Blackduck59

I think your best bet is to buy OBC put enough on to cover the items you want to pay for her. It should show up as OBC and you can be all surprised that you got OBC from (invent an imaginary hero). Then the internet and crew appreciation will just come off as normal.

Tragic situation at Philip Island, I don't have any details from here.

we will check out both Orbost and Lakes Entrance. I seem to recall that we had something booked at Lakes Entrance last time. Last time I think we had 2 nights at Philip Island but I think it will be one night now. So we only have the one shot to see the little penguins, hopefully we happen to pick a night when there are fewer people with the same idea.

We will continue to plan hoping you will be home when we get there. We assume you don't have have cruise planned for that time frame. It is by sheer luck that we will meet Mic & Rosie in Sydney as we arrive just before they embark on a cruise to Japan. Be well mate.

Tanks for your recommendation Julie. Lynn has emailed them directly, but alas bookings aren't open yet. I'm still concerned about the whole race thing. I will be happy when we have something booked but fear it will be an expensive lesson in booking early. We have the itinerary mostly sorted up until Bateman's Bay. From there the next "gotta see that place" is Philip Island. We know it is too far for one hop but wonder where we should stop. Is it too far to make Lakes Entrance from Bateman's in one hop? With so many fun plans at the beginning of our adventure, we are looking at ways to fit things in. While I'm sure we will be missing some wonderful things by rushing through that section of the journey but have several places to see and we're running out of days.

We were looking on booking dot com and there were places available next year but many of the ones mentioned on this thread were showing no availability, We also went to the individual websites and their calendars only go out 1 year. We will be looking at those options as soon as they open. We plan to check in on the 10th of March 2025 and will check out on the 13th. While we will look at location we are not that picky. The place we booked and cancelled actually had a view of the track and great views in general. I know we wouldn't see anything to do with the race but it was cool to be that close. I guess the new priority is someplace that is convenient to visit some Melbourne highlights and be easy to get to from the airport after we drop off the hire car and then back to the airport for our flight to Auckland. We also have a port visit in Melbourne during the cruise.

I find it interesting how so many people consider themselves "Pizza Experts" because of the pizza they like at home. Or the pizza joint they worked in during high school or whatever other criteria they think makes them "expert". I participated in making a Guinness Book world record largest pizza in 1977, does that make me a pizza "expert"? Not so much. It seems to me there are so many different styles of "Pizza" none of them really resemble Neapolitan Pizza. So rather than proclaim ones "expert" status; like everything in matters of food, the question is do you like it or not? There are and have been many pizza places in our town. Some are outstanding others mediocre, The best ones have faded into the sunset. So if the Pizza on the ship tastes good to you great, if not I guess don't eat it. One thing is for sure it will never be as good as your favourite Pizza Joint at home.

A Vista Suite on Zaandam is just a fancy name for a veranda cabin. There is a curtain between the bed and sitting area. This is all well and good but if one person wants to watch TV for instance while the other sleeps, the TV is at the foot of the bed. That being said if you are collecting "Mariner" points the Vista suite gets the double points (and the suite rate for gratuities) We never saw a Neptune suite so can't comment on that.

That's why I booked something right away, but the other half of the party had other ideas. Hope that doesn't come back.

We were able to book the suite at Tyrian Albert Park but the other paces that have been recommended not so much. I will be all over Booking as soon as we can, this will be rather critical. With the race right around that time, many race fans will be coming to Melbourne early.

I think some of these places aren't booking more than a year out so we will have to wait until March.

So I went back to the beginning of this thread to look for hotel recommendations. I think that we discovered we had booked The Oaks Southbank. I'm on booking dot com and it isn't showing up. I will try some direct searches and see if I can find them that way.

We cancelled that booking.

Thanks Leigh, I know I won't get anywhere near the track but I will be able to see it from there. Hopefully there will be some vendors where I can buy some F1 swag. Is this close by you so we can get together for Lunch? We would love to meet up with you and Rob and anyone else in the area who would like to join us. If you would like please get in touch at lyledotduckatshawdotcom we can plan something.

Oops too late Mic. I just wanted to get something secured and it looks pretty good for the price.

It is the Tyrian Albert Park Lake, 14 Queens Road, Albert Park, 3004 Melbourne. It looked a nice place and there is no deposit and we pay when we get there. Also there is free cancellation up until the week before we arrive.

Thanks Lyndon, what a fascinating piece of craftsmanship. I'll pass thanks, I don't think I have 37 years left in me. I also don't have the attention span for that. If I end up with a home shop after we move anything I do in it, will need to be small and only take a short time from start to finish. I have been doing jobs that take a long time and don't look like much for the $20,000.00 price tag. I want to make cool stuff that looks good and may be useful to someone. Maybe interesting and uncommon cutting boards, or knife blocks. I could probably use scrap wood from my former employer.

Thanks Leigh, I booked a holiday apartment at Albert Park, we have a view of the race course, of course we will be long gone before the race but I can at least see the track and maybe get some swag. So near yet so far. I think it is good to get this booked now because I'm sure there will be zero availability very soon as race fans realize they need a place to stay.

So now we have a new wrinkle, we have plans to be in Melbourne for a few days before we fly out to Auckland on the 13th of March 2025. Well here we are looking at the calendar and of course the F1 race is at that time. I love F1 but they are messing with my plan and I couldn't afford the to go to the race anyway. This will be the second time I've been so close to a race and unable to go. Getting a room anywhere near Melbourne will be impossible at that time. Perhaps we will need to reassess our Melbourne timing and maybe plan to move our Philip Island stop to that time and drive to the airport from there on the 13th.

That is unfortunate, do you have any correspondence from anyone to verify the original deal? I guess some TAs really are hacks.

Just take the bill loop out of the slot and put them there. And if you were to get rid of pennies there is that space available. Funny thing, if you don't have a choice you adapt. When we transitioned to the "Loonie" there was no choice, the mint wasn't going to print $1.00 bills anymore, same thing with the "Twonie" no more $2.00 bills were produced (and $2.00 bills were common currency in Canada) so that's what happened. I already commented about pennies. So everyone who had a big jar of pennies just had to get on with it and roll them up and take them to the bank.

We got rid of pennies and we still have intolerable sales taxes. If it is a debit or credit card purchase the exact amount is charged. If cash the amount is rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. (sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't) I don't think many Canadians miss the penny, it cost more than a penny to make.

We usually have lunch ashore so that can be as little as $30,00 or over $100.00 in the case of King Crab in Alaska. We always buy a fridge magnet in every port and is we see an artisan crafted item we may spend upwards of $100.00 for that. We are planning a rather long down under adventure next year and there are some major purchases planned, A new Akubra hat for me and Ugg boots for my wife. Those purchases are technically "pre-cruise". We will be looking for interesting things during our 43 day New Zealand and Trans-Pacific crossing cruise, we'll see if we bring anything home. We will be having some meals ashore though.

@kwhear435 I read your post and see that you are working with a TA. I would call the TA, it's their job to sort this for you. I dearly hope you get it resolved. Our TA sends us an invoice that has the cabin number, what perks you have and the cost of the cruise. It also shows the penalty dates and final payment dates.

@arxcards Thank you very much. I will have to look at a map (if I can find one) and see if we can fit an actual factory visit in. I suspect we will be going to Airds of Lochnavier, apparently fairly close to Lyndon's place.