mr walker

15 hours ago, arxcards said:

I hate those longhaul flights Les. I even offered Barb a world cruise to avoid flying, but she insists on spending time in England so we will have to fly there before touring and cruising home.

Tracey is well & truly over long-haul flights & I am much the same way now - guess just 1 too many business trips to US (Dallas via LAX etc). Tracey's ancestry is Scottish & mine English & she would love to visit UK, but she's not going to fly that far. Guess I need to find a way to cruise there and back with maybe 6 weeks or so in UK???

Just saw a post by Norfolk Island Tourism on social media with video of the tendering process & the water looked very calm. The new island tenders were being used.

They posted that 1700 passengers visited the island today & they hoped they all had a good visit.

Miserable weather day today here - cold & rainy. No worries, a couple of 4&20 meat pies for lunch (with tomato sauce) & a nice mug of coffee 😁

On 6/26/2023 at 7:16 PM, NSWP said:

Have to agree with you Barry, tried about 5 insurance  companies, but have terminal cancer within, too expensive, if you can get it.  Oncologist gives me about 2 years. Happy I did about 30  cruises all over the world with my late wife. Just the odd road trip these days.

Stay safe mate, it is a jungle out there. Again thanks to all on here for their support. X😷

Sorry to hear that Les - we can only wish you the best mate.

Yes, it is great that you got to share your passion for cruising with your wife - great memories for sure.

Hope to catch up soon.

Cheers,

Neil & Tracey 

4 hours ago, Ozwoody said:

Pacific Explorer seems a long way from a  tender dock in the location shown, Main Dock is at Kingston on the southern side, and the other is on the eastern side in the cove.

 

Assuming the maps show the ship on its way its anchorage location further around.

The map shows the ship off Cascade Bay where the new pier was built, so I guess that's where they are tendering to, rather than at Kingston. The semi-circular bay on the east side is Ball Bay, where the fuel ships unload. 

We are hoping for good weather on our 23 Oct visit on the Pacific Adventure 🤞

Love locks & cute teddies are one thing, just hope they don't start copying the Cardrona bra fence in Otago NZ 😮

We have been on 3 Cruisin' Country cruises & the 2020 one was cancelled due to COVID. We will be following on from you on Brilliance on this years cruise 1st Dec.

Music charter cruises are different from 'regular' cruises as much of the cruise is focused on the multiple music events which for the Country cruises see music each day from say 10 am to 3am the next morning - I imagine the Blue Suede would be similar in that regard.

With existing cruise experience plus the music, it makes for a busy and most enjoyable week!!!! As they say, you can sleep when you get home 🙂 

Enjoy!!!!

Cheers,

Neil

We had party pies & sausage rolls as our traditional State of Origin Rugby League dinner last night. Unfortunately our team got beaten, but the food & beers were good 😊 

16 hours ago, NSWP said:

Shock, horror, media is reporting. 40% drop in sale of meat pies, get to it guys, get stuck into to ye olde dogs eyes, 🥧 food of the nation. Cruise ships should have them available every day. Perhaps we need a few Greggs shops here?

We're doing our bit in Penrith 🙂 

16 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Just be aware that once you reach the Hobbiton Tour Start, The Shire's Rest, you will change to the Hobbiton tour buses so your small group will probably be combined with other groups or individuals for the actual Hobbiton tour.

 

I hope you get to go there. It is a fascinating place to visit and very beautiful. 

When we did Hobbiton tour with Zealandia (10 pax in mini-bus), the driver/guide rang ahead and a Hobbiton guide met our bus and travelled with us to the tour start 

17 hours ago, valantine80 said:

We used NRMA insurance earlier in the year and they automatically provided a letter stating that we were covered for medical expenses, repatriation and Covid .

This is what we did also - we actually took out an annual policy with NRMA from Mar '23 - Mar '24 which will cover 4 cruises. I was concerned about having 'proof' of COVID cover, based on the messaging from P&O about New Caledonian requirements & reports of people being denied boarding in Sydney early in the 22-23 season. There were reports of people in the terminal trying to arrange cover to be able to board.

As you say, NRMA automatically provided a letter with the policy documents stating: 

Confirmation of International Travel Insurance with COVID-19 benefits This letter is provided to you in the event that you are required to show evidence of the COVID-19 coverage that is included in your insurance. For example, you may be travelling to a destination where the local government requires foreign visitors to have medical coverage for COVID-19 illness. We suggest that you check the requirements for the destination you are travelling to and keep a copy of this letter along with your Certificate of Insurance and Policy Wording that outlines the benefits available whilst travelling.

17 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

How much are washing machine and clothes dryer tokens? 
We disembarked the Pacific Encounter on Saturday. My onboard account arrived by email today and I can’t see where they’ve charged me for them. 🤷‍♂️

Likely there is another passenger complaining "what are these charges on my account - I never did any bl%$dy washing" 🙂  Say "thankyou" Sparky!!

good advice already given by other posters.

I recall reading of a case a few years ago where a NZ man who had been living in Australia, was detained by NZ authorities upon arrival in NZ on a cruise due to an outstanding matter in NZ. I remember his wife had the difficult/awkward decision of what to do - leave the ship with him or cruise on, on her own. It may have been that she didn't even know of the outstanding matter.

Best to sort out ahead of time if you can - as posted above it may even have expired by now.

3 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

We've made contact with Lyndon, we will go over to Vancouver to meet him on the 17th

That's great - hope you have a good catch-up. We will expect to see a photo 🙂 

13 hours ago, arxcards said:

 

I see quite a few port bookings in Sydney for February. Some fit gaps for heading to/from Melbourne, but not all. If they throw up a short one out of Sydney, I will take a closer look.

Would be good if one works for you - go all in & go for the Rockstar experience 😊

11 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Australia is a country of immigrants. I love the way each state has words unique to it.  One example is “port” short for portmanteau, which is a suitcase or school bag.

3 hours ago, Kristelle said:

that must be a Qld or all eastern states thing??

 

never heard anyone in SA call a  suitcase or bag a 'port'.

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Yes, it is widely used in Queensland, eg school port, port rack (where children store their ports), port (big suitcase).

My Dad (born 1930) grew up in Western Sydney & during his whole life, he and many of his contempories, always used the term port to describe the 'bag' they carried their belongings in when travelling. Of course, the port they had was maybe well less than half the size of the suitcases of today & no wheels, more like an oversized old fashioned school case.

I just mentioned this discussion with Tracey and she said her grandmother always used the word port also.

Dad also liked a drop of the other port 🙂 

Not too sure about influencers etc, but there was a recent documentary series filmed on the Virgin Scarlet Lady cruiseship operating out of Florida, which I viewed as very pro-Virgin. Ship looked great & there was red everywhere!

It was mostly focused on party, party, party, for the 'sailors' as they refer to passengers as. There was a particular emphasis on special hosts for the high paying sailors who they referred to as 'rockstars' who's every wish was granted.

I'm not sure that based on that, Virgin will be a good fit for us.

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I spotted this on FB.

The foibles of the English Language where some rules have too many exceptions! 🤣

When I was in school, I still recall a teacher tried to 'justify' the spelling variances with the oft-repeated phrase "it's the exception that proves the rule". 50+ years later the explanation makes no more sense today than it did then!!!

2 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

I’m going to be fit by the end of the cruise from pushing DW in the wheelchair!

We’re on board, have our suitcases, and are seated in the Waterfront Restaurant waiting for lunch. 

Enjoy your cruise!!!!

15 hours ago, yarramar said:

 

Double post

15 hours ago, yarramar said:

There never were 12 "apostles". Just nine originally.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Apostles_(Victoria)

I always thought that 2 were lost, leaving 7 and then London Bridge collapsed making the 8th. I may be wrong.

We did a GOR trip when in Melb on Melb Cup cruise in 2015. Our tour guide told us that there was never 12, as you wrote, & that the organisers of the 1956 Olympics made up the '12 Apostles' as it sounded good & they were desperate to have some tourist attractions to attract people to come to Melb for the games.

We live at Penrith, just near the foothills of the Blue Mountains.

The tour we would suggest is with:

www.bluemountainstours.com.au

It is owned by Graham Chapman, known far & wide as Chapo, who's somewhat of a local legend in the Penrith/Blue Mountains area. I am positive he will arrange a tour you will long remember.

On 5/26/2023 at 6:29 PM, NSWP said:

Well after all this time, Premier Minns said Proposed cruise terminal at Yarra Bay on Botany Bay is canned.  State Govt going to negotiate further with Federal Govt re Garden Island Facilities. Good luck 🤣

Any work on any terminal in any location would be at least 2 elections away, so any announcement now by the current incumbents is not of much consequence.

2 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I think the main reason the navy wants to stay is for the good supply of trades and maintenance companies.

A service personnel mate of mine, now retired, told me years ago that the defence dept will never give up their prime spot there. He called them the chair polishers, all after a spot of the prime location to serve out the rest of their career.

Spoke today with my colleague from work who was onboard, 2 decks below the fire. They had gone to bed at 12:30am to be awaken at 3:30am & were held at muster station until around 5:30. They decided not to go back to bed & kicked on.

Seems no investigation is necessary 😮as the experts on board have already spread the word. It is widely reported onboard that the fire started from a cigarette in the bed when the person fell asleep. They then opened the balcony door to try and stop the fire, which caused the fire to erupt.

Anyway, who knows what happened? 

My colleague advises that her partner on the cruise, on his first ever cruise, has categorically ruled out ever going on another cruise 🙂