stingau

Gday from qld.

we are booked to depart brisbane on this cruise. Hoping to see who else is booked on this cruise

If your lucky try googling motorhome relocations. Often companies need motor homes returned to original place of hire if it was a one way hire. You can get a motorhome for a dollar a day, some even include fuel. Downside, your limited to choice, ie take this vehicle from A to B within X number of days departing on this date.

Doesn't hurt to look, you might get lucky and / or you might visit a place that originally wasn't in your planning

Here is one link, there are others

https://www.drivenow.com.au/onewayrentals.jspc

Another place to get very good advise is if you go online to the book that is also a body feature and befriend .....Australian caravan+Rv

Lol

This link is a major hirer of camper vans, compare prices but their tips and hints are good

http://www.apollocamper.com/campervan-hire-travelinfo.aspx

With regards to Asian food, you are staying a short walking distance to Sydney's Chinatown. There are a number of food courts that have food from throughout Asia.

I noticed that you intend taking wine onboard your cruise, if it's with Carnival forget it. Unlike Carnival ships that cruise from U.S. Based ports ships departing from Aust ports do not allow carry on alcohol

Cannot answer the wifi question as I live in Nrisbane. As for wine check out this website for prices, ...dan murphys.... They are a liquor outlet that will give you a good indication regarding prices and there is an outlet very close to where you are staying. Link below

https://www.danmurphys.com.au/dm/home.jsp

As for your metro card in NSW it's called an Opal card

Just google for link you can purchase this card virtually everywhere, and it is used for buses, trains and ferries

We live in Brisbane and fly same day to Sydney, but we do book the earliest flight in the morning just in case of delays. We cruising out of the states we always fly a few days early to get over the jet lag. We wants to board a cruise ship with your body clock out of sync.

Also don't forget when flying from the states to here you lose a day when crossing the date line

Damm P&O pacific pearl is going to Tonga, was hoping that as a sister company they would do the same but then the Pearl is leaving from NZ so maybe less of a diversion

Looking for opinions, sadly Fiji may not be accepting cruise ships for the next 30 days, P&O have released a statement that those cruises destined for Fiji will now deviate to Tonga instead. What are the chances of Carnival following suit. So far they have played it close to their chest other than saying they will not overburden the Fujian Population.

Has anyone been in this situation with Carnival before and what was the outcome. We are due to visit two ports in Fiji so I can't see then adding extra sea days when 50% of the ports are affected.

You're quite right - you're meant to go through the retailer (agent). That is who your contract is with.

 

Some retailers have actually been prosecuted as they try to fob the customer off to the manufacturer, when the issue sits with them.

Damm I've been getting mislead, have always been pushed to contact the manufacter as they are the ones who give the warranty. I need to change my electrical retailer

The big thing that really annoys me in this direct v agent debate is if you use an agent the cruise line refuses to answer any questions or assist you.

Recent example we went to a cruise expo last year and at a cruise line stand we accepted a good deal, we cruise next month. After paying the deposit, we were told the invoice etc will be emailed to us. This isn't an issue, we had cc deposit receipt. When it arrived it was from a travel agency on the other side of Brisbane over an hours drive away. After final payment the consultant emailed us and said she was leaving the company. Because our cruise was finalised, all paid she wasn't assigning our cruise to a co worker.

I am an ex serving ADF member and as such recieve a $100 OBC credit. I had submitted the paperwork to the agent and recieved a call saying all was approved. When I couldn't see it anyway on my cruise personaliser online with the cruise line I contacted the cruise line to confirm that it was there, better to do it now than try and sort it out onboard. The cruise line said they couldn't help me or inform me of what credits had been applied I had to deal with the agent.

My question is after final payment what company who is supplying the product or service refuses to talk with their end user customer. If I have a problem with a TV set who do I call the manufacturer, not joes TV sales

Thanks for the warning about that TA. Google identified the culprit, so I know to steer clear of them.:)

There is more than one TA in the shopping centre but this family mob have their tentacles in a lot of local businesses, RACQ agent, smash repairs, car sales.

Gee that was a bit rough Stingau I can fully understand why you would only book direct now. Did you ever get any satisfaction with your refund

Nope they both blamed each other I thought of legal action but at the end of the better to walk away. Will never use that agency again...what makes it worse it is a RACQ linked agency, tho since then I see they have divided the shop to distance themselves from ea other. And I will never cruise on that cruise line again, they were vaguely hinting well you should have dealt direct with us in the first place because you didn't we can't help you, it's up to your agent.

TA's are ok if you can find a good honest one. Sadly to say they are few and far between. There is one in Morayfield QLD that are the biggest rip offs around. We had paid for a suite for 4 people for our first cruise. The cruise was cancelled and the cruise line offered everyone a full refund and 50% off our next cruise.

When it came time to collect the agent kept over $1000 of the refund stating that it was their commission and as they had done the work they were entitled to it. Because I complained about it they then told me that they knew nothing about the 50% off voucher. When I contacted the cruise

One they stated that one was issued to the agent and that a replacement one could not be given, take up the matter with your agent.

Since then we have used both direct booking as well as an online Canadian based agent all with no problems.

It seems that when using an agent as a middleman if things go wrong the agent and cruise line blame each other and at the end of the day the only loser is you the customer.

Finally the correct thread. An birds eye view of the wrecks at Moreton. Well worth going for a snorkel

I came across this tour company operating in Fiji, mainly around Suva.

Price wise they are extremely competitive but I can't find anyone who has left feedback about the experience. I know the old saying you get what you pay for but this seems to be a small private tour agent.

I was offered a 3 hr tour, including main sites of Suva, drive past

I think, rainforest visit, waterfall visit, and village visit. All costs included ( village entry fee) for $40 aud or $45 inc a Lovo village lunch

Anyone heard anything at all about them?

Just watch out for sharks, especially if there are swarms of baitfish around.

 

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/lifesavers-say-swimmers-should-be-wary-especially-in-northern-nsw-where-sharks-chase-baitfish-inshore-at-this-time-of-year/news-story/14b8a308722a35600585d14828601db6

I agree with Sonia, Moreton Island is my back yard, the wrecks are a fantastic place to visit, as far as safety my daughter went on a school camp there recently and one of the activities as the wrecks. In today's risk management awareness schools wouldn't conduct an activity unless it was safe. Food on the island while dearer of course than the mainland is good. Especially the pizzas at the pub.

With regards to snorkelling gear take your own they don't weigh much, you only need a mask and snorkel. More cost effective and hygienic Kmart has them very cheap, but I recently brought some sets from Amart all sports when they had a sale on for about 25 dollars a set for very good casual use

Yes I have seen his Facebook page but concerned no one has posted to it. His price of $40 is very cheap compared to others which concerns me The old adage you pay for what you get.

Did you end up using Windflow tours

Ok if you get off as early as possible take a taxi into Roma St Transit Centre. They have luggage storage facilities there. The transit centre is in the middle of the city and a lot of tours depart from there. You could even go to Australia zoo from there, or wander around the CBD and Mall, or go to Southbank which is a man made lagoon in the city centre ( google it) you can swim, they have a 3D cinema, pub, restaurants, shops and if it's a weekend they have a market.

Whatever you end up doing, return to the transit centre collect your luggage and get a train direct to the airport. The earlier you get off the more options you have, even lone pine is an option. Because you are flying out so late dreamworld and movie world are also possibilities. There is public transport from the transit centre to these tourist attractions.

Your biggest problem will be while you are in an Aust port all will be as normal, as soon as you get off shore, and it isn't very far offshore either your phone automatically switches over to the ships satellite mobile phone service which is xpensive and you will not know that it has happened so ensure that international roaming is disabled. Either do this yourself or better still call your carrier to switch it permanently.

Best thing to do is to speak with your carrier, they can advise the best way to go. Prepaid sims are good, we always get them when we travel, we have sims for the UK, USA, Mexico,Carribean, NZ, and FIJI. The down side is giving everyone your temporary number.

Another option not mentioned yet is an Australia Post Load & Go travel card. It is like a credit card, putting a limit on the money you can use. We used it on the Carnival Spirit and didn't have any issues. We plan on using it on the Carnival Legend this year. There are no fees and can be bought online or in any Australia Post store.

Wouldn't this card have the same issues with holds tho or you need twice as much as you spend

This is how it works tho the amounts may have recently changed but the principle remains the same.

On boarding unless you deposit a cash lump sum carnival will put a $200 hold on your card, when you have spent $150 of that they will take another $200 hold, again when your balance hit $50 they will hold another 200, say you spend 900 on the cruise that is a thousand dollars held or quarantined by your bank. At the end of the cruise Carnival will charge your card the full amount. Ie $900 but you also have $1000 on hold so you have to have at least $1900 in your account. Eventually the holds will drop off and the money released back to you. This can take anywhere from 3 days to a month.a month is the worst case that I have heard.

So you have two options

One...... Ensure prior to cruising you have double in your account than you intend to spend, be prepared for half of that to be unavailable to you for a week after you return.

Two...... Deposit upfront all that you have budgeted for as a cash deposit onto your sail and sign card on embarkation. They may take a $200 hold to verify the debit card is current. Ensure that you don't spend more than you deposited always making sure you are $50 in credit. If need be withdraw cash and top it up. Be warned ATM onboard has a $6 fee so best to over budget and get cash back at the end. Doing this all you will have is the initial $200 hold which is better than $1000.

We book all our overseas cruises thru online USA based agents. Some will take your bookings others won't. You can also try Canadian agents as they book via the USA based system.

Worst comes to the worst I know a way around it that some have used. You can get a USA based mailing address that is redirected to Australia. Used primarily for Amazon purchases. Once set up you can then use that post box address to book cruises. No cruise details are sent via snail mail anymore and documents luggage labels boarding passes are all done online.

I believe Aust post has a redirection system that gives you a us address to send things to, they were not the cheapest and if you google I'm sure you will find others .

For an outlay of under $50 you can save thousands