Sparky74

More years ago than I'd like to admit, I donned this for a fancy dress party.

Some people call the toilet "the john" but I’ve named mine, Jim. Now I can say that I go to the Jim (gym) every morning!

I’m still considering options for one night precruise in November. I’ve very "price driven" (some may say cheap 😱) but I’m leaning towards the Rendezvous. It will be our 15th wedding anniversary so I'm prepared to pay a little more. We have stayed at the Southern Cross Hotel in the past. We have an evening Harbour Bridge climb booked and I figure that the Rendezvous will be convenient for both that and the OPT. If we stay out of the CBD it will cost us money and time for transport. I've noticed that prices tend to go down closer to the time, as long as there’s not high demand caused a special event, long weekend, school holidays, etc. So I'm holding off a bit before I book. This strategy saved me $20 on our Brisbane hotel. Of course, prices could also go up or you could miss out. 🤷‍♂️

Well, that depends how far you’re willing to walk. 😉 I have walked from the Ibis Budget to the Domestic Terminal with luggage but I wouldn’t particularly recommend it.

A very financially savvy friend has been happy with his "Up Card" but I think it’s a debit card rather than a credit card.

That’s what I call it! 🤣

Yes. In 2022 we did a 3 night comedy cruise as part of our “Are We Mad” trip and were very impressed with both the food and the service in Angelo’s. So much so that we asked to talk to the Head Waiter and we told him how impressed we were. This last cruise the crew just seemed to be going through the motions but if it was the end of contract for many of them they may have been in wind down mode. Anyway, it was still a good break. And I’m looking forward to this next one next week.

We were on the Pacific Encounter last month for a short 3 night comedy cruise. We ate dinner in each of the restaurants. Service was abysmal on the first night in Angelo’s. The other two nights in Dragon Lady and the Waterfront service was prompt enough but lacked the usual friendliness. Food in the restaurants and buffet was acceptable but felt like it was massed produced to a price. Our stateroom was serviced twice a day but the stewards never even introduced themselves. Things just felt a little “off”. Nothing we could really put our finger on but the crew seemed to lack the usual “sparkle”. We wondered if it was because of the impending brand change of maybe because it was such a short cruise. When we disembarked in Brisbane we noticed quite a number of new staff members waiting to board so that may have had something to do with it. 🤷‍♂️ It will be interesting to compare it to next week’s cruise which is 10 nights to PNG.

I’ll be on the Pacific Encounter in 9 days. 😁

We’ve stayed at the Meriton Serviced Appartments at Mascot and were very happy. It’s a short Uber ride to the airport. But I agree with the idea of staying in the CBD. I've also stayed at the Ibis Budget near the Domestic Airport. It was fine for the price and convenient as we had an early morning flight but I’m not sure that anyone would stay there more than one night. Cruise ship bathrooms are quite spacious in comparison to theirs!

I just looked down and noticed my T-shirt. I'm not sure why CC is turning the photo upside down.

I think when I looked recently it was about $22/person for the train from the airport to Circular Quay. An Uber from the Domestic Airport to Rendezvous Hotel (near the Overseas Passenger Terminal) looked to be about $40. All prices are Australian Dollars. YMMV In my experience taxi drivers do accept tap n go. With Uber I’ve always paid via the app. Back in 2022 we took an Uber from the OPT to the Domestic Airport when we disembarked from our transPacific cruise. There was an Uber pickup area right outside the terminal building with plenty of drivers waiting.

When I priced it out, Uber was actually cheaper than the train for 2 people. YMMV

I’ve heard that some people still use cash. 🙄 I use my credit card for almost everything these days. As long as it’s a MasterCard or Visa you should be fine. American Express isn’t as widely accepted. Oh, and our cards have a chip for contactless or "tap and go" payment.

The train would be one option. Your hotel is close to Wynyard Station and the OPT is right by Circular Quay Station. However there is a hefty surcharge as the airport stations are privately owned. Have you considered Uber?

I’m not a beer drinker but I think I’d struggle to drink 3 litres of ANYTHING. Shared by a group it makes much more sense. 😎

3 litre?! 😱

True but I was surprised by some of the cruiselines represented and the number of closed loop cruises on this list. In addition to MSC there’s quite a few sailings on UK P&O Azura as well as a peppering from RCI, X (with some creative spelling 🤦‍♂️), and Princess. Of course, one needs to factor in the airfare but several people have pointed out that they fly to Sydney or Brisbane to board a ship anyway. I stopped at $100/person/night on this list while on the more local list I went up to $120/person/night. It just goes to show that there ARE bargains still to be had. Whether or not those particular cruises work for you is another matter entirely. And we aren’t doing too badly here in Australia compared with O/S. Anyway, it's a fun exercise and I hope others find it interesting and/or helpful.

Here's my updated list of cheapest overseas cruises. Remember that you may need to add a daily service fee or gratuities. Date Nights Ship From To Interior Daily 1/9/24 7 MSC Seashore Port Canaveral Bahamas $680 $97 13/9/24 9 Serenade of the Seas Tampa Western Caribbean $813 $90 15/9/24 7 MSC Seashore Port Canaveral Bahamas $680 $97 22/9/24 7 Grandeur of the Seas Boston Canada $651 $93 29/9/24 7 MSC Seashore Port Canaveral Bahamas $700 $100 6/10/24 7 Grandeur of the Seas Boston Canada $673 $96 10/10/24 8 P&O Azura Valletta Santa Cruz de Tenerife (one way) $699 $87 27/10/24 14 Grandeur of the Seas Le Havre Fort-de-France (one way) $1,361 $97 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) $913 $65 9/11/24 14 MSC Virtuosa Le Havre Fort-de-France (one way) $1,361 $97 10/11/24 16 Caribbean Princess Rome (Civitavecchia) Fort Lauderdale (one way) $1,331 $83 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 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 14 Nieuw Statendam Rome (Civitavecchia) Fort Lauderdale (one way) $1,239 $89 16/11/24 16 MSC Grandiosa Genoa Salvador (one way) $1,407 $88 16/11/24 19 MSC Grandiosa Genoa Rio de Janeiro (one way) $1,791 $94 16/11/24 21 MSC Grandiosa Genoa Santos (Sao Paulo) (one way) $2,027 $97 17/11/24 18 MSC Grandiosa Marseille Rio de Janeiro (one way) $1,693 $94 17/11/24 20 MSC Grandiosa Marseille Santos (Sao Paulo) (one way) $1,909 $95 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) $1,841 $97 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) $1,502 $88 4/12/24 18 Island Princess Rome (Civitavecchia) Fort Lauderdale (one way) $1,781 $99 6/12/24 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $679 $97 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 18/1/25 7 P&O Azura Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands $679 $97 21/1/25 14 Majestic Princess Fort Lauderdale Caribbean $1,169 $84 9/3/25 15 Sky Princess Fort Lauderdale Southampton (one way) $1,416 $94 24/3/25 15 Emeral Princess Fort Lauderdale Rome/Civitavecchia (one way) $1,300 $87 12/4/25 16 Celbrity Constellation Tampa Rome/Civitavecchia (one way) $1,504 $94 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 7/5/25 6 Royal Princess Los Angeles Vancouver (one way) $559 $93 8/10/25 21 Regal Princess Southampton Galveston (one way) $2,040 $97 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

Yes, I’m tempted by the Princess WC sector also. But we're taking all of this years holidays in the second half of the year so I'll think we’ll stick with our Asian plans for 2025 st this stage. And yes, it will be interesting to see what happens to P&O prices after March. I think I listed the 28 cheapest (/person/day) Australian cruises above (I stopped at $120pppd) and apart from two Princess itineraries, they’re all P&O cruises. The cheapest cruise on a Carnival branded ship on my list is 3 nights Sydney to Brisbane on the Carnival Luminonsa on 7th November 2024 at $125/person/night ($374/person). I expect P&O fares will increase once they stop charging for Eggs Benedict, etc. 🤷‍♂️

That’s no a track I’ve gone down as it’s usually just DW & me in the cabin. Maybe one of the online cruise TAs might have that as a search parameter. 🤷‍♂️

This thread has prompted me to post an updated cruise bargains list on the El Cheapo Cruises Thread. The cost of everything has gone up (I really notice it at the supermarket) but there are still some cruises to be had for less than $120/person/day.