Sparky74

In Australia we use 240 volts. An adapter will allow you to plug your appliance into an Australian socket but will not change the voltage.

Surely they won’t do alternate day bacon AND charge for Eggs Benedict. 😱

One of my other issues is that I can talk the leg off an iron pot. It’s nice to have someone to chat to at breakfast.

DW's sister is on that cruise at the moment but they missed Norfolk Island due to the weather. 😱

I tend to got to the MDR for breakfast. I ask for a shared table and enjoy conversation. It’s much more civilised having someone bring breakfast to me. And I eat less than I would at the buffet. DW is a late riser and will wander up to the buffet fir her own breakfast when she’s up.

Bacon is, however, available for breakfast every morning in the MDR apparently. Go figure. 🤷‍♂️ Last time I was on Carnival they wanted me to make a booking for breakfast at the MDR but I refuse to carry my phone around on a cruise. For me, one of the (many) things I enjoy about cruising is disconnecting and getting away from screens. I stood my ground and just turned up for breakfast each morning and told them they could book me in. DW thinks I can be a bit bloody minded at times… 🤔

I was recently reminded that on Carnival bacon is only available every second morning at breakfast in the buffet. I wonder if that will be the case on the Encounter and Adventure going forward. 🤔

DW rolls her eyes at Kevin & Janetta. They sometimes forget to pack their PMA. The other night the show featured Tasmania. Kevin & Janetta were NOT impressed when they discovered they were going caravanning. 🤣

Well that explains it. No balcony or plus package for us!

Until you start pricing other holiday options. Then you realise that cruises still are a relatively cheap holiday.

Good grief! We’re paying about half that! And I thought that was pricey enough. 😱

Next year we’re cruising from Singapore to Brisbane on the Crown Princess. I've just been looking at the itinerary and apart from KL, the ports all seem a bit "ho hum". I don’t mean to offend anyone or dis their hometown or favourite place and I’m sure we’ll find something interesting to do but the ports are all places we’ve visited before. KL, Beno, and then capital cities: Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Newcastle (not a capital), and Brisbane. If you were in charge of Princess deployment, what additional ports would you add to this itinerary, even if it extended the length of the cruise?

Another option to consider if transiting would be an airport lounge. Many international airports (and lots of domestic ones) have lounges that you can pay to access. They often have complimentary food available and some even have showers. Some are operated by airlines but you don’t necessarily have to be flying with that particular airline. I’ve not used a lounge at the Sydney airport but my wealthy aunt often flys (business class) with QANTAS and will use their lounge.

Many years ago someone gave me the following packing strategy: 1. Pack your bag a fortnight before your trip. 2. A week later unpack the bag and only repack half of what we’re you originally going to take. 3. Just before you head out the door, put you hand in the bag and pull out three things at random and leave them at home but throw in some extra money. I’ve never been game enough to employ this strategy, I am tending to pack less. And it’s much easier to pack when you don’t have to utilise every square millimetre of the suitcase! However, I like to read on a cruise. Real paper books, not from a device. So I tend to fill the extra space in my bag with books from the op shop and donate them to the ship's "library".

We visited Darwin in July 2018 with my extended family. One day we visited a crocodile park in town and did the extras like feeding the crocs and we got to hold little ones and other reptiles. We did NOT do the cage swim with them! The following day we did a crocodile boat tour on the Mary? River. It was interesting seeing the crocs in the wild having seen them in captivity and learnt a lot about them the day before. Before driving back in to Darwin we popped into the Window on the Wetlands Visitor Centre. We weren’t sure if it was going to be worth calling in but there was no admission charge so… And boy, we’re we surprised! It was a very educational and interactive experience. I think we spent over an hour there and could have spent longer. It is a bit of a step from town, though; out past Humpty Doo. Worth a visit if your heading out in that direction. https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/446817/window-on-the-wetlands.pdf

Or a hot tub has a combination of hot water and agitation. I can imagine the agitation if someone found my smalls in the hot tub. 🤣🤣🤣

Even though I wear a beard (sometimes just a goatee) I shave my neck each morning. I used to use a shave stick and shaving brush, even at home, but they got hard to find. I now use the liquid hand soap that sits in a dispenser on our bathroom vanity at home and is usually wall mounted on a ship. No need to lather it; just smear some on. Shower gel, shampoo, and even conditioner all work for me. YMMV One less thing to pack!

Oh, that takes me back! Growing up in Queensland in the late 70s and 80s they were always called "togs" or "swimming togs". DW is from NSW and calls them "bathers". These days we mostly call them "swimmers". DW gets cranky if I refer to "peanut paste" so I’ve learnt to call it "peanut butter" even though it still sounds American to me. 🤷‍♂️

The thread I started has a spinoff thread?! 😱 That must make me a proud grandparent! 😁

Well, I can’t speak for everyone but I put on clean underwear and a clean shirt everyday. I might get a couple of days out of a pair of shorts or trousers if I’m not sweating or getting dirty. And I certainly shower every day. 🤷‍♂️

I don’t think DW would be impressed if I started wearing sequins and costume jewellery! 😱

Our company used to own holiday houses/units which we could rent at very reasonable rates (less than $90/night!) It was one of our best kept secrets. 🤣 Then the economic rationalists decided to sell them off. 🥺 Oh well, it was good while it lasted. 🤷‍♂️ I did fall in love with Margate Beach (just North of Brisbane). Every time we consider other holiday options I get sticker shock and book a cruise instead. 😁 We really do live a privileged life compared to previous generations and the majority on the planet today. Our past cruises and future plans are listed in my signature.

I’m curious as to the advantage of this gadget over hand washing. 🤔

Back in my single days I travelled to the UK on Royal Brunei Airlines. On the return leg I booked into a hotel room in the Brunei airport during my transit. This is the ONLY time I’ve stayed in a room with an hour rate! 😱

We’ve just booked a 7 night RCI cruise to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary in November. That means no self-service laundry and no Carnival shareholder OBC. 😱 But as Diamond C&A members I guess we'll get 4 drinks/day each; not bad for a couple of teetotallers. 😁 I'll have to decide if we pack enough clothes (we will be flying to and from Sydney), or hand wash, or pay 😱 to have laundry done. I wear button up shirts, not T-shirts, and I don’t think they qualify for the wash n fold special.