cruiser3775

Caminetto Italian restaurant is very close in Playfair Street. It's not a particularly fancy place but the food is good. www.caminetto.com.au/food-menu

Australians need a visa for Chile, and it is an absolute pain to get. Their Australian embassy and consulates seem to be totally overwhelmed. I applied four months before my visit, and only got the visa 12 days before I left home. That was only after I started emailing and ringing frequently to check on progress in the last few weeks at the Chilean consulate in Melbourne, which apparently handles all applications for Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. Then there are the forms you have to fill out and information you have to supply, which includes things like a copy of your bank account, a police check, a list of overseas countries you have visited, proof of onward travel, proof of accommodation bookings and more. Start early. The official government websites for applying for visas are listed on Smarttraveller for each country under Travel. Don't use anywhere else - there are a lot of scammers out there, or just businesses that want you to pay a high fee to them for something you can do yourself.

I haven't tried a really big ship yet, but my instinct says I wouldn't like it as much as smaller ships, for a couple of reasons. One is the distance needed to get between places on the ship. I have limited mobility and can't use the stairs. I can walk around on ships without walking aids, but I do need to factor in the distance between say, my cabin, the lifts and the dining rooms or the theatre. The other is the sheer size problem of shore visits. Getting several thousand people ashore in a limited time must be more difficult on big ships. It may also be a factor in whether some smaller cities decide they do not want visits from cruise ships because of the large numbers of people all arriving at once?

That's correct. This beautiful creature is Batisse, the regimental mascot of the Royal Canadians at the Citadelle in Quebec City. Your turn.

No, not Scotland

No, not England

Aurora Expeditions, which takes small expedition ships to Antarctica, has two newish ships they claim are completely carbon neutral, 'Greg Mortimer' and 'Sylvia Earle'. www.auroraexpeditions.com.au/sustainability/ There are pretty strict regulations about the disposal of waste at sea, and most cruise ships have very robust recycling and cleaning systems for waste. A long time ago, I was sailing on a Chinese ship. Every meal, we would eat around tables for eight or ten, with plastic tablecloths. At the end of the meal, the waiters would bundle up all plastic serving plates and chopsticks and the leftovers in the tablecloths, and just chuck the whole bundle over the side. We have improved since then, but there's a long way to go. It would be good if tightening regulations meant that cruise ships got smaller, not bigger.

I've got a travel tote with the thing that fits over the handle of my rolling suitcase. I discovered that this part is called a "trolley sleeve". Once you know that (which I didn't), you can find a range of them online in Australia, like this one: www.ebay.com.au/itm/134795531102?

OK, continuing on the goat theme:

The Goat parade in Zermatt

Sorry, it wasn't Insure and Go, it was Tick Travel. I've finally bought a policy today, after much searching. For a nine day low cost domestic cruise, the quotes I got from 12 different companies varied from $275 to $442. But it's not a good comparison, because the level of cover also varies a lot. The more expensive ones had cover amounts for cancellation way in excess of what I paid for the cruise, or high cover for luggage or valuables (which I don't take when cruising). I mainly wanted cover for medical & evacuation, plus Covid cover, plus a modest amount for cancellation. You have to read the T & Cs unfortunately, which takes a lot of time. In the end, I found that Covermore had a lower cost domestic cruising policy, which I could add to with a couple of extras that covered the amounts I would actually lose if something went wrong. I also get a substantial discount by buying it through Virgin with my frequent flier number.

Qantas and Insure & Go I looked at Covermore, but their quote is much higher. There are also a couple of travel insurers who won't even quote you a price until less than 120 days before you depart, if you are over a certain age. That means I wouldn't be able to book flights (to get to the cruise) until four months out, which might prove to be much more expensive than if I booked it now.

I've seen people doing that walk. There is no paved footpath, so you have to drag your luggage along uneven ground, which is painful.

Correct! Home of Australia's best oysters. Your turn.

The problem is that several of the major travel insurance companies do not offer the cruising cover component as an extra, when you select only Australia as the country you will visit. These are companies that do offer cruise cover when you select overseas countries, so presumably they would also offer it for domestic cruises. But there is no way to proceed with the quote online. I guess I'll have to actually phone some of them and wait for ages on hold before i get through.

Right state - it is South Australia.

I'd like to know this also. I have recently booked on a domestic cruise that stays completely within Australian territorial waters. When I try to get online quotes, the first question they ask is "What countries will you be visiting?" If you only put Australia, you get offered only domestic cover plans. Some of them then allow you to add cruise cover for an additional cost. but many do not, so you can't proceed with the quote.

Right country, but it is on the coast, not a river.

No, incorrect

Next photo:

That's a very broad question. What specifically do you want to know? I've been on a cruise ship that went to Chile. The port was San Antonio, about 100 kms from Santiago. Modern cruise ship terminal building, you need to get a taxi or shuttle bus or a private transfer with a tour, right to the entrance. Cruise ships also stop at Valparaiso port, also a long way from Santiago. Uruguay, port I stopped was Montevideo. Right in town, five minute walk to the great market complex. Lots of interesting historical shipping stuff in the port precinct if you like maritime history. Argentina, Buenos Aires. Very modern cruise ship terminal,with good shops and cafes but the roof collapsed in a storm last December, so I don't know whether it has been repaired yet. In the meantime, you have to get shuttle buses from the ship to a temporary terminal.

Will find another photo. Loved those dancers. This is my pic of cute little blond boy dancers on Matupit Island:

The LIk Lik dancers at Wanigili , Alotau, PNG

Bit hard to do if it is an emergency. What if you are off the ship on a shore excursion when something goes wrong?

So it fits the pattern of being another rip off.