nodandade

as an absolute hater of road tolls,why the hell do we pay them.

count how many vehicles are in your state multiply that be the average amount of rego and see what figure you come up with per annum.and we still have to pay tolls, a bl--dy tax rip off.

where does all this money go that supposedly is to be spent on our roads.

nice pics,i thought the solstice was always stern in first,but your pics tell a different story,is she now always bow in first,

we'll be on her 3.4.15

thank you

my wife and i were on the diamond 18 months ago Bangkok to Sydney,she is a great ship,nothing was a problem and we had smooooooth seas all the way.

three things (beside all the others ) we liked was, the English pub (great steak and kidney pie with a pint) the crème brulee, and the biiiiiiiiiiig diver scallops.

we had a balcony and overlooked the mini suites partially open balconies below.

enjoy one of our favourite ships

if its any help,we are on the solstice (3 x 2 married couples) leaving on the 3.4.15 out of Sydney.we always stay at the ' metro Sydney central hotel'', corner of Campbell and pitt st Sydney, (http://www.metrohotels.com.au) it is a clean and safe hotel, around $160.00 aus per night, (a great $15.00 buffett breakfast) it is a brisk 20 minute walk to the opt,but it is only 5 minutes to paddys markets / Chinatown / 10 minutes to the Sydney fish markets / right across the road from sydneys major theatres,and there is malonies irish pub about 5 minutes up the slight hill (http://www.maloneyshotel.com.au) for some bloody good tucker and a couple of pints of good ale, nice pub and friendly staff (great Guinness pie with puff pastry top and mash n gravy about $18.00 aus.then in the morning they will call a cab for you to go to the ship about $20.00 depending on traffic.it may not be at the quay but its very good value.

hope this helps

I know how a lot of people feel about doing washing on a cruise,whether it be for the cost of or inconvenience of it,and yes it is only a small $ amount in the whole scheme of things ''but'' it is always handy to hang the occasional ''few '' things up somewhere to dry if you do not have a full bag to have done.

because people like to travel as light as possible these days (luggage weight restrictions on airplanes etc) we all have had to cut down on quantity, so having a restricted amount of ''smalls' means extra washes through the cruise,having said that, we have ofund on most occasions enough room to hang the few things in the shower room itself, but we do take a couple of jockey straps and a few pegs ' yes al lightweight'' and stretch it ourt on our balcony ''on sea days only'' and let the wind dry them,if you are in an inside cabin etc,i don't have an answer

reason my wife takes her pillow ''everywhere we go in the world,either cruising or whatever,she can't bare the thought of the dried drool on the pillow itself (not the pillow case.)

anyone been in cabin 1590 aqua on the solstice,it is not on the sticky.

details of noise/ bed location etc would be great .thank you in advance

hello abj1970,

not related to your question,but are you sailing 3.4.15 on solstice,we are, my dad from Yorkshire many moons ago,just such a beautiful area of England,love the pubs

thanks in advance

does anyone know if they do blueberry roulade on the the solstice,i had it on the diamond princess and it was just divine

thank you in advance

is it true that if I purchase the classic alcohol package, I receive all of the drinks included in all the packages up and including the classic alcohol package.also it states at the end of the package description that gratuities will be charged at the end of the cruise on this package, I was led to believe you pay 15% on the purchase price e.g $900.00 x 15% =$1035.00 and that was that, no matter how many drinks I have whilst on board, as long as those drinks did not exceed the price range for that package, if I exceeded the price range then I would be charged the full amount of that drink and a gratuity at the end of the cruise . so I I do not exceed the price limit then there will be no charges and no gratuities to pay.

is this correct, or do I stand to be corrected

thank you in advance

if it is any help, using your American airlines , e.g delta /American etc along with a couple of others from dallas to Sydney in November this year is about $2100.00 aus dollars return economy or another alternative would be to get cheap flights from your nearest airport and fly to Honolulu,then you can fly with our discount carrier (Jetstar airways) from Honolulu to Sydney for around $1800.00 return on their ''star class '' seats.this in the front of the plane in a 2 - 3 - 2 seating arrangement, it is not true business class but does offer a much bigger leather seat unlimited food and drinks including alcohol more leg room and the seats recline a fair way back (but not lay flat) by any means.but we use them a lot and it is really worth it. if you come over in November you will likely (as already stated) get cheaper acco and less kids

flying this way may ease the stress of a long trip.

Jetstar website is http://www.jetstar.com.au cheers

I have to agree with other posters theses are both terrific cruises, my wife and I have done them both, the med x 14 days on the ncl Norwegian jade , and australia / n.z on the Holland America volendam.i also agree with others about times of the year you would like to go/ school holidays etc,although having said that I believe both of the cruises above were taken in school holiday times, and because they are 14 day cruises you tend not to see as many kids as on 7 dayers (this is not always the case though) as you can see we live in Australia and the nz / Australia cruise was not a biggy when it came to flights ,but the med was.we have travelled extensively over the years and although we cannot always afford to fly business class, we tend to fit 1 or 2 day stop overs at a cheaper hotel and break the journey that way.

back to your question, again I agree with others do both,and if you can't remember the scenery in Australia and new Zealand is something to behold (as well as our history) and the history and sights in the med are something to behold (as well as their scenery).you have to decide,but my attitude (for what it is worth) is '' when your dead your doing nothing' hope this helps in some small way.

happy cruising

hope someone can give me an answer.we will be sailing solstice out of Sydney to Hawaii.my wife has a Telstra package with her phone,and I know I could ask Telstra this question(and wait a thousand years for an answer) but I thought the best place would be to ask here.for people who have done this,what is the phone/ text reception between Sydney and Hawaii.

now I know we should get decent coverage when we are in ports and closer to land, but has anyone experienced the reception say between syd / nz - nz / Tahiti - Tahiti / Hawaii.

thanks in advance

o.k everyone time to stop.

I asked a couple of questions and they have been answered.

I never asked if I could cheat any system, all I asked was two questions and they have been solved.

I thank you for all your replies and your input.

happy cruising

it does not take long for a simple question to get blown out of all preportions does it, I asked two simple questions and cle- guy answered those 2 questions completely for me,then others get on board and start to air their two bobs worth.

I stated that I know about sharing (not to) and I won't,but the simple question was to ask that if the card holder was having a snooze could his wife get a drink with it while the card holder was asleep.the point being what difference would it make, if the card holder was not using it (by sitting at a bar for possibly hours drinking) and his wife just wanted to use it for say a speciality coffee ,then whats the deal.

I don't want to here from people who want to air their beliefs ,but facts from people who have done or tried what I have asked

thank you

had a get together on the weekend with friends we will be cruising with,only 80 sleeps.

they want to know the following.

if only one in the cabin has a drinks package, (all the men purchased one each some twelve months ago for this cruise)if one of the wives want to go for a cocktail or coffee but the hubby wants to stay in the cabin and have a snooze,can his wife take his card and get a drink with it without him being there.

and as these packages were purchased some time ago,are they endbeded with a code etc or do they have a sticker on them,the reason is if one wants to go for a drink, it would be better to take the card that has the drinks package on it.i know it will be in my name,but hey I bet we have all taken the wrong card at some time.

maybe I could put a little sticker on it to make sure it is mine.

thanks in advance,and I do know there is no sharing.

does anyone know if you can buy duty free products fron the revamped overseas terminal in Sydney where the cruise ships leave from

thank you in advance

leaving 3.4.15 on the solstice from the overseas terminal from Sydney,does anyone know if you can buy duty free items there now

thank you in advance

leaving Sydney from the overseas terminal on the solstice 3.4.15,can anyone tell me if you can buy duty free at the terminal

thank you in advance

does any one know if you can now buy duty free at the overseas terminal where the solstice will leave from on 3.4.15

I will post this in other sites to see if I can get an answer, thank you in advance

spacificbound,what do you mean ''must be australian''

my wife and I did the Vancouver to seaward 7 day Alaska cruise back a few years ago (our very first cruise) on the carnival spirit in a balcony cabin ,starboard side towards the stern of the ship.we went at the end of may,what can I say,only absolutely marvellous,we are not ones to take a lot of ships or anyones excursions,but on this occasion we took one.before my wifes mother died she asked me that if one day I could ever afford it, could I take my wife to Alaska and take her on a real dog sled in the snow, something I did not know my wife wanted to do until her mother told me near her end.

well bugger it I thought and I scraped up the money and took my wife to Alaska ,and yes we did go way up in a helicopter out of skagway on top of a glacier where there were hundreds of dogs and a marvellous camp area for the dogs and their handlers.when we got out of the helicopter she just stood there and cried,(I cried a bit to), but hey you only live once, it was next to marrying her the second best feeling I have had in my life,go to Alaska in whatever ship in whatever cabin at whatever cost,and enjoy one of the most pristine parts of the world.

have a great cruise

hello cruisers,just wanting to know if anyone (recently)say this year has used the Qantas/ Jetstar business lounge at Honolulu international airport.

what is it like / thank you in advance

I know this may not be the place to ask, but I don't know where.we are flying home from Honolulu after our solstice cruise in april,has anyone been into the Qantas lounge lately at the airport if so what sort of food do they have / drinks etc. we will be departing 10.45 am so I am looking more at breaky type of food.thanks in advance

hi everyone,can anyone tell me the costa smoking policy, have given up four 4 years, don't have a problem with others smoking, just wanted to know how much their is on costa.please lets not start a fued here,i am only asking a simple question,as I say I am not against it, just want to know where

thank you in advance