mr walker

Double post

We did a GOR trip when in Melb on Melb Cup cruise in 2015. Our tour guide told us that there was never 12, as you wrote, & that the organisers of the 1956 Olympics made up the '12 Apostles' as it sounded good & they were desperate to have some tourist attractions to attract people to come to Melb for the games.

We live at Penrith, just near the foothills of the Blue Mountains. The tour we would suggest is with: www.bluemountainstours.com.au It is owned by Graham Chapman, known far & wide as Chapo, who's somewhat of a local legend in the Penrith/Blue Mountains area. I am positive he will arrange a tour you will long remember.

Any work on any terminal in any location would be at least 2 elections away, so any announcement now by the current incumbents is not of much consequence.

A service personnel mate of mine, now retired, told me years ago that the defence dept will never give up their prime spot there. He called them the chair polishers, all after a spot of the prime location to serve out the rest of their career.

Spoke today with my colleague from work who was onboard, 2 decks below the fire. They had gone to bed at 12:30am to be awaken at 3:30am & were held at muster station until around 5:30. They decided not to go back to bed & kicked on. Seems no investigation is necessary 😮as the experts on board have already spread the word. It is widely reported onboard that the fire started from a cigarette in the bed when the person fell asleep. They then opened the balcony door to try and stop the fire, which caused the fire to erupt. Anyway, who knows what happened? My colleague advises that her partner on the cruise, on his first ever cruise, has categorically ruled out ever going on another cruise 🙂

Well, that explains it all for now. I guess the slots will open up at some point. Bit disappointing for those who have had bookings cancelled or wanting to get reservations in place ahead of time. Hobbiton is definitely worth a visit for anyone with any interest in The Hobbit or LOTR. Anyone going to Wellington should consider visiting the Weta workshops also.

Yes I looked up the company we did the Hobbiton trip from Tauranga previously (Zealandia) & showing no tours at all, not just on your date but any date?? Even Hobbiton site is showing nothing about tours from Tauranga. No idea on what’s happening. Our niece lives in Tauranga. I’ll ask her if she knows anything - maybe she’ll drive you 😁

Yes, the airport Novotel, just across the street from the Int terminal is very convenient but has become expensive as just a bed-for-the-night deal. When it first opened it was quite cheap & I often stayed there pre early morning flight, rather than get up super early & drive to airport in the morning. For a one-off I suggest it is a good option. You can even take your luggage over & check-in at Int terminal & then come back to hotel for breakfast before heading off (not for OP in this case who will be going to Domestic terminal).

Yes, I was wondering what CYC were going to do with no 'smaller' RC ships for 24-25 season.

Edit: doubled up!

We had no knowledge of loyalty schemes etc when we booked our first cruise in 2011 & had chosen RC based purely on the itinerary, and expectation that this would possibly be our only cruise - a special event for our 30th anniversary. The next two cruises came as music charter cruises which were coincidentally on RC ships. I guess we just liked the RC product and booked a couple more, never expecting to climb the C&A ladder. We then did in 2014 34N B2B2B on Rhapsody (Alaska, Hawaii, Pacific) & almost by accident we were in sight of Diamond. In between our 15 RC cruises we have also done 2 Carnival & 1 Princess (& even a 4N Yasawa Is cruise in Fiji) & enjoyed them all. Our next 3 cruises are P&O, RC (music charter) & Princess. Our first option going forward is likely to be RC but we will choose based on itinerary & price as we find them.

Yes, not something that interested me _ I watched the footy 🙂

Our experience as well. Good system that suits us

Happy birthday for Tuesday Les from Tracey & I - it will be Tracey's birthday on Thursday! Enjoy your dinner with your family & take care mate. Hope to get down your way soon & catch up with you if you are up to it. Cheers

News reports today are that the two people in the incidents (medical & overboard) were unrelated and not known to each other. So, looks as if the Chinese whispers, famous onboard ships, strike again.

Oops - I see that I got that all mixed up! Getting old I guess 🙂 Of course nowadays a large pizza is the size of the old medium.

Like Pizzas these days! 😳

Luckily, only ever had belongings stolen when travelling once, many years ago from a motel on NSW Central Coast, where the thieves got in thru the breakfast door!! The thread has brought back some memories though: - I once returned home from a business trip without a pair of trousers - no idea whatever happened to them & DW had a few questions 🙂 - Left my i-Pad on a cruise once & got it back after the ship returned from the next cruise to Sth Pacific. - On a RC cruise back in 2014, there was a security expert onboard who had a couple of sessions on security on travelling - apparently, he works as a consultant for many travel companies. My mate & I were brought up on stage as part of a demonstration on how easy it is to have stuff stolen by 'pick-pockets". Even though we both knew what was going and & were particularly vigilant, as we left the stage he called us back. He had managed to remove a small leather case (for my hearing aids, which were in my ears) from my pocket & my mates watch from his wrist & we had no clue!!

Attended local Dawn Service this morning in Penrith with my son. Large crowd covering the full range of ages from littlies to oldies. Rain held off & a little warmer than usual. Wonderful service, well organised, and the respect demonstrated from those in attendance makes me feel so much pride in my community. Went back to RSL club for a drink in honour of the veterans, including my grandfather & Tracey's Dad. My one day of the year where I drink before breakfast 🙂 We enjoyed our gold coin donation brekkie. We will remember them. Lest We Forget.

This was my first thought. In a world of internet influencers & a commercial advantage in pushing your brand, coupled with a severe decline in critical thinking, who knows where this will take the world??

Agree Chili & others. Someone at RC is making these decisions ie just having the 'big' ships here & thus limiting options for us all. Guess they think they know what they're doing but I'm not sure about that. We enjoyed the Ovation cruise to NZ that you were on, but as I wrote in my review, we will be looking for Voyager of Radiance class moving forward. Fat chance now! We are booked on Brilliance for December - the Country Cruisin' cruise & we were expecting to do another one or two RC cruises in 24-25 season, but not so keen on going on Ovation or travelling to Anastasialand to go on the same ship with a different name. As I wrote elsewhere, lack of RC options for Feb/Mar '24 have sent us to Princess (Majestic) to Fiji in Feb '24. I'm sure we will enjoy, but we'll sure miss those D drinks - in fact the D+ drinks by then 😮 Really can't see the logic in not having 2 ships out of Sydney. Time for a crownie!!

yes, that's how I read the announcement

We don't feel cheated by itineraries offered by the cruiselines from Australia, just accepting that there is a limit to options for 'local' cruising. If we want 'new' ports we need to widen our scope on ports to sail, and that basically means from OS. At this stage we choose to sail only from Sydney & perhaps Brisbane, and so need to be realistic and accept that we will often go to ports we have already been too, many multiple times. Looking to fit a cruise in in Feb/Mar '24, there were limited options & we have elected to book with a cruiseline that is not our 'go-to' one ie Royal Caribbean, who's offering in that time window did not appeal. We have booked 13N to Sth Pacific Majestic Princess ex Sydney 10-Feb. Our PCP was able to book us DB (Deluxe Balcony) Baja Mid-Aft at an acceptable price with some OBC. To book an actual cabin was just $53 more than guarantee, so that's fine. We didn't upgrade to PLUS - offered at $65 pn. Hope we enjoy Majestic - our only previous Princess cruise was on the Sun round Aus in Mar '17, which we really enjoyed.

Can’t help re up north, but when your down here, there’s a Harry’s at the Panthers club in Penrith!!