clairebearinaus

How annoying!

Still, having done that cruise in reverse, if they had to cancel any port KL would be the one I would have chosen. It was my least favourite day off the ship.

Hopefully they'll make it to the rest of the places they're supposed to see.

Oh no! Where did you hear this, do you have a link to a news article? I was on the last Sun cruise before she went to dry dock. Poor Stu and they others, second time this cruise has been cancelled after dry dock!

They have the same active ingredient, meclizine I think it's called.

If you Google 'sea legs ship to Australia' you will find a couple of pharmacies who do that. However it's much more economical to buy Bonine from the States, I used eBay, I think it was $20 for 100 pills including shipping.

I haven't had a chance to try Share but from one actual review I spotted in the sea of criticism on the Princess boards, the food sounds interesting and quite delicious.

Unfortunately the Curtis Stone pork belly dish I had in the MDR - my first ever cruise dinner - was pretty foul so I haven't been back for more punishment.

The pizzeria on my recent Sun Princess cruise was completely empty every time I went through. The one time my son and I tried it we were alone. It was lovely food but an awkward space. I can see why they'd want to try something different.

We tracked the WA coast a couple of weeks ago en route to Bali and the sea was very calm. One rocky night thanks to strong wind but the swell still wasn't very big. We four were all ok seasickness-wise.

I did, in fact I wore it on some other nights too!

I have a Sacha Drake Ultimate Black Dress which can be tied a few ways to give a different style. It's also easy to hand wash and dry, and doesn't need ironing.

i think the OP should consider flying to NZ and doing a land tour, might be less complicated than their plan

That's my advice too, having previously worked in NZ tourism.

If you love cruising, (though it sounds like you don't) cruise. If you want to see the best of NZ, fly/drive. Too many of the good bits are left out of cruises, or included but missed due to weather.

Plus you aren't guaranteed smooth seas anywhere on a NZ cruise!

I was there a week or so ago and did a Princess tour of Batu Caves, a pewter factory (was better than I thought it would be) and a boring museum. We had a lovely lunch in town in view of the Petronas Towers and saw a fair bit of the city from the bus.

It was ok, not our best shore day by a long shot. Normally I'd be more inclined towards getting the shuttle and poking around town myself but it was obscenely hot so even though the attractions were middling to average, we were grateful to be spending the majority of our day on a cold comfortable bus. (And we are youngish and fit.)

If you do visit the Towers note the sky bridge between the two is closed for work at the moment, you can still go to the observation deck up top though.

There was also a European power point. I'd brought an adaptor so was able to use that too.

Depending on your cabin you might need to go hunting for the outlets - in the balcony room ours were hidden behind the TV.

We were there last week and just took a taxi to Cenang Beach and hung out for the day. Rented a chair and umbrella each and enjoyed a few water sports - parasailing, banana boat etc. The beach itself and the water were glorious, no jellyfish. The local people were lovely and we weren't hassled to buy stuff, they asked once and accepted a polite no with no argument.

They had this on Sun Princess Indian Ocean cruise this month - lot of fun , as always!

It was held on a recent Sun Princess Treasures of Asia cruise too, though I didn't see it (or any other show!). There was a passenger performance as well, a choir I think.

After talking to the union I can confirm it has been postponed for the cruise ports as well, not just the airports mentioned by the media.

That's a relief, thanks for posting.

ABC news site is saying the same thing, though they're not specifically mentioning cruise terminals, just airports.

Coincidentally as I was reading the news I received a text from Princess saying our boarding had been brought forward an hour due to the strike!

Haven't heard boo from Princess. I'll be getting to the port earlier than originally planned.

Two :D

I'm fairly sure the smoking area is on the port side on that deck so if you use the starboard side doors to/from the pool area to the lifts and Horizon Court you will avoid the worst of the smoke. Note, there is also a smoking area on the promenade deck, just a section of one side (can't remember which) but unfortunately if you are doing laps around the ship you have to walk right through it.

Thanks that's good to know. Shame about the promenade deck, my son is supposed to be training for a running event when we return home, I don't really want him running through a pack of smokers. I'll have to pretend he's a bit older and try to sneak him into the gym!

The reason we cruise is that it is easy and stress free. Just get to the terminal join the line up and do as the others do.Just remember there will be others just as new to this as you are. Keep your passport, credit card or cash and pen easy to get to and then once on board either snooze before departure or grab a drink and go to the sailaway party and have fun LOTS OF FUN.

Lovely advice, thank you :)

Thanks for the information. I'm on the Sun in a couple of days and always keen to hear more about what I can expect.

The smell of smoke really bothers me so I'll make a point of staying away from the Horizon Court doors, thanks. Hopefully there are ways in and out that don't involve running the gauntlet of smokers.

I couldn't care less what other peopler wear, and knew about the weather and the Bali visa fees so that's all good :)

Thanks everyone. I'm trying to be Zen about it, whatever happens it's out of my control.

(Secretly praying for some union 'scabs' in Fremantle...)

Our day in Penang here.

Very helpful and interesting, thank you!

I will be there next week on Sun Princess.

Yet another thread from me, don't worry I'll be out of your hair in a few days :)

I've just read that Immigration/Border Protection staff will be striking on Thursday, which is the day my cruise leaves. I haven't been on an overseas cruise before, so not sure if staff would normally be at the terminal checking who's leaving the country.

Can anyone offer some insight into how my cruise might be affected?

My own colleagues are striking tomorrow - I'm already on holidays - and there will be enough non union members left on deck to cover the basics, I selfishly hope that's the same for these guys!

So initial information would suggest another media beat up!

Let's hope all is well for those on board, and the next cruise goes out on time.

I've got Tuesday off work and have a great view of port where I live, it'll be nice to see her again. She's my favourite ship (being the only one I've ever been on! :D)

Fairfax is reporting that the Golden Princess is returning home early due to a noro outbreak.

http://m.theage.com.au/victoria/second-gastro-outbreak-hits-luxury-cruise-line-20160319-gnmh12.html

I was hoping the 16+ knot apparent wind on my balcony would dry my hair pretty efficiently?! I do plan to take my straightening tongs to smooth it all out afterwards though.

Did my name give it away. Knew I should have gone with "Slim".:cool:

Well I feel a bit stupid now.

The whole time I've been on here, in my head I've been saying your name 'Goot', i.e. German for good.

I probably will forever now, the habit is too ingrained.