lyndarra

The Seasider has an optional drop off at Port Chalmers. We did that tour Dec 2017 and got off at Port Chalmers however it is a steep, but pleasant, downhill walk back to the ship.

Seeing this I wondered what water is put in the machine. Water sourced from onshore or ship water which I imagine would be quite pure to start with? Flowater claims for purity look quite impressive. https://drinkflowater.com/blog/sustainable-water-purification-system/

With an election coming up you would think they would be promoting infrastructure spending.

I would not worry about the exchange rate as no one can predict which way it will go. The difference would be minimal anyway. ATM moment the AUD is on the rise.🙁

Most likely pick up a fresh load on arrival the way things are going lately.

My top cover fund covers ambulance. I just fill in the details on the bill and the fund pays. One time I had called the ambulance but it was determined I would not need a hospital trip and my fund still paid it. I don't know if my fund has conditions based on need or type of service.

Cruise line shuttles I have used in have always been direct to or from station or airport.

I always take the train from airport to Central. However I don't pack a large suitcase. When my BF Tony and I returned from OS a month ago we had 6 minutes to schlep our bags from the airport train which stops at platform 23 to the Newcastle train at platform 8. To save time I took both our bags down and up the stairs instead of using the lift. Each bag weighed 16kgs. We made the train with a few minutes to spare. I'm lucky she also packs light but cos she is vertically challenged so it's easier for her to keep up with me by not having to haul her bag. I'm also lucky that at 74 I have a some fitness left. (Have had to do that a few times.) Getting from Central to White Bay with a couple of friends we have taken a maxi taxi - one cab for the four of us plus luggage. It was a five seater but enough room. At the Central taxi rank there is almost always a maxi taxi if anyone needs one. IIRC it was about $35/$40.

According to a current affair report on the teev yesterday, touting is happening again at airports. I've experienced it overseas (Hanoi Airport). My wife and I were walking towards the official taxi rank and we were constantly harrassed by touting drivers offering to take us to the city. We ignored them and, on our arrival at the taxi rank, found the official (legal) taxis to be cheaper than the touts. (The closer we got to the rank the less the touts were offering - rip-off indicator). On the TV program touts were picking up unsuspecting fares and charging OTT fares on arrival at passenger's destinations. Con artists. This link may help. https://www.pointtopoint.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/documents/2022/Touting-and-soliciting_Fact-sheet_AA.pdf

And get a lab test while you're at it.🙄

This big kid loves water slides - why should kids have all the fun. I'd do the flow rider on a surfboard if it wasn't for Arthur Itis stopping me from getting to my feet. Pack my boogey board perhaps? (so long as they don't put it through a scanner on boarding).😨

Haven't had any kids come to my house for about five or six years. Perhaps I look TOO SCARY!😱 Actually not many kids live around here. There used to be but they've all grown up and gone away.

All ok, OP has found their NCL Roll Call.

Tatts and muffin tops?😨

How can you find your number if you have cruised before?

OT for a moment. On the ferry from Spain to Morocco duty free cartons of Chesterfields were 27 Euros. Not much more than a packet here.

Some of those wine by the glass prices could buy you a bottle at Dan Murphy's.

On MSC Divina smoking is allowed in the casino. Above the casino is an atrium up to the next deck right where there was a popular bar with an excellent duo playong and singing every night. I would have loved to have spent time in that bar but could not due to the smoke. On some US cruises smoking is allowed in the casino with a proviso that you are using the tables or slots but it is not always enforced.

Many still allow smoking in casinos - but not in Oz.

You can have it.

Makes me wonder. I would have thought the waxed paper straws would have made a comeback.

None in Oz.

I forgot an exception for poor coffee on ships. I had excellent coffee on MSC Divina Nov 2019. My recent experience this year (France, Spain, Portugal) was a bit hit and miss hotel for tea/coffee facilites. We had an excellent hotel on arrival in Barcelona which had what we needed but some others did not. Our hotel in Bordeaux had a very good coffee machine but it would not heat the water hot enough for tea even though good tea bags were supplied. I don't recall any facilities in our Portuguese hotels and none in Morocco.

The coffee machines are designed to not produce boiling water. They are designed for coffee pods which do not require water that hot. I have an Aldi pod machine and I usually nuke my coffee for 30 seconds after. Espresso machines are, of course, different. My Atomic espresso machine boils water and has a milk steamer.

Although my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our NZ cruise on Ovation in December 2017, I couldn't help thinking I was in a cruising shopping mall.🙁