arxcards

I seem to recall there were Vision of the Seas pings in Darwin and maybe Port Hedland or somewhere in WA. These were beyond existing schedules at the time, but there should be an itinerary for those dates by now if there was to be a ship there. Carnival had planned to have Luminosa (or another ship) in Brisbane fulltime in 2025. That has since been canned, but they still have regular port bookings for her through the winter of 2025. I think the redundant bookings just linger until they are on the horizon, and someone bothers to delete the entry.

Pacific Explorer is spending summer there for 2025/26. Don't believe your sensational headlines people. Pacific Explorer will be copping those same port charges. Princess & Cunard can make more money in other ports, Pacific Explorer can't be so fussy. The spokespeople (they are between bosses ATM) at Carnival Australia have been quoted that the port charges were one of many causes. For your shareholders, it is easier to blame the government, rather than telling them you aren't capable of turning a profit there. At this stage, Disney is the only other turnaround booking for Melbourne in 2025/26

Not today, that's for sure

Barb "works" in a woolies deli, and they have Maasdam there, so it is almost as familiar to me as fetta or brie.

Maasdam is the only ship I can think of that actually shared its name with a cheese.- well, up until the pandemic. Whichever way, I do love cruising. I would go so far to say I am rather fondant of it. PS: I am aware of Rotterdam cheese, but that is a type of gouda.

Looks like HAL Maasdam to me 🤣

Current cruise shipping in the gulf. Not surprising, with just Silver Moon parked-up in Egypt and 3 in Dubai.

No. Your up to 55 days doesn't apply to cash advances. The only option is to zero your card and go beyond to put it in credit. That way you will be drawing your cash instead of theirs, but that only works while the card remains in the black. For most cards though, they will still hit you with an ATM fee and an ordinary conversion. 28 degrees is void of most of the fees, but they don't like their cards being put into the black and have some restrictions in place.

Correct. That is just the last straw of a series of issues. At a time when their margins were already being squeezed and Carnival Australia was looking for some of their charges to be spent on improvements, they just announced extra taxes instead. Root cause is that they would like to put up their fares to cover the cost increases, but passengers are already reluctant to pay the existing fares. They were already having trouble with a low yield operating in Melbourne, and a tipping point was reached. They had already withdrawn Queen Elizabeth from Melbourne well before those port charges were announced. Virgin had already cancelled some of their cruises out of Melbourne before those charges were announced. No profits, no ships. 2025/26 was announced a couple of months back, and no Melbourne. You get Grand for some cruises this year, and Diamond for some next year. Apart from that, you will have Pacific Explorer and Resilient Lady. Also worth taking a look at Norwegian, as they will be trying out Melbourne next summer. If successful, they might be back in 25/26.

1Cover used to have insurance to underwrite your excess when driving a rental overseas. I can't be sure if it still does.

Yes, no confirmation emails with Princozz. Pays to check your OBC before & after to be sure.

So you can use the internet there under-turd?

How can I get to White Bay? Any parking there - Can I Drive My Car?

It is, but the Beatles were inspired by other artists, and they performed it live in their early days before they had their own book of songs.

Windstar usually only calls here once in a blue moon on their way somewhere else. Star Breeze is just about to finish her leg in New Zealand, and is heading for Tahiti via Fiji.

They could also use a Love Me Tender [cover] and start a new Revolution. It would make a great embarkation on a cruise to Nowhere Man!

Norwegian is doing cruises from Melbourne to Auckland on Norwegian Sun (via Adelaide & Tassie) in 24/25.

That was my initial thought with their cruises out of Melbourne, but they are winding them back and the Melbourne itineraries are return. I am not aware of any of those that end in Auckland.

Is that near Penny Lane, or will you need a Ticket to Ride there?

MSC Poesia was supposed to be in the Suez next Tuesday but has just headed out past Gibraltar. They are on a largely South African itinerary anyway but have skipped some of their med ports to accommodate the changes. The next large ship will be Island Princess, and her Suez schedule on 21st March will be a key indicator. Her world cruise departed Port Everglades last Wednesday, and at this stage the itinerary is intact. The cruise departs LA next week and visits Sydney along the way on14th Feb. Dubai is one of the sector ports and would have to be dropped if they are going via Cape Town.

As you are probably already aware, the US asks similar questions when you return home. It is pretty normal around the world and shouldn't come as a surprise. We faced a bit of scrutiny when transiting through the US after time in the Canadian Rockies.

We looked at that one pretty closely too, but it is a bit more of a wandering repo. If we were going to add that, we may as well sell-up and live out of a suitcase in 2025. We are also bouncing around the possibility of one of those good-ole group anniversary cruises to PNG at around the same time. We are looking for something to tip us over into Diamond land, but it might take something new to do it. Now that Royal has lost the local music charters, it will take something new and interesting.

Perfect. That sounds like the charter of this forum 😁 I think I need to put on my smart glasses to read this. I am a bit too distracted by work at hand atm.

Just for one of their ships - Here Comes the Sun. Just needs someone to Twist & Shout for lots more Money (that's what they want).

Now there's a thought to help congestion at OPT - an 8 day week.