mr walker

On 3/22/2023 at 8:39 AM, NSWP said:

Having some rugged days, forget about moving forward, I am moving backwards !  

As others have posted Les, sorry to read this. Take care mate & all the best.

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Battling on Linda, I go out a little, treatment is a pain, but will do it until I have had enough.  Moruya Hospital  Cancer Care Centre staff are brilliant, oncologists, nurses, admin.

 

Thanks for your concerns.

Keep on plugging on mate. I'll have a drink to your health on our cruise departing tomorrow. Maybe with Chilli who will also be on board. 

Our friends we are cruising with just got back from visiting their daughter down at Merimbula - she works at the airport down there.

Hope to get down the coast after Easter and maybe catch up.

Cheers, Neil & Tracey 

1 hour ago, GUT2407 said:

.....I guarantee you no one will say Foster’s in spite of most of the world thinking it is popular here.

100% right. 

Many years ago I knew a Scotsman who one night was at the Panthers club as a rep for Fosters, supplying free samples to encourage people to drink Fosters. He approached us & we all said no way would we drink Fosters - he said "it's free". We all replied that we wouldn't drink Fosters if you paid us 🙂 

Everyone I've ever met in USA thinks everyone in Australia drinks Fosters!  One guy took me to a bar specially because they served Fosters & couldn't believe that it was not a beer that Aussies drink!

1 hour ago, GUT2407 said:

Gave up drinking yonks ago, but a black might tempt me today at Dad’s wake, it was his beer of choice.

Sorry to hear about your Dad. Yes, maybe a Black in his honour would be good.

My Dad, who passed in 2016, was an Old drinker, and that passed onto me, but I only like a draught Black, not so much the bottled variety. So a crownie for me when drinking at home 🙂 

19 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

It the way it looks to me .

If you had 5 adults in a cabin, you can have 5 bottles and a real party.

and a queue for the single bathroom 🙂 

I think you can walk to OPT quicker than a taxi will take you, as the taxi will need to take a roundabout route with one-way streets, and likely delays with traffic, including entering the OPT.

The walk would be easy with no uphill sections & you'll likely be able to see the ship all along your walk. That said, I can't imagine the fare would be more than $10-15 - check with the hotel concierge. 

I would work on 30 minutes (depends on traffic) & the fare in a range A$60-80

18 hours ago, Worldtraveler 4727 said:

 

In addition, we will cruise Dunedin (Port Chalmers), Christchurch (Lyttleton), Picton Wellington, Tauranga, Auckland, and Bay of Islands, so if anyone has any "must see" private tours they would recommend and provide a link to, we would be much obliged. 

For Dunedin, I thoroughly recommend Russ at Tourworks 'Dunedin Mainland Peninsula Tour'

 Dunedin Mainland Peninsula Tour » Tourworks

It was a great day & a great tour, seeing the city & the scenery and wildlife. 

If you have interest in LOTR, I suggest you take a tour to Hobbiton from Tauranga - we used Zealandia tours and they were excellent Homepage - Zealandier Tours

Cheers,

Neil

They must have been following along! I received email overnight updating C&A benefits:

Emerald Members and Above:

SAY HELLO TO MORE WATER

We’re thrilled to announce you’ll no longer have to pre-select your welcome beverage prior to your sailing. You will now receive additional complimentary water bottles in your stateroom in place of the welcome beverage benefit — so you can stay hydrated everywhere you go. The complimentary waters benefit will begin March 10, 2023.

Diamond Members and Above:

CRYSTAL BLOCKS, NOW IN COLOR

This spring, we’ll debut brand new, full-color crystal blocks! We’ll be saying goodbye to current designs over the next several months as we transition to our new look. Members receive their first crystal block at 140 cruise points and earn subsequent blocks for every 70 points thereafter.

UNCORK MORE SAVINGS

Raise a glass and toast to deliciously crafted complimentary cocktails up to $14* or a tempting discount on your favorite bottle of wine — 20% off bottles over $100 and 40% off bottles under $100. The discounted wine benefit will take effect starting March 10, 2023.

*(Sailings out of Singapore, the beverage value is $13. Sailings out of Australia have a beverage value of $15)

Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Members:

NEW AMENITIES NOW AVAILABLE

Your favorite amenities are back in stock — plus we’ve added new ones! We’re introducing stylish new toiletry bags and upgraded totes to help you pack for your next adventure. These new amenities will become available starting March 10, 2023.

FULL AMENITIES

FULL BENEFITS

As always, we thank you for your loyalty and for being a valued part of our Royal Caribbean family.

Sincerely,

Crown & Anchor Society

5 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I think it’s $14 per drink  but I haven’t heard of anyone paying extra.

I was getting double gentleman jacks with coke and didn’t get charged.
A tip goes a long way.

Hi Chilli, so it's any drink up to a value, correct? 

When the D drinks on your card was first started, the bars would have a list of the drinks you could get as your 'voucher' drink, &, in particular for beers, you could only get the drinks on offer in DL during happy hour ie Heineken or Bud or similar, not a good option for someone who drinks actual beer 🙂 

Just planning for Saturday week!!

Terry from Ohio did a report on his trip which was a very comprehensive & interesting one, few years ago & has continued to update.

I'm not sure how to link it, but this is copied from an alert from one of his posts:

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

I will get to the requests if I can. 

 

We have recently turned for a medevac

Is it just me, or has there been so many more medivacs this season so far?

Sad that you couldn't do the cruise mate, but a road trip sounds like a winner to me. You get to see some great places, find some pies & take Maxy - win/win/win.

We did a great trip last year, stopping at Jervis Bay, Bateman's Bay (bonus there catching up with Les), Merimbula & then inland thru Cooma, Tumut & Wagga & then back home to Penrith!

Take care. Cheers

On 2/16/2023 at 7:51 PM, gbenjo said:

Let me know if you want to check in earlier.

It’s OK thanks. We are traveling with another couple & have already arranged shuttle, so we’ll just go with 2pm. 
Will say hello when boarding.

Merimbula is definitely a beautiful spot. We have visited a number of times- our good friend’s daughter lives there.

Batemans Bay down to Merimbula is one of our favourite areas. 

Uncle Les’ daughter is at Moruya I believe 

14 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I wonder why you can't get in on time, perhaps another ship coming in first or needing to leave port first

13 hours ago, boeckli said:

 

Port Otago vessel schedule still has her listed as an early morning arrival

https://www.portotago.co.nz/marine-and-shipping/shipping-schedules/vessel-schedule/

Yes, not really sure, but have had 2 separate emails (several days apart) with new arrival time of 12:30pm with no further explanation, just stating that pilot times are adjusted & that all RC tours will be rescheduled or cancelled & refunded.

A lot of unhappy people who booked tours for the day. We'll just take it as it comes 🙂 

1 hour ago, GUT2407 said:

 I had my 15,155th Valentine’s Day on Tuesday.

You old romantic, you 😁

Great photo. We'll be there on 15th March on Ovation. Have now received update from RC that "port pilot times have been adjusted in Dunedin" delaying our arrival from 7am to 12:30pm!! We still depart 7pm so a much reduced time there. Luckily, we did our big tour there with Russ at Tourworks on our previous visit!

We will likely just spend the afternoon exploring Port Chalmers as on previous visits we have gone straight into Dunedin or further afield & not really seen the port.

We'll give you a wave Stu.

20 hours ago, gbenjo said:

Not me personally 😁😁but that is Intercruises office number in Sydney, I knew there had to be a contact number  somewhere.

Yes, come and say hello on the 11th. I will be on the ship where we scan the boarding pass/phone and check photos/faces.

Will keep a look out for you - our allocated arrival slot is 2:00-2:30

1 hour ago, gbenjo said:

In the good old days there were emergency numbers on the documentation you received for the cruise…I guess these days you would have to download an app or something 😂😂😡😡😡 You would think there must be a contact number somewhere in the cloud where you can speak to a human being.

The good old days are still here Graham. 🙂 

This is from the cruise docs we have recently received for our Ovation cruise departing 11-March. Maybe that number is a direct line to you? 😮

Hope to maybe see you then.

Cheers

12 hours ago, Ozwoody said:

The FCC says Book By and Cruise By the 6th. Bit of nonsense really, don't see it possible to book and cruise on same date, therefore its cruise by the 6th.

So we have booked for an Oct cruise.😬

Yes, a bit crazy with those use-by dates 🙂 

We have had a few FCC's (for noro ISO) with RC which would have a book by date stated of say, 31-Dec for a cruise by the end of the next following season ie end-April, so 16 months later. 

Anyway, glad you got it sorted! 

1 hour ago, Ozwoody said:

We received a FCC from P&O on the 21st Dec 2022, for cruise on the 5th-12th Nov.

Required to use by the 6th Nov 2023.

You have to cruise by 6-Nov, or make booking by that date for a cruise by some other date? 

18 hours ago, TrixieBel said:

As we came past the woman went into full banshee mode. Swearing loudly like a sailor about how she’s not going to be wearing no effing mask on this effing ship no matter what anyone effing says.
 

We kept walking.

And now we know who to avoid on our cruise… 😁😷

You were fortunate to just have to put up with her for a moment - just think of the poor family & work colleagues who have to endure her all the time 😮

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Norfolk Island is part of Australia 

Not according to some of the locals who insist it was an invasion in 2016. As a visitor the main difference is you don't now need a passport to travel there anymore.

I've now seen posts on FB from locals & they said the cyclone was not so bad although there has been some damage & power was lost at one point - electricity on the island is provided by large communal diesel generator, although many are now self-sufficient thru solar. 

Oh, forgot to post that there was a media report this morning of concerns over coral damage on the reef. The Sirius of 1st fleet fame was sunk on the reef at the time of the penal settlement. 

6 hours ago, NSWP said:

And Norfolk Island is in the firing line.