aussielozzie18

There is a small thread going on the Australian & NZ cruisers forum but no harm having one on the P & O forum as well. I taped the show. Apart from a brief walk-thru by Kochie towards the end of the show (8.25am) they basically only showed the top deck.

If you taped it like I did, just fast forward until 8.25am and then Kochie does a brief walk-thru of the ship. Otherwise, all you see is the top deck. Can't say it sold me on going on the Jewel.

Funny thing about QM2 my father in law said.

 

He went on her last year on a cruise out of Sydney, he liked her - but complained there were a lot old people on board - he's 83 years old! :eek: :D

LOL! My father is 77 and says the same things about RSL clubs.

I was on the Rhapsody at Christmas.

We were on Deck 2. Lovely and quiet. Would book this deck again.

We had an inside cabin for 3 (cabin 2071). No noise issues in this cabin.

2 singles beds and a pullman bed. Pullman bed was set up after dinner each evening.

Hasnt been the best weather this weekend in Sydney. Quite windy and cold last night. Cool and overcast today. No doubt those onboard the Jewel & Pearl are still having a good time though.

In the cabin, they have large bottles of Evian for $5.70 per bottle.

At the MDR, we were served water by the glass (no charge) and the waiters topped it up frequently during our meal.

There is a local with a small foldup table and moneybox on the small landing area next the the steps leading into the water. He collects the money and gives you a wristband. On the day we were there was a strong swell, so there was another local on the steps helping people in and out of the water. Later, he went out on a surf ski and kept an eye on the snorkellers.

You can pay $15AUD or local currency (I think the local currency charge was $1000 but I cant recall exactly as I had the $15AUDpp ready to pay)

Thanks for letting us know. My work colleague is onboard for the Australia Day weekend cruise. I look forward to watching this.

I was at Jinek Bay in December. On the day we were there it was windy and there was quite a strong swell. It was definitely only suitable for strong swimmers on the day we were there. It was quite deep in parts and there is a lot of coral - which is great for snorkelling - but it means if you want to have a breather or adjust your gear you need to tread water. There is nowhere for the kids to sit on the edge or play in the sand. It is just a case of stepping off the steps into the water and start snorkelling.

Amedee Lighthouse Island at Noumea is great place for young kids to snorkel. You walk from the beach into the crystal clear water and its shallow with lots of fish. This is a ship tour and its quite expensive but its a great day out. I haven't been to the other ports you are going to.

Hi

 

How did you go snorkelling in Noumea.

Hi Lozz

Noumea: the private snorkelling tour with Aquanature looked great, was reasonably priced and had great reviews on Trip Advisor. However, once I made an enquiry and got the meeting times from them - 8.45am, I felt that we would be cutting it fine to get off the boat and meet them on time. As it turned out, we were 2 hours late into Noumea, so I was glad I made the decision not to book the private tour.

Instead, we booked the ships tour to Amedee Lighthouse Island. This place is picture postcard beautiful. It is quite pricey as teenagers are classed as adults. We hadn't snorkelled before and this was our first port on our first cruise so it was perfect for us. We had a beautiful sunny day, the water was crystal clear and there were lots of fish (not much coral). We could walk straight into the water from the beach and start snorkelling and it wasnt deep. We spent all morning snorkelling. Had a delicious buffet lunch. Did the glass bottom boat tour (teens loved) and climbed the lighthouse. Didnt do much snorkelling in the afternoon as the tide had gone out and you needed to walk out further to snorkel. This is a great day trip for first time snorkellers.

Our next port was Lifou where we snorkelled at Jinek Bay. This was much deeper with alot more coral and fish. There was also a strong swell on the day we were there. My teen son loved it here and said the snorkelling was much better than Amedee. However, we all spent alot more time in the water on Amedee snorkelling because it was much calmer and shallower.

I know you are not going to Lifou but I thought I would add it as a comparison as I am not sure how much snorkelling you have done.

Hope this helps. Have a great cruise. We certainly did.

Never mind those shoe holder things. We did a cabin crawl recently on the Independence, and one of the hosts was using magnetized clip holders to great effect. The cabin walls are metal, so anything with a magnet sticks. This lady had the daily cruise newsletters clipped into a magnetized bulldog clip, stuck up on the wall. All her reminders and shore excursion info clipped on another magnetized doo-dad. Pair of sunglasses hanging on another one.

 

The point here is she was using the walls. With magnets. Think about that.

I like to collect magnets. My kids thought it was cool that I was able to put the magnets straight on the cabin wall, as soon as we came back from a port.

Spent 6 months solid on CC before my first cruise and got heaps of great advice including items I should bring. The only two recommendations that I chose not to take were the door hanger and duck tape.

I was in an inside cabin with two teenagers and I found there was heaps of storage space. I did not need a door hanger.

But each to their own. They don't cost much, so why not just take it along and see for yourself.

I like the bigger bottles. We drink alot of water. Would rather drink Evian than soft drink. I was also happy to take them on shore excursions - one bottle was enough for three of us at ports. Easy to carry in my backpack.

Sorry, tassie cruiser (or any other CC members), yet another question! :)

 

My friends will be arriving at 11:30AM, but officially, it looks like they should be boarding around 3:30PM. If the cruise actually sticks with the official boarding time (which I hope they don't in this case, as it'd be good for them to be able to get on-board, even if they don't get access to their room), are there actually places where you can drop your bags off, so, you don't have to carry them around with you, if you do arrive early?

 

Many thanks again for all your help! :)

they can drop their suitcases off as soon as they arrive at the OPT at 11.30am. Good idea for them to carry on a small bag or backpack with stuff they may need when they first get on board in case their suitcases are delayed in being delivered to their cabin.

We boarded at about 2pm and my kids got their suitcases about an hour later. I didnt get my suitcase until 9pm because it contained a powerboard which had to be confiscated.

We were told by staff at the OPT to put "at sea" on our customs cards.

We were on the Rhapsody at Christmas.

We were on Deck 2 - midships - cabin 2071. Lovely and quiet. Would book this deck again.

We had an inside cabin. This was my first cruise so I had nothing to compare it to but I was perfectly happy with this cabin. Beds very comfy. Lots of storage space.

Yes, it is small but I was sharing it with my two teens and we had no issues at all.

Used the tiny sofa for one of the teens suitcases (the teens didnt unpack) and I put my empty suitcase under the bed.

The Rhapsody was highly recommended to me for my first cruise and having cruised her, I would highly recommend her to anyone. We had a great cruise and the service was excellent.

Hi Aussielozzie - we are on the Radiance on the Christmas/NYE cruise We have a GS but have friends in balcony cabins and the D1 & D2 balcony cabins are around the $6000(ish) mark for 2 people. I am so over TAs who get paid commission and don't know what they are doing:rolleyes:

 

Cheers

Di

 

Cheers

Di

Yep, thats the one and I was pretty clear that I wanted an Oceanview. Double checked it when I got the quote. I got another price for family members who wanted a balcony.

Looks like its time for me to bite the bullet and book online or find another TA.

Since they are removable, I cant see any problem. For our Christmas cruise just gone, I had 2 cardboard Christmas decorations (Santa & a wreath) on our cabin door. They were stuck on with suction caps at the top and extra blue tack at the bottom. Got lots favourable comments and they were still there at the end of our 10 days sailing.

What ship? Christmas cruises are normally dearer as they are popular.

You can look the price up your self on the Royal Caribbean web site.

Radiance of the seas.

I have only booked one cruise so I am new to cruises prices/bookings.

Got a query re a cruise I am planning to book this Christmas.

On the w/end, there was double spread RCI ad in the travel section of the sunday paper with various RCI cruises on sale.

One of the mini ads listed a 12day south pacific cruise with 3 specific dates listed. One was for xmas, one was for jan and one was for march.

The prices given were from $1499.00pp (Interior) $1699.00pp Oceanview.

The fine print said that these prices were specific to the Jan sailing.

So I went to my TA today and asked for a specific price for an Oceanview for the xmas sailing,

Now, I know it would be more than the quoted price as I understand xmas is a popular cruise but she has quoted me $7100.00 for 2 of us in an Oceanview cabin, this is a big increase in the starting advertised price (of $1699pp)

Can those of you who are experienced cruisers, tell me if this price difference is normal?

Thanks for your review. Really enjoyed reading.

I love Sydney Harbour and living in Sydney I feel very priviledged to be able access to it on weekends and special events. Living an easy travel distance from OPT is great too. Very thankful my English parents made the brave move and cruised out here to live many decades ago. My parents met on the boat on the way over and Mum never stopped talking about the magic of her first sighting of Sydney Harbour.

I also will never forget the squeal of excitement from our teenage German exchange student when she saw the Opera House for the first time!

Been looking at this cruise for NYE this year. Would love to cruise the Voyager over NYE but not sure about the itinerary.

What did you do in the 3 NZ ports and Lautoka, Fiji?

Yep, I was nervous before my first cruise and I am normally a calm person. Its just the fear of the unknown. I figured that most people cruise repeatedly so it must be good. I dealt with my nerves but researching the things I was concerned about on CC and talking to friends who had cruised before.

My first cruise exceeded expectations and I cant wait to go on another.