christodan

No. Booked on the Australian website and I am born in Australia -, Aussie citizen. But they said on the cruise, Willis Island belongs to the Coral Sea Territory, not Australia (technically)., i.e. enough to say it is doing an OS cruise).

Yes but maybe it's a new requirement. I didn't question RCI as I had one, but things do change. Can't always assume things stay the same.

I recently came back from a Queensland cruise with RCI and they said we needed passports. And maybe this is why. We sailed out of Australian waters past Willis Island. They told they do this because then technically they are doing an OS cruise and they can charge duty free. So if it is technically an OS cruise then yes you probably do need a passport.

I could understand that as the time COVID was thought to only be in Asia. But a New Zealand cruise would have been considered safe.

And literally millions of people have died from COVID, including a relative of mine. So the answer is, this is what a pandemic means and no one deliberately set out to spread it or kill others. We are not talking about some malpractice here, but a worldwide pandemic. What do people expect?

Yes but the pandemic wasn't declared until March 11 by WHO so IMO it was perfectly reasonable to not be checking until then. I can't see how Carnival was negligent before a pandemic was declared. If anything WHO was negligent.

There is an lesser known alternative i.e. going up one of the pylons. Much cheaper and much lower in height. https://pylonlookout.com.au/

Lyndarra maybe you should say it around Belmont and see what the reaction is. I'm curious if they know it or it's very parochial and only from a certain era. If it helps these people I know who say it are in their 60s.

I know hooroo, but these people say "hooray"

I've heard of hooroo but hooray just sounds like they're happy to see you go. I knew someone else from Newcastle who also knew the term hooray, so I was wondering if it's unique to that area.

Lyndarra if you're from Lake Macquarie do you say "hooray" for good bye? My friend from Belmont says that and I think it's funny.

And if they were delayed it would have been, "we had to wait ages and that's probably why we caught COVID. They should have let us off quickly". Honestly some people are just pains, having worked in hospitality myself. Ironically, I now work with people who have mental illnesses and I haven't met anyone who is anywhere near as bad as some of the customers I served.

We had Jamie's Italian for lunch. It was pretty cheap and my daughter said it was better than the one in London. I quite enjoyed it, but like Auscruisefam we overate and almost felt sick.

I'd say avoid the lifts if you can. A small enclosed space with lots of people squashed in is a recipe for disaster.

Went to Noumea in January, no one asked to see the insurance papers.