Karennella

Right there with you CruiseGal999! I am forever arguing with my husband and adult children about this. Calculation of tip should always be pretax imo. I also try to leave it in cash when paying by credit card for all the reasons cited above.

 

 

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Glad I read this as it seems from what everyone says that it is best to leave a cash tip. What is going to happen to porters etc when you switch to mostly cashless as has already happened in some parts of Europe?

Unless there is a problem we just accept that we need to tip 20% in restaurants. Then when you are doing an exchange mentally, add 50% to what you see. So when the steak is $US40, it will cost roughly $A60 by the time you account for exchange, local tax and tips. The ettiquette, I believe, is that if the service is so dreadful that you feel you should not have to tip, you need to ask to speak to the manager and explain this, not just walk out with out tipping. Dreadful service is rare by our standards,it is generally better than we get. Once we accepted that this is the usual rate, it stopped being stressful.

You can see that you need to keep some cash ready for some tips. We did get abused once for adding a tip to the credit card bill but that was a long time ago and I think it is normal to add it like that these days.But best you hoard your dollar notes for tips for bags and so on.

To be honest, what I dislike in the US is that often when you leave the tip, which is huge by our standard, we rarely get a thank you.However in Europe or here anything is appreciated. Today in Sydney I left $4 when the bill was $71 and the girl was really pleased. But it is just their culture and we need to respect it. And only hope that our culture will be respected in turn by our overseas visitors.

If you think Venice is bad, wait until you try Rome.

And if you think Rome is bad, try Naples and Catania! Worst airports we have ever been to, said by a person who dearly loves Italy!

On our first visit to Tassie, maybe thirty-five years ago, the food was pretty basic. Very outback Aussie type food. On our last visit a few years ago, it had improved amazingly thanks, we were told, to an influx of chefs from Melbourne. anywhere close to Melbourne has to have good food!

From what I can find out the lagoon reopened in September. You could look at getting the ferry to Hamilton Island, which is the only resort open at the moment, other than a small one which requires a water taxi. http://www.cruisewhitsundays.com/transfers/ They are running a morning and afternoon service to Daydream Island as the rebuilding has finally commenced there. It would be for the tradies who work there.

I only have a knee injury which does not require any aids and to be honest, I found Rome an absolute nightmare. Agree, private tour with someone who has experience with your needs.

Glad you enjoyed your tour. However this will be more use to people on the Asia forum. Bali is part of Indonesia, which is part of Asia. It is located in the region of the Indian Ocean, not the Pacific.

L'Escapade Ilot Maitre, a half hour from Noumea by boat, has overwater bungalows. The nightly rate seems to be around $US400. You could contact the agency someone suggested above. Noumea is extremely expensive, be warned. If you cannot find somewhere suitable there is an overwater restaurant in Noumea where you could have lunch. It was too expensive for us to try when we were there recently.

You know, when we first went to Europe in 1977 when we were very young, it was so expensive to get there from Australia that we had to assume that we might never get there again. So we did dash around and race from country to country hoping to fit it all in.

We never thought that it would be so cheap to fly as it is now. We are currently planning to have a month just in the region around Milan. The airfares are about the same as we paid in 1977 when we were earning about literally one tenth of what we would be now at the same career stage,

We did not return to Europe until 1995, with our teenage daughters. We took them on a two weeks highlights tour and it served the purpose. Later they each lived for several years in England and they were able to enjoy leisurely travel. As we did when we would go to visit them.

But I think you have to consider what you really want to see and how you like to travel. Not everyone wants a half day in a museum. In 1977 it was a novelty for us to see Europeans eating outdoors on the footpath. We see that here everywhere now and so we do not want to necessarily dedicate too much time to leisurely lunches. You will have to do a lot of reading and work out what is important to you.

There used to be one at the Shangri-la Ras Ria out of Kota KInabalu. But I think it has now closed as the animals were ready to be moved to the next stage of rehabilitation in Sandakan.

We had a wonderful holiday in Sabah and booked a three night tour as well as a day tour with Borneo ecotours. We were very happy with them. We were staying in a jungle camp up the river when one night David Attenborough and his entourage arrived for dinner. But back in Kota Kinabalu, we had a very interesting day tour to Mt Kinabalu and Poring Hot Springs.

Singapore, Cathay, Emirates are all good.

Don't you have the small restaurants like we do, which are cash only? Perhaps NZ is more tax compliant! My favourite Indonesian one in Sydney is no cards. We usually pay by cash in restaurants anyway as they usually will not split bills. So if one person cards it the others have to do a transfer into the friend's bank account. Just easier to pay on the spot in cash.

it does not bother me to card most things but I would not be without a bit of cash.

Yes, I did take into account the currency exchange. You are right that for such a large metropolitan city the prices are probably inline. Just that I'm not used to paying those kinds of prices. In Europe, I manage to find lots of acceptable options for under $150. Just spent a night in a small hotel in Barcelona in the old town area for $127.[/quo

Yes I have been looking at Europe and agree it can be quite cheap. But I am in shock as I am looking at prices for Jackson Hole and Park City for May. They are so high that it gave me visual migrane!

Remember that places in southern Europe still have a depressed economy. Sydney is booming and it has the lowest unemployment rate in the country as well as a big influx of Asian tourists (which I have read is the same issue as in Wyoming)

We were just in New Caledonia for a week and we got some money from an ATM. We really needed some cash as it is quite expensive there (slightly more than Australian prices) so, eg, a couple of ice-creams cost about $A15. We were able to use credit cards a fair bit. New Caledonia is basically a part of France and less English is spoken there than in France.

In Australia just use ATMs, cards or change money in the city centres at currency exchanges,

In Australia we have just had a particularly bad winter for flu and other viruses. It has constantly been reported in the media. On a personal level I have had a shocker of a winter with constantly having extra days minding sick grandkids who cannot go to school and daycare. I do not know if this flu epidemic has been the experience in other countries but it certainly does not surprise me that there is a lot of sickness on cruiseships at the moment.

Being enclosed is surely one aspect that does not help. Often a twenty four hour flight causes me to end up with a virus. I actually know several people who have given up cruising because of the whole infection issue.

I have never been a smoker but I have to say that the drift of the noise on the K bothered me much more than the drift of smoke from the casino. It was awful to experience the disturbance from the bar etc when the musicians were playing so beautifully.Obviously the issue in both cases is the open planning of the ship, a concept which is so popular but produces a lot of problems.

I suspect that most companies will not entirely ban smoking yet as they cater to nationalities where smoking is still at a much higher rate than in Angloland. If you really hate smoke I suggest you avoid a land tour in China.

Yes, most of us have concerns, rightly or wrongly, for those that they love. My daughters worry when we are overseas. Which is quite funny as we backpacked for six months through Europe and Nth America when we were young, have travelled extensively ever since and are still perfectly healthy. Nor have we lost passports, phones cameras and credit cards as they have while travelling.

You can get a cheaper breakfast in the cafe in the foyer. We generally stay at the Salisbury as the location is great.

In southern Italy many places do not take credit cards. People are always asking where they can go where locals eat, shop etc. It is precisely those non-touristy places that may not take cards,

But we changed some money in Norway just so that we could tip our tour guide. Do other people tip a guide with a credit card?

I actually suggest to people that they should google scams in Rome, or Bangkok or wherever they may be heading. My husband, even though well travelled and also of Italian background, fell for a minor scam in Rome. It is not the norm there for people to speak to strangers in the way that is common in Australia and some other countries. They may or may not be setting you up.

Tell him not to put stupid posts on social media. My nephew is currently backpacking in Europe and his parents are very upset with him for that. Whether they should or not, potential employers may check Facebook etc before they make a decision. Everyone in the family does not need to know when the traveller is out all night drinking. They do not want to see photos of the traveller nearly nude. etc

ie Use common sense. It goes a long way.

Credit cards are not accepted everywhere. You will need some cash. Agree ATMs, depending on the fees. We always take cash with us but it is easy to change here in Sydney. Post offices tend to be very slow places to do anything. You need at least a couple of cards for ATMs. Our friends managed to lose one and have one swallowed within two days when we were travelling with them.

For those who do not want to pay the price of private guides I can say that Hong Kong is extremely efficient and very easy to get around using public transport.

For people going to Asia for the first time,best do your homework thoroughly. It is a huge region and has an enormous variation in the cultures and levels of development. Hong Kong and Singapore are wealthy parts of the developed world. Cambodia is still very poor. Malaysia sits in the middle.The countries are no more similar than Mexico is to the US in Nth America.

Part of the reason for the rise in tourist numbers in some parts of Europe is the huge rise in the number of Asian, particularly Chinese and Indian, tourists travelling. This is only going to increase with the rise in affluence in China in particular.Having been in China for a month earlier this year and comparing it to when I was last there 14 years prior, the rise in wealth is amazing. But I think that many Chinese are still travelling on group tours in Europe, not cruises.

To be honest we have quite a few friends who, while not frightened to travel to Europe, are choosing other destinations for cruising because of the crowds in the ports or because finally that 24 flight is getting a bit much.

I think you are being a little hard on Darling Harbour. Many of the attractions there are very appealing to local families; My grandson just went to the Aquarium for his 4th birthday. However, unless you are travelling with kids you would certainly want to give some a miss.

I have not been to Cockatoo Island but I would have to say that I expect it was developed for tourists. What you have already listed covers a large number of the main tourist attractions so I assume you are wanting to see some typical local places.

One suggestion, seeing that you already has planned to go to Manly in the north and Bondi in the east, is to head south and or west.You could get the train south to Cronulla. On the way, get off at Hurstville, which is the centre of the Cantonese community and have a Chinese snack. Then continue to Oatley and if you like walking, walk across the bridge to Como and stop for a drink at the Como pub before getting the train on to Cronulla. There you can walk the Esplanade walk or even take the ferry to Bundeena in the Royal national Park. To go west you can get the ferry up to Parramatta, perhaps stopping off at Abbotsford and visiting the Sydney Rowing Club, where you can eat at a typical club.

Also consider taking the train to Kiama, which is almost a commuter town to the south. The station there is very conveniently located though it takes a while to get there.

Closer to the city, Newtown is very interesting. Or you could walk across the bridge or get the train. Wander around Luna Park, the historic funpark overlooking the harbour.