Aussieflyer

Hope your husband is OK and that if you needed to change any flights etc things went smoothly - a worry you can do without.

It could also be worth checking the alcohol restrictions of the TI people are considering, as many of us do have a drink or two on board (and sometimes on shore as well). Story on the ABC website about a repatriation being rejected due to alcohol consumption (not on a cruise but also didn't sound like they were drunk). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-20/kylee-enwright-back-home-thailand-head-injury/102500342

Thank you for the update - I hope you do get to visit and it is a lovely place to see.

Not sure if you will want to come home. Today had a max of 9 degrees and at present (7pm) it is 3.1 with a real feel of 0.6 (Balmy as the wind has dropped so not feeling as cold as earlier when it was into the minuses).

1Cover has a line on the comprehensive plan certificate that says it meets the requirements of countries that have mandated travel insurance with medical cover for COVID 19.

Have a wonderful day - look forward to hearing (reading) about it.

Silversea is one that includes gratuities, drinks and excursions - but it does cost more per person - not just because of these but also because of the number of pax and pax/staff ratio.

Maybe check this site - https://www.cruisetimetables.com to look at Cruises from. I find it very useful to look at departure ports and those visited.

I am wondering perhaps with the return to cruising that the roll call and arranging of shared excursions is perhaps impacted by people not wanting to get too close (for want of a better phrase) with others not in their own travel party. Maybe the threat of COVID is still in people's minds. For us, we seem to have lost interest in private shore excursions with people we don't know which is often one of the main reasons for the roll call. We do a lot of research before and know what we want to do or see in each port and if needed will book something privately. As well, for Australian and NZ ports, we have been to the areas before and don't need to visit the tourist spots.

I know of a couple of cruise lines that have passenger choirs - a friend of mine always joins them. The last one was on QM from Fremantle to Cape Town.

Sorry - I am on one a bit earlier. Only doing a couple of ship excursions as the person I am travelling with wanted those.

Not sure about all but the ones I have points with allow part payment with points on basically all bookings as well as full reward night bookings. Easier to use that airline points.

Thinking of you - we were caught up in bushfires here in 2003 - truly frightening and you are right, conditions can change in a second. Hope you and yours all stay safe.

Sorry to hear things are not going well at the moment - hopefully there will be a time when treatment ends and you can feel better. It's a b@gger of a disease - hate it with a passion even though it has now been over 20 years since my treatment. Try to stay strong and soldier on. ♥️

I had to smile at your comment about buying pies for Ron. My father's name was Ron and he would say exactly the same thing (and meaning the same).

Good to know - is that P&O specifically?

I had a quick look at the P&O site (which I am sure you have done as well) and couldn't see anything - but as they prohibit taking on plastic/glass bottles (including water) I am wondering if this applies to medically required water as well and if so I would expect that distilled water is available for purchase on board. Can you find an email address at all or hopefully someone who has cruised specifically on P&O will post an answer.

Sorry to hear of the damage - certainly. not what you wanted just at this time (or any time, really). Hopefully you can get the main paperwork in etc and maybe your son will be able to help while you are away.

She and Prince Edward/Sophie are the only ones I have any time for - the rest of the royals can go jump in my opinion. Though I know quite a few people will disagree but that is to be expected so no problems.

I work on the principle that anything under $400 per night is OK these days (but we only stay in a limited number of hotels).

Yes, we are on Silver Muse. We were on her (similar itinerary) just before COVID and like her very much - nice and small but lots of eating options rather than a barn of a MDR like on some other ships. Our first cruise to NZ was on Celebrity and we have cruised with them quite a lot - haven't been on the newer ones like Edge but we liked Solstice and Infinity. We were on them before suites had their own restaurant. On Solstice we did Aqua a few times to use the Blu restaurant. Hope you have a great time down this part of the world.

Interestingly I just checked our Silversea cruise in early December and Hobbiton is still showing as a shorex from Tauranga - though that might change.

Thank you so much Fletcher and MrsF. I have really enjoyed reading along. I am glad (based on your comments on Cloud) we decided to cancel an expedition cruise on her leaving next month. We booked something closer to home on Muse for December. Interestingly we received a tome from SS yesterday which is showing Jeddah as a port stop in every itinerary transiting the Red Sea.

Oh dear, another wonderful advertisement for Australians. Please give them a wide berth and believe that we are not all like that!

To hear you are still breathing as you say is welcome news but I can empathise with the chemo tabs - can be quite debilitating. Hope things are bearable.