Aus Traveller

You were probably paying a lot more per day on the Queen Elizabeth compared with the P&O ship.

The problem with getting Kina through the Post Office would be the minimum amount that a person would have to buy.

We went on a cruise on the Pacific Encounter exactly a week before Barry's. It went to the same ports. We were also aware that it was in school holidays so there would be more children on board. We didn't find them a problem. I agree that the Encounter Hotel was crowded for some activities, but the Marquee Theatre was never crowded. We have seen the show 'Seven' more than seven times and enjoy it, but the show ONE was terrible. They also had a 'Deal or No Deal' game show at night in the theatre. It should be in the afternoon like bingo (that we don't go to). The couple of guest entertainers were good. Food - Quite good, but the menus were repetitive. Also some of the food wasn't hot enough. Yes - I complained when on the ship and mentioned this in my post-cruise survey. We knew ahead of time that we would not arrive at Noumea until close to mid afternoon and we also knew that all cruise ships have to dock at the container wharf. We were told a while ago that the harbour would have to be dredged to allow cruise ships to dock at the cruise terminal (rather than going there by shuttle bus). We don't bother getting off in Noumea. We enjoyed the cruise. We paid $799 pp for a balcony cabin for seven nights and consider that good value.

We have been in several (maybe six) different cabins on the Pacific Encounter and none of these had additional beds.

The cabins have both Australian and US power sockets as well as USB ports.

As you live in NSW your cruise might be starting in Sydney. I don't know if there would be money exchange in the terminal in Sydney. I have seen it in the Brisbane terminal for cruises that go to New Guinea. We have gone on the 'festival' tour. It was OK but not great. Alotea is on the area where the (land) Battle of Milne Bay took place in WWII. The only wartime reminder that visitors can easily see is the memorial. It is on the left just before you get into town. BTW, there isn't much in the town. There are a couple of small 'supermarkets', a Chinese general store and a fruit/vege market. I haven't been to Madang so can't offer any comments.

The problem getting spaces in mid summer is caused by the number of cruise ships operating out of the terminal. In winter it is easy to find a space. All the best.

We have used the P1 parking area a few times. Each time we arrived around 11am and were able to very easily get a spot under cover very close to the terminal. By 11am, the disembarking passengers will have left and only a limited number of the new ones will have arrived. Most of the cars would belong to people away on another cruise ship.

Agreed. The only time the duty free prices on board are good is on cruises going to Port Vila where they have to compete with the duty free shops.

Not the Pacific Adventure, but a couple on our recent Pacific Encounter cruise went to the Salt Grill restaurant and were very happy with it. They said it cost a bit over $200 for the two of them including wine. Apparently the menu is priced differently from when we went several years ago when it was a set price. Now diners may for each individual item (or that is what I understood this couple to say).

In summary, this is my opinion of the tours/ports I visited - Komodo Island - Once was enough. It probably didn't live up to my expectations. Singapore - Always great, but very hot and humid. Colombo - Interesting but I wouldn't need to go again. Dubai - Fascinating. I loved the desert tour. Aqaba (Petra) - Petra is a 'must see' even though it is very hot in the northern summer. Salerno - Coastal drive was lovely. Civitavecchia (Rome) - I love Rome and enjoyed visiting again. Elba - interesting Marseilles - Aix-en-Provence and Cassis were interesting. Barcelona - I loved Montserrat and Barcelona, particularly the Sagrada Familia. Malaga Spain - Ronda and Mijas were very scenic. Tangier - interesting Lisbon - good half day tour Holyhead Wales - great tour. Belfast - good tour but I have never been impressed with the Giant's Causeway (one of the highlights of the tour). Glasgow - Stirling Castle and the Falkirk Wheel were very interesting. Cobh - I wouldn't bother going into Cork. I would stay in Cobh. Dover - Leeds Castle was interesting. Canterbury was gorgeous. Invergordon - Loved Dunrobin Castle. Tour was good. Akureyri - loved the scenery, particularly Dettifoss waterfall. Reykjavik - The Golden Circle Tour is a must for anyone visiting Reykjavik. Fantastic. Nanortalik - an interesting village. Qaqortoq - Quaint colourful houses. Interesting to visit. Corner Brook - not much to see Quebec - Lovely city. The Sugar Shack experience was interesting but I wouldn't go again. Saquenay - OK Sydney Canada - The Cabot Trail drive was lovely. Halifax - Peggys Cove is very scenic. Titanic cemetery interesting. New York - always fascinating. I disembarked here and flew home.

I think the query that mentioned a time warp was referring to your disembarkation date shown as 2022.

I suggest you book the time slot you want on the P&O Cruise Control. We have done a three or four P&O cruises since the re-start mid last year. In all except the one that ended today, I booked the early dinner time slot on line. With our 16th September-23rd September, one I was distracted getting organised for the world cruise and didn't book the time slot early enough. Instead of taking the late dinner time slot that we don't like, I opted for "I'll decide when I get on the ship". On board I couldn't get an answer to the phone line for dinner reservations, so I went to the Dragon Lady restaurant around 11.45. This is where all dining reservations are handled. I was probably ahead of the main rush of people wanting to change their reservations. We like 5.30pm and wanted to alternate between the Waterfront Restaurant and Angelos. It was all sorted out, even though two of the bookings were for 5pm. The steward arranging the bookings just said "Go a bit late" with a smile. I felt I was able to get a better result by turning up in person to Dragon Lady rather than trying to sort it out on the phone.

The ANZ travel insurance covers you for trips you book before your 81st birthday. My husband turned 81 in July. We have cruises booked for this year, 2024 and 2025. I have already suggested to him that we have saved a lot of money by using the free credit card insurance, so in future, we might have to buy a policy for him. I have several years to go before I reach the magic number.

Thanks to everyone, firstly for reading my reports and secondly for the kind comments. While I was on the Coral I emailed a detailed report to my family. I used these as the basis for the reports I posted o this forum. I added details about the tour company to help people who might be considering booking a similar tour. I worked pretty well full time for nine months prior to the cruise planning and booking tours. I loved every minute of it. I started off researching what was available and deciding what I would like to do. Then I looked for a company I could book through. Obviously I needed a group to get a good price. Some of the tours were for seven people in a van and others were for a larger number. I posted details on this forum and later on the 'other' site. In some cases I had so many people wanting to book that I decided to book two vehicles. The vehicles were 12-seaters (Barcelona) or full size coaches (Petra and Holyhead). I have to confess that the organisation required more time on the ship than I had anticipated, particularly when there were changes in our arrival time at a port. Anyway, it all worked out very well.

I left the world cruise in New York and arrived home in Brisbane on 18th August. We have returned today from a seven-day cruise to Noumea/Lifou/Vila on the Pacific Encounter. Our next cruise is in one month. 😁

There are two different types of on board credit - refundable and non-refundable. If you are charged for a specialty dinner and you show the Passenger Services staff proof that it should be complimentary, I am pretty sure that the on-board credit would be refundable. In that case, you will be contacted after the cruise to supply bank account details where you want the money deposited.

A couple of comments - In my opinion you didn't miss much by not visiting Busselton/Margaret River. Another point, there are always free shuttle buses in Broome. It is a working wharf and passengers aren't permitted to walk on it. We have done the Around Australia cruise a few times and always enjoyed it. It is difficult to comment on whether the October or the March/April one is better. If I had to choose, maybe I would opt for October. It is well before the Wet Season in the north whereas March can still be wet. However there is the old comment "Climate is what you expect and weather is what you get" although we know that both are changeable.😁

I disembarked from the World Cruise in New York. My QANTAS flight home was due to leave at 7.30pm so I booked a disembarkation tour of New York that would end at the airport. However, it was cancelled because of insufficient numbers. I then booked a Princess sightseeing tour (along with another couple) with the plan to get a taxi to the airport after the tour. We were told by the Shore Ex staff that we couldn't book a tour earlier than 9am because we might get held up in Immigration. We were also told had to self disembark at 7am. We breezed through Immigration and had to wait hours for our tour. The 80+ others on the tour had assembled on the ship at 8.30am and were held up in Immigration for more than an hour. Apparently it didn't occur to the Shore Ex staff that this might happen for the people on the tour. It was 10am before everyone came to the buses. Sightseeing tour - We started with a one-hour boat cruise past the sights of Manhattan as far as Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The boat tour guide was ridiculously patriotic - "America is the only nation of earth founded on the principles of equality for all". I felt like asking how that worked for the African slaves and also for the Indians. After the boat trip, we toured the main part of Manhattan for another couple of hours. Our guide on the bus was really good and I felt it was an excellent tour. We went by taxi to the airport where the QANTAS check-in was ridiculously slow. The ground staff didn't seem to know what they were doing. The flight was direct from New York City to Auckland, then on to Brisbane. P.S. I will be away on a cruise for a week so if anyone has any questions, I will answer them when I return home.

So sad. I have enjoyed reading his contributions over the years.

Halifax, the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Halifax has always been an important port because its deep harbour remains ice-free in winter. I was in a small group that went on a tour to the main attraction in the area, Peggys Cove. It was only around an hour's drive. The day had started off rainy, but by the time we got to our destination the sun was breaking through. Peggys Cove is absolutely lovely with an iconic lighthouse and a few dozen multi-coloured houses scattered around a tiny harbour. I got some lovely photos. I wanted to go to the Fairlawn Cemetery to see the graves of 121 victims of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Most are memorialized with a small gray granite marker with the name and date of death. Some families paid for larger markers with more inscriptions. The occupants of a third of the graves have never been identified and their markers contain just the date of death and marker number. The Halifax cemetery is the resting place of so many of those who died in the sinking because Halifax was the base for ships searching and recovering bodies after the sinking. 209 bodies were taken to Halifax, but many of the wealthy people who were identified were returned to their home countries at their family's expense. My recommendation is to go by taxi to Peggys Cove. There are SUV taxis that will take six or seven people. There is a cab rank right outside the cruise terminal. Ask the taxi driver to wait for around an hour while you explore Peggys Cove. It is very small. On the way back, if you want to you can visit to cemetery to see the Titanic graves.

Sydney Nova Scotia - I took part in a tour on the Cabot Trail. The island is part of south-eastern Canada known as the Maritimes and it has a very definite Scottish influence with road signs in both Gaelic and English. There is even a Gaelic college and of course many shops selling Scottish merchandise. The tour was along a winding coastal road known as the Cabot Trail, regarded as one of the most beautiful coastal drives in the world. We drove along te winding highway, stopping at a few lookouts along the way. The view were lovely. Our guide explained that in Autumn, the trees are ablaze with fall colours ranging from gold to differing shades of red. It would be spectacular at that time of year. Other areas of the Trail passed through forests of evergreens that are harvested for timber. The first beach we stopped at was covered up to a metre deep with rounded stones thrown up by the occasional ferocious North Atlantic storm. They were mostly about the size of the palm of my hand or a bit smaller. The second beach, Igonish Beach was described as our guide as very beautiful. Well, it had real sand and looked OK, but it didn't impress us Aussies. There was a lifeguard station with a young girl keeping watch and the swimming area of the beach was designated by familiar red and yellow flags. We had a picnic lunch here, eating the lobster rolls and sandwiches we had bought a bit earlier. These are a specialty of this area of Canada and I couldn't leave the area without trying one. They are yummy. We also stopped at a town that is a base for lobster fishermen. They use lobster traps and apparently they make really good money in their two-month long season. With only one day for the trip, we were able to drive roughly half way along the Trail before we had to retrace our path to get back to the town of Sydney where our ship was docked. We took a short cut across St Anns Bay on the Englishtown Ferry. It takes about 15 cars. I would rate it as a good trip with lovely scenery. The tour operator was Blackwood Tours.

Good point. I have never taken cash out at a supermarket, but you advice is handy to know.

Saquenay Canada - The plan for today was to travel in two hire cars. They were booked with National Car Hire who had a desk in the cruise terminal. It took around 45 minutes to complete the paperwork. Four people were in a mid size vehicle. There were to be seven in the second vehicle and the hire company rep assured our organiser it was suitable for seven adults. It wasn't. Only small children would have fitted in the back row. Two people opted out of the tour. Our first stop (after 90 minutes' drive) was at an historical village from the 1920s. It was raining lightly and the village was all outdoors. The entry cost was CAD$46 pp (AUD$50+) and we were told it would need 4-5 hours to walk around. One of our group was seriously mobility impaired. He was happy to sit and wait but we decided not to go in. We went back to the last little town to buy some lunch/coffee. The organiser of the trip suggested we go to see a cavern/waterfall. After following a 7km muddy dirt road, we reached it. We could see some of the gorge from the carpark, but there was an entry fee to go any further. It was clear from the information board, that we would need at least a couple of hours for the walk. We decided not to bother and drove back to the ship. While we drove we saw a lot of interesting countryside - forests, lakes and small towns and villages. Despite the rain in the morning, we had a good day.

Although this isn't relevant for the OP, on the recent world cruise I was surprised how many businesses in Europe told me they would not accept American Express when I asked if I could pay for my coffee/snack/lunch/entry fee by credit card. Visa was accepted everywhere.