SinbadThePorter

If you are looking for a particular card with good insurance, it can be an uphill battle just getting a bank to give you the credit card if you are no longer working. 😡 Banks don't like retired people getting credit cards, we pay them off too quickly.

I'll go against the grain and say it's not that difficult. Ovation is supposed to arrive at Circular Quay at 6:30am. If you can get off the ship before 8am, and are willing to schlep your luggage to the train at Circular Quay station, you could be at the airport by 8:30am. Almost two hours before your flight. I've done it for a 10:30am flight back to Brisbane. Trying to get from ship to airport by road during peak hour might be more problematic.

Just got back from Noumea. It's called Johnston now, but I noticed that they are building a new section in the back corner. Maybe for wine. It's hard to see how a store that big would not be selling French wine in Noumea.

On the Encounter I found that the app was not very connected to reality and it was much better to book face to face.

Too true. It barely even beats New Zealand!

Next time you are there, check out the wine section of the Casino supermarket, you may be surprised.

How about tomorrow? On the Luminosa between Suva and Noumea. Seas are moderate at the moment, but it looks like a swell is building.

I don't know about prices, but the range of French wine in Noumea is pretty impressive.

In this region, covid insurance coverage is required for travel to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji. If cruising to those countries, you'll usually be asked for paper proof of covid coverage as part of embarkation. Outside of those countries, minimal coverage is acceptable.

Have you tried Qantas travel insurance?

I last saw it a few years ago. After dark they set up three or four long lines of people next to the jetty and each person waits in the queue for their turn to be given a fish and feed a dolphin. Each feed takes a few seconds. I wouldn't say it's worth it, but then I'm biased against feeding wild animals.

Personally I'm a bit more selfish than that. I want to not have my cruise interrupted by intubated unjabbed passengers having to be emergency medevaced from my ship. Since the covid vaccine minimises the risk of that, I'm all for requiring them of passengers.

If we'd have stayed out in the islands, the problem was that when it would have been time to come home, the cyclone would have been between us and Brisbane.

On Luminosa watching a medevac on a RC ship off Port Macquarie right now.

In my opinion the best mass market cruise line in Australia is Princess. If you are looking for something a bit exotic, I would suggest a Papua New Guinea cruise from Brisbane. For scenery, PNG is like a tropical NZ, except that the best and easiest way to see it is by ship. You can easily follow that up with a North Queensland cruise to see the Great Barrier Reef. A bit left field, but you might not have thought of a visit to Lord Howe Island and/or Norfolk Island. Wonderful places that you can fly to from Sydney.

We're off Brisbane at the moment. Heading slowly south along the coast. Sometime Fri or Sat we should turn around and get back to Brissie Sunday morning. Cyclone permitting. A seven day cruise to nowhere. Oy Vey!

$200 obc plus 50% cruise credit offered.

About 12km (or 8 miles). There is no public transport, only taxi, uber and whatever shuttle buses the cruise line may (or may not) provide. Taxi would be around A$30-$40 each way. There are no facilities at the port or anywhere around it.

Personally I hesitate to use credit cards in the South Pacific islands. I prefer cash. Most of the commercial places you are dealing with will take Australian dollars. If you are buying from food stalls or native carvings you may need the local currency, but usually $A goes a long way. So long as you are aware of the actual exchange rate.

Me too 😇

Does anyone know what Carnival Australia supplies in the way of soda? Also, just to let everyone know, Pepsi is superior to Coke in every way. 😜

It's a lottery and only Carnival knows the rules.

Who said you would? But I never turn my nose up at a couple of dollars. As an aside, if you have a concession Go Card, the 590 bus and any other Brisbane City buses are free outside of peak hour and the airport shuttle costs nothing.

I'm not advising this, only saying that it exists. There is a free shuttle bus from the Domestic and International terminals to the the DFO (a nearby discount shopping centre). From the DFO there is a 590 bus which travels north to the Toombul bus exchange. Don't get on the south bound bus or you will end up in Mt Gravatt, way off to the south. At the Toombul bus exchange catch the 310 bus to the CBD. Alternatively walk across Sandgate Road to Toombul train station and catch a southbound train from there. Travel on Brisbane and Gold Coast ferries, buses and trains requires a Go Card, which can be purchased at the airport.

I've never caught covid on any cruise. I did however catch it straight after a checkup at the doctor. There are more onboard expenses on P&O than Princess, but they are easy to avoid. Probably the most disappointing thing about P&O is the lacklustre food in the Pantry, but a good cruise fare can make up for a lot of disappointments. I found the free restaurants, Angelos and Dragon Lady, to be quite good.