Sparky74

We need to be but it’s not easy! 😬🤷‍♂️ In other news, DW has been struggling with a painful ankle since last year. This week an ultrasound revealed that the problem is inflamed tendons. The podiatrist, physiotherapist, and GP all agree that she needs to wear a moon boot for the next 4 weeks. It’s been ordered so hopefully she gets it fitted early next week. I’m thinking that we won’t be doing the bicycle/hiking excursion that we booked in Alaska and that maybe I should request a wheelchair for the flights as well as cruise embarkation.

Hang in there! It may not feel like it at the moment but you can do this! I've lived on this planet for over 48 years. I’ve had some pretty rough experiences (although they do pale in comparison to what some people go through) but so far I have a 100% success rate of surviving the day. Hopefully you will be more comfortable tonight. Do you have a plan for the rest of today? Why not do something fun with this extra day in Brisbane? I’m not sure what floats your boat but I’d check out the free Museum of Brisbane (in City Hall) and/or find a Max Brenner or San Churros. Chocolate ALWAYS helps! The late Jeanne Robertson talked about trying to find the humour in difficult situations. She once found herself in an "interesting" situation when she left it to her husband to book accommodation. Perhaps this video may help relieve some tension.

She’s much better and certainly out of isolation but not quite 100%. Thanks for asking. 😁

Instead of hijacking this tread, I’ve replied here:

Well, it’s now 33 days until we fly to Seattle to begin our "Mad Multi-Cruise Itinerary". Yes, @Cbtours, I’ve started packing. Well, I’ve thrown a few things into the suitcase. It’s less than 3 weeks since we disembarked the Coral Princess and I did suggest to DW that we just leave our bags packed. one of my major stressors at the moment is the state of our house. It’s messy at the best of times. The biggest issue is we have too much stuff! We have a retired couple who are filling in for us while we're away (we're Salvation Army officers) and they will also live in our house for 8 weeks so it’s got to be sorted. At the moment I’m chucking out something everyday. To further complicate matters our complex suffered severe storm damage a few months ago, with 2’ (600mm) through the place. As well as being in the middle of a massive insurance claim and building restoration, a bunch of stuff we salvaged is still at our place! The photo is the current state of our dining room table! 😱🤷‍♂️ It’s all a bit overwhelming but we will get there. Little by little. I'll keep you all updated.

It sounds like you mightn’t get to board until tomorrow! 😱☹️ Maybe you need to go exploring and sus out suitable accommodation for tonight? 🤷‍♂️

Thanks for the updates, everyone. I’m following with interest. Hopefully the ship can dock safely today and the next lot of passengers can board albeit a day and a half late. It can’t be fun for anyone. Not fun for the incoming the passengers upset at not being able to board yesterday. Not fun for the staff at the terminal. Not fun for the passengers still on the ship. Not fun for the crew (just imagine having to return everyone’s luggage!) Not fun for Princess. It’s a timely reminder to me that thinks can and will go wrong especially when travelling. It’s now only 33 days until DW and I set off on our "Mad Itinerary". I need to remember to roll with the punches. The most important thing for me to take on holiday (and everywhere in life really) is my PMA.

What the protocols say and what happens in practice can be two different things. I think @Cbtours said that they only did an initial RAT and weren’t required to one at the start of each cruise on their recent B2B2B… on the Coral Princess.

We’ve always booked inferior, I mean interior, cabins but if it’s only a couple of hundred more we’ll go oceanview as we do like having natural light; waking up and knowing that it’s tomorrow and not still the middle of the night. I did surprise DW with a junior suite for her 40th birthday. And when we did B2B on Carnival the price was so cheap that we went balcony. but we’ve always said that we’d prefer to sail twice a year with an inside cabin than only once a year with a balcony. JMHO We are making up for lost time and have 4 cruises booked for this year (our "Mad" Trip) and another for February. Pricing structures seem to have changed, or maybe I’ve just struck good sales, as we’ve booked balcony cabins for all of these. idid mention to DW my concern that we may be turning into "balcony people". 🤣🤷‍♂️

Try this link. https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/travel/cruising-rules

I guess it would be racist to suggest it is an American trait.

And here’s the excursions that Princess offers in Airlie Beach. Again, Carnival will offer similar excursions.

Here’s the excursions that Princess offers in Cairns. Carnival will offer similar excursions.

DW and I are to sail on the 23 night Carnival Splendor transpacific cruise which arrives in Sydney on Friday 30th September. As far as I can tell this is the first ship scheduled to arrive from overseas with passengers onboard. Im part of a group on another social media platform for people on this cruise (and I’m certainly not promoting that group). Many of the Americans in that group are far from "well aware" about many matters. The term "clueless" seems more appropriate. There have been repeated questions about visas and many are shocked to learn that they need to apply for an ETA and pay the nominal fee. Many have been horrified to learn that because of previous convictions they are ineligible for an ETA and have to apply for an actual visa. The surprises keep coming when they learn that Australian shops and businesses don’t accept US Dollars and that our powerpoints are different from theirs. And then there are the people who have booked a Sydney hotel for three days before they fly home to the USA and want to visit the Blue Mountains, Uluru, and the Great Barrier Reef!

Or perhaps the cruise lines need to be doing cash for comment more frequently? 🤷‍♂️

"transmitting "?!

Even this nutty Canadian gets that the Aussie mania is blowing it out of all proportion:

At least I didn’t sing it! There were months and months when singing in church was banned in NSW as it was classified as a high risk activity.

So that brings it to a total of 14? Out of 2,000 passengers? That’s only 0.7% Back when I worked in aged care if less than 1% of the residents caught a contagious disease it wouldn’t even register as an outbreak and we’d all be patting ourselves on the back that we’d done such a great job containing it.

Many passengers wouldn’t mourn the loss of Noumena as a port of call. I hasten to add that we’ve had some great days at Noumea. I think that you need to have a plan, whether that be a shore excursion booked through the ship or something else. It’s not a great port to just get off and wander IMHO. YMMV HOWEVER, it’s my understanding that apart from anything else the ships are able to take on good quality water at Noumena. I have no evidence to back this up and can site no sources but it’s what someone told me. 🤷‍♂️

That really wouldn’t make any difference to me! 🤣

This morning a friend sent an sms asking if it was the Coral Princess that I had recently been on. I was able to correct some of the impressions given by the sensationalism of the media. Upon learning about the number of crew testing positive vs the number of passengers, he suggested that to avoid infection one should stay away from the crew. 🤣

I thought you’d be impressed by that, Irene. 🤣

Amber status which means 30-99 positive cases per 1,000 people on board. https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/travel/cruising-rules