Mandatory ship excursions vs independent shore excursions a future possibility?

[ilikeanswers]

30 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I've heard of cruisers visiting ports in Australia having to toss even sealed products like granola bars or cereal brought along as snacks on shore excursions, so I imagine the rules are pretty strict there.

 

Usually processed food gets a pass so I'm a bit surprised🤔 but then again when you come off a plane there is a whole process you go through in terms of biosecurity quarantine and perhaps those facilites don't exist at the sea ports so it might be easier to dispose of everything☹️.

Edited April 30, 2021 by ilikeanswers

[jocap]

We don't buy much, but several miniature Nativities from the Caribbean are still on show each Christmas in friend's houses.

Once I needed a new spoon rest to go next to my stove, and saw a beautiful blue and white one in Aruba (still in use 15 years on.) 

It was made in Delft, Netherlands...  🙄

Our very next trip abroad was with a church choir... to Delft, Netherlands... 😆

[ldubs]

7 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I've heard of cruisers visiting ports in Australia having to toss even sealed products like granola bars or cereal brought along as snacks on shore excursions, so I imagine the rules are pretty strict there.

 

6 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Usually processed food gets a pass so I'm a bit surprised🤔 but then again when you come off a plane there is a whole process you go through in terms of biosecurity quarantine and perhaps those facilites don't exist at the sea ports so it might be easier to dispose of everything☹️.

 

When we disembarked in Sydney, we checked "Yes" on the question about visiting a farm.  Guy at customs  (or whatever you call it) asked did we visit a farm.  We says yes we were on a tour of sheep dogs at a sheep farm.  Guy sent us over to the Agricultural inspection kiosk.  Those folks asked why we were at their kiosk.  We says we visited the sheep dog trials.  They asked were our shoes clean.  We said yes.  They said we should proceed to the exit.

 

What I found amusing is we were the only ones at the Ag inspection kiosk, but I bet half the folks on that cruise were at the same sheep farm excursion.   

  

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

I tend to collect a lot of honey

 

A honey "expert"?  I discovered an unopened jar of honey that I purchased from a small farmer during my shore excursion in Sochi, Russia in 2008 during my 2008 World Cruise.  What would you recommend that I do with this jar?  Might it still be good?  

[clo]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

A honey "expert"?  I discovered an unopened jar of honey that I purchased from a small farmer during my shore excursion in Sochi, Russia in 2008 during my 2008 World Cruise.  What would you recommend that I do with this jar?  Might it still be good?  

Take a bite and see what you think.

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

A honey "expert"?  I discovered an unopened jar of honey that I purchased from a small farmer during my shore excursion in Sochi, Russia in 2008 during my 2008 World Cruise.  What would you recommend that I do with this jar?  Might it still be good?  

 

Natural honey (nothing adulterated) is self preserving therefore never expires so it should be good. It is one of the reasons I buy it on road trips because I know it will still be edible when we get home😁. I use honey for sweetening anything that doesn't have to be cooked as cooking honey you lose the honey flavour and it just tastes like sugar (though you can drizzle it on a dish after cooking👍😋). One of my favourite things is to make honey mousse. The flavour carries so well in the cream and it is quick and easy to make. If you prefer something savoury make a sweet chili sauce with honey, it goes great with all meat 🤗. 

[1980dory]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

A honey "expert"?  I discovered an unopened jar of honey that I purchased from a small farmer during my shore excursion in Sochi, Russia in 2008 during my 2008 World Cruise.  What would you recommend that I do with this jar?  Might it still be good?  

My wife is professional apiarist and we can say that honey NEVER spoils.  Jars of honey have been found in Egyptian tombs that were thousands of years old.  Still quite safely edible.  And if your honey congeals at home, it is still good.  Just warm it very gently in a crock pot to liquify it.  NEVER put it in a microwave.  Europeans prefer their honey in the granulated state, but either way, the honey still tastes the same.  You can freeze honey for long term storage, but never place it in the refrigerator for regular use.  It's OK to leave it out at room temp for weeks, months, years, etc.

A honey bee lives 5-6 weeks in the summer and produces 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her entire lifetime.  Just think how many bees it takes to produce that small jar you buy in the store.

Never kill a honey bee.  They pollinate about 1/3 of the foods we eat.  Kill honey bees and you kill our food supply.  Enjoy honey.  It's natural and even therapeutic and far better that raw sugar.  It was good enough for John the Baptist to live on.

[clo]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

DNatural honey (nothing adulterated) is self preserving therefore never expires so it should be good. It is one of the reasons I buy it on road trips because I know it will still be edible when we get home😁. I use honey for sweetening anything that doesn't have to be cooked as cooking honey you lose the honey flavour and it just tastes like sugar (though you can drizzle it on a dish after cooking👍😋). One of my favourite things is to make honey mousse. The flavour carries so well in the cream and it is quick and easy to make. If you prefer something savoury make a sweet chili sauce with honey, it goes great with all meat 🤗. 

Do you eat honeycomb? With "stinky cheese" it's so, so good.

[clo]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

One of my favourite things is to make honey mousse.

If we could get farther OT, could you share a recipe? Please?

[ilikeanswers]

3 minutes ago, clo said:

Do you eat honeycomb? With "stinky cheese" it's so, so good.

 

I have had honeycomb a few times but I find the texture not very pleasant however my mum loves the stuff so if I see some I get some for her😉.

 

2 minutes ago, clo said:

If we could get farther OT, could you share a recipe? Please?

 

Nothing fancy it is just a basic mousse receipe of equal part whipped cream and egg white and then I drizzle the honey on top leave it overnight and it absorbs throughout the dish. If the honey is crystalised I whip it with the cream, it works just as well. I also do a mocha mousse (cocoa powder and instant coffe) which I drizzle honey on top and another favourite is almond with orange zest in which I get almond flour and orange zest whipped in cream only to soft peaks though as the oils in the almond can make it to gluggy if you whip the cream too much and then again drizzle the honey top. I have also made a saffron and honey mousse but it is not to everyones' taste😆.

[clo]

3 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I have had honeycomb a few times but I find the texture not very pleasant however my mum loves the stuff so if I see some I get some for her😉.

 

 

Nothing fancy it is just a basic mousse receipe of equal part whipped cream and egg white and then I drizzle the honey on top leave it overnight and it absorbs throughout the dish. If the honey is crystalised I whip it with the cream, it works just as well. I also do a mocha mousse (cocoa powder and instant coffe) which I drizzle honey on top and another favourite is almond with orange zest in which I get almond flour and orange zest whipped in cream only to soft peaks though as the oils in the almond can make it to gluggy if you whip the cream too much and then again drizzle the honey top. I have also made a saffron and honey mousse but it is not to everyones' taste😆.

Holey moley. I've moved from liking to loving you. These sound insane. Thanks a million.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, clo said:

Holey moley. I've moved from liking to loving you. These sound insane. Thanks a million.

You are going to force Ilikeanswers to change his posting name to Iloveanswers.😃

[Markanddonna]

15 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

 

When we disembarked in Sydney, we checked "Yes" on the question about visiting a farm.  Guy at customs  (or whatever you call it) asked did we visit a farm.  We says yes we were on a tour of sheep dogs at a sheep farm.  Guy sent us over to the Agricultural inspection kiosk.  Those folks asked why we were at their kiosk.  We says we visited the sheep dog trials.  They asked were our shoes clean.  We said yes.  They said we should proceed to the exit.

 

What I found amusing is we were the only ones at the Ag inspection kiosk, but I bet half the folks on that cruise were at the same sheep farm excursion.   

  

We also were perhaps too honest. We were told we had to report that closed/sealed can of Macadamia nuts from Hawaii. We visited the ag desk who just shooed us through.

[clo]

2 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

We also were perhaps too honest. We were told we had to report that closed/sealed can of Macadamia nuts from Hawaii. We visited the ag desk who just shooed us through.

When we were entering Chile from Argentina, our guide said to tell the truth no matter what. You'd get in far more trouble if they catch you lying.

[navybankerteacher]

15 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

A honey "expert"?  I discovered an unopened jar of honey that I purchased from a small farmer during my shore excursion in Sochi, Russia in 2008 during my 2008 World Cruise.  What would you recommend that I do with this jar?  Might it still be good?  

I think honey lasts indefinitely.  It can go granular with age, but gently heating the jar/can in hot water restores it. Do not nuke.

[ilikeanswers]

17 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I think honey lasts indefinitely.  It can go granular with age, but gently heating the jar/can in hot water restores it. Do not nuke.

 

The crystallisation happens because of a combination of high glucose content and the presence of pollen in the honey. The higher the glucose content the faster it crystallizes. If nothing else crystallized honey is proof your product is not adulterated so you definitely should not ditch crystallized honey👍.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

The crystallisation happens because of a combination of high glucose content and the presence of pollen in the honey. The higher the glucose content the faster it crystallizes. If nothing else crystallized honey is proof your product is not adulterated so you definitely should not ditch crystallized honey👍.

This sidetrack put me in mind of my favorite honey:  Sourwood - from the southern Appalachians of North Georgia and Southwest North Carolina - aside from its unique flavor, it never seemed to go granular.  Not sold locally- so I’ll have to see about ordering some from Asheville.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I think honey lasts indefinitely. 

 

16 hours ago, 1980dory said:

My wife is professional apiarist and we can say that honey NEVER spoils. 

 

17 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

Natural honey (nothing adulterated) is self preserving therefore never expires so it should be good.

 

18 hours ago, clo said:

Take a bite and see what you think.

 

I appreciate all of your replies!  Very informative!  I will open the jar and smell the contents.  If it passes the "sniff" test, I will put some on a piece of toast and try it.  

 

Thanks for your advice!

[LeeRB]

22 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

 

When we disembarked in Sydney, we checked "Yes" on the question about visiting a farm.  Guy at customs  (or whatever you call it) asked did we visit a farm.  We says yes we were on a tour of sheep dogs at a sheep farm.  Guy sent us over to the Agricultural inspection kiosk.  Those folks asked why we were at their kiosk.  We says we visited the sheep dog trials.  They asked were our shoes clean.  We said yes.  They said we should proceed to the exit.

 

What I found amusing is we were the only ones at the Ag inspection kiosk, but I bet half the folks on that cruise were at the same sheep farm excursion.   

  

I have only been to Australia once; I believe the Opera House was still under construction when I was there; and I had a great time while there. It was October, 1970 and I think my experience with Customs both inbound to Australia and upon leaving was a little different than most people. I flew in since I was coming from Viet Nam with a plane load of other GI’s for a week long R&R trip. But, did I ever cause a commotion going through customs in bound; at the time I had one of those grey Samsonite suitcases with a divider on the inside that covered up the clothes on one side. Before leaving Viet Nam I was given a satchel by an individual from the US Embassy in Viet Nam to take to someone from the US Embassy in Australia; apparently I was the only one on the flight that had or admitted to having a Security Clearance. They took me aside, took my picture and gave me a passport, a card that said courier; and the picture and name of the person I was to give the satchel to when I got to Australia. At that time I was 21 YO kid and knew nothing about passports or there were more than one kind. Anyway I put the card in my wallet and the passport in my suitcase. When I got off the plane, I  picked up my suitcase and started through the customs check the guy opened my suit case and almost completely unpacked the uncovered side, when he opened the other side, it hit the fan, there laid that passport the with the word DIPLOMAT across it. The guy who was going through my stuff froze for a minute; then started apologizing while he put my stuff back in, as quick as he could, which attracted what I guess was his supervisor who called someone else and a couple others showed apologizing about going through my stuff and took me into a little office where another person started apologizing about what had happened. About that time the person I was supposed to meet found me, got me out of there and took the satchel, passport and courier card back; and I went on my way. However, on my departure going back to Viet Nan they were going through everyone’s luggage again. As the guy doing the inspections reached for my suitcase, one of the guys that I was involved with when I got there recognized me and grabbed his arm telling him I was the person that was involved in the passport incident last week, I got another apology and my suitcase went on the plane unopened.

Rick

 

[1980dory]

26 minutes ago, LeeRB said:

I have only been to Australia once; I believe the Opera House was still under construction when I was there; and I had a great time while there. It was October, 1970 and I think my experience with Customs both inbound to Australia and upon leaving was a little different than most people. I flew in since I was coming from Viet Nam with a plane load of other GI’s for a week long R&R trip. But, did I ever cause a commotion going through customs in bound; at the time I had one of those grey Samsonite suitcases with a divider on the inside that covered up the clothes on one side. Before leaving Viet Nam I was given a satchel by an individual from the US Embassy in Viet Nam to take to someone from the US Embassy in Australia; apparently I was the only one on the flight that had or admitted to having a Security Clearance. They took me aside, took my picture and gave me a passport, a card that said courier; and the picture and name of the person I was to give the satchel to when I got to Australia. At that time I was 21 YO kid and knew nothing about passports or there were more than one kind. Anyway I put the card in my wallet and the passport in my suitcase. When I got off the plane, I  picked up my suitcase and started through the customs check the guy opened my suit case and almost completely unpacked the uncovered side, when he opened the other side, it hit the fan, there laid that passport the with the word DIPLOMAT across it. The guy who was going through my stuff froze for a minute; then started apologizing while he put my stuff back in, as quick as he could, which attracted what I guess was his supervisor who called someone else and a couple others showed apologizing about going through my stuff and took me into a little office where another person started apologizing about what had happened. About that time the person I was supposed to meet found me, got me out of there and took the satchel, passport and courier card back; and I went on my way. However, on my departure going back to Viet Nan they were going through everyone’s luggage again. As the guy doing the inspections reached for my suitcase, one of the guys that I was involved with when I got there recognized me and grabbed his arm telling him I was the person that was involved in the passport incident last week, I got another apology and my suitcase went on the plane unopened.

 

 

Rick

 

Isn't your name really, Bond?  Did you drive an Aston Martin?

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, LeeRB said:

I have only been to Australia once; I believe the Opera House was still under construction when I was there; and I had a great time while there. It was October, 1970 and I think my experience with Customs both inbound to Australia and upon leaving was a little different than most people. I flew in since I was coming from Viet Nam with a plane load of other GI’s for a week long R&R trip. But, did I ever cause a commotion going through customs in bound; at the time I had one of those grey Samsonite suitcases with a divider on the inside that covered up the clothes on one side. Before leaving Viet Nam I was given a satchel by an individual from the US Embassy in Viet Nam to take to someone from the US Embassy in Australia; apparently I was the only one on the flight that had or admitted to having a Security Clearance. They took me aside, took my picture and gave me a passport, a card that said courier; and the picture and name of the person I was to give the satchel to when I got to Australia. At that time I was 21 YO kid and knew nothing about passports or there were more than one kind. Anyway I put the card in my wallet and the passport in my suitcase. When I got off the plane, I  picked up my suitcase and started through the customs check the guy opened my suit case and almost completely unpacked the uncovered side, when he opened the other side, it hit the fan, there laid that passport the with the word DIPLOMAT across it. The guy who was going through my stuff froze for a minute; then started apologizing while he put my stuff back in, as quick as he could, which attracted what I guess was his supervisor who called someone else and a couple others showed apologizing about going through my stuff and took me into a little office where another person started apologizing about what had happened. About that time the person I was supposed to meet found me, got me out of there and took the satchel, passport and courier card back; and I went on my way. However, on my departure going back to Viet Nan they were going through everyone’s luggage again. As the guy doing the inspections reached for my suitcase, one of the guys that I was involved with when I got there recognized me and grabbed his arm telling him I was the person that was involved in the passport incident last week, I got another apology and my suitcase went on the plane unopened.

 

 

Rick

 

For some reason your text is really small,  and you have no paragraph breaks, so I can't read your post on my tablet,  which is a shame.  Can you repost in bigger text, with breaks?

[Lois R]

2 hours ago, LeeRB said:

I have only been to Australia once; I believe the Opera House was still under construction when I was there; and I had a great time while there. It was October, 1970 and I think my experience with Customs both inbound to Australia and upon leaving was a little different than most people. I flew in since I was coming from Viet Nam with a plane load of other GI’s for a week long R&R trip. But, did I ever cause a commotion going through customs in bound; at the time I had one of those grey Samsonite suitcases with a divider on the inside that covered up the clothes on one side. Before leaving Viet Nam I was given a satchel by an individual from the US Embassy in Viet Nam to take to someone from the US Embassy in Australia; apparently I was the only one on the flight that had or admitted to having a Security Clearance. They took me aside, took my picture and gave me a passport, a card that said courier; and the picture and name of the person I was to give the satchel to when I got to Australia. At that time I was 21 YO kid and knew nothing about passports or there were more than one kind. Anyway I put the card in my wallet and the passport in my suitcase. When I got off the plane, I  picked up my suitcase and started through the customs check the guy opened my suit case and almost completely unpacked the uncovered side, when he opened the other side, it hit the fan, there laid that passport the with the word DIPLOMAT across it. The guy who was going through my stuff froze for a minute; then started apologizing while he put my stuff back in, as quick as he could, which attracted what I guess was his supervisor who called someone else and a couple others showed apologizing about going through my stuff and took me into a little office where another person started apologizing about what had happened. About that time the person I was supposed to meet found me, got me out of there and took the satchel, passport and courier card back; and I went on my way. However, on my departure going back to Viet Nan they were going through everyone’s luggage again. As the guy doing the inspections reached for my suitcase, one of the guys that I was involved with when I got there recognized me and grabbed his arm telling him I was the person that was involved in the passport incident last week, I got another apology and my suitcase went on the plane unopened.

 

 

Rick

 

Hi Rick, WOW........what an event!!!!!!!

[LeeRB]

With respect to Mandatory ship excursions vs Independent (vendor or self-guided) shore excursions, first let me say I was officially completely vaccinated on March 18, 2021, having received my 2nd Pfizer shot March 4th so vaccination has no bearing on this. I also sail solo almost exclusively since losing my wife to cancer in 2013, I have sailed 3 time out of 27 sailings since then, with a group or someone else, so single supplements are in play.

 

Now for the excursions, normally I prefer to explore on my own, or with people I meet on board, especially if I have been to a place a couple times before and once in a while, I see something I can’t pass up being offered by the ship but that doesn’t happen often. However, if it’s a place I haven’t been before, I will see what the cruise line is offering to see if there is anything that interests me; unless someone I know has recommended a specific local excursion company, in that case I try to contact the recommended company to find out what they are offering, before I check out the cruise lines excursions. If neither of those pan out, like Bermuda in September 2018, I waited until after all the excursions, ship and otherwise had left, I went down to the ‘gate’ and asked them to  call me a Taxi, and I took a private excursion. I saw everything I wanted to see. We stopped at the “world’s smallest draw bridge” and I got out and took some pictures, not just crossed it. We drove up to the cast iron lighthouse, parked and I took pictures, not just drive up to the road that goes up to the lighthouse with offer to stop for 20 minutes it if someone wanted to walk up to it. We stopped at an overlook where I could get some good pictures the pink sand from above, then went down to the beach where I could actually walk out onto the beach and take pictures; not just look down at the beach from above like the ship’s tour did. She also went by a couple other places that I asked about (not necessarily tourist spots) including one place I used to talk with frequently back in my military days and was no longer operational, and we were not in a big rush at any time. I was on the meter the whole time, gone only half an hour less than the ship’s excursion, and it cost $20 less than the ship’s excursion, which I gave her as a tip plus the $10 that I would have given the driver on a ship’s excursion; a win-win for both of us.

 

I currently have a 5 night cruise booked on RCI for November 13th, 2021 and the words I am hearing is the only way I can get off the ship in a POC, except for the “Private Islands” is to take a ships sponsored excursion, PERIOD; and there no “Private Islands” currently on my cruise. Now I am wondering how smart is it to spend the money for 4-5 tanks of gas to get to Tampa and back, the 3 nights in motels (one each way and one in Tampa the night before sailing) plus the food and road snacks money while traveling plus the little over $1,400 for the cruise itself just to ride around on a big ship for a few days basically going nowhere. I am starting to think the answer is, a very loud NO. I ALWAYS book refundable so I have until mid-July to cancel and take a refund.

 

Rick

[LeeRB]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

For some reason your text is really small,  and you have no paragraph breaks, so I can't read your post on my tablet,  which is a shame.  Can you repost in bigger text, with breaks?

I don't know why it in Font Times New Roman font ,size 11, I will try  posting it again in Arial font, size 13. there were no paragraph breaks in it.

Rick

I have only been to Australia once; I believe the Opera House was still under construction when I was there; and I had a great time while there. It was October, 1970 and I think my experience with Customs both inbound to Australia and upon leaving was a little different than most people. I flew in since I was coming from Viet Nam with a plane load of other GI’s for a week long R&R trip. But, did I ever cause a commotion going through customs in bound; at the time I had one of those grey Samsonite suitcases with a divider on the inside that covered up the clothes on one side. Before leaving Viet Nam I was given a satchel by an individual from the US Embassy in Viet Nam to take to someone from the US Embassy in Australia; apparently I was the only one on the flight that had or admitted to having a Security Clearance. They took me aside, took my picture and gave me a passport, a card that said courier; and the picture and name of the person I was to give the satchel to when I got to Australia. At that time I was 21 YO kid and knew nothing about passports or there were more than one kind. Anyway I put the card in my wallet and the passport in my suitcase. When I got off the plane, I  picked up my suitcase and started through the customs check the guy opened my suit case and almost completely unpacked the uncovered side, when he opened the other side, it hit the fan, there laid that passport the with the word DIPLOMAT across it. The guy who was going through my stuff froze for a minute; then started apologizing while he put my stuff back in, as well as he could, which attracted what I guess was his supervisor who called someone else and a couple others showed apologizing about going through my stuff and took me into a little office where another person started apologizing about what had happened. About that time the person I was supposed to meet found me, got me out of there and took the satchel, passport and courier card back; and I went on my way. However, on my departure going back to Viet Nan they were going through everyone’s luggage again. As the guy doing the inspections reached for my suitcase, one of the guys that I was involved with when I got there recognized me and grabbed his arm telling him I was the person that was involved in the passport incident last week, I got another apology and my suitcase went on the plane unopened.

 

Rick

 

 

 

[LeeRB]

8 hours ago, 1980dory said:

Isn't your name really, Bond?  Did you drive an Aston Martin?

No, not Bond, but it does start with a B, and I have never driven an Aston Martin But I have driven both Porsche and Alfa Romeo in the past; but alas now I drive a Honda. I also did not know Ian Fleming; but I knew some Fleming's growing up, but I think they were from Kentucky.