mr walker

Plenty of comedians on here 😄

Medium well- no condiments

Just a note to say that yesterday I retired from full time work, after 46 years. Original plan was to fully retire, but I’ve hedged my bets by going to a part- time consultant role with my employer. More free time & still some income maybe is a better option before relying on super. anyway we look forward to a simpler life 😁

Tomorrow night is Rugby League State of Origin game #2 in Perth. GO THE BLUES!! Here at home in Sydney we will have a small family get together to watch the game with ‘footy food’ - cocktail franks, pizza slices, and party pies & sausage rolls (4&20) & maybe a beer or two. It’s a family tradition - you can’t have footy without a pie 😁

Ah, the old operational reasons - I can't even count how many flights I had cancelled/delayed/combined for just this "reason" 🙂

Yes, I hope everything is OK with him - I miss his sense of humour.

on day 8 of a 10N cruise, a lovely 'mature age' lady asked me where some venue was. I said it's all the way at the front & 2 decks down. She asked me which direction is the front of the ship. I pointed her in the right direction, and watched her progress & she was headed in the right direction, and I hoped she got to where she was going.

Sorry to hear that Julie. Losing pets is always a sad time.

Similar for us Les. Whilst having pets is a source of joy, the sadness of losing them is terrible. When we lost our inherited sulphur-crested cockatoo ( hand reared from a hatchling by Tracey's Dad & passed at almost 50 years) we decided no more pets - just so much distress. Also, no pets allows a lot more freedom for us to travel.

Cruiselines are spending up big on media advertising and freebies, so no real surprise on the media position at this time. If the tide was to turn, the media would quickly adjust their position.

I can’t recall meeting anyone happy to pay tolls, young or old. Not sure what age has to do with it. We all make choices about discretionary expenditure. The idea that governments can provide everything for all at no cost for the user is not realistic.

Our parents could say no to us, and in turn we could also say no to our kids … can’t see why that needs to change. That said, we may be softies towards our grandkids if we had any 😄

Depends on the individual human I expect. I am very much a believer in User Pays. I'd prefer that the cruisefare/resort cost covered the minimum (room + a certain level of food/drink etc) and then you could choose what you paid for via your personnel preference. I always find it strange when people complain about paying road tolls, when it is a choice to use the road or not. Go the long way, stop at all the lights and use more petrol - it's up to you.

Hope you had a good trip mate - a bit chilly?? 😁 Tracey & I are off to Central Coast next week to visit Tracey’s sister. Pies definitely on the menu up there enjoy you dinner at Raymond’s !!

Stay safe & we trust you both have a rapid recovery.

I join with others expressing our support. We too were a bit concerned that you hadn't been around here lately, so it's good to get an update mate. Yes a lot of memories there all in close timing. Glad you have decided to take another cruise - it sounds like a good one. Keep in touch. I gave notice last week that I will retire on 1-July, so time will be freer for us, and I hope we can catch up with you again soon. Take care. After all Dan Murpy's needs your business 🙂 And there's a lot of pies, big breakfasts & steaks to eat, as well as some good Chinese from Raymonds!!!! We are all here to support you. Please keep in touch thru CC. Cheers

Someones getting spoilt!

Mums first cruise & we kept it a secret all the way to the OPT. Grahams carpet made her feel extra special. She’s 87 now & still going well

photo of Mum on Grahams special red carpet back in 2015.

I visited Christchurch a number of times on business trips before and post quakes. I found it a beautiful city to visit and it was so sad the see the destruction. I cried watching it on TV. I have never been to England but imagine that many cities there would look very much like Christchurch. We visited on a cruise in 2013, which was a sad time for me & my fellow travelers who had never got to see the city in all it's glory. We visited again in 2019 on a land-tour and was glad to see it some what renewed. Almost every Kiwi I have ever met had some family connection to Christchurch - certainly worth a visit.

that's us also. At first we used TA's as we didn't know too much about it, but as we learned more, including on here with the good folk on cc, we moved to booking direct also. If we know the cruise we want to do we just book online with the cruise-line. If the trip involves OS flights and hotels etc in addition to the cruise we will likely use a TA. We have also used a TA when there is a package deal advertised, which likely saved us a few $'s? We have also done a number of charter cruises that can only be booked thru TA. We would be less likely to use a TA now, based on many anecdotal stories heard/read over the past 2 years. As Mic says, horses for courses.

We did the most wonderful tour with Pohatu Penguins there in 2019. They do penguin rescue work & profits from the tours are used to fund their work. They seemed pretty happy to have us there.

Not sure. It was 'store bought' (Cheesecake Shop) & was described as Italian Custard. Everyone loved it, so that the main thing 🙂

Duplicate post

Does the cruise-line know this?