mr walker

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

Ah, these days I can only dream. At least in my retirement apartment here I have a balcony with river view and a shower cubicle with a grab handle just like a cruise ship shower, I say. lol. I just pretend I am on a Princess cruise ship, going nowhere, lol.  But not complaining, I have done a lot of travel/cruising since I retired aged 55, 20 years ago.

I reckon the drinks are a lot cheaper in your place than onboard mate, so that must be a plus 🙂 

Yes, you did make the most of the time you had travelling - good luck to you. I know you have some great memories.

Cheers

42 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We did well in morning trivia, not so well in progressive trivia but the question were harder.

 

Is progressive trivia going to be every seaday as it often is on other cruises? That's going to be an awful lot of questions with what 70+ sea days on your trip 😮 Maybe a few repeat questions?? 🙂

What time was sail away scheduled. On Ch9 news it shows ship still berthed?

ENJOY your cruise - we will be following along Cheers Neil & Tracey 

On 4/20/2024 at 1:24 PM, MicCanberra said:

We have been visited by the upgrade fairy many many years ago, however I think Covid killed it.

As I understand it, the Upgrade Fairy was superseded by the Upsell Fairy

We are currently traveling back from QLD & are in TamworthNSW where I attended the Dawn Service this morning instead of usual home venue of Penrith. Good turnout & lovely service.

Lest we forget

On 4/16/2024 at 8:28 AM, Blackduck59 said:

Hey Mic, thanks for asking. I have had a bit of enforced absence from here. Spring has sprung and all is abloom.

I had a bit of a spectacular fall last week and have had a few days of work. My ribs are sore but I hope to get back to work tomorrow.

I fell on Tuesday and didn't go to work since then. I already had Thursday and Friday booked off; Lynn's nephew came to be with us as we travelled to Vancouver to inter Granny's ashes as she had wanted. It was a sad reason for a good visit.

Lynn is still working through her grief, she is okay most of the time, but now and then she has a moment. As unfortunate as my fall was it has made it so I can be around for her a few extra days.

Strewth mate, you two take care of yourselves & get better soon.

I hope the rainfall does not meet the maximums predicted & I hope everyone stays safe & any flood damage minimized. 
 

We’re hoping it clears by Sunday as we head off to QLD from Sydney for a driving holiday, including a family wedding in Sunshine Coast next week.

good luck all.

1 hour ago, jonesboy said:

...... Every time we have gone on Quantum from Brisbane it has been very full indeed so I would need some hard data around not being able to fill the ship. Our latest cruise had no discounts as I tracked prices monthly post booking almost 2 years earlier to see if I could jag a lower price. Our particular extended balcony cabin went up 60% by the week before sailing. 

Almost every ship sails 'full' or close to it. When people talk about filling the ship, they are talking about selling it out at 'full' price. Unsold cabins are filled by discounting, some of which is not visible to all. TA's have clients who can sail at short notice at the right price and this fills unsold cabins.

An old rule of thumb is that 80% of cabins sold at regular prices meets the costs of the cruise, the other 20% can be filled below 'cost' as those passengers will drink, take excursions etc which provides the all important revenue.

I have been receiving emails from RC once or twice a week for months offering special deals - they are always for Quantam out of Brisbane, not for Ovation out of Sydney. 

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Their stock has dropped nearly 12% since the story broke.

Might be the time for savvy investors to buy in - in the 21st century the (bad) news cycle is very short. And no, I'm not going to invest 🙂

Getting that close to Sydney, and turning back, is almost like teasing the passengers hoping to board now on Sunday 😮

Hope all goes well.

5 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

 

A$230 pn for presumably an IC for the Anthem cruise is certainly showing that cruise costs are high. Gone are the days of a $200 balcony 😞 Lucky we get the C&A 'price' for drinks 🙂 

Between 2014 & 2018 we travelled to Norfolk Island each year.

The little dog was always there upon arrival sniffing around. The dog detected something with a woman's bag just along the line from us. The officer asked two or three times if she had any food. She replied "no" each time, and was becoming a bit annoyed & her husband also asked her about whether she had anything. A banana was located in her bag, she said she didn;t remember having it, and then her & her husband had 'words' - not a great start to a holiday on NI!

On 4/2/2024 at 9:22 PM, cruisermsoon said:

Grand Princess arrives back in Sydney on 22nd November 2025 and will mostly be cruising out of Brisbane until early April 2026.

I hope it arrives back in Sydney before 22 Nov - we are booked 37N roundtrip from Sydney departing 16 Oct 🙂 

16 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

When it comes to ports, there is no way to tell if port of starboard is best, because you don't know which way the ship will be facing when it docks.  It might back into the dock, for example.

Imagine my surprise when we awoke in Noumea, expecting our starboard balcony view to be out over the beautiful harbour & city, only to see piles of ore & an ugly cargo vessel. Never expected that the master would have chosen to reverse park 😮

17 hours ago, buchhalm said:

.....ONE Elvis (or any other) tribute act per cruise is fine. But an entirely impersonater cruise sounds like hell to me. Something for the die-hard fans only.

Agree on that for sure. Whilst Elvis was the King, and we have enjoyed 'Elvis shows' over the years on land and at sea, I can't imagine enjoying a whole cruise entertainment schedule being Elvis' or perhaps it's Elvises or Elvii??

We have done a number of country music themed cruises, but a variety of artists, even in the same genre, would be our choice. Slim or Willie of even Dolly every day would not work!!

Happy Easter to all here on CC - may you day be enjoyable & celebrate whatever Easter means to you. Enjoy your day - we have our adult sons coming today for a lunch get together. I told them it will involve drinking beer, eating food & Easter Eggs - a real Aussie event. 🙂 

On our recent Majestic Princess cruise we saw a great Elvis show - by a kiwi by the name of Che Orton. He was billed as having recently been named as in the top 5 Elvis acts worldwide & won the Parkes 'Elvis' event this year. He is to travel to US to represent Australia in an Elvis competition.

He did a second show as himself & is a great entertainer. 

He was so good as Elvis, that I think some onboard thought he was the real Elvis 🙂 

We thought the 'stadium-style' seating in 'Live' on Majestic was really good in fitting the crowd in for trivia, games shows etc. The design provided much more capacity than other lounges in a wide range of ships (Princess & others) typically used for these types of activities. Many venues have oversized furniture which is suited for drinking and talking, but severely restricts the number of punters for trivia etc due to the space the furniture takes up.

I do accept Julie's point about the design making it less than perfect to teams of 4-6 to sit around for the quiz, but for the 2 of us, and for groups of 3-4, it worked well & a lot more players can take part.

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

Royal was the first Royal class ship built. The bars/lounges and theatre are too small and there is no promenade deck. The Explorers Bar has been replaced by a lecture theatre style area which is a bit strange. 

Is that ‘Princess Live’ venue as on Majestic?

OK I see that Geoff already answered 😁

12 hours ago, arxcards said:

I am starting to smell methane in here already, from a different source of emission.

Methane & methanol are not the same thing 🙂 

That said, it would be a good thing if a cruise-ship could be powered by methane - a herd of cows down on deck 0 could power the ship & provide milk and beef. The by-product may present an issue though - perhaps they would need to be housed on the poop deck! 😮

58 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Indeed Neil. Now Penriff Panthers, stayed in their cabins near the club some 30 years ago on a Traffic Seminar. Hospitality was great, lol.

I’m sure a good time was had by all mate. 
 

The club & surrounding area has changed a bit since then, but it is still Penriff. It’s funny that the Penriff name started as an insult by others, but now is celebrated with pride 😁

You’ll have to come by sometime to check it out - my shout!!! Cheers 

40 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Tut Tut Linda, the Batehaven Bakery is just down the road from your holiday house, lol. You had better take Mr and Mrs Duck down there next year.   Couple of Bakeries/pie shops in Moruya, but no GF ones.

I'm thinking that Lyle & Lynn may get a chance for a pie at Harry's at the Panthers Club on their visit here next year 🙂 So then they can compare with Batehaven Bakery 🙂 

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.

4 minutes ago, Ned49 said:

We mostly do a similar thing, I was only asking what currency to use, not whether I should tip or not. Some people obviously have strong views on not tipping. 

Yes, & I saw that others had answered with good advice on what you asked. Then....................

Enjoy your cruise and so whatever you are happy to do.