Aus Traveller

Quite a few years ago we went into Townsville on a P&O cruise, but the ship was anchored out beyond Magnetic Island. It was a very long tender ride.

Latest boarding is probably an hour before departure, but I wouldn't risk planning 3pm boarding for a 4pm departure. I suggest that 2.30 would be the latest that you should plan for. You wouldn't want to miss the ship by being five minutes late and they can't wait. The ships have a curfew. If they aren't ready to go by that time, they have to wait two or three hours until after peak hour and they are not going to do that just to wait for a couple of passengers.

It is easy to use OBC for excursions or purchases after you board, but it isn't so easy before the cruise. The problem with waiting to book excursions is that many of them sell out well before the cruise starts. I bought internet for the world cruise and had to pay immediately. I couldn't pay for it from my OBC. If I waited until I boarded the ship I could do that, but I was pretty sure the price was going to be increased. It was.

That is what I would have done. I would have insisted that they wash the clothes in the evening - maybe every second night - and return them to me in the morning. I wouldn't sit around for three hours every morning waiting for my clothes to be washed. It makes me wonder if she was building up a good 'story' and not trying to work around the problem constructively.

Surely the lady could have washed her undies each evening. They would be dry the next morning. As for her outerwear, surely she didn't have to wash it every day.

May and June would be a ideal time of year to cruise off the Kimberley Coast. $7,500 for a 10-night cruise demonstrates how expensive it is to cruise on these small ships.

MMDownUnder said she hadn't heard of the port. She would have heard of Thursday Island.

Would it have been Lizard Island? It is on the reef but it is so small I can't see it being any good for a reasonable size ship.

I got that email. The one to Norway is interesting but I wouldn't get my husband to agree. I looked at the South Pacific one but it is very close to one we have already booked to Vila.

North of Cooktown? There aren't any ports north of Cooktown and it is a difficult place for ships to tender into. Maybe the reason you hadn't heard of the place is that the crew member was confused about where it is. 😁

It is long, long way to drive right around Australia. We have done it a couple of times, plus other long trips like the East coast and the Stuart Highway down the Centre. We enjoyed those trips, but wouldn't do it again. There is a long way between attractions on many of Australia's highways.

If all the MF cabins are sold, maybe some of the people who have booked on that fare will be up-graded. I think that is likely.

I don't know why that is. Maybe if you phone Princess tomorrow they might be able to sort it out for you.

I did this for the World Cruise on the Coral Princess leaving in June. After I selected my tours, when it came to the payment option I selected 'pay from OBC'.

Agreed. I wouldn't like to sail out of Port Phillip Bay into Bass Strait in winter when the overwhelming odds are that it will be very rough.

When the extras are added, I don't think it is priced any lower than Aussie cruises.

Is the US$3499 (AUD$5215) plus fees and taxes and gratuities? Cruise prices in the US usually have these added. Is it any cheaper than a 25 day cruise in Australia?

Agreed. 👍

In my opinion, there are two major reasons for the differences in ports and cruise prices between the US and Aust - available suitable ports and competition.

My theory, for what it is worth, is that Carnival Corp management doesn't want people to see that the sky does not fall in when people don't tip. 😉 The ship still operates efficiently and the staff do a great job.

The crew you hand the gratuities to will be able to keep it. Otherwise, they will get nothing from you.

South Sea Pearls (from Australia, Indonesia etc) are primarily white, but there are some spectacular golden pearls. 🙂 By contrast, Tahitian pearls (also in the Cook Islands) range from silver, champagne, grey to black - no pure white. In the Abrolhos Islands of Western Australia a company is farming the Tahitian pearl oysters (Pinctada margaritifera) but they can't achieve the spectacular black pearls. Theirs are grey. In discussing this with a pearl 'farmer' I asked if it was the temperature of the water that makes the difference, but he said it is the organisms in the water.

I have a lot of pearls. My husband jokes that I travel with 2kg of pearls, but that is probably an under-estimate! I found that pearls became addictive. I have beautiful seawater pearls not only from Australia, but from Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Indonesia, Vietnam and freshwater pearls from various places.

I have quite a collection of pearls. My first was bought at the Willie Creek Pearl Farm in an around Australia driving trip in the early 2000s.

The main street of Broome has wall-to-wall pearl shops. Paspaley is probably the most famous and the most expensive. We went on a tour to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm and found it quite interesting.