Chelseapop

When it comes to cruising 'domestic' cruising is exactly the same as international cruising, medically wise. It has nothing to do with 'international' or Australian waters, it has to do with the doctors onboard the ship. They are classed as 'international' doctors and as such are not registered with Medicare. You could be sitting on a ship in Sydney Harbour and you would still need travel insurance if you needed to be seen by the ship's international medical staff and wanted to put in a claim. The only difference of course is if you were to get off at an Australian port and go see a doctor - you would probably be able to claim a medicare rebate back then or claim on travel insurance . The other most important thing about travel insurance is the coverage it provides. It isn't worth a pinch of goat poo if you pay the cheapest premium and they won't pay out for a claim. You need to do research and work out what is the best bang for your money for your own personal requirements. There is no 'one fits all' answer.

The report said her insurance company refused her claim because she didn' t have an australian motorbike licence. In Australia you don't require a bike licence to ride a scooter/moped, just a normal drivers licence.

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Make sure you have Travel Insurance!!!

Do some research on the seasickness wristbands. They work on the acupressure points on the wrist. Drug free (a lot of the medications can cause drowsiness) and can be used at any time.

Another tip is to make sure you have a backpack or small overnight bag. The night before disembarking you have to put your suitcase out in the corridor to be offloaded the next morning. If you don't have an extra small bag you won't have anything to carry off any extra stuff that you will need/be wearing that night. And as some one else said make sure you take a nice shirt and pair of trousers so you can eat in the dining room (at least once) and also make sure you get a nice photo taken on the so called 'formal' night. It is not formal and you can just wear nice trousers and a nice collared shirt - the photo is not for you, get it taken for your mothers, your Mum's will love you for it.

Thanks GUT. I thought so, but just had a bit of brain fade as I was completing the form.:)

You can drop your bags off from early in the morning

I was just in the process of doing my online check in and was entering the details for the cruise onboard payment account and had a mental block when I had to select an option for who I should allow to do the conversion rate for onboard expenses. Should I pick RCI or should I select my own Bank? I have sailed before but can't remember what I selected then. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Yes it is still current.- and is available for P&O, Carnival and Princess Lines . All the info required is in my post up above.

Thanks for the info. Not received it yet, unless my TA is sitting on it. Her latest email just the other day said she hadn't heard anything. How long ago did you receive your refund.

Just remember that these two bottles need to be in your carry on luggage. If you pack them in your luggage you will be called to the 'naughty room' and have your suitcase searched.

Learn something new every day.

I have never been on a ship where cash is used in the casino or pokies. I have only ever seen the Setsail cards used. I didn't think any cruiseline took cash at all.

I was just searching RCI webpages and other travel pages and it stated payments for reimbursement of airfares would be made within 4-6 weeks back to the original source of payment ie visa, mastercard etc What is doesn't say is if this 4-6 weeks is from the original date of payment for the airfare, or date of final flight or date of cruising or, any damn date. I booked through a travel agent and she has no idea and doesn't seem to be interested in finding out either. But it doesn't go towards the payment of the cruise which I think was your original question.

Don't believe so. Pretty sure they just give to US and Canadian forces. Are you sure Princess Australia gives OBC for British service? I thought it was just for Aussie and NZ forces.

I wonder how much extra the wine class, whiskey tasting and coffee appreciation classes will cost.

 

 

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They already have beer tasting, cocktail making classes etc and these are normally $10-$15.00

I have sailed on the Pacific Dawn twice (Oct 13 and June 14) and I can honestly say their standards have dropped dramatically since our first cruise with them. Trying to get into the dining room was beyond a joke and once in there the food was awful. Not once on the whole cruise did my order come as it was supposed to. There was always something missing, it was invariably luke warm and the serving sizes were tiny. Couldn't even get toast most mornings for breakfast. Trying to get drink service in the MDR was nigh on impossible because there wad hardly any staff. Bar staff numbers had been cut down and staff in general seemed to be a lot less. At one of our tender ports it took us over 2 hours from collecting our tender tickets to getting ashore - and that was not during the busy tour meeting time. P&O just wouldn't put on more that 2 tender boats. Maintenance seems to have been let go with a lot of the ship looking very run down. The staff seemed as though they weren't interested at all, probably because they were doing extra work to cover the shortfall. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed my cruise in spite of this but we will never sail P&O again. You may say you get what you pay for - but we didn't get what we paid for.

I know that National Seniors Travel Insurance, RACQ/NRMA etc cover pre existing problems. I have a friend with a pre existing heart condition and he was covered by NRMA.

Hubby and I have both received the military OBC from P&O and Carnival and I know that Princess have it too. Just applied to Carnival for a cruise next June and Hubby got his straight away with a nice email from Carnival. Queried why I didn't receive mine and it was there almost immediately - with an email sent for confirmation. I have had to chase it up with P&O before though - they have credited it and just not sent me an email advising me. It is paid per military/ex military person (not cabin) and worked on the length (days) of the cruise. Better in our pockets than theirs!! As stated previously you just need to provide your booking number, cruise dates and proof of service -either current or past.

Have you tried P&O? Here in Oz we get it from Princess, P&O and Carnival Australia. (they are all the same company anyway).

I wouldn't rave about P&O food. We were on the Pacific Dawn in June this year and the food was beyond terrible. Out of all the meals I ate in the dining room not a single one came out with everything on the plate that was supposed to be there and some of the serving sizes would not have fed a 2 year old - miniscule and cold. It became like a lucky dip waiting to see if the food would resemble the description on the menu. A lot of the time we couldn't even get drink service in the dining room as there was hardly any staff. The queues into the buffet were way out onto the Lido deck and the food was mediocre and cold. Seems like P&O have cut way back on staff - we had trouble getting service in all the bars as well and most of the staff just gave the impression they couldn't have cared less, they didn't seem happy in their employment. We won't be sailing P&O again.

After ordering some of the laundry detergent sheets from Amazon I found them today in a new Reject Shop and bought 6 packets - $4.00 each. Not ever going to run out of them again. I had checked out Reject shops from Bris down to Mildura but no luck and had given up hope so ordered them from the USA. They are absolutely perfect for travelling. YAAAAAAAAAAY.

National Seniors Travel Insurance and RACQ/NRMA Insurance etc will also cover most pre existing conditions and travellers over 70. When I investigated domestic/international cruise insurance I was told by an insurance company that because the doctors onboard are not registered in Australia/medicare you are not covered domestically and need international travel insurance. Once onboard and at sea you are supposedly 'not domestic'. Domestic travel normally only covers cancellations and problems that occur on land - ie missing baggage or injuries/sickness on land.

We have not long come back from a cruise on the Pacific Dawn and we definitely won't be sailing on it again. We had last sailed on it last October and the changes/cutbacks since then have not been for the better. The food in the main dining room was awful - I did not have one meal there that didn't have something wrong with it - always something missing or the meal was tiny in size. One of my pasta entrees consisted of approx. 6 pieces of penne in a thick gluggy cold sauce. The queues into the Plantation restaurant went way out on to the Lido deck and some people were queuing for over 20 mins just to get in to eat the bland cold food. Trying to make a booking in the main dining room was nigh on impossible. Even being first in line of the booking queue for the following night's dinner we were told it was booked out. When we asked how that was possible the staff wasn't interested in answering our question. Waitstaff/drink staff in the dining room had been cut down in numbers with it sometimes being impossible to get a drink with our meal or even toast with breakfast. At some tendering ports the tendering process was a farce. 2 hours from collecting our tender ticket to getting ashore - and this was three hours after the tendering process had started, not during the initial rush period.. P&O had decided in its wisdom to only run three tender boats to try to get the 2000 passengers ashore. We were squashed into the tender boats like sardines trying to move as many people as possible. We got the impression the didn't have the staff to man more tender boats. Don't know if other ships in the P&O fleet have suffered the same cutbacks but we certainly won't be sailing on the Pacific Dawn again. We will be sticking to Royal Caribbean and Carnival.

Hi Gaechan, ref physio on your knee - don't even think about getting into a pool to exercise until you have been given the all clear from the doctor/physio. They have to be sure that your incision has healed over totally and there is no risk of infection to the wound. But once you have the all clear - physio in the pool is excellent. Happy healing and sailing.