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True, similar names here before. Which still leaves me wondering why RC would not send a ship that is new to Australia, even though the same class as previous ships here. Radiance class seem popular here.

It does seem weird to send Voyager here when she has already been here. I would think that to stir a bit more interest RC would send a ship that has not been here before. Perhaps the problem with sending Adventure here is that the name is too similar to the P&O Pacific Adventure? They don't want potential customers to be confused? Could the reason be that simple?

It's a TA offering the "club price". $90 p/a. I am noting significantly reduced fares on one line next summer offered to club members.

Thanks everyone for your input. Yes, I agree that this is a TA club, not a cruising club. Just trying to assist with identification without breaking the rules regarding naming TA's.

Happy Easter to everyone here. I have noted a TA offering a Cruising Club for $90 p/a. On some itineraries, I can then see significantly cheaper fares. Payment terms don't seem too different to the usual. conditions. Has anyone here had experience with this one? Any catches that I cannot see? Or is it as good as it seems? TIA for your thoughts.

Hello, prices on board RCI are in $US. We have never bought drink packages, and always come out ahead v's buying a package. Some days we have several drinks, some days only a couple or even none. We are not going to drink fresh juices, fancy coffees (they often taste average anyway) or smoothies etc every day. Just have one now and again if we want one. Enjoy your cruise. It becomes addictive.

I have heard only positive reports from someone who uses Rex regularly on the Sydney to Brisbane route.

I have not had to deal with this myself. What is your concern? March 2024 will be 18 months of sailing in Australia since the restart. It's not an unreasonable amount of time to give to use a credit. Are you unable to sail by March 2024?

Oh dear, why would security be so sure that the passenger would not use the candle on board. Slack work IMO.

It is possible that a small number are in iso and are also smokers. Maybe less possible though when observed before we have even left port or within the first 24-48 hours. I would guess that the officers/crew could work out who was "legally" smoking on the balcony as they would be able to find out who was in iso? I am sure that PO is trying to balance the requirements of iso against the needs of smokers. It is still poor policy to allow smoking on the balcony in my view. As I said, I felt that there was zero emphasis by PO on the significant danger that fire at sea poses to human life. So, if you are new to cruising, which is common in the PO demographic, you never get to understand how important it is to manage the risk of fire at sea. And I don't trust everyone to do the safe thing when they are not being observed. Examples of people finding cigarette butts on their balconies are a case in point. Why do smokers feel the need to flick their butt into the sea or elsewhere?

We were on Pac Adventure in January and I thought the emphasis on the danger of fire at sea was nonexistent, along with the management around smoking in designated areas only. From the upper decks, we saw plenty of people smoking on their balconies on the lower decks over the 10 days. The mismanagement of the messaging and lack of enforcement of the policy put me off P&O for next time. I can cope with cheap and cheerful for the right price, but not blatant disregard for health and safety as I saw on this cruise.

Yes, I agree. I don't want to support these dictatorships and their terrible human rights records.

An example may be checking into a hotel: I am almost certain that a PIN would be required when either paying for your accommodation and also when authorizing any security hold processed through EFTPOS terminal that the hotel may request. Agree with the person above regarding Costco, if my purchase is over $200 I am required to enter the PIN. i.e. Tap, then PIN required before transaction is processed. I cannot imagine tapping for a $10K transaction and not being asked for a PIN. Perhaps the EFTPOS machines in AU will default to a signature required if no PIN is available? I am not sure.

We just debarked Adventure on Thursday. Ten nights. In order of preference we rated them Angelos, Dragon Lady and then Waterfront a very distance third. Pantry food was better than Waterfront. Waterfront staff seemed to be really struggling, very new I would say. Staff in the other two were very good. We don't mind trying new food so Dragon Lady is an interesting way to mix it up. We quite liked the rotation system. The menu seems to change every four days apparently? We were 7.45pm every night. Not many kids eating by then so the restaurant seemed calmer. The restaurants often seemed only half full. Paid restaurants still not open.

Yes, I would definitely get set up with a PIN before you leave home. Usually transactions over $200 will require a PIN. Sometimes lower, occasionally higher.

Love this so far. We had a great 10 days on Coral a month ago, We were in aft in E630. Loved it. Quiet, lifts nearly always empty, would be happy with aft again. Enjoy your trip.

Most people drive the South Island in a loop of anywhere between 8 days.(super rushed, you will only see a few highlights so not recommended) to 21 days. Two weeks is a common amount of time. Done as CHC to ZQN or reverse. Or a loop from CHC. TripAdvisor has some excellent info on the SI forum.

Good point regarding staff and passengers choosing to use masks for quite some time. TBH, whilst I don't love them, having now found out that it doesn't kill me to wear one, I will likely use masks in certain settings, particularly during winter with flu etc around. I work in a school, plenty of bugs floating around in schools at times. Some cultures have been using face masks for years to reduce their risk of catching or sharing illness.

I think it will be some time yet. Several more cruises ships are yet to start up from AU ports. I would think that the joint cruise deal with the Australian Eastern states will want to see out the summer season before they bring in significant changes. Need a crystal ball though really. Mandatory masks have just been reinstated on some overseas cruises as case numbers are going up in those areas. I also feel that the cruise companies themselves are keen to keep the case numbers down; if they have a solid outbreak onboard they will struggle to care for the cases on board. They also need their staff to stay well in order to continue to offer their services safely and to the standard expected by cruisers. I imagine that staff will be staying masked beyond passengers. We just had 10 days on Coral Princess. About 90% mask compliance I would say in early Sept. It really did not overly bother us. I was so grateful to be back onboard, it was wonderful. Masks in crowded areas and indoors. We spend a fair bit of time on deck or our balcony/room, so plenty of time to have a break from the mask.

The main possible complication that I can see is that the ship ends up needing to skip Brisbane. Very small chance, but that did happen on the Coral itinerary leaving Sydney on 3rd Sept.