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On a recent cruise we had my sons small suitcase go into the Brisbane river. luckily I’d picked up tips on here. Such as laminate your suitcase tags. Only pack clothes in your suitcase. Medicines and electronics only go in your carry on bag. Carry a spare set of clothes in the others bag. I burst out laughing when I was told to come to guest services. I found it funny and felt sorry for whom ever had to get it out of the water. the cruise line wasn’t laughing with me but did everything they possibly could to resolve the situation. My sons clothes were all washed, dried and ironed that night and dropped off buy an apologetic person. He was just wearing his spare clothes and was none the wiser. what benefit would it have gained me to be rude and nasty to the staff? None and I would have hated myself for it. Accidents happen and with this one it was sorted out very quickly.

I did a cheapo Carnival Luminosa and really loved every second of it. Hard to believe it was a carnival ship. ATM I’m looking out for cheapo Christmas cruises to NZ as I’ve never been able to do or complete a cruise there. when is my best time to look seriously?

We missed our flight back to Melbourne due to our own fault and when I get credit cards thrown at me. I tend to book nice. adina apartment hotel was loverly in Brisbane and such a great location.

We did the carnival Luminosa from the new passenger terminal in Brisbane. we stayed at Novotel skygate which is right at the Factory outlet stores but has supermarkets, chemists, cafes and restaurants. from Brisbane airport there is a free shuttle bus. We used this to get back to the airport and then take the train into the Brisbane city for some sightseeing. Loved the kids water park and all the gardens in Brisbane. Such a beautiful city. the novel has a shuttle service that they arrange to take their guests to the port. I think it was about $40 pp?

we were on the Sydney to Auckland majestic princess cruise. We only had 1700 and 700 got off at Auckland. we were meant to visit Tauranga, the bay of islands and then Auckland. We missed all and stayed on the ship looking into Auckland. We did get a helicopter emergency visit for a passenger. majestic Princess is a beautiful ship but what makes this ship special is its staff.

Adirondack trains travel daily between New York City and Montreal. Total trip time is about 10 hours, with many stops in upstate New York. Very scenic, it’s a popular train ride for viewing fall foliage, traveling to wineries and visiting Lake Champlain. you could fly into New York and then take the Adirondack train to Montreal, spend time there and then catch a flight to Vancouver.

The other thing to do is to sign up for the “typical” Australian email newsletters where travel agents sell their tours. My father managed to get a very good bus trip from Calgary to Vancouver on one of these. Date was selected as it allowed for a week in Vancouver prior to the 2 week cruise. he is doing 4 nights in Calgary prior to the land tour because of jet lag and Calgary allows for some world class day trips.

We have booked this exact same cruise but In July 2023. Flying from Melbourne we have noted that flights are just coming up for this time next year. my father and brother are doing a bus tour from Calgary. The flights over stop in Vancouver and then you can catch a connection to Calgary. Once the 10 day bus trip is over they will spend a week in Vancouver. I will meet them there before the cruise. the reason we wanted the 14 day repeat port cruise as this will give us time to really see what we want to. Having a look at the tours there is plenty of options that we love. just be aware that June/July is a busy time over there as it can be the kids summer holidays. there is some great specials at the moment and as it’s on your bucket list, seriously think about doing a part land tour with the trains. we are flying out of Vancouver via Japan.