JJK2008

From the reading we've done, Jetstar does not seem like a good choice even with the lower prices. Last minute cancellation seems to be a common complaint. Good info.

As you can see, the folks on this thread are AWESOME!!!! Look how fast they responded to you with suggestions. Great to get the advice firsthand from locals. Pre-covid we had a trip planned with RCCL. Unfortunately, they are not offering that itinerary now, so that is how we ended up with Princess. It's not exactly what we had booked before on RCCL but it's close. Both Sinbad & lyndarra make an excellent point concerning the time you have. It's a long trip, so for us, we want to make the most of every day. Fortunately, we're retired, so time isn't a factor. Hope you get lots of tips, suggestion, advice. Most likely, the local's info will be far better than anything I can offer. But in that light, we're more than willing to share what we have learned to this point. Trip Advisor Forums are also a great resource. Welcome.

Welcome. My DW and I are booked this coming November for a New Zealand cruise that leaves from Sydney. Like many we had this plan pre-covid, but the virus stopped all our plans. So, we're back at it again. Neither of us has been to New Zealand and travelling that far seemed like a waste not to do just Australia and not visit New Zealand. We considered trying to do a land tour of New Zealand but couldn't find anything that did both the north & south islands in a way that satisfied us. Trying to do it on our own also seemed impractical. So, our two-week cruise is on Princess (never done Princess before) and covers both islands. Not exactly what we would choose but gives us an overall of the country with a number of port stops. We will spend time in Oz both before and after our New Zealand cruise with plans to travel extensively. This thread of Australia & New Zealand Cruisers has hundreds of pages of outstanding information if you're willing to take the time to sift through them. Plus, lots of Aussies and Kiwis on here posting and offering tips, info, answering questions and willing to help. We have found it invaluable so far. Check it out. Stay Safe & Healthy. Good Luck.

Awesome!!!! Thank You all for the input. We're going to work our schedule to spend a day there. Thanks again.

Asking an opinion (I may regret this) Australia's Capital is Canberra. Simply put, is it worth the visit??? Tourist sites to Australia hardly mention it, and even ones that do, only suggest 2 days visit. Yes, it has the Parliament buildings, the lake and the War Museum (which does catch my interest) is it worth the diversion??? We're in Sydney for several days and it seems to be only about a 3 hour drive. Thanks in advance for all your thoughts.

Possum52 I have seen your posts on a number of threads here on CC. You do a great job of providing insight and information. Thank You for taking the time and putting forth the effort. We appreciate it. John

Thank You to all of you who have replied. Your advice is invaluable. Fortunately, we have lots of time and options. Now that said, we do have specific ideas of what we want to see and where to visit, but we're flexible and will adjust our timetable and locations accordingly. The absolute worst case if flights from Cairns or Brisbane become an issue, is we adjust our timetable and drive. Certainly not our first choice but doable. Bu from reading all your comments, it doesn't appear that flights from those locations will be an issue. But if we had planned on going to Melbourne for example, we had no idea about the Melbourne Cup and would have been caught by surprise. Who knows what dilemma could have arisen in that case. Thank You all again. Greatly appreciate the advice and suggestions. John

Thank You. We are looking at options. We will be in the Cairns area before the Melbourne Cup takes place (November 6, 2023). Our plan is to fly back to Sydney on November 1, 2023, overnight in Sydney and then our cruise leaves on the 2nd. We already have a hotel booked for the night of the first so the only issue will be if flights back to Sydney become an issue. We have options such as trying to book a flight from Brisbane rather than Cairns. Worst case is we adjust our schedule timewise and drive back to Sydney. That would be a little inconvenient but may actually be a good choice. We'd get to see more of the country. Thanks for your help. Greatly appreciated. John

Just heard about the Melbourne Cup being held on November 6th. It is billed as the event that "shuts down the nation." Our cruise leaves from Sydney on November 2nd. Our tentative plan right now is to fly from Cairns to Sydney on November 1st, overnight in a hotel and then sail on November 2nd. We already have a hotel booked in Sydney for the night of November 1st but have not booked flights yet. From what I've read, the Melbourne Cup being of such magnitude in Australian the availability of flights may be limited, and prices will be much higher. Is it really necessary to book flights this far in advance because of this event???? We may have to alter our plans a bit as to where we will be by certain dates in case flying back to Sydney is not an option and we can drive the route. Sorry to say but we never heard of the Melbourne Cup.

Interestingly, Little Fish apparently had never heard the word before and had to look it up. After reading Little Fish's comment I did look it up on Google. A Google search in the US revealed nothing derogatory. If you specifically search the word as Australian slang, then you will get a description of a derogatory nature. So, I'm guessing the word is not widely known or used or perhaps both. In any case, I'm glad it was clarified as my intent would never be to offend.

Thank You for the clarification.

There is a word I learned from the Aussies we met on the river cruise. The word was "creamy" and if I am correct it referred to the native population of Australia. I'm not trying to be rude. I don't even know if this an accurate term or is even used in that manner.

Song Come To Australia by Scared Weird Little Guys says it all....😆😆

Thank You....we're studying hard...I love the link.😆🤣😄

Thank You. I'm getting an education. This is great.😆😂🤣

OK, I have to ask.....what is a "crow-eater" and what are "durries"??????🤔🤔🤔

OK, I'm completely lost on those terms...."rollie" "dogs breakfast" "crikey"....HELP???? You got me on these...😄😆🤣

We hope to use every minute of our time in OZ. This is my first time, but my DW has been there before. Neither of us has been to New Zealand. My DW is hard at work planning our trip. Truly, she is better than any travel agent could be. Flight time for us will be about 24 hours. So, including stops, layovers, to/from airport that is a Loooong travel time. We're going to break-up the trip with stops in Hawaii for a few days in each direction. We will land in Sydney and spend several days seeing the sights. Next, we fly to the Gold Coast and spend time in the Surfers Paradise area. We have friends who live here and will visit with them if all goes well. From here we plan to rent a car and drive along the coast to the Sunshine Coast, with a stop in Brisbane. Eventually arriving in Mooloolaba. We have friends here and will visit with them. We'll go back to Brisbane drop the car off and fly to Cairns. Rent another car and spend some time seeing Cairns. Then head to Port Douglas for all the tourist stuff. After we've had our fill it's back to Cairns drop off the rental car and fly to Sydney. That will be November 1, 2023. Our cruise leaves from Sydney on November 2nd. Thats 2 weeks around New Zealand. At the end of the cruise, we're back in Sydney. Next up, we fly to Melbourne, rent a car and spend several days here. We do have friends here as well. Hit the road towards Port Cambell stopping along the way. Then it's a long drive eventually ending up in Adelaide. Do more tourist stuff. Drop the car off and fly back to Sydney, then back to Hawaii for several more days, then home. In all the trip will be 8 weeks. Once in a lifetime. So, any suggestions people have on our course of action, Please chime in. Thanks, in advance. Stay Safe & Healthy all. John

With all the new words being presented here, I'm going to have to revise my Aussie Lingo List. Thank You all for your contributions. We have several months to study, so we'll be experts by the time we get to OZ. 🤣😆😁.

Ah yes, Canadians leading you astray. Not a surprise, they have a habit of doing that, particularly when it comes to alcohol...LOL. Alcohol prices in Canada are very expensive compared to the US. For example, a 24 can case of beer in the US can be bought in Walmart for $20 +/-. That same 24 can case, same brand of beer in Canada would be $55+/-. Bottles of wine in the US bought for $8-$10 would be $30-$35 in Canada Even with the exchange rate, the price in Canada is more than double the US price. Actually, everything in Canada is very expensive compared to the US. So, when the Canadians come to Florida for the winter months, they drink themselves into oblivion. There is a get together at someone's house several times a week. And yes, my DW and I are usually in attendance. We all live in two closed, sister communities that abut each other with private roads. Our roads interconnect so once inside either community you can go back and forth between the two. They are golf communities, and everyone owns a golf cart, so once home we all drive golf carts to each other's homes. It removes the worry/risk about drinking and driving. It is technically illegal in Florida to drive drunk even in a golf cart, but because the communities are closed, the police never come in unless called. These communities are very, very common in Florida. Now we have had some (not many, Fortunately) of our dear Maple Leaf (Canadians) friends who have consumed a wee bit too much and have driven their golf cart off the road and hit a tree or ended up in one of the lakes. One dear friend who along with a fellow Canadian was "racing" their golf carts and took a corner a little too fast, lost control of the golf cart and was ejected. Lots of road rash and a separated shoulder, but he was numb and couldn't feel it. No serious injuries but some good stories and "What a dumbASS" comments to riminess about. Stay safe. John

You're exactly right, Canadians do pronounce the word "about" like "aboot" they also do it with the word "out" but they pronounce as "oot" like saying "boot" without the "b" it's really funny when they combine the words in a sentence like - She went "oot" and "aboot" all the accents and little quirks we all have give us some good laughs. Good fun.

I never really considered the difference between an American & Canadian accent sounding the same. Just never thought about it. For us in the USA and those in Canada, the accents are easily distinguishable. Certain words have different pronunciations. The American and Canadian accents are not as different as say American and British accents. Those are very distinct. American and Canadian accents are similar, but they do have differences. I'm guessing the same holds true for New Zealanders and Australians. Here's a dead giveaway for identifying a Canadian accent. This holds true for across Canada except for the Province of Quebec. Many times (almost always) a Canadian will end their sentence/phase with the word "EH" said not so much as a question but more of a confirmation to the person they are speaking with of what they just said. Example - "That was a great meal, EH" or "We had a good time, EH" or "It sure is cold out, EH" it is not really a question as it is more of a confirmation of what they said. Listen for the "EH" at the end of the sentance and you'll know immediately the person is Canadian. One of our friends that we have in OZ sent us this "guide" on Aussie slang. My DW and I will start practicing....LOL

This is just our personal Thank You to all the Aussies & Kiwis on here who have provided Soooo much valuable information about your countries to future visitors. I have gone through every page and read every post that pertains to us. My DW has been down under, I have not. Truly looking forward to it. My DW and I will be visiting OZ & NZ in Oct., & Nov. Sailing on the Princess Royal on November 2nd out of Sydney. Prior to the cruise we'll be spending a few weeks touring OZ and visiting with friends. Like so many we had booked this trip and others pre-covid and of course the virus hit, and our plans came to a screeching halt. So, we are trying again. Back before covid we had done a 2-week river cruise in Europe. The ship only had 190 guests, so you get to know everyone within a few days. There happened to be a few Aussie couples on board. They did not know each other, and they live scattered along the east coast. We became very friendly and spent lots of time together. Even spent a day in an Aussie Pub in Vienna watching the Rugby Matches. Lots of beer consumed and NO it wasn't Fosters. Aussies definitely know how to have a good time, CHEERS!!! Can't wait to see them all again. Great people, lots of FUN!!!!. I always tell folks here in the USA that Aussies are like Canadians with a slightly different accent. We live in Southwest Florida and our community is filled with Canadian "snowbirds" as we call them. They escape the winter tundra in Canada and live in Florida for half the year. At least a third of our community is Canadians. We spent 8 weeks in Canada last summer visiting friends. They ran us ragged. We needed to go home for a rest. Without a doubt my DW and I have more Canadian friends than American friends. I said it before, Canadians are Aussies with a slightly different accent. That is a HUGE compliment as we love our Canadian friends. To the Aussies & Kiwis, Thank You again for all the GREAT info, tips and suggestions. Stay Safe & Healthy. John & Nancy

A big Thank You to possum52. My DW and I are travelling to Oz & NZ in November, and we've been scouring the different threads for info for our upcoming trip. We have come across a number of posts by you in different threads that have provided excellent tips and advice for those asking, Thank You for taking the time and putting forth the effort. Greatly appreciated. Stay Safe & Healthy.