gbenjo

13 hours ago, buchhalm said:

I am quite sure that airlines don't open check-in for individual flights until 3 hours before departures.

Drop bags at the luggage storage at City Extra restaurant at Circular Quay (5 minute walk from the ship).

If shopping is your aim, Westfield Bondi Junction is huge (for Australia) with everything from $2 shops to Ultra-high-end boutiques. 

Direct buses from Circular Quay or 1 change on the train. And the Boxing Day sales will be on!

FYI. ( and  Muffinz)   The City  Extra restaurant luggage storage  is the Bounce one. Itbis a twenty four hour restaurant so would be open Boxing Day.

29 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It was probably too dangerous for pilot transfers. 

True.......Didn't think of that 😀

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Solstice is still there at the OPT

 

Majestic Princess was scheduled for OPT today. Curious as to  why they did  not take Solstice to Athol Buoy ?  Majestic seems to be doing  “ laps” up and down the coast ( or why didnt she go to Athol Buoy ?) 

Celebrity Solstice not leaving tonight as scheduled (6:45pm) due to bad  weather

44 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Brilliance of the Seas is still in Newcastle (7am). Perhaps a day of passing on a message? 

 

Sydney Ports is now not expecting her off Sydney Heads until Sunday morning.

https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/sydney-harbour/pilotage-navigation/daily-vessel-movements/

Hmm …..Interesting, I guess I will find out in half an hour when I get to the OPT. 

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

Where there is smoke ......

Brilliance of the Seas entries have dropped-off Sydney Ports shipping movement page for today, now showing an arrival from Newcastle on Sunday.

I received a message to start work at 8:15 am instead of  9:00am so I think all is good.No problems 

6 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Hoping they can resolve the issues completely and not just limp around doing half ar?ed itineraries.

Good news…..just confirmed that repairs are completed and the sailing on the 4th April is good to go…..so it is  full speed ahead. 👍

On 3/30/2024 at 9:54 AM, MicCanberra said:

Yeah, Brilliance has cancelled a few cruises due to running repairs.

More like “ not running” repairs Mic.😁

Nothing official,   but our shift for the turn on Thursday has not been cancelled so hopefully repairs are  completed and she will be back in service. 🤞

15 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

Well Geoff,it was a official RC publication.

I think we might have to call in a authority on slides and OPT @gbenjo

No Chili, you are the self appointed expert on such things, you seem obsessed with this  sort of rubbish.Hope you had a great day yesterday.  😂

17 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Yeah, not easy. An oxymoron.

😱😱😱😱😱 I wouldn’t go that far……yes he constantly comes out with a lot of irrelevant  waffle but I wouldn’t necessarily call him a moron . 😂😂😂😂

13 hours ago, arxcards said:

Well, yes. It is a steering problem from one of the two pods, not a rudder.

 

If I were a rumour monger, I would have circulated the rumour. Thought I better ask, as you might be able make said rumours more credible.

I would have thought you (Chili )  and credible are two words that could not easily  be used in the same sentence. 😂😂😂😂

2 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

 

 And the relevance is 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔? 

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

Geoff your becoming a bigger rumour munger that I .

The person that told me is a pinnacle and was talking some of the crew . They said Rudder problem???

@gbenjo would call this Rumour or the seas.

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:.

Rumour of the Seas……would not have passengers…….they would all be guess(es).

Can’t  see how it would be. a rudder problem…..it has azipods.  

One of which, I believe,is not working.

To keep all the greenies out there happy, the next Edge class ship,   Xcel to be launched in  November 2025,  is to built to operate on methanol. 

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

There are a lot more planes, trains & automobiles than cruise ships.

Also, the number of cruise-ships in the world is a small percentage of the total of ships in the seas.

 

People 'exposing' specific problems mostly have vested interests influencing their views. Maybe a few should swim (no planes or ships) to places like Jakarta to see real pollution in action.

 

We can all revert to being subsistence villagers. only walking for travel - problem solved.

 

I'll keep on cruising.

Yep, the same as Australia is going to save the world by cutting emissions with bugger all effect while the rest of the world contributes ten times more pollution than we ever could but it is all up to us. Cruise ships are responsible for a very small percentage of  pollution but get all the blame. Now that is real pollution.

9 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Have just read an article on Titanic. Seems charging for 'extras' has been around a very long time.

 

The cost of a first class ticket varied but on average was more than $2500 USD (about $124,000 AUD today).

The two most luxurious rooms were $4500 USD (about $227,000 AUD today). They included private promenades to enjoy the sea air and exercise.

However, even after spending all that money, if passengers wanted to use the gym, squash court or Turkish bath on board they still had to pay extra.

 

I didn't see any mention of a surcharge for Eggs Benny, however. 😆

Did these prices include gratuities?🤔🤔🤔🤔

7 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We were told it was an ABF directive that no-one was allowed to enter the terminal until zero count was reached and all passengers had gone through passport control. The shoreside services people manning the entrance didn't seem very happy about the situation as many people in the crowd waiting to enter were starting to get quite angry (and wet).

ABF do get blamed for a lot of things🤔🤔

13 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I’m going to send a valentine

😱😱 And here is me thinking Gavin was your besty……. Well at least by the  way you keep dropping  his name.

38 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We've only ever had one delayed check-in at the OPT and that was in 2019 when some self-entitled transit passengers decided they didn't have to go through passport control despite what they were told. Luckily they decided to order drinks at one of the bars, which showed where they were so security could removed them from the ship. I never found out whether they were allowed back on again though! It was raining very heavily and there were hundreds of very annoyed passengers waiting to embark, and a whole heap of TAs on a visit to the ship. In the end we were still onboard by midday but because of the rain the wait seemed endless. Unfortunately Border Patrol wouldn't allow anyone into the terminal until zero count.had been reached. That's the one design fault with the OPT - they only have one set of lifts/escalators so disembarking passengers have to move through some of the same areas in the terminal that embarking passengers use. They really need another set of lifts /escalators at the northern end of the terminal going from passport control to the baggage pickup area.

There are already two sets of lifts ( plus another single lift ) at the OPT that could be used independently for embark and debark if need be. The escalators “ could” also be configured ( although not simply) to  accommodate  this but only as an absolute last resort. I doubt that it was an ABF directive  to not allow embarking passengers into the terminal until zero count was achieved, more likely a shoreside services logistics  call.

21 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

All good. We all looking forward to Crikey of the Seas. 

How did you know about Crikey of the Seas?.................no one is supposed to know about it ..............has  not even been  built...... yet.

23 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

I understand not breaching confidentaliality. I just wouldnt be bragging on a website that you know insider information and then not prepared to divilge it. No one really wants to hear that if your not going to spill the beans.  😄 

I would hardly call it bragging, just making a comment and having a bit of a tease with info that is at least credible. As I said, it could all change and then I would be cruising on the Assumption of the Seas like everybody else. 

17 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

What about a hint Graham, is the hull blue , it’s pointy at one end a blunt at the other?

OK .... a hint.................Its name will end in.........      "of the Seas."

17 minutes ago, beatleman said:

Wow best mate, when did this occur?? 😛🙃

About the same time he knew for certain what ships will be here in  25-26.

16 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

If you YouTube it there’s a couple of videos,one is Harr travels.

Nothing reliable just rumours .

 

It would be good if my best mate @gbenjo would spill the beans.

Sorry, that is  not about to happen any time soon.......and what if I told you and then Royal change their plans ..I would look as "ill informed" as everybody else.

21 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

So how trusty is your source. Cause nothing like posting i know something but not going to tell you.

Far more reliable than " someone" on Facebook or some some other "gossip" site.

As you may or may not know, I work for a company that is contracted by Royal and I am not about to betray them with something that was told to me in confidence, just to prove that I know more than anybody else....and it would spoil the amusement I am getting from reading  all the speculation.😘