LittleFish1976

I thought you could hire a dinner suit on board the Cunard ships? Anyway, they have apparently reduced their requirements for men's formal wear - collared shirt only, most nights. No jacket, no tie as far as I can tell.

QE has the same vibe and imo is the perfect size. QG will be perfect.

Well it may have been but the main point I was making was not so much the bus trip but the intimidating vibe in the lounge which was an enormous room crowded with mainly men (who hadn't flown with us from Australia and didn't even look as though they were travellers). There were hundreds of people in there.

Trust me it was Doha. I was flying business class on Qatar airways as it was very very good value. Bus from the plane (tarmac) to the business lounge. I think they could have been renovating the airport at the time - that vaguely rings a bell. And as I said, I was a solo female... I can remember when we used to stop at Tehran on the way to Europe flying Qantas! but that's going back to the 70's.

Just had a look - you must be getting into Sydney on the 7th January. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 6am to the Overseas Passenger Terminal. I did my first Cunard voyage a few years ago by taking a 4-nighter from Auckland to Sydney. The vibe of the ship felt right to me from the minute I boarded - reminded me of the ships I had been on as a child. I hope you have a wonderful experience.

They tend to dock in Sydney at around 6am and your schedule for disembarking will depend on your cabin grade (the higher the grade, the earlier you disembark) unless you do self-disembarkation which means you carry your own suitcases off. I've disembarked from one of the Cunard ships in Sydney and it was very quick - it wasn't during peak holiday period though which you say will be your case. I was at the airport in good time but I wouldn't have booked anything for before noon as you can never be sure how bad the traffic will be to the airport (for one thing). I'll try to find the time of your arrival into Sydney if you tell us what date it will be.

They've just given me another very good reason to avoid travelling during school holidays!

Interesting story and I thought it was going to have an unhappy ending. But doesn't this mean that the airport staff on their 'work phones' now have all your personal information including passport numbers etc? Personally, I would never again transit via Doha; I found that even in the business lounge they take you to by bus from the plane the vibe was very intimidating as a solo female. And after the experience of the large number of Australian women who were forced to undergo internal examinations (taken off the plane after the discovery of certain biological material in the airport) - no way you'd catch me there!

They could have one of those bulk-processing devices like they have at airports from time to time (as they did during the first SARS outbreak in Asia) which scans the temperature of people walking past them. Or come around with the quick forehead-scanning ones at the table along with the teapot and orange juice!

The RAT doesn't need to be supervised. Just need to be able to show proof if asked. There's a lot of discussion on the Australian and NZ cruisers board about this matter - mainly with reference to Princess and other lines but the same holds for Cunard.

I just received an email from Cunard in reference to my February cruise departing Melbourne; you will surely receive one, too. The main passage (apart from complusory vaccination for those over 12 years) is as follows in answer to your question: For all voyages sailing in Australia and New Zealand, there are additional requirements due to Australian government protocols. All guests must take a self-administered RAT (Rapid-Antigen Test/lateral flow) within 24 hours of embarkation or a PCR test within 48 hours of embarkation, with a negative result. Please find full testing and vaccination requirements below. You need to attest to the negative result and be able to show proof of such if asked. i.e. photograph of negative test with your government issued ID card and date and time, perhaps.

That's very odd for them to have changed that particularly in light of Australia's recent (last week) change to the country's rules regarding quarantine and isolation on land - anyone testing positive is no longer required to isolate for any period of time. I won't comment what I think about that but the Cunard situation you've described seems a little over the top. In light of Host Hattie's recent experience, it seems they may unnecessarily be spoiling the holiday of people who do not have covid. It must be in response to the Australian government guidelines for cruising to re-start which they wrote some months ago. It seems a little out of date now as people are no longer required to be vaccinated for covid to enter the country, which they were when this was written. Pre-embarkation testing for covid is currently required and is included in this document - I hope that is maintained as it's an efficient way to minimise the seeding cases on board. (download either pdf or word link from the page I will post below). https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/cdna-national-guidelines-for-cruising-in-australia

I've also been in that location but on the QE and no noise at all from the lifts (nor from anything else for that matter).

Aren't they confined only now to people who are symptomatic or close contacts of confirmed cases?

That's true as far as a PBS script goes but they can write you a 'private' script which means you pay the full amount for the meds which is $100's (no government contribution). But I guess it's good to know it's a possibility for people who feel they would be in dire straits without them.

Since you're sailing to Australian ports, your wife would be able to contact her GP for a telehealth appointment and get anti-virals prescribed for her if needed. This assumes she has a good relationship with a regular GP. They can send e-scripts to your phone and you'd just need to be able to access a pharmacy in port. Your doctor can prescribe anti-virals on a private script but it's awfully expensive to buy them that way (means you can take them to NZ with you without already having been diagnosed with covid). I have heard that some (maybe all) of the cruise ships are carrying anti-viral medication. I took anti-virals when I got covid a couple of months ago (not on a ship btw) - an absolute godsend. If your wife's immune system is not the best, that would be my plan. FInd out what the cruise ship is carrying, word up your GP before you go, and make sure you're ready to treat her if it happens. As it happens, I'm also sailing to NZ next February. I've decided to take a chance but I'll be prepared as well as I can be and be awfully cautious.

Gosh, @sfred you were really put through the mill with that process, weren't you? You deserve every penny of the resultant OBC! I'm very grateful to you for your relaying the process to us all here; makes me think I'd better start chasing my OBC for my February cruise. I'll do it tomorrow while they (hopefully!) retain some institutional memory of your experience. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again!

No, not at all. The seas seemed very calm - except for one lunchtime when the contents of the pool were seen from the dining room cascading over from the deck above which was very entertaining. I had a cabin on the highest cabin deck and almost at the front - very stable and no distressing movement even up there. The following year I did the same route (crossing the Tasman) on the Queen Elizabeth and while the seas were mostly pretty calm there were a few exciting occassions. Some pretty solid 'listing' (I know this isn't the correct terminology but it describes what was happening) at one stage (captain came on the PA to explain what was going on which was reassuring), and on another occassion when I was in the theatre (low deck and in the bow) the ship was thumping down onto the waves which, I'll be honest, I found quite frightening - you could hear the hull hitting the water very hard. I'll do it again next February!

I always think that's why I get targeted - because I look so innocent, especially when I was travelling with my three small children 🤣🤣😂 - well before I was a grandma. Just this week coming back from NZ, got 'patted down' by a female security guard. I think now I have a bit more 'natural padding' I look even dodgier!

She did that one about 4 years ago - I got on in Tauranga just for the short 4 day trip back to Melbourne to see how I liked it (I did!). I must say I think I prefer QE - same ambiance but just a bit smaller. Also, QM2 tends to be more expensive than QE so I'm very happy than we get QE here for our summer cruises. And I wish Cunard would have Australian circumnavigation cruises every summer and not just as a special, almost one-off like this summer (which seems to be some sort of post-pandemic remnant).

QM2 will be here during this coming summer. You can take a short cruise on her without leaving Auatralia (Perth to Melbourne/Sydney etc) or get on here and leave the country.

You'll also get a bottle of French champagne which is rather nice, too. The selection of gratis wines in QG is quite small.

Very true and great idea. Would keep the people who *really* want the OJ happy. And keeping the customer happy is what it's all about in the end.

Yes, I have - pre-pandemic. It's okay. Not cosy at all but clean and functional. For a brief stay, it's fine. You're correct about the location - it's an easy walk to the ferry terminal and apparently the cruise ships dock just down the road. I see your ship will be at Queen's wharf which is a bit closer to the MSocial than the Prince's wharf. I would definitely do as suggested above and book for the Thursday night as well. I always do that if I have an early arrival; 5am is too early to be wandering around after a long flight especially given it may be a bit unpredictable what's open on Good Friday and the ferry schedules might be altered etc.

No, it was an English couple on a Northern European cruise. Apparently 100% of capacity on the cruise and 97% with drinks packages. I'm glad to hear that they usually work okay as I've never sailed with Princess but have recently booked two cruises and signed up for the Premier packages so I hope they're worth something! The juice issue is one I just don't understand, as surely, even if you were paying cash for a glass of juice, it wouldn't be more than the package limit per drink - would it? What would they charge for a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice? I suppose their problem is that people can drink it all day but I do think that if you've already purchased the package, they should honour what was included at the time you purchased it.