Australian Literature Festival at Sea

[Britni.Pepper]

I'm new to Cruise Critic, so be gentle with me. I have just this moment discovered the Australian Literature Festival at Sea taking place aboard a short cruise on the Queen Elizabeth out of Sydney in December 2024.

I'll be there. 

And what do I wear after four years of working from home?

Edited August 27, 2023 by Britni.Pepper
typofix

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, Britni.Pepper said:

And what do I wear after four years of working from home?

 

Welcome aboard Britni.

 

What do you wear on board? Whatever you like. ☺️

[JJK2008]

1 hour ago, Britni.Pepper said:

I'm new to Cruise Critic, so be gentle with me. I have just this moment discovered the Australian Literature Festival at Sea taking place aboard a short cruise on the Queen Elizabeth out of Sydney in December 2024.

I'll be there. 

And what do I wear after four years of working from home?

Hey Britni, WELCOME to CC. This site can be a bit overwhelming. There are numerous threads to explore with lot of colorful tales and information to enjoy. Because of the voluminous amount of info on this site, I'd suggest being patient and persistent. When you find a thread that you like you can click the "follow" button and get notifications anytime a new post to that thread is written. We have an Oz/Kiwi cruise coming up in November. This will be my first time "Down Under" and as such of course I turned to CC for advice and info. My experience with the folks on here has been priceless. When it comes to travel, I have found CC to be invaluable. Loads of experienced folks from all over the world more than willing to share their experience and knowledge. Just ask and they will respond. We have met many "friends" here on CC over the years, some in person, some just CC friends. In fact, in addition to our upcoming cruise we are spending time in Oz visiting friends along the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast that we had met on CC and then travelled together on a River Cruise in Europe. That was pre-covid so it's been a few years since we've seen each other. Really looking forward to seeing them again. One thread in particular you may enjoy is the Australian and New Zealand Cruisers thread that provides a wealth of information from your fellow Aussies and Kiwis. This thread might be the perfect forum to ask about the Australian Literature Festival. Anyway, welcome to CC, I hope it proves to be as beneficial as it has been to us. I may seek suggestions from you on Melbourne as that is also on our travel plans😊. Stay Safe & Healthy.

 

John  

[LittleFish1976]

2 hours ago, Britni.Pepper said:

I'm new to Cruise Critic, so be gentle with me. I have just this moment discovered the Australian Literature Festival at Sea taking place aboard a short cruise on the Queen Elizabeth out of Sydney in December 2024.

I'll be there. 

And what do I wear after four years of working from home?

 

The cruise you mention is on a Cunard ship - they do have a dress code on board so head to their website to make yourself familiar with it. Basically you need to dress a bit more formally than you would on many cruise lines for dinner (and to be in many venues after 6pm) and they also have formal nights which they now call 'gala nights' which most people dress even more formally for.

 

Daytime dress is more relaxed.

 

I'll be interested to hear which authors they invite as guest speakers for this. If they can nab Tim Winton I might even be interested!

[Britni.Pepper]

3 hours ago, JJK2008 said:

Hey Britni, WELCOME to CC … I hope it proves to be as beneficial as it has been to us. I may seek suggestions from you on Melbourne as that is also on our travel plans😊. Stay Safe & Healthy.

 

John  

Thank you, John. Just browsing through the site gives a lot of information, often contradictory. I see reports from two different passengers on the same cruise with vastly different experiences, for example!

 

All told, lots of super information and resources. 
 

I’m very interested to see what the final programme looks like. I think that this will be a great bargain. Often a writer's festival weekend in some soulless convention hotel can run to hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. This cruise will be a festival with an ocean view and the chance of being drowned, to quote Dr Johnson. 
 

Famous authors are always great to hear and I’ve done my share of fangirling to stars like Alexander McCall Smith and Daniel Silva but sometimes the nuts and bolts of writing and publishing are what really matters. Pretty much every reader I’ve ever met is full of stories of their own, just looking for ways of telling them. 
 

As for Melbourne, art galleries (both official and street art), fairy penguins, The World's Happiest Tram Driver, great food and drink. The laneway Bistros in the central city are extraordinary. I wrote a story about the world's best coffee recently. In my own travels, very few places compare for coffee with Melbourne. 
 

Britni

[JJK2008]

2 hours ago, Britni.Pepper said:

Thank you, John. Just browsing through the site gives a lot of information, often contradictory. I see reports from two different passengers on the same cruise with vastly different experiences, for example!

 

All told, lots of super information and resources. 
 

I’m very interested to see what the final programme looks like. I think that this will be a great bargain. Often a writer's festival weekend in some soulless convention hotel can run to hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. This cruise will be a festival with an ocean view and the chance of being drowned, to quote Dr Johnson. 
 

Famous authors are always great to hear and I’ve done my share of fangirling to stars like Alexander McCall Smith and Daniel Silva but sometimes the nuts and bolts of writing and publishing are what really matters. Pretty much every reader I’ve ever met is full of stories of their own, just looking for ways of telling them. 
 

As for Melbourne, art galleries (both official and street art), fairy penguins, The World's Happiest Tram Driver, great food and drink. The laneway Bistros in the central city are extraordinary. I wrote a story about the world's best coffee recently. In my own travels, very few places compare for coffee with Melbourne. 
 

Britni

It didn't take long to get replies in this thread as I expected. As with ANY conversation there will be differences of opinion. Hence the contradictions you encountered. That is to be expected. People understand things differently, view thing differently, etc. If the conversation or postings involves anything of importance (schedules, prices, medical, etc.) I advise to Verify, Verify, Verify. Folks can be "well intentioned" but may in fact be incorrect or inaccurate. Often times through misinterpretation or not having the complete information. But overall, the folks posting on CC are the BEST. Who knows, you may even get some more CC folks to sign-up for the Literary Cruise. Looks like some interest already. Thanks for the tidbits in Melbourne. Our plan is to fly into Melbourne after our cruise and spend a several days. Then get a rental car and do the Great Ocean Road and finish in Adelaide. Thanks again. I look forward to following along with your postings and the responses you get. 

 

John

[Britni.Pepper]

Looking further into the cruise, I find that Cunard has something similar in a few months' time: a 7-night cruise from Southhampton to New York.

All sea days, Queen Mary 2, a parade of writers several of whom are rightly famed.
Lynda La Plante, Val McDermid, Kate Mosse, Antony Beevor. Authors, editors, agents, dramatists, comedians etc.

If the Australian version attracts a similar spread of talent it will be well worthwhile. I wonder if I can claim it as a tax deduction for professional development.

Britni
 

[RosieCanberra]

We're booked on this cruise too, with some friends. Should be great!

 

I've sailed on Cunard once before, dress code for dinner is a jacket for the men and no shorts after 5pm. For women it was just dress nicely, no shorts after 5pm. 

On formal night men wore suits or tuxedos, although most were in suits. Women wore nice dresses, some wore long dresses but they were in the minority.