "casino will be happy to take your money under dressed"; "why miss out on this experience for the sake of 100 pounds"; "if this is a statement thing" - I find these answers rather insulting.  

My original question was whether my husband wearing a jacket, dress shirt and tie would be suitably attired for dinner in the main dining room on non-formal nights.  We would certainly not be so gauche as to attend a formal dinner dressed inappropriately and would have had dinner at the buffet on those evenings but would still expect to be able to access other areas of the ship (not the casino!) without offending other passengers.

We could bring formal wear from home but as we are on a three months round-the-world holiday we really don't want to have to bring clothes we would wear only a few times.  Buying a cheap 100 pounds polyester suit or hiring ill-fitting outfits on the ship is not an option we would consider. 

The only reason we looked at the  Cunard cruise was that it was a relatively inexpensive option to fill-in a few spare weeks we have between cruising to and from Europe.  It was definitely not going to be a "cruise of a lifetime" experience.  

If some of the people who have replied to my query are any indication of the type of passenger Cunard attracts then I agree, it is not a cruise line for us.  We have, therefore, made a reservation on Seabourn Ovation.

My husband and I are considering a seven-day cruise from Southampton on the Queen Victoria.  We will have just disembarked from an Oceania cruise from Buenos Aires where the dress code is "Country Club Casual" and my husband will have a jacket and tie to wear some evenings and I will have "after five" but not "formal" outfits.  I have read the Dress Code for Cunard and that on Formal Nights we would have to eat in the buffet and be "advised to stay from other areas on the ship out of respect for fellow travellers".  Is this really the case (especially the "staying away from other areas of the ship - we would hardly be getting around in shorts/jeans/t-shirts etc)?  

I didn't realise that staff were penalised if they didn't receive a perfect 10.  To me, this score is only given if service is above and beyond what is expected.  An 8 or 9 should represent normal excellent service.  Given what seems to be happening on Celebrity (and I imagine other cruise lines) what is the point of offering a choice of scores  between 1 and 10 or even having a survey? 

Hi Ray, I thought that you lost $100 of your deposit for each booking and could transfer the balance to a new cruise.  We are thinking of cancelling a Trans-Pacific b2b cruise and booking another b2b to Asia/Europe instead so I'll follow this up before we do so as our total deposit for the two legs was $1600.  Regards Josie

16 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I don't know about the rules in New Zealand, but I do know that in Australia, once you board you can't get off again. Not sure if New Zealand has a similar rule. 

I agree.  I know in Australia once you board, that's it.  I think New Zealand might be the same.  I would definitely check before making any plans.

3 hours ago, hammo said:

In my opinion - aside from the cartoon novelty /frivolity --  MDR menus - a not so fine dining experience  for $55 per head. Tried it once , but the menu needs to be of Murano standard for a return for us at that price .

Totally agree.  We ate there once on our Infinity trans-Atlantic cruise in May.   The food was very average, definitely not up to the standard of the other specialty restaurants  and although the novelty aspect was good as a one-off experience we certainly wouldn't go there again.  Probably most suited to family groups.  

4 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

We have done 3 X cruises: Repo Hawaii-Vancouver Veranda, Alaska AQ and Italy-Greece CC. We have not received a thank-you note from X. It may be reserved to U.S citizens or Higher levels of CC???

I also think it must only be for US citizens.  We are Elite level and have done quite a few cruises with Celebrity including two of 25+ days and have never even had a thank-you note.  We do, however, get acknowledgement when we sail with Oceania.

We did a Trans-Atlantic on Infinity earlier this year and took up an offer of 50% discount for dinner at Le Petit Chef.  While it was a novelty and fun, the food was good but not outstanding and I'm glad we didn't pay the full price.  It was a one-off experience and wouldn't do it again.

We just ask our cabin steward to change it for a bottle or red or white.  No problem and quite drinkable.

6 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Yes! As in “if you act ugly, you are going to get it when you get home”

 

THOSE people are why we are done with Chef’s Table dinners, you would think if you paid that much for a single meal, you wouldn’t get soused and behave badly 

Re Chef's Table dinners, unfortunately money doesn't necessarily equate to good manners or knowing how to behave.

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We did the cruise B2B from Singapore to Rome in April.   Seas were smooth as glass until we got past Athens then small swells.  Honestly you didn't feel like we were even on a ship.   Of course one can never predict what sea conditions might be.

 

We also did the B2B from Singapore to Rome in April 2018 on the Constellation.  We also found the seas to be the smoothest we have ever encountered.  You really didn't know you were moving.  It was one of the best cruises we have ever been on.

17 hours ago, Stairsonly said:

Thanks very much Begagirl (stunning part of the south coat ☺), I think that's most likely the safest option. Most of the posts I've seen of Evisa users have been from countries other than Australia.

Much appreciated 

Lorraine 

Hi Lorraine, glad I could be of help.  One small tip.  When we said to Indian officials we were paying for the visa by cash they gave us a 10% discount.  I now live in Wollongong but lived in Bega as a young child (agree it is a beautiful part of the south coast) and when I had to chose a password for Cruise Critic just decided on Begagirl.