Aus Traveller

On our last couple of times going into the BICT there was a line-up of taxis. A couple of weeks ago there would have been 30 or more taxis waiting.

We had that problem when White Bay first opened. There was a sign that said there was no access to the cruise terminal on that road but when I tried to tell our taxi driver we were already past the sign and he and my husband didn't listen. I would have thought that the Uber driver should have been aware that there was no access the way he/she went.

A gang of racketeers in the military led by John Macarthur ran the colony primarily for their own financial benefit. They imported the spirits (called rum even some wasn't actually rum) and set the price. The colony was short of coin so rum became the currency. The UK government sent Bligh to sort things out but the military arrested him and kicked him out of the colony. The racketeers ran the colony for two years before Governor Lachlan Macquarie arrived with his own military back-up.

Ha!! Ha!! The rebellion wasn't over the price of alcohol.

Whether you eat the buffet or one of the main dining rooms, you can have a table just for the two of you. You don't have to lock yourselves away in your cabin with room service meals. As I mentioned, I feel the main risks are in the lifts and in the theatre.

If anything, I think you would be safer on a repositioning cruise rather than a 'normal' cruise. If a small number of people come on board with COVID, they will be isolated. On the recent world cruise, there were maybe at least a dozen cabins in isolation after the first four or five days. This reduced until there were none. We completed the cruise without any outbreaks although there was the usual cough going around. On your cruise, with no new people coming on board until Auckland, maybe there wouldn't be any more infections brought on. If you are still concerned, to protect yourself, where you are able to I suggest you use the stairs rather than the lifts. Avoid crowded bars. In the theatre you could sit at the side where it is likely you won't have anyone very close.

You might be able to organise land excursions at Airlie Beach, but you won't be able to organise trips to the reef. At Airlie Beach, passengers go ashore by tender (water shuttle). By the time you arrive, the excursion boats going to the reef will have left. In addition, they usually go from Shute Harbour, 12 km away. Cruise ships have an arrangement with a local company that usually picks up passengers directly from the ship to go to the Reef.

Maybe they had enough in your age group.

I click the 'prefer not to say' option on the income question.

Agreed. I never answer the question on income. I was able to complete the survey.

I received the survey. I gave them my opinions on Ambassadors (why??) and Plus and Premier packages. The survey doesn't give you a chance to give you opinion on anything other than reply to the questions asked.

We went on a Pacific Sun cruise from 18th to 28th September 2010 from Newcastle. It was ridiculously cheap ($398pp) giving us the impression that P&O had difficulty filling the ship. We felt it was because the ship was leaving from Newcastle, not just because it was the Pacific Sun.

I have seen the breakfast menu. When I mentioned that I recalled a price of around $3 per item, I was referring to the breakfast menu because that was what Yaya enquired about.

I didn't order room service. From memory, the cost is a per-item price. I recall the prices in the range of $3. Sometimes I take a tupperware container and pick up what I want from the buffet and keep it in the fridge in the room until we want it.

You have a balcony cabin so you can enjoy the free air and watching the sea. A few points to keep in mind - there is a charge for room service. The buffet isn't open all the time. Check the times in the daily activities sheet. From memory, it closes at 10am after breakfast, then opens again for a few hours for lunch before closing again. If you want a little snack with morning tea, go to the buffet by around 9.45am and pick up whatever you want. You can get coffee then, or get it anytime as the tea/coffee stations remain open all the time. With P&O you cannot take wine on board, but the prices are lower than with some other cruise lines. They start at $36 per bottle where Princess' lowest price wine is around $55 per bottle. We found the food to be OK except the chips were often not hot enough. Alternate between the complimentary restaurants - the Waterfront, Angelo's (Italian) and Dragon Lady (Asian). You won't have to tidy your own cabin. The stewards will service it twice a day.

They used to have icecream in the buffet pre-COVID, but I haven't seen it since then.

Good thinking. However, I managed to do the 'same time every day' for the recent World Cruise.

We paid $799pp for 7 nights in a balcony cabin on P&O. Our next P&O cruise is $1,149pp for 7 nights in a balcony cabin, but we have $600 OBC (total, not each). On my cruises on Princess post COVID, I have not seen icecream in the buffet, but I have not been there for dinner. My cruises include a few cruises 7 to 14 nights plus the recent World Cruise.

When I had that happen, I went onto 'live chat' with a Princess rep. The person wasn't able to give me all the times that I wanted, but I got it corrected as soon as I got on board.

On P&O and on Princess, the MDR's aren't open on port days. Some of the staff would have to do a shirt in the buffet, but this would allow others to have time off.

Often the staff don't leave the ship on port days. They go to those ports every week or two and they have told us on occasions, that they don't go ashore because it would cost money. I suppose they mean for a taxi or whatever. An exception to this would be Lifou where they can go ashore in a tender for a swim.

The Medallion can be so frustrating. I have had occasions when I have booked dining times only to have them disappear later. Any problems can be sorted out on board. If you haven't got the times you want, as soon as you board, phone the DINE line. I have booked tours using the Cruise Personalizer on my PC.

Yes - a jacket will be fine. Also if he prefers, a long-sleeved shirt and a tie would be OK. There will be others in the dining room similarly dressed. Things are more relaxed post COVID. It's good to go to the dining room on formal nights as there are special items on the menu.

I don't know of any new law that would be relevant. Can you give us some more details?

I'll start off by saying that P&O isn't my cruise line of choice, but my husband is quite happy going on a seven-day cruise from Brisbane to the islands. To me, that is better than no cruise. I will make a few comments. Even two weeks ago, our cabin stewards serviced our cabin twice a day. This has happened on all our P&O cruises (several since COVID). I don't mind if the desserts in the Horizon Court are only a small square of cake - I get two! In our seven days there was only one show where the Marquee Theatre was nearly full - just before start time there weren't two adjacent spare seats. Usually the theatre was only half full at start time. This might have been because it was school hols and some families didn't go to the shows.