birdofsong

We're arriving in Sydney on March 10th. We have applied for and been approved for our Visa for Australia, but it lives on the app, and I'm concerned when we get to the airport in Sydney that I won't be able to access it without internet access. Can someone clue me in on how this is supposed to work? New Zealand was easier because we got an e-mail confirmation we can print. I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but those of you who have done this before, please put my mind at ease....Thanks!

Hi there! We're on the same cruise. We just had our bank convert USD to AUD. It's probably more than we need, but I'd rather have it that way than not enough. It's my understanding that everything on the cruise itself is in USD, despite leaving out of Sydney. We have excursions for all three NZ ports, so we're just planning on using our regular Visa card for anything we may purchase there. See you in Australia!

I've done it. We took the Vision on a Baltic cruise before it was going to drydock and it was my favorite of all the cruises I've taken.

Mama Mia was my favorite. Chicago was a close second.

To be honest, I really didn't love Bermuda, and the Liberty was just okay. I'd take a Oasis class in a heartbeat.

I never had insurance until my parents told me their friend had to be airlifted off of an Alaskan cruise. Now I get it every time. I think most of us don't think about having a medical event on a vacation. That being said, I'm sure that OP and her husband were upset, disoriented, felt alone, and a bit helpless in a place so far away from home. I don't think, regardless of insurance, any of us would feel any different. I hope you don't give upon cruising, OP. It really can be a marvelous experience. What happened to you was terrible, but not indicative of any particular cruise line or vacation experience. It was an unfortunate occurrence, and all of us have many of those in our lifetime.

I'm sailing on 3/12, and we already reserved our internet for $17.99 pp/pd.

This is what the e-mail says: "Dear Guest, Due to sailing restrictions created by changes in the tide, we’ve adjusted our departure time for Wellington, New Zealand. While we’re no longer able to visit Dunedin, to help make up for this change, we’ve added an extra three (3) hours to our visit in Wellington! This means we’ll have even more time to explore everything this beautiful destination has to offer. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by these changes."

I'm sailing the same itinerary on 3/12, and they told us we are also skipping Dunedin.

Thank you!!!

This is great. We're on the 3/12 cruise. If you have the ability to post pictures, I'd love to see what everything looks like. Thanks!

So far, Oasis class, by far, but I'm going on the Quantum class next month, so???

It was not legal advice. It was an opinion, but have it your way. I defer to your personal sense of self importance.

I'm just a legal assistant, and not a lawyer, but I would say no. The website and app state specifically that you have to bring your legal document with you to the port that you listed when you checked in. It's a very sad and stressful situation, but unfortunately, I think you're out of luck.

I'm going to say the same thing I say about restaurants...if you can't afford a tip, don't go out to eat. And if you can afford to stay in a suite...then I'm pretty sure you can afford to tip, and probably more than the "suggested" rate. The crew on the cruise ships work their hineys off for you, listen to complaints about stuff they have no control over, clean up after your $###, and see their families about every nine months. Unbelievable that people complain about tipping.

We did this at Galveston in August. We had an assigned boarding time of noon, but walked in at 10:00 a.m. Nobody cared.

We got off the first, grabbed two more bottles from the car, and got back on.

We used to dress to the nines, as well, but between tying to keep the luggage to a minimum, and not being interested in taking formal pictures, coupled with the fact that everyone is pretty much dressing down, we still dress up, but not nearly as formally.

I had a great time on every RCL ship I've sailed on. My philosophy is pretty much that I plan on having fun, so I have fun. If you put everything under a microscope, you're going to find flaws everywhere, but why bother? There is so much fun to be had. 🙂

We only do specialty restaurants for special occasions. I really don't have a problem with the MDR food.

I can attest that you will not get into the small comedy show without a reservation, but you should be fine for the rest.

We have, so far, gotten 14 cruise fares for free through Casino Royale. It's amazing. The Casino awards points based on play, so he must have cycled a bunch through the slot machines in order to get an offer for a junior suite. He will probably have to pay taxes and port charges, but that's it, unless he adds drink/restaurant packages. Tell him I said congratulations!

The person who had the offer must stay (on paper) in their designated cabin, so you cannot designate both of the guests in one cabin. The only thing you can do is have the other person in the cabin get a basic soft drink package, but if one person in a cabin has a drink package, the other passenger in the same cabin must have some type of drink package. Sorry.

My husband and I get offers weekly through the mail (no exaggeration), and have been getting them since a Mediterranean cruise we took in 2019. We have booked 14 cruise fares through Casino Royale over the last two years, and have only made Prime as of this August. Since my husband and I both get separate offers, we have been able to use two of them on each cruise (one cabin booked in his name, and the other booked in mine, and we invite two people to come with us, and just swap rooms). The last two cruises, we were able to use the same offer for each cruise, and did two back-to-back on the Allure. We took the first with my parents, and then they got off the ship and my son and his girlfriend took the second with us. On the last cruise, we received an offer for Australia/New Zealand for March. Instead of taking guests, we combined our offers and upgraded our cabin. I know we have been ridiculously lucky, and I always treat each cruise that we take with an offer as though it will be the last. I'm just happy to ride the wave as long as they let me. 🙂

I'm not sure what excursions they will offer, but if you have a chance to go to the Pantheon, you should do it.