baloothecat

Apologies I was in the wrong group! Happy sailing!

I think you’re on the wrong roll call. This cruise has already sailed!!

This doesn’t bode well for those looking to work remotely from the ship. We were on a Hawaii cruise from L.A in January and several days where there was no connection, not even for the tv and everyone complained about the WiFi. I have AT&T phone mobile service and signed up for the cruise plan for at sea days. 50min of calls, unlimited text for $50. At ports we’ll activate the $10 international plan on AT&T to access emails, social media etc. we may sign up for the ships internet for a day or 2 while onboard. That’s our plan at least.

Are you talking about the harmless reef tip sharks? Not sure if any ships excursions do. In Moorea I know Corallina Tours morning lagoon tour does stop in an area between motus that has sharks & rays.. They have an 8:30 tour and will p/u from tender dock. Small group size max.12 https://www.corallinatours.com/

Suva- If you’re not a snorkeler and still looking for a tour, Vasiti Koi of Nautilus Adventure Tours Fiji has set up a cultural tour for our port stop. You can contact her to reserve your spot by fb messenger Vasiti Koi or email vkoi277@yahoo.com Or for more information

I contacted her on fb messenger and this is her email: vkoi277@yahoo.com

If you go to fb group for this cruise someone set up dives for each of the ports.

Hi Suva- I had reserved spaces on a snorkel excursion to Beqa lagoon thru Untouched Fiji for 100USD (transport/snorkel/light lunch pizza & water) because they said it was a small group tour, no more than 12, payable on day of tour. See the wording I copied back on post #84. After seeing them confirm a lot of people I contacted them to find out how they were transporting so many people since I was led to believe they only did small groups. Well I’m now finding out it’s going to be a large group (at least 40) on a 1hr bus to Pacific Harbor then splitting into 2 groups of 20+ on snorkel boats. Your light lunch is pizza (veg/chicken or beef) and bottle of water. There is now another option available which I will be switching over to. Vasiti Koi, who works for Nautilus Adventure Tours Fiji has set up another snorkel excursion to Beqa Lagoon. It’s pretty much the same timing except : 1) the transfer is from/to Suva dock by boat to Pacific harbor . 2) bottle of water only, no light lunch Cost is USD $65 , payable on day of departure * For $35 difference I’d rather be in the fresh air on a boat than on a bus, and I can buy my own snack or lunch and I hope it might be a smaller group. She says she can accommodate up to 40. I don’t expect anyone else to switch providers. I just want to let you know what you’re now getting on your snorkel tour thru Untouched Fiji you can contact Vasiti Koi by private messenger with any questions. Stephanie

I guess we will find out onboard unless we get an official letter from Carnival beforehand. I’m hoping also for more relaxed rules but will go with the flow.

This is what I was sent from Carnival that says masks required. Of course things can change.

@zashi99 in case you’re interested in this Pop Art Exhibit in surfers paradise on your roadtrip: https://hota.com.au/whats-on/live/exhibitions/pop-masters

Lynda sounds like a wonderful itinerary you have planned! I’m an artist myself so I appreciate your planned studio visit. I looked up a Queensland based artist I’ve followed for a while De Gillett but she doesn’t have any workshops during my time in Brisbane. I’m sure I’ll be spending some of my free time dragging my husband into art supply stores and the modern art museum! Thanks for the jet lag tip, makes sense. Stephanie

Hi Joanne- Yay I’m happy you also got in on the snorkel tour in Fiji! Glad u now have more options for snorkeling in Moorea. Most of the small group tours of Tahiti (Papeete) going around the island leave before we arrive unless u book private. You can get a rental car and go around yourself. Easier to find & less expensive if you drive manual. There’s an Avis near the ferry (close by where we will dock) and other providers at the airport, 20min taxi ride away. Some of the hotels on the island offer day passes if that interests you. You can also take the ferry over to Moorea for the day, More activities to do over there but needs to be prearranged. I’m with you for not knowing how your body will adjust to the jet lag, I have the same concerns.,We have 2 full days in Brisbane plus the day we arrive. We really wanted to go to the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin’s) but the animal encounters are all sold out so we booked the Koala Sanctuary for the day before we board the 1st cruise. I’m leaving the other days open and we will play it by ear. Perhaps if there’s an activity in Sydney you don’t want to miss, you could book that for your last day and keep your options open for the other days. I imagine you’ll be adjusted by the time you get to Brisbane. Stephanie

Hi Lynda! So happy to hear your plans are shaping up. We are very excited about the GBR, how awesome to have done that twice! Our best so far has been Bora Bora and Tahaa in French Polynesia. In Brissy Is it Moreton island you plan on snorkeling at? I do enjoy reading about others plans for independent excursions. I knew about hoho bus to llot Canard but not llot Maitre.We will be back in Noumea next year on a S.Pacific cruise so I will be interested to find out your experience there. Papeete - I don’t think you’ll go wrong with a day pass to IC and yes it’s a bummer about the dinner show timing, I saw that also. We will be heading to the IC for our boat rental. The food trucks are always a good option for a reasonably priced meal in FP . Moorea- I had not heard of Moorea Tiki Tours, they must’ve started up since our visit at end of 2021. The timing is great for our times in port and another option for those wanting to book outside of ships tour. Honolulu, wow your descriptions of the foods- just wow and yum! Stephanie

Welcome Lynda! If you don’t have your accommodations booked I’d do that asap. You are going to be in Brisbane during Easter and Australian equivalent of spring break holidays. we booked the 4 day cruise before so we could snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, bucket list item for us. For Noumea we booked Signal Island water taxi turtle tour for cruisers on Viator. I also read Amedee Island was good, the ship offers an excursion. Suva- a number of us have booked a snorkel excursion thru untouched Fiji- they have a private group set up for our cruise on Fb Carnival Luminosa April 2023 Fiji Excusions. I also posted their email here in an earlier post. Not sure if they have any snorkel spots left but had other options ie waterfall/village excursion. No payment in advance, they will collect payment in USD on day of. Whatever you do don’t miss snorkeling in Moorea! I’d choose Moorea over Papeete for snorkel any day. We have snorkeled in Hawaii,Mexico,Caribbean, and French Polynesia has been the best so far. I posted some private excursion operators in an earlier post. There’s another operator who does small group lagoon tours max. 12 people who may be able to pick up at tender dock. It’s called Corallina Tours, great reviews on TripAdvisor and CC, the owners name is Maui. His morning tour is at 8:30am. Website: https://www.corallinatours.com/all-tours/snorkeling-lagoon-tour/ @irie0518 this might be an option for you guys as well if you didn’t book private. You would need to contact him to see if he’ll pickup from tender dock before booking. His email is on his website. Their option at the end of the tour to stay on the island/motu and have lunch and hang out is a great option. We will be having lunch there on our private excursion. You need reservations and reserve the ride back to the mainland,. Recommend to prearrange transport from their drop off on Moorea to the tender dock.taxis are not plentiful on Moorea. Maui might be able to help or give options.This is the website for Coco Beach restaurant to check it out: https://www.cocobeachmoorea.com/ In high season it books up way in advance. hope this helps! Stephanie

It’s done electronically. Download the app AustralianETA from the App Store on your smart phone. Upload your passport info and pay the fee. It’s good for 12months.

Well technically it’s called an Electronic Travel Authority or ETA.

Hard to say. Very conflicting information and unclear communication from Carnival. If you look at the posts on the fb page for our cruise, John Heald replied that Carnivals insurance was adequate .we’re getting independent ourselve as we are B2B2B and visiting New Caledonia also on the April 2nd South Pacific leg.

@irie0518 Joanne I messaged untouched Fiji on messenger and this is the email they provided: untouchedinvestment@yahoo.com This is the info from the post:: “Hi we have snorkelling trips in Suva Fiji. Return transfers from the port to pacific harbour and than return boat transfers from pacific harbour to the lagoon. 100USD inclusive of all return transfers , boat transfers, light lunch and a bottle of water We dont take big groups we only take small groups i.e 12 pax max passengers that we are taking. So book in now to save your seat .depart at 8.30am , will be back at the port by 3pm.’ Photo below also. From what I can see they’re on the 2nd group of 12. No $ upfront, payment in cash USD on day of tour. Looks like they’re also offering cultural tours if you’d rather do that. Honolulu-The traffic 4-6pm is supposed to be a gridlock and we are also there on a Friday which adds to it. You might want to stop at Leonard’s Bakery for their famous Malasada before or after Diamond Head-. Noumea-,yes signal island is probably very much like Klein Bonaire. Stephanie

@irie0518 The other two recommended operators we were looking at in Moorea is 1) Moorea Moana Tours “Moorea Memories Adventure Tour” 3hr tour including photos. when I enquired Pierrick replied that they could pickup from tender dock no problem and even suggested a start time at 0830. 2) Moorea Ocean Adventures- have private tours for 2 or more. Biologist onboard and GoPro video included. Replied they would pickup from Tender dock. You can look for others to share the tour to bring the price down. If interested, we booked other snorkel centric activities for other ports: Noumea- We booked water taxi signal island turtle tour for cruisers on Viator, basically a water taxi to a protected island with no facilities for a few hours. Suva/- We booked a snorkel tour to beqa lagoon on another part of the island thru untouched fiji. they have tours set up for our cruise on fb. They also have others if you don’t want to snorkel. Still working on Honolulu. Looking at possibly renting a car and doing our own circle tour or Kaneohe sandbar tour. hope this helps Stephanie

@irie0518 We’re the same with not usually buying insurance. We’re going to go with an Allianz all trips premier yearly policy which has better coverage than Carnivals and we have multiple trips planned for the next year. That being said I saw on another forum that Carnivals insurance should meet the requirements for this sailing according to John Heald. I’ll try to upload a screenshot .

Thanks Fredette! We were in French Polynesia in 2021 on Windstar. I do have a recommendation for a local operator in Papeete for snorkeling if you are Interested but am leaning towards a donut boat rental instead. Don’t miss the snorkeling in Moorea- the lagoon snorkeling is fantastic. We booked an all day private snorkel with lunch stop at Coco Beach restaurant on motu tiahura in Moorea.

Look on the App Store of your smart phone. It’s called AustralianETA

The travel insurance seems to be hot topic. We haven’t purchased yet but are looking at Allianz yearly plan. From what I’ve read The keywords the checkin agents in Brisbane are looking for is that it covers Covid and cruise (in Australia not all travel insurance covers cruises). We got another email today from Carnival: CARNIVAL LUMINOSA & CARNIVAL SPLENDOR UPDATE ON MASK REQUIREMENT – VOYAGES 10 DAYS OR MORE 19 FEBRUARY 2023 THROUGH 31 MAY 2023 On voyages, 10 days or longer, guests will be required to wear masks in public indoor spaces (unless eating and drinking or in their own staterooms) and outdoors when in large congregate events where physical distancing cannot be maintained. Guests will also be required to wear masks during the entire embarkation and debarkation process, when on buses or water shuttles (where applicable), and while indoors on any shore excursion. KN95 masks are more protective and are highly recommended for wearing. This may or may not affect your decision

We are also on the previous 2 cruises! From what I’ve researched in the groups we may have to pack up and recheck in for our b2b’s due to Australian restrictions. Apparently Carnival in Australia operates differently. Please share if you find out anything about testing between the cruises I.e if we are on our own to self test or if Carnival will take care of it.