PandRBarry

Hello...sorry if this has already been asked and answered but is this available for international flights? We are on British Airways in July from Heathrow to Boston nonstop. Thanks

Hello ...I wonder if they allow you to sit on your balcony if you're in isolation for testing positive.  Anyone know?

5 minutes ago, ehong said:

 

Did you end up staying on Deck 10 or Deck 9 aft deluxe premium balconies? We are scheduled for these next year and want to know how it went. Soot problems, air quality, motion sickness, privacy, etc. Thanks!

My husband and I have been on the Royal twice both times Baja 737.  Once was a 7 night Alaska cruise and the other a 12 night Med cruise.  First of all, the balcony is HUGE.  Secondly, we did not find the soot a big deal on either trip.  Just wipe it down if you need to.  I would stay in that cabin again in a heartbeat.  The balcony is so large, we had a cocktail party out there one night and one person said "this isn't a balcony, it's a dancefloor"! LOL

6 hours ago, PerfectlyPerth said:

 

People all over the world make international calls every day. It's not the 1950s!  It's really not a big deal. Pricewise its a snippet compared to what you are spending on your trip. Call via Skype if you want to do it for free. You can always call them then ask them to call you back or establish email contact with you. 

 

Call mid week as the next two weeks have Monday public holidays in various states. It's been school holidays in various states for the past few weeks so staffing is generally reduced overall. 

Just got my bill that included a call to NZ and it was $30 USD because I had to be on hold so long.  I’m just trying to avoid a needless expense. Good to know about the holidays. Thank you.

17 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

I found 

 

SAS@health.gov.au   on the website

 

(Special Access Scheme) contact info about other substances/etc.

 

There are also specific pdf forms to complete, depending upon what the treatment is, and those are supposed to be emailed.

 

https://www.tga.gov.au/form/special-access-scheme#contacts

 

Worth a try?

 

ETA:  this is also mentioned here:  https://www.tga.gov.au/entering-australia

 

RM

Ugh...Just did a search of my e-mails with that email address and I've already sent them two.  I just sent it again.  Maybe third time's the charm!  Thanks again.

11 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

I found 

 

SAS@health.gov.au   on the website

 

(Special Access Scheme) contact info about other substances/etc.

 

There are also specific pdf forms to complete, depending upon what the treatment is, and those are supposed to be emailed.

 

https://www.tga.gov.au/form/special-access-scheme#contacts

 

Worth a try?

 

ETA:  this is also mentioned here:  https://www.tga.gov.au/entering-australia

 

RM

Definitely worth a try!!!  Thanks so much again.  You people really go above and beyond!  One of the many reasons I love (most) cruisers!  :-)

2 hours ago, BrissieB said:

It's currently 9pm so it will have to wait until tomorrow.  I'll do my best to track a useful email down for you.

 

Thanks again for doing this. It is so kind of you. I'm thinking these e-mail addresses are not really monitored by employees. 

This is the email from the embassy that I used last night and once before to no response:

info@tga.gov.au  

48 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Now that is *really* helpful! 

 

GC

LOL

2 hours ago, BrissieB said:

It's currently 9pm so it will have to wait until tomorrow.  I'll do my best to track a useful email down for you.

 

Thanks again for doing this. It is so kind of you. I'm thinking these e-mail addresses are not really monitored by employees. 

PS the embassy referred me right back to the websites or to call Australia during business hours.

9 hours ago, BrissieB said:

If you would like, I can try to make a couple of phone calls and see if I can get a better email before you ring here.

That would be amazing! There was no response again yesterday from 3 new emails I sent. Thank you so much!!!

Tricia

15 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

How about calling the nearest Embassy or Consulate first?

 

Good luck!
 

GC

Good idea!  Thanks. I will try that

Guess I'll bite the bullet and make what will probably be a very expensive phone call to Australia .  Thanks for the responses though.  I still hope someone on CC has had this situation and will respond at some point.

48 minutes ago, BrissieB said:

Hi,

Did you try either of these email addresses?

http://www.agriculture.gov.au/general-inquiries

 (Department of Agriculture)

or

DCS@health.gov.au (drug control section of The Office of Drug Control).

The second one I sent 3 e-mails and just sent one to the dept of Agriculture.

Thanks for sending though :-)

9 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Yes, I know.

 

If it were us, we'd just contact them for the permissions, stating which meds and perhaps planned dates of the visit.

That's what we've done elsewhere when there was something that might need permission.  Then they can tell us precisely any limits, etc., or that no permission is needed or whatever they need to communicate.

 

For Japan, which seemed to have considerable rules/restrictions, we just sent a list for each of us as to which meds we take, and they wrote back with any limits for some, any that needed permissions, and what was prohibited (regular Sudafed!).

 

Are you saying that you've written, asking how to obtain permission for Embrel, and given your dates of travel and still heard nothing?

 

GC

Yes and have received no responses.  I even e-mailed the Australian tourist bureau and got no response. :-( 

12 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Is this the website you were using?

 

https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-and-lea ... substance

 

We were able to find all the meds that we needed, although none were biologicals.

 

GC

Yes that is one of the websites.  Here is what that says under personal medical use...

The following items require permission from the Office of Drug Control when travelling to Australia:

• Injections that contain material of human or animal origin (e.g. Hizentra®, Clexane®).

9 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Why not email the agency that is shown in the link I posted above for you?

That's going to be so much more reliable and up to date than a bunch of anonymous internet strangers.

 

GC

I have sent numerous emails to them and others and have got no response which is why I'm asking CC.  There is also no toll-free number to call but I will apparently have to bite the bullet and try calling late at night when someone might answer.

Thank you for your replies. Yes I understand that humira and Enbrel are approved medicine in Australia but border control states that special permission is needed to bring in some biological medicine that is derived from living cells which describes Enbrel. Unfortunately, I can’t find a list of those medicines. I was hoping someone on CC may have brought it in when visiting.

I read that there are some “biological” medicines Requiring special permission to bring into Australia. Has anyone run into this issue? Enbrel or Humira type prescriptions? I cant seem to get an answer from any of their government sites. Thanks.

2 minutes ago, Anubi said:

You collect your luggage yourself, go out to the bus and you or the driver will load the luggage on the bus.  I hope this helps.  

Yes exactly what I wanted to know.

Thanks very much!

On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 7:39 AM, Anubi said:

We normally get the Princess transfers from the ship to the airport and plan to do this on our upcoming cruise as well. We've never had a problem.

My only complaint is the overt request for tips.

I know this is an older thread but I've sailed  on Princess many times but have never taken a transfer from the ship to the airport.  We are disembarking in Sydney Australia for an 11:50 am flight to NZ.  My question is, does princess load the luggage onto the bus you are assigned to or do you still have to get your luggage with all the others?  We are on a tight schedule and I'm trying to determine the best and fastest way to get to the airport that morning.  per Princess, we are in the right timeframe for their transfer.

Thanks!

My husband and I were in Aft balcony B737 on the Royal in September 2017 on a 14 day Mediteranian cruise.  It was partially covered so if it rained, you could sit outside. If you're at the railing, the people next level up could see you from their balcony. This balcony is HUGE!  We invited some shipmates to a cocktail party and one comment was "This is a dance floor not a balcony!" Yes there was soot but the extra large balcony and beautiful panoramic views more than made up for it.  It was easily wiped down.  That being said, we are in the exact same cabin for an Alaskan cruise this July and can't wait!  I say go for it.  The pros really outnumber the cons. 

On 6/22/2018 at 1:30 PM, Mandybigg said:

We are booked on the Disney Wonder in 2019. We will be sailing with your kids (5 and 7 at the time of sailing). I am seriously considering cancelling and rebooking us on either the Golden or Royal Southbound. We can sail on Princess and do an entire week of pre-cruise activities for the cost of the DCL sailing (and that takes into the 1 way flights and the fact that I did onboard booking). We will not pre-cruise with Princess even though I know that this their forte, so we aren't weighing that factor in particular. We are very outdoorsy and plan to camp in Denali for a few days and stay in rustic cabins in Seward and Glacier View. I love the idea of "roughing it" and then getting on the ship : )

 

My question is this: Opinions on DCL versus Princess with kids for the Alaska itinerary?

 

If we go Princess, which ship: Golden or Royal? I saw another thread where Coral seemed to be the Alaska winner, but it doesn't work since we are doing a full week of pre-cruise land.

 

For me and my husband, the Princess sailing beats DCL hands down since it hits Hubbard and Glacier. The one way also gives us an opportunity to land tour. I also like the partnership with the NPS. We love National Parks and my kids have racked up at least 15 parks each and quite a few junior ranger badges. They would get Denali and Kenai on land AND be able to nab Glacier Bay on the ship. How cool is that?

 

Here are my reservations:

 

- Will there be enough to entertain my 5 and 7 year old? How is the revamped kids' club space for that age group? Will there be other kids their age on the sailing? We want them to have someone to play with in the kids' club, but I also don't want them to be the only ones in the dining room.

 

- My youngest is a terrible eater. We try and try, but she eats pizza, burgers, and chicken tenders. At least she eats steamed veggies and scrambled eggs. I was not crazy about the adult food on DCL, but she had plenty of "kid" choices. Will she be able to eat in the main dining room?

 

- We have a balcony stateroom on DCL and planning the same for Princess. Is this going to be too tight for 4? I found the DCL stateroom to be surprisingly roomy for a family of 4, but they are specifically built for families. The split bathroom was nice, but not necessary.

 

Sorry for the long post. It's one of our "big" vacations, so I want to do it right. TIA!

We are booked on the July 13th Royal southbound with our family including our 6 year  old grandson. I hope and expect there to be lots of kids. 🙂

Hi everyone,

We are on the Royal on September 20th in R735 which is an aft facing deluxe balcony.

Has anyone recently been in an aft facing room on either Royal or Regal that can tell me if the soot issue has been resolved? It's too late to switch now but would like to know what we're in for.

I asked my travel agent who said she called and they said no longer an issue but you know how that goes! I can't seem to find any RECENT reviews so if anyone has recently been in an aft facing balcony on either of those ships recently, I'd appreciate the feed back.

Thank you for post2this. Well be in r735 in September. Any room tips?

My wife and I were in aft cabin R735 on the Royal a couple of weeks ago in Greece and while there was some minor soot on the balcony every morning it was not nearly as bad as I had expected after reading many posts on the subject. If I had not expected a soot issue I doubt I would have thought twice about it. But I did stack the chairs up close to the door at night as a soot precaution. And of course the balcony was cleaned every morning once we left the room. We would definitely reserve the same room again and loved the larger balcony and view from the back.