mr walker

On 4/16/2024 at 8:28 AM, Blackduck59 said:

Hey Mic, thanks for asking. I have had a bit of enforced absence from here. Spring has sprung and all is abloom.

I had a bit of a spectacular fall last week and have had a few days of work. My ribs are sore but I hope to get back to work tomorrow.

I fell on Tuesday and didn't go to work since then. I already had Thursday and Friday booked off; Lynn's nephew came to be with us as we travelled to Vancouver to inter Granny's ashes as she had wanted. It was a sad reason for a good visit.

Lynn is still working through her grief, she is okay most of the time, but now and then she has a moment. As unfortunate as my fall was it has made it so I can be around for her a few extra days.

Strewth mate, you two take care of yourselves & get better soon.

I hope the rainfall does not meet the maximums predicted & I hope everyone stays safe & any flood damage minimized. 
 

We’re hoping it clears by Sunday as we head off to QLD from Sydney for a driving holiday, including a family wedding in Sunshine Coast next week.

good luck all.

1 hour ago, jonesboy said:

...... Every time we have gone on Quantum from Brisbane it has been very full indeed so I would need some hard data around not being able to fill the ship. Our latest cruise had no discounts as I tracked prices monthly post booking almost 2 years earlier to see if I could jag a lower price. Our particular extended balcony cabin went up 60% by the week before sailing. 

Almost every ship sails 'full' or close to it. When people talk about filling the ship, they are talking about selling it out at 'full' price. Unsold cabins are filled by discounting, some of which is not visible to all. TA's have clients who can sail at short notice at the right price and this fills unsold cabins.

An old rule of thumb is that 80% of cabins sold at regular prices meets the costs of the cruise, the other 20% can be filled below 'cost' as those passengers will drink, take excursions etc which provides the all important revenue.

I have been receiving emails from RC once or twice a week for months offering special deals - they are always for Quantam out of Brisbane, not for Ovation out of Sydney. 

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Their stock has dropped nearly 12% since the story broke.

Might be the time for savvy investors to buy in - in the 21st century the (bad) news cycle is very short. And no, I'm not going to invest 🙂

Getting that close to Sydney, and turning back, is almost like teasing the passengers hoping to board now on Sunday 😮

Hope all goes well.

5 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

 

A$230 pn for presumably an IC for the Anthem cruise is certainly showing that cruise costs are high. Gone are the days of a $200 balcony 😞 Lucky we get the C&A 'price' for drinks 🙂 

Between 2014 & 2018 we travelled to Norfolk Island each year.

The little dog was always there upon arrival sniffing around. The dog detected something with a woman's bag just along the line from us. The officer asked two or three times if she had any food. She replied "no" each time, and was becoming a bit annoyed & her husband also asked her about whether she had anything. A banana was located in her bag, she said she didn;t remember having it, and then her & her husband had 'words' - not a great start to a holiday on NI!

On 4/2/2024 at 9:22 PM, cruisermsoon said:

Grand Princess arrives back in Sydney on 22nd November 2025 and will mostly be cruising out of Brisbane until early April 2026.

I hope it arrives back in Sydney before 22 Nov - we are booked 37N roundtrip from Sydney departing 16 Oct 🙂 

16 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

When it comes to ports, there is no way to tell if port of starboard is best, because you don't know which way the ship will be facing when it docks.  It might back into the dock, for example.

Imagine my surprise when we awoke in Noumea, expecting our starboard balcony view to be out over the beautiful harbour & city, only to see piles of ore & an ugly cargo vessel. Never expected that the master would have chosen to reverse park 😮

17 hours ago, buchhalm said:

.....ONE Elvis (or any other) tribute act per cruise is fine. But an entirely impersonater cruise sounds like hell to me. Something for the die-hard fans only.

Agree on that for sure. Whilst Elvis was the King, and we have enjoyed 'Elvis shows' over the years on land and at sea, I can't imagine enjoying a whole cruise entertainment schedule being Elvis' or perhaps it's Elvises or Elvii??

We have done a number of country music themed cruises, but a variety of artists, even in the same genre, would be our choice. Slim or Willie of even Dolly every day would not work!!

Happy Easter to all here on CC - may you day be enjoyable & celebrate whatever Easter means to you. Enjoy your day - we have our adult sons coming today for a lunch get together. I told them it will involve drinking beer, eating food & Easter Eggs - a real Aussie event. 🙂 

On our recent Majestic Princess cruise we saw a great Elvis show - by a kiwi by the name of Che Orton. He was billed as having recently been named as in the top 5 Elvis acts worldwide & won the Parkes 'Elvis' event this year. He is to travel to US to represent Australia in an Elvis competition.

He did a second show as himself & is a great entertainer. 

He was so good as Elvis, that I think some onboard thought he was the real Elvis 🙂 

We thought the 'stadium-style' seating in 'Live' on Majestic was really good in fitting the crowd in for trivia, games shows etc. The design provided much more capacity than other lounges in a wide range of ships (Princess & others) typically used for these types of activities. Many venues have oversized furniture which is suited for drinking and talking, but severely restricts the number of punters for trivia etc due to the space the furniture takes up.

I do accept Julie's point about the design making it less than perfect to teams of 4-6 to sit around for the quiz, but for the 2 of us, and for groups of 3-4, it worked well & a lot more players can take part.

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

Royal was the first Royal class ship built. The bars/lounges and theatre are too small and there is no promenade deck. The Explorers Bar has been replaced by a lecture theatre style area which is a bit strange. 

Is that ‘Princess Live’ venue as on Majestic?

OK I see that Geoff already answered 😁

12 hours ago, arxcards said:

I am starting to smell methane in here already, from a different source of emission.

Methane & methanol are not the same thing 🙂 

That said, it would be a good thing if a cruise-ship could be powered by methane - a herd of cows down on deck 0 could power the ship & provide milk and beef. The by-product may present an issue though - perhaps they would need to be housed on the poop deck! 😮

58 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Indeed Neil. Now Penriff Panthers, stayed in their cabins near the club some 30 years ago on a Traffic Seminar. Hospitality was great, lol.

I’m sure a good time was had by all mate. 
 

The club & surrounding area has changed a bit since then, but it is still Penriff. It’s funny that the Penriff name started as an insult by others, but now is celebrated with pride 😁

You’ll have to come by sometime to check it out - my shout!!! Cheers 

40 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Tut Tut Linda, the Batehaven Bakery is just down the road from your holiday house, lol. You had better take Mr and Mrs Duck down there next year.   Couple of Bakeries/pie shops in Moruya, but no GF ones.

I'm thinking that Lyle & Lynn may get a chance for a pie at Harry's at the Panthers Club on their visit here next year 🙂 So then they can compare with Batehaven Bakery 🙂 

There are a lot more planes, trains & automobiles than cruise ships.

Also, the number of cruise-ships in the world is a small percentage of the total of ships in the seas.

People 'exposing' specific problems mostly have vested interests influencing their views. Maybe a few should swim (no planes or ships) to places like Jakarta to see real pollution in action.

We can all revert to being subsistence villagers. only walking for travel - problem solved.

I'll keep on cruising.

4 minutes ago, Ned49 said:

We mostly do a similar thing, I was only asking what currency to use, not whether I should tip or not. Some people obviously have strong views on not tipping. 

Yes, & I saw that others had answered with good advice on what you asked. Then....................

Enjoy your cruise and so whatever you are happy to do. 

2 hours ago, onlyslightlymad said:

I think tipping is about power.  .....  Tipping gives you more power and them less power.  I'd rather pay a higher cruise fare up front and I do.  I love pre-paid gratuities.  I just wish the add-on fee could be dropped and included in the fare in the first place.

 

Wow! Really?? So giving a crew member some $'s in appreciation of their efforts is abuse??

Your post has caused me to break one of my 'rules' of not commenting on tipping threads.

On our recent cruise (where we had already 'paid' the tips included in our fare), we tipped, in cash, on the last evening, our room steward, our dining room waitress & the guy who served us on the pool deck throughout in appreciation of the extra efforts they made to look after us and help us enjoy our cruise. None of them knew we were to do this, and the tip was accepted with great appreciation.

Perhaps the IT people ‘fixed’ the app or it comes good after completing first cruise using new app??

Since we returned Majestic 23 Feb, I see now that the app remembers my info, keeps me signed in & allows easily toggling between each of our 2 booked cruises.

For our next cruise Royal 30Nov all I need to do to complete check-in is accept passage contract - all the other data is pre-filled.

On cruise ships it is always a dilemma of clockwise or anti clockwise (even counterclockwise) & walk on left or right. Perhaps they are inter-related?

I often think that I’m glad I’m on a ship & not on a road😁

And don’t get me started on shopping trolleys in supermarkets 😳

12 minutes ago, Fleetsailor said:

Thought I'd break the ice and get to know folks on this cruise, we are a ways off but there is a lot to talk about because it's a long cruise.

Thanks Fleetsailor

You must be boarding in Brisbane. We will be somewhat settled in as we board in Sydney on 16th. Looking forward to it & hope to meet you.

Only 587 days to go 😳

Cheers Neil

18 hours ago, NSWP said:

Hi all, well after a hectic few weeks, I moved into my new digs last Thursday. Got NBN connected yesterday. All good so far. Ample room for Uncle Les and nice people thus far in other units/villas.

 

It was 40C when I moved last Thursday, nightmare but did it.  I think I need a cruise !!

 

Time for happy hour with my new neighbours.

 

Lyle, sorry to hear about Lyn's Mum.

Good to hear from you mate.

Bit of a lifestyle change, I'm sure you will settle in well & enjoy yourself in the new surroundings.

Hope to be down your way later in the year & hope to catch up then

Cheers Neil & Tracey

Recently returned from our 13N Majestic Princess Sth Pacific cruise 10-23 Feb Sydney roundtrip. It was our first Princess cruise since 2017 & our 3rd cruise for the 23-24 season. I make some points:

-          Embarking was very fast & we were soon on the ship after shuttle drop-off around noon, having a light lunch in the buffet before dropping our carry-on in our cabin.

-          We had a deluxe balcony stateroom mid-aft starboard on deck 11 (Baja). Room was excellent & location, just aft of the middle lifts/stairs, was perfect for us. The stateroom was selected for us by our PCP Gellie (good choice!!)

-          We found the ship very much to our liking. Well laid out and all staff encountered were very pleasant and very enthusiastic to please. Rarely was there any crowding, even with some poor weather which kept a lot indoors at times.

-          We had Standard fare only, so no drink or internet packages, but it all worked well for us & our on-board bill was within budget 😀

-          Our cabin guy (Dwi from Indonesia) was excellent (fun, friendly and did a great job), & our dining room waiter (Paula from Brazil) & the assistants in dining room (Allegro) were very good with nothing being too much trouble. The restaurant managers were more visible and interactive with the guests than on any of our previous cruises.

-          Of all our cruises, on this cruise the visibility of the ship’s officers was much higher than we have seen before.

-          Always easy to get a drink or something to eat around the ship. DW thoroughly recommends the lobster roll from the grill on the pool deck (there was a charge for this, but well worth it). Our ‘personal’ pool deck steward (Soumen from India) was great.

-          We did breakfast in the dining room on a few days which was a good way to avoid the Marketplace buffet at busy times, and also helped with portion control 😉

-          We thought the food overall, choice & quality, was the best we have had on our 20+ cruises. I really enjoyed the soup offerings and it was always a challenge to choose from the many delicious desserts. The menu in Allegro for Valentine’s Day dinner was really great. We met some people who we ended up dining with for most of the cruise & we tried between us to pick the best ‘menu’ offered but many of them we almost equally as good, so hard choice.

-          Our 5 ports were Port Vila, Suva, Lautoka, Dravuni Is (missed due to weather) & Noumea. We stayed on-board in Suva as the weather was terrible that day. Many came back onboard drenched.

-          The CD and her team were excellent – they all were like entertainers themselves. The theatre shows were great, as were the guest singers, including the Elvis guy. The guest lecturers were very good & the events were well attended. We did note that Princess passengers really do attend the nightly shows – each & every show was packed for both sessions, something that we have not really seen before. You had to be there 30mins before to be sure to get a seat! We gave the comedian & hypnotist a miss – not our cup of tea.

-          We did many trivias etc (even managed to win one! – Country Music) & enjoyed our time as a team of just the 2 of us.

-          Travelling as just the 2 of us meant that on this cruise we met a lot of interesting and friendly people from all around the world. We took part in a shot-glass exchange event organised by one of the passengers, which was fun & we met some people from other places at the event.

-          Disembarking worked well (very well organised) & we were soon back on land 

-          Very pleasant cruise and we were sad it all ended so quickly. Did we enjoy it? Maybe – we confirmed our booking for Grand Princess 37N in Oct 2025 while on-board & have since booked Royal Princess cruise to TAS in Nov/Dec 2024.

Cheers Neil