mr walker

Yes, a bit crazy with those use-by dates 🙂 We have had a few FCC's (for noro ISO) with RC which would have a book by date stated of say, 31-Dec for a cruise by the end of the next following season ie end-April, so 16 months later. Anyway, glad you got it sorted!

You have to cruise by 6-Nov, or make booking by that date for a cruise by some other date?

You were fortunate to just have to put up with her for a moment - just think of the poor family & work colleagues who have to endure her all the time 😮

Not according to some of the locals who insist it was an invasion in 2016. As a visitor the main difference is you don't now need a passport to travel there anymore. I've now seen posts on FB from locals & they said the cyclone was not so bad although there has been some damage & power was lost at one point - electricity on the island is provided by large communal diesel generator, although many are now self-sufficient thru solar. Oh, forgot to post that there was a media report this morning of concerns over coral damage on the reef. The Sirius of 1st fleet fame was sunk on the reef at the time of the penal settlement.

Yes Les, I saw earlier on FB post by NI: Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle Blue Alert. The tropical low has now developed into a Tropical Cyclone named Gabrielle. Current tracking indicates that it will come very close to the island late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. It is forecast to be a category 2 cyclone when approaching the island with wind gusts up to 120 km/h developing Saturday morning and with gusts up to 140 km/h later Saturday, potentially persisting to Sunday morning. EMNI met today and has moved to a Blue alert under the Cyclone response plan. If the cyclone stays on its current track we will move to a Yellow alert tomorrow. Please ensure you are making preparations consistent with the Cyclone Warning Alert Action plan Hope they all remain safe!

perfect way to view it - happy if your bids are accepted, happy if not - win/win 🙂

@Chiliburn thanks for the update on cashing out. I figured it was a matter of time before they put the kybosh on it. Never had the situation before, so nothing lost. With 12 days to spend our OBC should be able to do it easily 🙂 Our travel partners are non-D so we'll likely buy them a few drinks with the OBC, or maybe invest it in bingo!!! Hope you had a good cruise - 5 weeks wait now for ours! One question - we have done online check-in and got 2pm boarding time - they still have separate D line so we can go earlier, right? Cheers

strewth mate! Glad all are OK - that's the main thing of course, but it would have been a big scare to the system. The other things can be replaced and repaired, which is not the case with our loved ones. Stay safe!

sorry to read that mate. Yes, good on your MIL - living life to the full.

The advice given by others to pre-book the Hobbiton tour is good advice. We went there on a tour from Tauranga on our cruise in 2019. It gets very busy at Hobbiton on cruise-ship days. Our guide pre-booked & we were met by a Hobbiton guide when we arrived for our tour. If you drive there independently, you need to board a bus to take you to the tour start point. Driving there, there is a well-known honey place to visit not far out of Tauranga which has displays etc and really nice icecream - it is on left hand side of the road as you drive up into the ranges from the port (we stopped there on a tour on the way to Matamata). There is nice scenery on the trip. On the return trip we stopped at McClaren Falls which is well worth the stop & short walk from the car park. Our driver also took us on a drive down the main street of Tauranga itself before returning us to the port which is at Mount Manganui.

For sure mate! Hope all’s well with you

Wishing all the good people here on CC a great Australia Day for you and your families & friends. We are celebrating our great country with a family BBQ for lunch (steak, snags, chicken kebabs, salad & pavlova for dessert). Mum is joining us - she will be 88 next month, so she's seen a few Australia Days. Cheers

Yes make use of the DL machine, but always have a morning coffee from the coffee shop. Good luck with tomorrow mate, will be keeping an eye on you 🙂

No expert here, but I just paid A$52.63 for a 15 coffee card (using some of our OBC), which would put a single coffee at $A3.50. I don't think I can buy a coffee onboard for $A3.50, more likely it will be close to US$3.50 each (so maybe A$5 each??). So maybe there is value in the card?? 🙂 Good luck with boarding tomorrow mate - ENJOY!!!!

Based on experience of an OS colleague here in a cafe (Parramatta CBD), where he wanted to sign as he had no PIN ("what's a pin?"), the young staff person didn't know anything about signing, just tap & go & PIN if required. I was about to step in & fix the bill, when another staff member came up & printed a slip off - the first staff member was amazed 🙂

Looks like you may be getting off the day we board - 11-Mar. as our countdown shows 48 days. Yes, hoping Chilli stays safe from his 'friends' & can keep us updated on the ship, including the new menus. Also hoping to day G'day to Graham on the day

Wow that's some serious cash! The skin cancer clinic we go to bulk-bills, so not sure on how much Medicare pays them? From next month, there will be a charge of around $33 each visit as they advise that the Medicare payment is no longer enough to cover their costs.

Good luck with it all Lyle. I can empathise with you and the others posting about skin cancers, but they need to be got rid of. I have had maybe 50 done in the last 15 years, either by the ointment stuff, excision by skin doctor & one by plastic surgeon (graft as the location was one with little blood flow??), a combo of the not bad ones, bad ones & the real bad ones. Also countless 'sun-spots' burnt off with liquid Nitrogen. I currently have stitches in my upper cheek where I had a skin cancer cut-out last week. The doc said he could cut it out for me, or, based on being on my face I could have it done by plastic surgeon. I said I was old enough & ugly enough that it won't matter 🙂 Good luck to all of you.

On our last cruise we did a wonderful tour which included both with Tourworks tourworks.co.nz Russ is a great guy & a true local.

Yes, Les, we will certainly utilise the buffet. I look forward to my made-to-order omelets for breakfast 🙂 We mostly have brekkie & lunch in the Jammer, or sometimes we combine the two & make it brunch in the dining room on sea days when it's offered. We normally have dinner in the dining room, but have been known to visit the buffet when we just want a casual dinner. Hope all's going well for you mate. Cheers Neil & Tracey

No, no, no! Can't survive without proper ice-cream Geoff. Happy to pay for it 🙂

@AusTravelllerwill be interested to see if the new menus are in place for your cruise - there is to be a dinner theme for each night (French, Mexican, Caribbean etc), with a Chef's recommendation for 3 courses on each of the themes - regular dishes will also be offered. I read a few days ago on a FB page "New Menus will be on all Royals ships by February", so maybe in time for your cruise?? And should certainly be for us on 11-Mar. If not, I'm sure we will find something to eat 🙂

Sounds like a perfect port stop in Brisbane - stay onboard & relax.

Look forward to you reports - we are on Ovation to NZ - 11th March. Enjoy!!!!

Ovation to NZ 11-Mar [12N] I can't see we will have a bill for this cruise. The USD350 OBC which was the booking deal is now showing as A$664 ??? We don't plan on too many ship excursion & I already have the internet & the Diamond vouchers & lounge will cover most of our drinks. Looks like a lot of RC shirts & trinkets or maybe we can win in the casino with the OBC money 🙂