alibabacruisers

If you buy the 2 hour pass prior to boarding, is it actually for only the two hours or do you actually get the whole day?  I thought I read somewhere recently that the person booked a 2 hour slot but were allowed to use it all day.

Thank you for your review!

Thank you for all of your responses!  Sometimes I feel like I'm doing something wrong or in the twilight zone 😉 but glad others have had this issue come up.

Thank you all so much for the confirmation that Cunard Australia site does not show the OBC and it is probably due to the Big Balcony Promotion?  I know that when we have looked at other cruises we do see the Cunard Fare versus other fares and the OBC does show for those.

I did check out online TA sites for the same cruise and saw the OBC there (which I have checked on previous investigations), but just wish Cunard would make things clear.

Hi, can anyone who has done a cruise that stopped in Bali and/or Jakarta give any advice as to what visas were required for your cruise (for Australians)?  As usual there is confusion with regards to visas and we would appreciate any help.  Thanks in advance!

After reading about the Queens Room on QM2, some friends, Paul and Carole who have given me permission to use their photo, who are on board and posted a picture of everyone having a wonderful time, so I thought I would post it here.  I had forgotten how it all looked as we haven't been on here for awhile.

Hi everyone.  We, over the years, have booked using Cunard online as well as various TA's.  Prior to covid I remember that when you booked online yourself any OBC used to show, but for the past few years I have noticed they do not specify.  At the moment, we are trying to book a 2025 Fjord cruise on QM2 under the "Big Balcony Event" which says extra on board spend but does not say how much.  Even going through the process until the time to pay, still does not list this.  

Has anyone else had this occur?  I have checked online TA just to see if they show amount and they do.  We do not want to book without knowing for sure and I have tried calling them but of course, since it is Sunday here, they are closed.

So frustrating, but guess I will have to wait to call them tomorrow (Monday).  I just wanted to see if anyone noticed that they stopped showing the actual amount in recent times. I have posted this in the general Cunard Forum as well.

Hi everyone.  We, over the years, have booked using Cunard online as well as various TA's.  Prior to covid I remember that when you booked online yourself any OBC used to show, but for the past few years I have noticed they do not specify.  At the moment, we are trying to book a 2025 Fjord cruise on QM2 under the "Big Balcony Event" which says extra on board spend but does not say how much.  Even going through the process until the time to pay, still does not list this.  

Has anyone else had this occur?  I have checked online TA just to see if they show amount and they do.  We do not want to book without knowing for sure and I have tried calling them but of course, since it is Sunday here, they are closed.

So frustrating, but guess I will have to wait to call them tomorrow (Monday).  I just wanted to see if anyone noticed that they stopped showing the actual amount in recent times. I think I will also post in the Australia boards to see if anyone has had this occur.

Thank you in advance!

Does anyone know, or have recent experience, about visa for Bali if you are on a cruise (rather than flying in)?

On 8/21/2023 at 5:58 AM, Aus Traveller said:

We were due to arrive in Colombo at 8am on Tuesday 20th June. On Monday morning we were advised that the ship was experiencing technical difficulties (their catch-all phrase) and that we would not arrive in Colombo until 1.30pm on Tuesday. I had a tour for 60 people (four 15-seater vans) booked for 8.30am. The cost was A$20 for a half day tour.

 

 

This tour wasn't getting off to a good start. Last September I booked with another company and had several email exchanges as the number in the group increased. However, as the time approached, they didn't answer my emails. The week before the cruise I cancelled. After a lot of research, I found a company that would do a similar tour - payment 48 hours prior to the tour.

 

 

When I heard our arrival into Colombo would be delayed, I was worried I had  'done my money'. I emailed the company asking for 2pm pick-up. They answered within a couple of minutes that it was OK. I was extremely relieved. I dropped a note at the relevant cabins with the new start time.

 

 

 

We had to take a free shuttle bus to the wharf gates, a 20 minute drive. Outside, the situation was chaotic with dozens of tuk tuk drivers and guys with cars all trying to get passengers. They were all trying to yell louder than the others. I couldn't see my four 15-seat vans.

 

 

Then relief, I saw someone with a sign with my name on it. My tour group was assembling but with the delay in getting shuttle bus tickets etc we were missing quite a few. We had two 30-seat buses with a driver and guide in each. They were more comfortable than 15-seat vans and had better air-con. I felt these buses were better, but one of the passengers complained that it took too long for people to get on and off the larger bus. Keep in mind that this was a $20 tour. I suppose we can't please everyone!

 

 

The guide in my bus was excellent. We drove past the Galle Face Green, a 5-hectare ocean-front park (lovely), then to Gangaramaya, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Colombo. Many of us went inside here. We went past Colombo's biggest park. A large lake had tiny man-made floating islands that provide habitat for birds, many of them pelicans.

 

 

In our three hours of driving we also saw a gorgeous conference centre (a gift of the Chinese govt). We were supposed to go inside, but the Prime Minister was there so it was closed to visitors. We got out at the Independence Memorial Hall and again at the Lotus Tower (a gift from China). At a few sights we drove past very slowly because there was nowhere to park. One of these was the stunning Red Mosque.

 

 

My overall impression of the city was that there is more wealth than I expected. There are numerous luxury hotels and several high-rise apartment buildings that are obviously very expensive. The traffic is chaotic with thousands of tuk tuks competing with cars and buses for road space. In the area around the Red Mosque (the older area of the city) the streets were teaming with people. The roads were lined with very tiny shops and market stalls.

 

 

Our guide was expecting the tour to go for another couple of hours and he wanted to take us to a hotel for tea (Ceylon being famous for tea). I asked the others and no-one wanted to do this so late in the day. By 5.30 I asked everyone if they had 'had enough'. The consensus was to go back to the ship. We were dropped off at the wharf gates at 5.30 and shuttle buses were waiting.

 

On the wharf beside the ship there were numerous market stalls. No prices were evident. I decided not to look very closely because if I showed any interest in an item, the stall holder would be very persistent. 

 

I felt we had excellent value for money with this tour and saw the highlights of the city. Quite a few other passengers from the ship toured in a tuk tuk. They can be fun, but it was hot and humid so I appreciated the air-con in the bus. We also didn't have to contend with vehicle fumes in the heavy traffic. Some tuk tuk tours cost around US$100 pp for an hour or so, but others where the passengers haggled, cost much less than that.

 

The tour operator I used was Asni Tours. I would rate them as excellent.

 

 

Did you have to get a visa for Sri Lanka (in transit or other)?

Thanks Lissie!

I am sorry to invade this thread but saw Lissie here and wondered if I could ask you a question about your Cunard cruise Barc-Aust.?

We, and others doing a similar cruise to you last year. I wanted to ask you because you were on that cruise and would have valuable info about the actual visas you needed. Is the below your experience an Aust/NZ traveller.

Egypt - Cunard says they do it onboard at no charge.

Oman - onboard no charge.

Sri Lanka - know that port was cancelled, but what did you do...transit or regular or none?

Jakarta and Bali - ? None needed?

I thank you in advance for any help you could give.

You are amazing with this kind of information gathering and I applaud you John!!

We also got the Suica card before our cruise in 2019 and we chose a hotel in Yokohama for several weeks before the cruise.  We also got a SIM card as well and both the SIM and the Suica card arrived within days of ordering and was very easy to activate and use.  

I checked our eligibility and it said our cruise was not eligible.  For several weeks it has shown nearly sold out except for 1 QG but today not the QG is gone and only 1 OV available. 

This will be our first Cunard cruise since 2019 so we are beyond excited!  We also have booked the 2025 QV to South America because we have never been, number one.  Number two, we have never done a full WC AND number 3, we have not been on QV.  How thrilling!!!  We did a 74-night in 2015 and that was so great!

Thank you for your informative recap!  Love to hear your enthusiasm too!

On 8/1/2023 at 4:50 AM, Scrapnana said:

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.  I'm still recovering from cancer and hoping to be able to cruise in January if I can get my strength back.

So happy to hear from you Kathi!  Sending you lots of love and prayers for your continued healing and that you get your strength back so you can cruise like you love to do!  I miss you!

On 8/9/2023 at 5:50 AM, rafinmd said:

There are no sailaways during our summer as the ships are all either in Europe, the Northeast US, or Alaska.  After a long time off the boards she did post to the July 27 Fleet Report and Daily.

 

 

 

I think she is out of Medical facilities and either back home or with her daughter.

 

Roy

Oh Roy, thank you for showing Kathi's update!  I am so glad to hear from her and hope she is able to travel when she is ready!

7 hours ago, elmsliebev said:

I love the Library, but as someone who works in one, I had to stop myself from shelving the books in true alphabetical order 🤣 It was a struggle!

LOL, I used to work in the library filing the books and pulling them to the front edge, so when I went to the library on QE, found myself just "straightening"  ..........lol

I suffer the dreaded motion sickness so have learned over the years, that I have to take meds (used to be Avomine until they discontinued it in Australia, but now have to settle for phenergan) starting a few days prior and then into the cruise, 1 tablet before bedtime each night.  I initially tried the wrist bands, and ginger from the dining room, both of which did nothing for me.  I also realized that the fresh air and ginger ale helped a lot as well.  Cabin position for me is important too, so will not choose far forward or far aft.

When do you receive these upgrade offers? (how much time before your cruise)?

Thank you so much for your review and all those gorgeous pictures of QE!  We love QE too.

I haven't been checking this board for awhile and was wondering why no sailaways from FLL?  Miss those "parties".

What a great and informative post. 

Prayers to all.

Has anyone heard from Kathi?  I check her blog and FB routinely, but have not seen any new posts for awhile.

Wow, isn't that interesting?  Thank you for letting me know that.

We are looking at some luggage forwarding companies because we want to send one suitcase from Australia to Barcelona for our cruise so we don't have to carry it.  So expensive.  Has anyone tried Luggage Free?  I have checked online with Luggage Forward which was around 800AUD!  Ouch  Luggage free comes in cheaper, but have never heard about them.  Anyone have any other ideas?