jayne62

we prefer longer cruises, 21-28 days are great - I'd do longer if I could spare the time. We get inside cabins as we're only in the cabin to sleep and there is plenty to do - or not do- around the ship on sea days.  the longer the better for me!

My hubby wore shorts around Japan no problem at all.

buy skip the line tickets online before you go as there are long wait times.

We stayed at the Hotel Hiberia and found it in easy walking distance to Trevi Fountain and lots of other places we wanted to visit. The staff were really helpful, breakfast is downstairs in the restaurant and its near lots of shops. We will stay there again when we go back some day. And I agree with the previous poster - see the fountain very early in the morning - otherwise its difficult to get close.

look forward to following along. we just got off the Royal Princess before the dry dock - had a wonderful time! enjoy your cruise :)

Sorry, my DW and I both said, we wouldn't be walking for any charity on a cruise. It's a vacation. We could do this at home, not on a vacation.

agree with this 100% - I spend my working life taking care of others and do plenty of charity work all year round - vacation time is for me.

I would not cancel the cruise, there is always risk but its about taking sensible risks. We are doing a Mediterranean cruise in September and I feel much safer going to Europe than I would going to the US. The cruise companies are monitoring events and making security decisions with access to much more reliable information than what I have access to so I'll be guided by them.

In my opinion we give in to terror and stay home then the terrorists win and the economies of these countries being attacked suffer and in turn, the people.So without taking needless risks we'll continue to travel and enjoy life while we can.

I used to work in palliative care, have listened to too many stories of people who put off travel until it was too late. It seems that every few weeks I hear of someone getting a serious illness, or having a heart attack or having to leave their job due to illness. Life is short. I wanted to travel my whole life and when i turned 50 I was so sick I couldn't even get to the bathroom on my own. I made a decision that if I got better I would travel every year. So as the previous poster commented I am frugal, I track down great bargains, but I'm not cheap. I do shore excursions, but I save money elsewhere.

Only you can decide whats 'value' to you. But I like to apply the 'rocking chair' test and when I'm old and sitting in that rocking chair I will have a lot of wonderful travel memories to pass the time with.

yes, it will be busy, as others have said book well ahead. There are some lovely B&Bs in the blue mountains, thats what I'd recommend, Leura is lovely... but then its all lovely really ... lots of nice places to bushwalk

I have celiacs and have cruised twice on Carnival Spirit, you notify them before you board about the special diet. On the day you board go to the dining room and introduce yourself once you board - go well before meal time - they show you the menus for the following day and you choose your meals each evening for the next day. I found them to be excellent. My meals are much more restricted now than just gluten free and they were very careful to get it right in the dining room. The chef made me special desserts on a few occasions as I also can't eat sugar.

In the buffet there is a high risk of cross contamination - the only things I eat there are fruit and boiled eggs but I have extremely bad reactions. They have gluten free cakes and bread available and you can ask which food is gluten free but eating at any buffet is risky.

The main thing is to give them plenty of notice, be very clear about your orders and ask for the same table each night so you have the same wait staff.

The jumping crocodile tour in Darwin is fantastic, that takes a half day so you'll be able to do a second tour as well.

In Sydney take a day tour to the Blue Mountains, its just beautiful, I spend a lot time here, lovely Australian bush. The Jenolan Caves is another great day trip you could do from Sydney.

If you want to see Australian wlldlife then a visit to Featherdale Wildlife park in Sydney would be good, you'll get to see the animals close up.

Geraldton will give you a taste of the outback without having to spend all that time flying.

January will be stinking hot here, cover up, bring sunscreen, roll on insect repellent and a good hat, you will have a wonderful time :)

we use an Aussie mastercard and have had no problems. We always let them know the dates we are going to be travelling and what countries we are visiting. I haven't had any excessive charges from them.

They have contacted us on two occasions for unusual transactions, we weren't travelling at the time, and they were very prompt and sorted things out straight away.

I use covermore for insurance, I personally wouldn't get insurance through the credit card company as I've heard they are not as good.

I've just booked our accommodation in Barecelona. I came across this map of the areas to avoid which may be helpful, we booked outside this areahttps://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zynhd068Z-JU.kZ0AYKyndGhc

sarah, do you mind me asking where you are staying in Rome?

I start with the time of year - it has to be September due to work. Then I search for cruises over 2 weeks long and then I look at itineraries, then I compare prices and airfares.

looking forward to following your thread, we had a wonderful time on the Diamond Princess - great staff & we're doing Europe later this year. Have a great cruise!

We are going in September, I'm really hoping our day in Turkey is not cancelled. Personally I'd be more more worried travelling to the US than Europe. I think it depends on where you travel in certain countries, some regions are going to be more risky than others but in general there is risk everywhere, can't let it stop us living our lives. I do agree with the 'if you don't go you let them win' idea, terrorism is about creating fear and destroying some of those countries economies by attacking tourist areas.

we saw whales on our Japan cruise and also when cruising up the top of Australia. I've seen lots of dolphins when holidaying (but not crusing) down the South Coast of Australia, just when out in boats or from the headlands.

thanks for review and great pictures - we're going on Royal Princess later this year so nice to read your experiences of it

sorry, I haven't been back for a bit :)

In Singapore we bought a 3 day train pass and we used that to travel everywhere. We found it good value, the transport is very clean and safe and people were very helpful. At the end of the three days they also give you some money back if you hand the pass in.

I can recommend The Original Singapore Walks company, particularly if you like history. We did a tour with them and it was fantastic.

Some of the public toilets in Singapore don't have toilet paper in each cubicle. You either buy some on the way in or there will be one big roll as you walk in. I carried some of those small packets of tissues and some hand sanitiser in my bag. Also I found the toilets in the shopping centres very clean but some of the toilets near the bus stations (outside the train stations) were not so clean.

we cruised Sydney to Singapore similar time last year and once we left sydney the weather was quite hot and in Singapore very humid. shorts, t-shirts, summer dresses with a light cardigan should be fine for port days. Don't forget sunscreen and insect repellent as well. If you stop at Darwin I can recommend the jumping crocodile tour. enjoy your cruise! :)

there is a facebook group called Help Chrissy that collects items to send over and cruisers take items over to Chrissy, and Ednah. They have information on the facebook page about what is needed and the items are shared all round the islands. They help the schools and the hospital. lots of helpful information there for cruisers wanting to donate.

I'm usually awake between 3-4 am. I head up to food court and get a cuppa then out on promenade deck for walk and wait for the sun to come up. Sometimes I take my kindle with books to read but mostly its just relaxing to be out there in dark watching the ocean. The crew are around and you'll get to meet the other early risers. its the best part of the day :)

We used the cruise shore excursions on our first cruise and I agree with what bbeltmom has said. For us we found it gave us peace of mind and we could just enjoy our trip and 'learn the ropes'.

I'm glad we did because on one excursion we were delayed over an hour and were the last people back on board before the ship left. The excursion operators communicated with the ship so no worries about being left behind. I would have been worried sick if it had been a private tour.

In Japan we used shore excursions most days but sometimes we went ashore and did our own thing as we had a much better idea of how it all works.

Do what makes you feel comfortable so you can enjoy your holiday, saving a few dollars here and there is not always the most important factor.

love the diamond princess... thanks for the pics :)