oskarNZ

8 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

Little wombats look very cuddly, too. If yo want to see them in the wild, I recommend Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, where they are regularly seen on and around the boardwalks in the national park

Funny you say that as I have only seen a wild wombat once and it was in Cradle Mountain.
 
Travelling the world to see animals in the wild is a bit of a passion of mine and that includes all the fabulous animals you have there in Australia.  Next on the wishlist is a platypus.  
 

By the way, that photo is very cute.   

I’m pleased I asked.  I am learning about animals (eg the pademelon) that I never even knew existed and have gone on a marsupial google hunt.  
 

I must admit, I have a bit of a soft spot for your wombats.  The baby ones I saw at a sanctuary in Tasmania some years back were possible the cutest thing ever.  

7 hours ago, sherri3802 said:

I am relieved that my post has been received so well. I was a bit nervous writing anything critical.

 

I think what concerned me was that if anyone had one of the more usual food allergies or preferences eg coeliac, nut allery, vegetarian, then their choices would be extremely limited at each venue.

Each meal has a list next to it to indicate if it is vegetarian, gluten free etc

There would most likely only be one choice for those people.

 

If you have a more unusual allergy eg can't have onions or garlic, then I believe they do come up to you and run through the menu.

 

To be fair, my daughter loved some of the noodle dishes at Dragon Lady and she enjoyed a meal at Angelo's. But again, there was only one option available so just as well she loves noodles.

 

I'm no gourmet chef but I was also surprised by one dish on the kid's menu. Pasta and sausages. The pasta, which looked like penne, came with no sauce or topping at all. Perhaps it had had a tablespoon of olive oil stirred through but if so, I could not taste it as I tried some.
Very dry. Four pieces of sausage on top ie one sausage.

My granddaughter ate most of it and seemed to like it okay but I have never seen just plain pasta served anywhere.

 

Wow! That sausage meal doesn’t sound even remotely nutritious. It annoys me when restaurants, including those on land, think kids are okay with food free of vitamins and flavours.  
 

Also, as someone who hasn’t decided yet, I really appreciate feedback, both good and bad, in order to make an informed decision.  
I’ve seen Facebook pages where fans of particular lines  can become quite defensive (in a disrespectful way) whenever anyone posts something negative about the company they love.  However, for those of us researching, it’s better to approach any booking with realistic expectations rather than our head in clouds.  The fall to land can end with a night thump otherwise.  
So thanks again for your feedback, it’s appreciated.  
 

I have no experience with any of those islands, but I have become stuck chewing over the first paragraph.  Can someone tell me what the “country’s cutest marsupial” is please? 
 

I can’t seem to open the article without subscribing.  

19 hours ago, sherri3802 said:

Okay, I am no expert on cruises but I have done 3 P&O. Two were pre covid.

The last one was on Pacific Adventure last month. Here are my observations, for what they are worth.

1. Nice enough ship, decor wise.

2. Prices can be really good. Sign up for emails as a past passenger and occasionally they will offer special deals.

3. The meals-there has been serious cost cutting. I mean, serious. Maybe this is so across all cruise lines, I'd be interested to know.

But where once I can recall there were about 6 choices of main meal in the dining room, it is all arranged differently now. There are 4 mains.

There are 3 main dining rooms and you are rotated through these, a different one each night. Each seems to have the same menu for 3 nights, then a second menu comes into play. I assume each venue rotates through its two menus.

But here's the downside. My daughter is vegetarian and one of her children has a nut allergy.

Each night, there was just one vegetarian option on the menu, for entree or mains. If you didn't like it, too bad. Our first night was in the Waterfront and her entree was basically just cubed beetroot. Mains was spicy beans. I'll eat anything but my meals were pretty average too. The creme brulee was very tasty but it was lucky to be 1cm deep, if that.

If you wanted anything like steak, forget it. That is listed as 'Indulge' and will set you back about $35.

No beef wellingtons or any of the special sorts of things I recall from the past.

Even my poor little granddaughter, she ordered the trio of icecream and was told she couldn't have it as sometimes they have a nut topping. We asked if she could have just the plain icecream, no topping and were told no. I do understand they have to be careful with allergies but seriously, this was the kids munu-why have a nut topping at all and surely they could have icecream that had not been near nuts?

We found the meals at the other 2 dining rooms were better. You can try to change your bookings but it is not easy. We changed one and could only get 8pm and my grandson fell asleep at the table.

My daughter refused to return to the Waterfront on our last night as it was back to the hated menu so we had to go to buffet.

4. Entertainment. It was quite good on the whole. We went to every show at 7pm.

What we found was that on the first night, we turned up about 6.45pm and had no problem. After a few nights though, even when we got there 25 minutes early, we had to split up and it was hard to get seating. On our last night, we turned up 30 minutes early and there were no seats to be had.

My daughter, before she had children, cruised a long time ago on a much smaller ship called (I think) Pacific Star and she said she much preferred that as there was never a problem getting seats. But there sure was on our cruise.

There are lots of activities teens might like though. The pools were good. My grandkids loved them.

5. During the day, unless you are a big trivia or karaoke fan, there's not a lot to do, it's a bit boring. That's my personal view. If I went on P&O again, it would depend on itinerary with a few ports. We were unlucky with one of our port days cancelled altogether and the oter washed out with rain so we only got off the ship 1 1/2 days out of 9. It would help if they put movies on in the theatre during the day and not just on the big outdoor screen. Who wants to sit up there in the cold or windy or wet weather.

6. The shops are a bit ordinary, I couldn't even find one that sold a bit of reading matter and I had finished my book.

7. Staff were obliging but some were obviously new to the job. There were repeated times they forgot to do things in our cabin eg replace beach towels etc

 

I'm not trying to sound too negative. I had a reasonable time but out of my 5 cruises, this one was in 5thy place, probably as we had too many sea days. But my main disappointment was meals. Tasty enough but not the quality ingredients of the past.

Thanks so much for your detailed and honest review.  It confirms some of my concerns.  
The P&O cruise I have been looking at was on a really good (but non-refundable) flash sale over the weekend and yet I couldn’t bring myself to book.  I think it was my gut telling me something.  
 

In this day and age, all vacation spots should have multiple vegetarian options.  I was vegetarian up until about a year ago and I still eat vegetarian meals much of the week.  I support the comments that tasty meals can be made fairly cheaply.  
I just recently returned from an all-inclusive vacation in Mexico where I had access to not one, but two, restaurants that were both 100% vegan.  The food was some of the best I’ve had.  
The success of good veg meals does require access to a lot of fresh ingredients and I read a review somewhere that P&O has really gone down hill when it comes to vegetables and salads.  

8 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Port Douglas and Cairns.

if there are stingers at Port Douglas or Palm Cove, Cairns,  you can swim in the Stinger Enclosure.

Good to know.  Will google that.

Out of interest, why do you say Port Douglas is better? Is it because Port Douglas itself is a nicer city or is it because it’s closer to better excursions.  

Thanks also to everyone for the feedback about fries.  
I’m not specifically concerned about the access (or lack thereof) to fries throughout the ship, it’s just that I find charging for things like this an odd business decision.
 Perhaps it’s just me.  

3 hours ago, Jean C said:

Hi, I've been wondering for a while whether to respond to the above.

 

We have done snorkelling from the platform cruise ships use for their Great Barrier Reef excursions (although we did this on a non-cruise holiday), and we went to Whitehaven Beach with Princess. We've since done a fair bit of snorkelling and really can't recommend the ship's tour - the coral you see is dead/bleached and fish weren't abundant. If you possibly can, you should go to Port Douglas before or after your cruise and do a private Outer Reef snorkel tour - the coral is unbelievably stunning in size, variety and colour and the fish abundant.

 

As regards Whitehaven Beach, I have mixed thoughts. Our excursion was on a beautiful blue sky, calm day. Bits were fantastic, the viewing platform you go to for a view of Whitehaven and the stunning colours of the water and sandbars, and Whitehaven Beach itself. The downsides were the very long high speed boat trip there and back - uncomfortably long - and the short amount of time at Whitehaven Beach itself. We went for a quick dip in the water, and it was quick as the water was freezing, ate the boxed lunch provided, and then it was time to leave for the journey back - even just another half hour would have made all the difference as there was no time to walk along the beach for a bit. So for the huge cost, I don't know if I would recommend it or not. Again, if it were at all possible to visit that part of Aus other than on a cruise ship tour, that would be preferable. I'm pleased to be able to say I've been there though, albeit very briefly!

I’m pleased you responded as that is really useful to know.  
I have wondered if it’s worth waiting until we get the chance to actually fly into Cairns and spend a proper amount of time in the area, and your response makes me think it might be. 
In fact, if it weren’t for the risks of summer (stingers and storms), I would consider doing it this upcoming trip instead of a cruise.  I don’t mind wearing a stinger suit for one or two excursions, but not a whole week.  
 

Carnival does one day Port Douglas and one day Cairns.

P&O meanwhile does an overnight/2 days in Cairns but no Port Douglas.  
I did wonder if one option was better than the other? 

Thanks so much everyone for your really helpful feedback.  I would reply individually to all of your thoughts but are in a bit of a rush this morning.  
 

I just wanted to add that after speaking again to our friends, it seems that they just aren’t in the financial position to book a vacation over the next year or so, so it will be just my family of 3 going on a cruise.

I’m disappointed, but also it relieves the pressure of feeling like I might make the wrong choice.

With that in mind, I have narrowed our options to the HAL and P&O cruise.  I like Carnival, but am keen to try something else.  
 

I’m leaning towards HAL, but I want to sit down tonight and crunch everything (shore excursions, drinks, HAL gratuities, flights etc), to work out if the value for the P&O cruise is still worth considering. 
If P&O really is considerably cheaper, I suppose I can look past paying an extra $4 for a side of fries, but I have to be honest, it would irritate me a bit.  I fully understand paying extra $$ for things like seafood and expensive cuts of steak, but not things like burgers, hot dogs and fries.  It seems they have decided over the last couple of weeks to start upcharging on comfort foods, which is really odd given that carb-loaded food like this fills people up at less cost to the cruise line.  I could happily go a week without eating this type of food, but seeing all these up charges on a menu does kind of mess a bit with that all-inclusive bubble feeling.  

On the flipside, I do like all the rave reviews I’m reading about the evening shows such as the one ‘7’.   I will have to Google them.  

 

8 hours ago, LincolnLegend said:

Hi oskarNZ, I have cruised on the Luminosa and many times with P&O, although not on the Encounter.

I haven't been onboard since they started charging for the eggs Benedict etc. and will admit that I find that a little disappointing, but all the cruise companies have changed since the Covid shut down and I have always been happy to pay a little more onboard for such a good price for the cruise in general. 

I like a drink but struggle to get my money's worth with Carnival at $120 per day. The shows on P&O definitely win for me, bingo is cheaper and more money is returned to the players on P&O. The entertainment team are great and there seems to be more fun trivia on P&O. The piano bars on Carnival are fun, as are the alchemy bars! I found the comedy club on Luminosa to be very disappointing, just for the fact that it is soooo small. Nearly every night it was full 30mins before the first show and then people just didn't leave - the room held less than 100 people so it was a real scrum at times.

I have never been on a cruise that I didn't love on either cruise line, price point and itinerary would help me to decide, between these two at least.

This comparison is very useful.  Thank you.  I really dislike when cruises put popular shows in small rooms and it’s a scrum to get inside.  
 

My favourite onboard experiences have been ones that distribute what is happening around the ship so as to spread the crowds out.  Celebrity for example, seemed to have very little going on inside during our sea days, so getting a seat around the pools was always difficult.  It’s therefore good to hear P&O offer a lot of fun trivia options. 
 

Out of interest, have you been on P&O Adventure?  (I see that is pretty much the same ship design as the Encounter).  If so, did a ship with so many pools and shared spaces distribute the crowds well?  
I keep watching You Tube videos of all 3 ships and the Encounter/Adventure really do look like lovely ships that have been updated well.  The design and the way they have utilised upper deck spaces does seem a bit more reminiscent of the likes of Royal Caribbean which I think my family might enjoy as long as the crowds are distributed well.  

2 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Hi Oskar. We are actually on the Barrier Reef cruise on P&O Pacific Encounter at the end of this month. Will happily fill you in when we get back!!!

We have cruised with P&O quite often over the years (though last time was pre Covid) mostly doing the South Pacific and have always had a wonderful time. Although we weren't travelling with kids, there seemed to be a lot of activities for them and they seemed to be having a ball.

We've always found the food to be good and the staff (especially the cabin stewards) to be exceptional. The entertainment was always good and we found plenty to do.

But, as I said, this was pre covid, so we will have more current information for you next month.

I would love it if you could feed back.  Thanks. I am finding it hard to find recent info on the company, so anything you can share would be great.  

I see that they changed their menus a few weeks back and are now charging for things in the main dining room that  I would consider cruise staples (eg eggs bene at breakfast, burgers for lunch, steak at dinner). I am admittedly feeling a put put off by that as I like to go on a cruise and know that unless I choose to eat at specialty spots, my food costs are pretty much covered.  In saying they are cheaper, so I have to factor that in when making a decision.  

 

34 minutes ago, jazdax said:

my experience with HAl.  is that they are generally not designed for teenagers.

 

Carnival and P&o more designed for kids.  I would suggested either of these.  My last experience on Carnival was the service was not the same as pre covid.  I havent done p&o since covid but my daughter has and has enjoyed it.  I love the p&o comedy cruises.  A great intro to those that have never cruises before.  The punchline club on Carnival has comedy shows each day.  some AO others not. 

 

If you can check out Royal Caribbean they are in Australia oct to apr.  they are very family friendly and so many activities for all no one would be board.

Thanks so much Jazdax for your thoughts.  
We didn’t think a comedy club was important to us until we went on Carnival Splendor.  The acts were mostly hilarious and a great way to end the evening.  
Do you know if P&O has good comedy acts outside the Comedy cruises?  

1 hour ago, dazadelaide said:

Have been on HAL and P&O.

HAL ships are nicer inside, better quality furniture and fit outs.

HAL don't seem to have as much for kids as P&O

 Getting a seat in restaurants is about the same on HAL as P&O, both have sold outs sometimes.

Food on P&O can best be described as having a good meal down at your local pub, tasty, enough options (especially for kids depending on their age) and good sized portions.

Food on HAL is a better quality but not as much for kids but you can always ask for off menu choices.

Entertainment on our last P&O cruise was the best we have ever had on any cruise anywhere in the world we have cruised.

The entertainment on HAL was still very good but had a bit more Jazz and "string quartet" type of music that doesn't really appeal to us, we prefer a more pub band vibe that P&O offer.

We live in Adelaide and being on P&O was like going to the fringe every night for 14 nights straight, out for dinner at the pub seeing a show and then ending up at a pub to watch a band or a muso playing a guitar and singing.

We had no problems getting a seat in any public places on either lines.

Prices on P&O are better for the cruise and for drinks (soft as we don't drink alcohol) than HAL. 

The free coffee is rubbish on both but with the soft drink package including the coffee option on P&O was good for us.

Nickle and diming on both lines is about the same.

If it came to a choice we would always go with the itinerary.

While we like the ship being part of the destination if there is a cruise with ports we want to see over ports we have been to before we would go for the itinerary.

Have fun on whatever line you choose if you go with an open mind and go with the flow you will enjoy yourselves I'm sure.

Daz

 

 

Thanks Daz, I really appreciate the input and comparative insight into P&O.  
I’m completely fine with a good pub style meal and like you, we prefer a good pub band than a string quartet.  
 

Also, thanks for your thoughts about the drink package.  I am thinking of getting the same one for my family.  I don’t drink a lot on cruises (perhaps 2 cocktails a day) and my husband mostly drinks beer (which doesn’t quite add up enough in price to the justify the alcoholic drink package). 

1 minute ago, MMDown Under said:

Luminosa’s piano bar was on a through corridor which I didn’t like, not intimate but not hot either.

Interesting and very good to know.  

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We're regular Princess cruises but have also cruised on Celebrity, Carnival and Holland America.

 

We were very disappointed in the Westerdam cruise we did last Christmas. The food was decidedly below Princess and Celebrity and the entertainment mostly didn't appeal to us - we dined late and by the time we finished dinner there wasn't much happening.

 

Our Carnival cruise was some years ago, on Carnival Legend, and we were pleasantly surprised. Very good food, good entertainment, and a great piano bar. 

Thanks heaps for sharing your opinion of HAL.  It’s always good to hear a mix of opinions to help with our decision.  
 

Also, I agree about the Carnival food and piano bar.  

3 hours ago, lyndarra said:

I have not cruised on P & O. My cruising experience so far has been, in order of preference, kinda, Celebrity, HAL, RCI, Princess, Carnival and MSC. I have never had a bad cruise, all are good but some cruise lines do some things a bit better than others and IMO is where they gain their followers.

On my last HAL cruise, in one music trivia, I could not answer any of the questions - they were all too modern, about 80s and 90s artists.

If you're looking for fun activities Carnival would cover that. Rock climbing, flow riders, water slides skating, dodgem cars. HAL and Celebrity have none of that and, unless they had music venues during the day are fairly staid. I'm not into art shows or auctions or dancing which seem to have lost their appeal although many cruisers long for some music and ballroom dancing (which was never my thing). I recall either Celebrity or RCI having silent disco which is fun to do and watch.

MSC have dance classes but we're not seeing them in Oz atm but I think they are coming.

HAL usually has a veterans meet. On my last HAL cruise this was well attended, so much so that at the request of participants another two were scheduled - I attended them all. Participants  came fom US, Oz, NZ and UK and IIRC included one or two still serving attendees.

Thanks again lyndarra.  All good advice. 
 

I think it’s a shame that cruise lines are moving away from the arts as all dance and craft style activities I have attended in the past have always been well attended.  Dance wise, I would be happy with anything from Zumba to Salsa. In fact, I even really enjoyed the Michael Jackson’s thriller dance lessons on the Carnival.  It sent me back to my childhood.  
I have not long returned from an all inclusive resort in Mexico called Hotel Xcaret Arte that was completely themed around the Mexican Arts.  It’s the nicest resort I have ever stayed in.  I so wish there was an equivalent on the ocean.  

2 hours ago, sciencewonk said:

I can address your Noordam questions.

Thanks so much Sciencewonk.  
I really appreciate your input.  
We don’t mind too much if the ship is a bit sleepy later in the evening as we aren’t a family that stay awake until the early morning hours.  We do like a good show, comedy act or live band until around 10ish in the evening and to be honest, most cruiselines have offered something along those lines to keep us happy.  It’s during the daytime on sea days that I have noticed the biggest discrepancies between lines.  

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I love a good piano bar.  One where the talented pianist knows tastes of his/her passengers.  

Same.  The guy on Carnival Splendor was awesome and I loved that each evening he followed a theme (eg an Elton John night, a Beatles night etc).  It was extremely hot in there though as there was no air-con.  Hopefully they have fixed that.  

4 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Luminosa is a beautiful ship. Food was good.  

 

Thank you so much for your response MMDown Under.  It’s very useful.  
 

It’s great to hear you enjoyed the food on Luminosa. We were pleasantly surprised by the food on Splendor as we weren’t expecting much.
Out of interest do you have any experience with the food and activities on P&O that you can compare it to?  

Also, thanks for the activity suggestions.  I will certainly check them out.  Part of the problem I have with that itinerary is that the activities at the top of the bucket list are the ones that cost a lot (eg Great Barrier Reef, river tubing, possibly visiting Whitehaven Beach etc).  I would struggle a bit knowing beautiful locations and fun activities like that are within our reach and we didn’t try them.  
Alternatively, in the likes of Hobart and Adelaide we would be more than happy self-guiding ourselves around the cities and seeing the buildings, parks etc what make these cities special and unique.  Also, being cooler places, we wouldn’t feel as much need to do water activities (which admittedly would probably be more fun for the kids…).   
It’s so much easier making these decisions when I’m only thinking about my own family.  
 

32 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

My pick would be Noordam,

Thanks so much lyndarra for taking the time to respond - I really appreciate your thoughts.

You are certainly correct that the itinerary is important, as ultimately that is what I remember most about the cruises we have been on.  I have never sailed out of Brisbane, but I’ve sailed out of Sydney twice and there is something so special about watching the Sydney skyline at sail away. I would love my friends to experience this.  
In saying all that, the Great Barrier Reef is on the bucket list, so either itinerary would be great.  

While this will be a hard question to quantify, is there a relaxed, fun feeling to Holland America when it comes to the activities? I ask as my potential travel companions and I go back a long time and I keep thinking how the likes of the music, quiz and party themes (eg 80’s) on the Carnival cruise we did would be a fun friendship journey for us down memory lane. 
I never quite got that same feeling from the 2 celebrity cruises I did, which were lovely but also decidedly more sophisticated and serious.    I also thought that paid activities like spa talks, auctions and wine tastings dominated the Celebrity daily planner over activities like trivia, games and art and dance classes that would be more fun to do as a group. 

Also, I don’t suppose you have any recent experience with P&O that you can compare with HAL?  
 

Thanks again!

Hello Aus/NZ cruisers,

My family are returning to cruising after about a 4 year hiatus and I am trying to convince some friends to come along with us.  They have never cruised before and as such, I feel a bit of pressure to make sure their first experience is a good one.  
We will be a group of 4 adults and 3 teenagers who will be travelling in peak school holiday season. Our budget is not limitless and I am more keen to show our friends how cruising can be good value for money than ultra luxurious.  
 

I have narrowed our selection down to 3 main options and I would be keen to hear people’s thoughts (good or bad) on any three.  I would also be keen to hear if people agree or diasgree with any of my pre-assumptions.

1) Holland America Noordam to Sth Australia.

This is the longest and most appealing itinerary to me of the 3. Mostly because it visits  cities and islands we haven’t had the chance to explore and can do so without too much extra cost.  Plus it’s the only one that sails out of Sydney which I think is a special experience in itself. 
However, I’ve never travelled with HA before and I’m worried about it feeling a bit sleepy, especially for the kids.  Is it like Celebrity (which I’ve been on twice) in that a lot of the so called ‘activities’ are things like spa talks and art auctions.  
The main thing that would keep the adults happy is a wide variety of trivia, live music and entertaining shows and comedians.  The BBC stuff also interests me.  
Am I correct to assume that the food on Holland America might be a slight cut above the other two options? Also, is it fair to assume that we are less likely to feel like we have to fight for seats in public spaces on the Noordam?  
 

2) Carnival Luminosa to North Queensland.  I like this itinerary, but the excursions I would be keen to do are super expensive.  
We went on the Splendor about 4 years ago and we really enjoyed it.  The food was better than we expected and we enjoyed the lively vibe of the ship. There was always trivia to attend or fun events such as the 80s party and we never struggled to find seats other than sometimes near the pool.  Is the Luminosa the same?  It’s a shame they haven’t yet added the likes of water slides as I do worry that like the HA ship the only real kid offerings are the kids club.  
 

3) P&O Encounter also to North Queensland.

To be honest, I have steered clear of P&O over the years as I cruised with them a long time ago and found the ship too busy for my liking.  We couldn’t even get seats for trivia half the time which irritated me.  The food was better than I was expecting though.  
Many years have passed though and I am wondering how the company has held up over the years and if it’s worth trying again.  I watched a video of the ship and decor-wise it looks the nicest of the 3.  It has by far the most teenage friendly activities and it’s the cheapest meaning we could afford a balcony cabin instead of a window one.  
How does the food and entertainment compare on P&O these days? What are the crowds like on the Encounter?  Are we going to struggle to get seats in public spaces and reservations at places like the main restaurants and Edge activities for the kids?  I ask as I feel like this is the sort of thing that could make or break this holiday for us.  
I do understand that there is more nickle and diming on P&O and having to pay more for things like burgers by the pool is annoying, but on the flipside, I do like that everything is in Australian dollars and gratuities are not something to worry about.  Plus I like that it has 3 different main included restaurants offering 3 different styles of food (assuming the food is good).  We liked this about Disney. 
 

4) Lastly, I was considering the Quantum of the Seas, but scratched it after it increased in price a few days ago. Also, I worry about the reviews saying how crowded it is.  But if anyone can convince me why this ship would be worth spending as much as $100 more per person per night over the other 3, I am happy to listen.  
 

Thanks heaps for any thoughts. 

This article about Kiwis trapped off the coast of Uruguay makes for interesting reading.

I can only imagine how scary it must be for all the passengers (which also includes a lot of Australians) onboard.

I imagine that even if Uruguay let’s them ashore, it could be a long time before someone can get them home.  It’s not like flights to Uruguay from NZ would be easy at the best of times.  It’s proving hard enough to get stranded kiwis in Peru home.  

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/sixteen-kiwis-trapped-cruise-ship

12 hours ago, Docker123 said:

200 crew on Ruby with virus symptoms

 

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-australia-200-ruby-princess-crew-members-with-virus-symptoms/news-story/ea9c431d385c4dcec2ba8186c6c95a6d

Oh my.  Not good at all.  

Crikey, this is a difficult position to be in.

Are there passengers still on that ship? 

This is an interesting thread.  
I too am a person who will take a lot of convincing to come back to cruising.  
Not because of any one choice made by a cruiseline, but because this whole thing has highlighted the complications (more than norovirus ever could) that come from being confined to a space with a lot of other people. 
This is not something I could have foreseen myself saying and it brings me a lot of sadness that traveling with my family (the thing that filled me with the most happiness in the world) is potentially never going to look the same for many years (possibly longer for cruising).
 

Speaking of foresight, I feel like this virus crept up on us really quickly and every government and every big tourism provider perhaps should have done at least one thing differently.  However, it’s so much easier now to say these things in hindsight as I am one who was too guilty of once thinking this was ‘no worse than the flu’ and would blow over much quicker than it has. Boy was I wrong.

In saying that, without a cruise currently booked, I am fortunate to have not been negatively effected by the decisions of any cruiseline, so I can only imagine how frustrating things have been for those negatively effected.  

I have noticed that Carnival are spamming me a lot at present with some pretty significant deals.  I even got another email last night after unsubscribing a few days ago.  I suspect cruiselines, like most tourism providers, are very worried right now and regardless of what poor decisions were or weren’t made, my heart goes out to the many thousands who will probably soon find themselves without a job.