Aussieflyer

And to add to this, quite a few shops don't accept cash now and only accept card payment.

Thanks for the info on the honey - good to know 😃 Further information at: https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/can-you-bring-it-in/list-of-items#

I would be wondering if they can get the honey into Australia - thought it was on the banned products list. Perhaps if not disembarking in Australia all will be fine.

If there are four chicks that means they all hatched as there were four eggs.

Well that scotches that then! Not surprised and hopefully by the time she gets here, it will be all systems Green. 👍

I was on Coral in August and thought the buffet was very ordinary. Besides it was busy although we did always find a table. In order of preference on Coral is Bayou (Crown Grill in another guise), Sabatinis, MDR (though those 2 could be reversed as didn't enjoy S as much this time) then Buffet. For drinks, Crooners wins hands down for me.

The eggs have hatched but it doesn't look like all 4 have survived. We watch them every year. There has been a problem with the pair this year - mother is a young gal and the dad was an older bird. Unfortunately another male has arrived and either chased him off or killed him. The new male is not good at helping mum with food etc like the old one was. Guess that's just part of the circle of life though.

I know they can do that, but that's not the point. It was to be a special dinner (ambience and food) and they had already booked and paid for the restaurant. It is a pretty poor action by Princess to do that. If it was me I would be really really p****d as they say. Mr AF loathes MDRs and whenever we cruise together we either book a category with its own small dining room or book a speciality for every night. When I am with him we don't do the MDR barn. Hope you do get the booking back, Geoff and have a wonderful evening. Congratulations on the Anniversary.

The wind will help the washing to dry nice and quickly.

They were lucky there was a cabin to move them to. Are Princess still having reduced pax or is the cruise just not full?

Hope that's not the case Uncle Les😱 though we do have time before we board so fingers crossed it's all under control but then.

Thanks - Excellent news - hope it stays that way.

BOM rain radar is showing much better conditions across the east coast - bucketed down in Canberra overnight but it looks like it's cleared very quickly, Meteorologists did say it was was fast moving front this time. Hope the weather improves for you. Sorry to hear about the lack of masks - agree that the staff don't want confrontations but just wish people would do the right thing.

There is a definite reduction in the number of people wearing masks at the shops etc - we try to (though occasionally forget) but seem to be in the minority now.

Lovely to follow along. Unless it's changed, in Australia we can't have the medallion posted out and have to collect it at boarding.

Yes, I and son are on her towards the end of November (rolled over from cancelled cruise) - would like to think COVID is a bit of a non-entity by the time we board, like we had with Coral P - only very few cases on that cruise.

Sigh - don't think I can make it but would love to QM2 is just such a special ship. We have a 5 day Culinary cruise on QE in January but not expecting quite the same vibe. We are QG though which should be special.

Silversea has Silver Muse and Silver Whisper for main cruises (mostly to NZ) and of course the expedition ones in the Kimberley. Oceania will be here as well. And some Viking ones.

Thanks for the info - I did buy some new RAT as we are down to our last. The new ones don't need the UV torch mercifully as last time the photo was very purple and difficult to read. And didn't have licence with it. Surely the timestamp on photos would be sufficient as it shows when the photo was taken. Otherwise a bit of a juggle to use hubby's phone to sit next to it. A friend may have difficulty though as she is on her own so no spare phone - might have to look at going to Syd the day before if that is the case.

I was on the lookout for pearls in August but they had nothing that I could see - a few freshwater ones I think but not in Effy (and not particularly good ones I think). Suggest maybe a good jeweller before you go.

Similar to you Uncle Les when I boarded Coral P in August but agree - who knows - might get an email with updated info if lucky.

Apple definitely did an update (3 days ago) but I have found accessing the second of my upcoming cruises is a bit of a pain - before it was just select the date but now can only see it if I go to profile then click on the Personal Info. And when I log out and in again to access it I can't get into my next cruise - not particularly user-friendly.

A bit off topic but just confirming the current RAT requirement for Princess boarding in Australia - is it still attestation (as in they ask and you confirm you have a neg test) or is it like noted on the website (which I thought was US): "For guests who opt to use a self-administered Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), a photograph is required which includes ALL of the following: 1) the RAT result; 2) a government-issued photo ID; and 3) a device showing the time (e.g. watch, mobile phone lock screen, clock)."

Cruise ships are 'more dangerous' in that they have a large number of people in a small area for an extended period of time. People are mixing in this environment and it is quite different from being at a restaurant or even the football. Given the age of many passengers they would be more akin to a nursing home or aged care facility 🙂

Yes we were in Syd on Sunday through to Tues - weather was pretty good though the wind was a bit cool - not really T shirt weather. Thought we would cop it on Tues going back to Central station but missed the rain altogether. Several heavy downpours on bus back to Canberra though. And a bonus - Coral P was at the OPT when we were there - sigh - could easily have slipped aboard.