Sparky74

DW & I are teetotallers and have cruised P&O multiple times without issue. But if you expect to receive the same standard of food, service, etc as HAL you will be disappointed. I describe P&O as "cheap and cheerful".

Which ship will you be sailing on? That can make a difference to tendering time.

It’s my understanding that the Carnival Vista has had propulsion issues for a little while. Maybe a couple of cruises. 🤷‍♂️ I’m not sure that gathering all the passengers in the theatre to make an announcement like this is a good idea. I could well imagine a couple of people getting irate and then that feeling spreading through the crowd. But at the end of the day the cruiseline holds all the aces. They can change the itinerary for whatever reason and don’t have to give the passengers any compensation.

DW & I are also sailing on Ovation OTS on 21st November which will be our 15th wedding anniversary. (I think this will be our 29th cruise! 😱) The Roll Call for this cruise is very quiet, but do pop in for a chat.

I currently use an electric (rechargeable battery) mower but the robotic ones make me nervous. Friends had their house burn down due to a faulty robotic vacuum cleaner. Then there’s videos like this one: https://fb.watch/ukByRi9Juq/

I’m looking at the Rendezvous for one night precruise in November. It’s a short stroll to the OPT. The Great Southern Hotel is another consideration for a more affordable, entry level hotel in the CBD.

That’s enough mowing for today. Time for a rest!

Here's the best prices I can find for international cruises. Many are one way itineraries and you may need to add gratuities. Date Nights Ship From To Interior Daily 1/9/24 7 MSC Seashore Port Canaveral Bahamas $680 $97 15/9/24 7 MSC Seashore Port Canaveral Bahamas $680 $97 29/9/24 7 MSC Seashore Port Canaveral Bahamas $700 $100 10/10/24 8 P&O Azura Valletta Santa Cruz de Tenerife (one way) $699 $87 30/10/24 18 MSC Seaside Barcelona Miamai (one way) $1,753 $97 4/11/24 6 MSC Sinfonia Brindisi Venice (one way) $589 $98 7/11/24 14 Celebrity Constellation Barcelona Tampa (one way) $1,276 $91 9/11/24 14 MSC Virtuosa Le Havre Fort-de-France (one way) $1,361 $97 10/11/24 20 MSC Orchestra Genoa Rio de Janeiro (one way) $1,949 $97 10/11/24 19 MSC Orchestra Genoa Santos (Sao Paulo) (one way) $1,881 $99 10/11/24 16 Caribbean Princess Rome (Civitavecchia) Fort Lauderdale (one way) $1,331 $83 11/11/24 14 MSC Orchestra Marseille Salvador (one way) $1,281 $92 11/11/24 18 MSC Orchestra Marseille Santos (Sao Paulo) (one way) $1,763 $98 11/11/24 19 MSC Orchestra Marseille Rio de Janeiro (one way) $1,881 $99 12/11/24 18 MSC Orchestra Barcelona Rio de Janeiro (one way) $1,763 $98 16/11/24 16 MSC Grandiosa Genoa Salvador (one way) $1,427 $89 16/11/24 19 MSC Grandiosa Genoa Rio de Janeiro (one way) $1,811 $95 16/11/24 21 MSC Grandiosa Genoa Santos (Sao Paulo) (one way) $2,027 $97 16/11/24 13 Celebrity Silhouette Barcelona Fort Lauderdale (one way) $1,023 $79 16/11/24 14 Nieuw Statendam Rome (Civitavecchia) Fort Lauderdale (one way) $1,309 $94 17/11/24 18 MSC Grandiosa Marseille Rio de Janeiro (one way) $1,673 $93 17/11/24 20 MSC Grandiosa Marseille Santos (Sao Paulo) (one way) $1,929 $96 18/11/24 17 MSC Grandiosa Barcelona Rio de Janeiro (one way) $1,565 $92 18/11/24 19 MSC Grandiosa Barcelona Santos (Sao Paulo) (one way) $1,861 $98 18/11/24 14 MSC Grandiosa Barcelona Salvador (one way) $1,201 $86 20/11/24 17 MSC Grandiosa Malaga Santos (Sao Paulo) (one way) $1,665 $98 26/11/24 4 MSC Virtuosa Bridgetown Fort-de-France (one way) $361 $90 28/11/24 17 Sky Princess Southampton Fort Lauderdale (one way) $1,462 $86 4/12/24 18 Island Princess Rome (Civitavecchia) Fort Lauderdale (one way) $1,711 $95 6/12/24 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $679 $97 6/12/24 12 Carnival Venezia New York Port Canaveral (one way) $1,148 $96 7/12/24 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $679 $97 3/1/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $679 $97 4/1/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $679 $97 10/1/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $679 $97 11/1/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $679 $97 17/1/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $678 $97 23/1/25 5 Carnival Firenze Los Angeles Mexico $493 $99 28/1/25 5 Carnival Firenze Los Angeles Mexico $493 $99 24/4/25 16 Carnival Valor New Orleans Barcelona (one way) $1,354 $85 26/4/25 4 Discovery Princess Los Angeles Vancouver (one way) $399 $100 30/4/25 5 Caribbean Princess Los Angeles Vancouver (one way) $449 $90 11/6/25 15 Carnival Valor Barcelona New Orleans (one way) $1,428 $95 9/10/25 9 P&O Azura Valletta Santa Cruz de Tenerife (one way) $837 $93 9/10/25 8 P&O Azura Valletta Santa Cruz de Tenerife (one way) $768 $96 5/12/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $648 $93 6/12/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 12/12/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 13/12/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 2/1/26 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 3/1/26 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 9/1/26 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 10/1/26 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 16/1/26 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 17/1/26 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $698 $100 21/3/26 15 Carnival Dream Barcelona Galveston (one way) $1,224 $82 11/4/26 13 Carnival Glory Barcelona Port Canaveral (one way) $1,135 $87

The trouble is that it’s getting difficult to see the house! 🤣

The trouble is that the lawn isn’t going to cut itself. And the weather has turned so warm! I think I'll try to. do just a little bit each day. At least I feel like I’m making progress.

We will be on that cruise celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary.

Thanks. Not having a great day today but maybe I over did it by mowing the frond yard yesterday. I ended up missing Conflict Island. DW when ashore and said it was lovely but I stayed in bed and coughed and sweated, and sweated, and sweated... I was off my tucker (which is highly unusual) and the following night DW reckoned I was about the same colour as the sheets!

Here's my latest list of "local" cruises. Apologies for any errors. Date Nights Ship From To Interior Daily 21/10/24 10 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $1,084 $108 14/11/24 8 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $859 $107 17/12/24 2 Pacific Explorer Adelaide Melbourne (one way) $218 $109 3/2/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 11/2/25 4 Pacific Encounter Brisbane North Qld $426 $107 24/2/25 10 Pacific Adventure Sydney Pacific Islands $901 $90 4/3/25 4 Pacific Encounter Brisbane North Qld $426 $107 6/3/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 29/3/25 9 Pacific Adventure Sydney Pacific Islands $868 $96 7/4/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 24/4/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 28/4/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 29/4/25 10 Pacific Encounter Brisbane PNG $963 $96 6/5/25 10 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $1,069 $107 17/5/25 9 Pacific Adventure Sydney North Qld $882 $98 19/5/25 8 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $829 $104 26/5/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 27/5/25 10 Carnival Splendor Sydney North Qld $1,059 $106 2/6/25 10 Pacific Adventure Sydney Pacific Islands $949 $95 10/6/25 9 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $979 $109 12/6/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 16/6/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 23/6/25 8 Pacific Adventure Sydney North Qld $759 $95 23/6/25 10 Carnival Splendor Sydney North Qld $1,049 $105 24/6/25 4 Pacific Encounter Brisbane North Qld $426 $107 1/7/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 5/7/25 9 Pacific Adventure Sydney Pacific Islands $949 $105 14/7/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 21/7/25 10 Pacific Adventure Sydney North Qld $901 $90 3/8/25 10 Pacific Adventure Sydney Pacific Islands $901 $90 4/8/25 10 Carnival Splendor Sydney North Qld $1,079 $108 8/8/25 8 Pacific Encounter Brisbane Pacific Islands $854 $107 13/8/25 9 Pacific Adventure Sydney Pacific Islands $854 $95 14/8/25 8 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $819 $102 25/8/25 10 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $1,019 $102 25/8/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 20/9/25 10 Pacific Encounter Brisbane Pacific Islands $1,058 $106 22/9/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 26/9/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 4/10/25 7 Pacific Encounter Brisbane Pacific Islands $759 $108 9/10/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 13/10/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 20/10/25 8 Pacific Adventure Sydney Pacific Islands $759 $95 28/10/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 10/11/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 17/11/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 24/11/25 8 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tasmania $806 $101 2/12/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 9/12/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 26/12/25 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 27/1/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 3/2/26 13 Pacific Encounter Brisbane Singapore (one way) $1,329 $102 3/2/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 5/3/26 9 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $979 $109 9/3/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 16/3/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 7/4/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 20/4/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 21/4/26 10 Pacific Encounter Brisbane Pacific Islands $1,091 $109 27/4/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 11/5/26 9 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $979 $109 25/5/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 1/6/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107 9/6/26 10 Pacific Encounter Brisbane PNG $1,091 $109 11/6/26 9 Carnival Splendor Sydney Pacific Islands $979 $109 18/6/26 4 Pacific Adventure Sydney Tangalooma $426 $107

We watched with interest as a Boarder Force agent spread white paper on the bench and then shook a basket over the paper. The basket ended up in a large plastic garbage bag with many similar baskets.

I’m slowly recovering from what I expect is influenza which I succumbed to on our recent cruise. In time, I'll try to give some tips for Papua New Guinea. It certainly is a beautiful and fascinating place. Lovely people who exist with very little material wealth. A third world country (is that term still politically correct? 🤷‍♂️) on our doorstep. We are keen to visit there again and hope that it continues to offered as a cruise destination. When we disembarked in Brisbane we noticed that many passengers submitted their souvenirs for inspection by Boarder Force. Timber carvings seemed allowed into the country without too much issue. Baskets were another matter and we observed several large transparent garbage bags of surrendered baskets. So our top tip for PNG would be, don’t buy the baskets!

OK! According to the Good Times of Wednesday 14th August, 2024, Embarkation Day of my recent cruise on the Pacific Encounter, the Waterfront was indeed open for lunch, 11:30am-1:30pm.

Have I mentioned how much I hate carrying my phone when I’m on a cruise?

I’ve been away! 🤣 Give me a couple of days…

Thanks for chipping in with the answer. DW was keen to go to the Pantry on Barking Day. I do know that the Waterfront was open for breakfast on Disemboweling Day but again, we took the Pantry option.

We disembarked on Saturday and drove home. Sunday morning I’m in the shower and I think, "You know, I could run ballroom dancing classes in here…" So spacious!

We were in an Oceanview Cabin, # 5333, and didn’t notice any maintenance issues in our cabin. Not that we were particularly looking for them! On the first night the cabin was very noisy, the worst we have ever had in all our years of cruising. It sounded like someone was continually dragging tables across the floor above us. There was some "motion in the ocean" and it turned out to be waves hitting the ship. We were in just the right (or wrong) spot! Fortunately it abated the next day and we didn’t hear the noise again until the last night when it returned but wasn’t as loud and was far less frequent. The other (minor) issue with this cabin is that it has those retro-fitted bunk beds on the walls. When I went down with what I think was the 'flu we asked to have the bed separated. It gave us so much more room and it was so much easier to get in and out of bed. We wished we had asked for the beds to be separated on the first night. In spite of getting sick, it was a great cruise. Bring on the next one!

I still reckon the interior designer was an absolute genius! How on earth they convinced someone to pay them actual money for THAT is beyond me! I wonder if they still have the giant fried eggs on the ceiling in the MDR. Eventually I twigged that they were supposed to be gold coloured pearls as the restaurant is called, "The Gold Pearl" but they still looked like fried eggs to me. 🤷‍♂️

We disembarked the Pacific Encounter this morning. She is looking pretty tired. Every time it rained there were buckets catching the drips. This has been an issue in the Pantry for sometime as evidenced by the rust patches on the ceiling. But I don’t recall seeing the entrance to the Encounter Hotel roped off due to leaks previously. Many of the seats in the Marquee Theatre are dilapidated. The carpets on the staircases are threadbare in patches and there just seems to be a lack of maintenance all over the ship. I hope they have time to give her some much needed TLC during the changeover. It seems a shame that she’s not going in for a full makeover.

Yes, I just listened to Adrian’s YouTube video update.

I’ve been compared to lots of things over the years but never to James Bond! 🤣🤣🤣