arxcards

For personal protection, yes. Even then, they offer no protection while eating and drinking in a shared environment when those around are also unmasked to eat and drink. At those times, you are still reliant on a low number of infections being present. Your 2nd point in itself is why masks aren't effective in controlling overall numbers. Others will wear them in a way that matches their own level of risk without concern to those around them. We both caught it on the final day or two of an 11 night no-mask required cruise. Without knowing for sure how we caught it, I suspect at our favourite bar, and a mask required cruise would have made little difference. A required test for those on the previous cruise doing a B2B could have made a difference - should have happened, but didn't. A required test on day 2 or 3 would have made a difference - that didn't happen, as this was prior to the 800 case cruise. Either of those would have reduced the probability of us interacting with covid positive passengers. Whatever the ships do, we realise we caught it from an individual, not the ship.

For NSW, Royal's ships have not been showing as tier 2 even without masks, so they would appear to be keeping covid under control as much as the ships that require masks to be worn. I would agree that while infection numbers are low (tier 1), masks don't make a lot of difference to overall numbers and that is why NSW no longer mandates them on cruise ships. Still, that is based on known infections and ships can't react to those they don't know about. Length of cruise is still a key decider though, and I don't know if they designed it that way, but most of Royal's recent cruises have been 11 days and under. Noordam has just reported as tier 2 at around 12 days, so lets see how Ovation compares at the end of their current 12 nighter.

The really good ones will let you check-out fashionably late if there isn't too much demand on the rooms.

Any of the above. When staying at the Rydges, I will wheel the cases over to baggage drop straight after breakfast, then come back and chill in the hotel till 10am check-out. If for some unexplained reason bag drop is not open, the hotel concierge will look after them for you. The City Extra storage would be worthwhile if you didn't have a hotel, and most handy for those disembarking and wanting to do some sightseeing before heading to the airport. Unlike plan A and plan B, there is a cost. While dining at City Extra in October, that "Store your luggage here" sign had a full sign over the top of it.

If/when a ship reaches tier 2 (3% infections), there is a written letter to your cabin advising you of extra precautions that are being taken. Without such a letter, covid numbers are considered low.

Ginger works for some people, for others not. Just a bit of a heads up for those that it doesn't, ginger can add a fair degree of burn on the way out. Current BOM wave predictions end on Wednesday. It shows the crossing could be a bit bumpy on Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Shuttle @ $90pp each way seems to be the go these days. Train is around $20 return each for us, but we can still cart our luggage.

No requirements before flying to Sydney, just a negative RAT to get on the ship. Afterwards, you can fly home with covid if you fell well enough to do so. They do ask that if you have it, that you wear a mask while you are transiting. Not sure if QLD still has any ISO requirements for when you get home, but NSW just has a direction to stay home if you feel unwell - no mandated ISO.

For this, we screenshot our certs and boarding passes. They look the same as finding/opening the originals on the phone.

With a bit of extra precaution, things have settled down heaps. Alas, Azamara Quest has just skipped Melbourne and listed with the NSW boffins as tier 2 for Eden tomorrow.

Unless you have booked on a particular promo, the price has been $40 for a few months now. The jump to $52.65 comes into play for cruises departing after 20th February, unless the restaurant was pre-booked before 14th December.

Majestic was $55 just a couple of months ago. Seems like everything went up on 14th December.

Somewhat opposite. NSW tourism and local councils have pushed hard to get the port to a level to handle cruise ships, and have marketed assertively to the cruise lines for several years. A nice visitors centre & markets on the wharf, free shuttles into town, a whale museum, nice cafe's and the overpriced ship tour sellers have still found an array of tours to peddle https://www.princess.com/cruise-excursions/eden-australia-excursions?portCode=QDN&portDate=11062023

Eden is lovely. Why are they stopping there now? - The facilities at the wharf are great, and being improved. The larger ships are unable to tie up until the wave attenuator wall has been completed. It made no sense to me, until I watched how much water was being trust across the bay via the thrusters on Coral Princess. Smaller boats in the marina are currently prone to damage from the waves of the larger thrusters/pods. - It shortens the run between Hobart & Sydney. They can extra day, travel at slower speed & save fuel. - Congestion in Sydney and Melbourne. Ports like Eden & Newcastle give them an extra day needed to arrive in Sydney when there is a terminal available. - Used lots during the resumption to cruising, as a bit of extra variety to domestic cruising when all of the usual Pacific & NZ ports were closed. - 3 and 4 night cruises to nowhere were getting a bit repetitive. A 3 or 4 night cruise to somewhere is much more interesting (Eden, Tangalooma etc). I don't believe port berthing charges are any cheaper in Eden, but pilotage would certainly be cheaper than Melbourne. In the grand scheme of things though, these are not significant charges when levied across a few thousand passengers. We enjoyed our day there in August, have another cruise there in November.

How are the crème brules?

That is exactly what it is. It is on the fine print of the menus, and is pretty much the same across all ships. I presume that it is a US FDA requirement.

Thanks Stu. She camouflages well with those containers. 😉 Kidding, ducking for cover.

No parking station that is close enough to be any more convenient than the train. There is one near the Opera House, and I can't think of anything closer. An option is https://www.cruisecontrolaustralia.com/ They can drive to OPT, and be met by someone from Cruise Control. They will assist with luggage, then whisk the car to their garage (sorry, don't know how far away). Upon return, they will be at the terminal with their car at the nominated time. No personal recommendation, as we take the train down. I do have a couple of friends that use them, and they are more than happy. It pretty much works like cruise ship valet parking.

For privacy reasons, the terminal staff can't view your vaccination records. Rightfully so. Government requires the terminal operator to view such certificate, so you need to show them - digital version on phone or printed copy. @bazzaw As suggested, linking your passport to your vax records on medicare will give you an internationally recognised certificate, which is pretty handy for cruising and recommended if you are using your passport as your cruise ID.

As mentioned, none will be available for Princess down here, and for much of the world. For Princess, kettles in cabins is something the do for UK cruises, but very few others. No harm in asking though. Good luck.

You usually need to advise them you want to celebrate your birthday. I am happy to nominate Barb's birthday on whatever app or online form. For myself, I make sure I miss out.

Maybe rain, but can also be glacial melt.

If they can't stand the fresh water, they could detach and drop down to the sea water inside the fiords. Something the locals would not be hoping for.

Where all the passengers are standing above the bridge

Not my pic, courtesy of Mr Goggle as my own pics of Milford Sound are sitting on a corrupt portable drive. Like the picture though, my cruise on Grand did take me under the Golden Gate bridge. At the right edge, the glassed in area is the bridge, and the area above it is via a gate that remains mostly closed. For scenic cruising on the Grand Class ships, they usually open the gates to allow access. To get there, go all the way forward on deck 15 (Sun Deck) and wait at the gate. If you get there after it has been opened, the best spots are likely to be taken.