mr walker

45 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

and that in itself is a major part of Australian culture.

I agree, but don’t expect that many survey respondents were ranking culture based on sport

3 hours ago, Bubbeh said:

Clearly this was written, assessed and awarded by someone who'd never been to Mandurah!

My first thought was actually that the people who voted for Melbourne having the best culture must have never been to Melbourne, or at least not spent much time there, or perhaps the problem is that they haven't spent enough time elsewhere 😮

All my life I have heard Melbourne has the best culture, the best shopping, the best coffee, the best food etc etc. My experience is that they do not excel in any of these, but I admit that they are the sporting capital of the country, and indeed perhaps the world. 

6 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

Refidex = street directory 

 

 Sydney born & bred - was always a "Gregorys".

Now a GPS 🙂 

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Welcome to the party, which has been going since 2017 !

How many pies do you reckon have been consumed in that time mate ? - I reckon we have all had our fair share 😁 🥧 

2 hours ago, Jean C said:

I can't get over though, the number of passengers that have to find free wifi and stay glued to their devices, even on coaches and buses, missing the scenery 😪

Yes, it's amazing that people pay thousands to travel to a 'free' wi-fi spot, far more important it seems than seeing or doing anything at the destinations. For some, the main focus is getting online asap to make contact with others, post on social media (food photos) & play games on their phone 😮

If I was working in the excursions dept of the cruiseline I would be selling tours that offer free wi-fi at some point of the tour - you would likely sell a lot more 'tours' 🙂 

Also, I doubt too many consider the security aspect of free public wi-fi in a foreign country.

1 hour ago, gbenjo said:

That’s because they knew you were  a Queenslander 😂😂😂😂

They are easily recognised - evenly balanced from having a chip on both shoulders 🙂 

Hope all’s going OK mate - I’ll have a crownie in your honour  🙂 

14 hours ago, yungyung said:

I am not a plant for anyone. I’m over 80 years old so don’t post things unless I have something useful to say. Doesn’t happen much on CC.

I wasn't seriously suggesting you were a plant - it was a joke based on some others (perhaps on CC with another username) re-appearing after a long time to make a comment. Sorry if I offended you.

I'm glad you are over 80 and still cruising - only hope it is the same for me.

Stay safe & enjoy.

Cheers

7 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Some ports have weird rules for ship's services. 

I recall reading about issues on sailings out of Galveston, where non-Texan beer had to have Texan sales tax added to the price until the ship reached 'international waters' & then some other rules applied. Caused a lot of complaints by the early onboard drinkers. 

14 hours ago, arxcards said:

One attraction was that we often travel with a group of friends, and NCL handle groups well. We also liked the pub lunches at O'Sheehan's, with grilled sandwiches, chips, on-tap beers and sports screens.

Wow. Lunch in a pub with friends with beers and sports - sounds perfect. Count me in next time Geoff - doesn't even need to be on a ship 🙂 

Hope you both come good soon. Stay safe

4 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

Grand Princess. October 16th. 2025

4 hours ago, cheznandy said:

Grand Princess, 16th Oct 2025, board in Sydney or Brisbane.

They have also split it, so you can do to Hawaii or return. Great for those of us that don't have the time to do 35/37 nights.

We did Sydney to Hawaii in 2010 on the dawn Princess and I don't think they have offered it since.

3 hours ago, sewgood said:

Thanks for that.

I'm a happy little camper now.

 

I found it and it is for 37 nights and includes port stops in Raiatea (maybe this replaces Bora Bora), Nuku'alofa and Norfolk Island.😄

Thanks Geoff for the information. I am now looking at us doing this cruise (Syd-Syd) 37N - no flights 🙂 . Let's see if I can arrange it! It's only money, right? 🙂 

Intrigued about poster "yungyung" - joined CC over 10 years ago & then zilch until 2 posts within minutes of each other yesterday, both attacking P&O Aust on a thread about VOS.

Maybe a RC plant? 🙂 😮

Guess they were pretty busy on the 200+ cruises.

22 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

 The main thing is to get off the ship early. Don't hang around having a lesiurely breakfast and waiting for the crowd to clear, because by the time you get on land, the choice of tours will be less. 

For this reason, we almost always have tours (with locals) booked ahead of time. Then we are able to have a leisurely breakfast & get off & join our tour at appointed time. Note: this doesn't work so well on Fiji time, where you may have a leisurely breakfast followed by a leisurely wait for the tour to depart 🙂 

12 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Can someone please explain to me why our currency is so weak and why cruiselines don't take this into account when they are charging for extras on top of the high cost of the cruise.  

Ask 10 economists & you’ll get 10 different answers. The value is somewhat based on the strength of the Aus economy vs other countries. People make & lose lots of money trying to make money on Fx rates.

The cruise lines are not making extra, just charging in $A to the equivalent USD amount.

Its less than 10 years ago when the $A was higher than USD & our cruise bill was less in $A than USD - we were happy then 😁

Oops - typed wrong year. Majestic cruise is 10Feb 2024 not 2023 😳 Port stop in Vila showing 8am - 6pm.

This is second itinerary change - with Noumea going from first to last port

Just received notification from Princess that Mystery Is now off our itinerary for Majestic Princess 10Feb '23 replaced by Vila due to "Cruise Ship Congestion".

Was looking forward to Mystery Is again, but now the opportunity for duty free from Vila 🙂  3 ports in Fiji and the 'Paris of the Sth Pacific' are the other stops. 

received email from a TA, and then 30mins later direct from Princess 🙂 

13 hours ago, gbenjo said:

You and a couple of  hundred others 😂 I will should  be up on deck scanning you in, so see you then.

Yes, see you then.

51 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

Every time I try to edit, I post twice.  Sorry🙄

we all seem to suffer the echo, echo... effect at times 🙂 

23 hours ago, gbenjo said:

In an attempt to combine this topic with  our “ primary “ subject ie cruising, the coffee shop at White Bay Cruise Terminal sells a particularly delicious sausage roll.

Our Brilliance cruise (Cruisin' Country charter) 1st Dec is from CQ of course, so no opportunity for a White Bay sausage roll that day 🙂 I'll keep an eye out for you when boarding mate to say G'day. I'll be the one with a cowboy hat and Panthers shirt!!!

Got home late morning on Saturday from our 15N cruise. We had run down our 'fresh' food supplies prior to leaving, so limited options for a quick lunch. Queue the Four & Twenty beef pies in the freezer, quick zap in the micro & a liberal lash of tomato sauce - beautiful!!!!! Life is good 🙂 

Not this time, but when we got to Lemon Bay I thought maybe I should have worn my swimmers. The cordoned off area for swimming was quite small

On 11/3/2023 at 12:33 PM, NSWP said:

Thanks. Struggling with the cancer and kidney issues, but still enjoying CC and contributing when I can.

My house is on the market from next week , deposited on an independent living apartment at Illawarra Retirement Trust Moruya. They have several places along the NSW South Coast. 
 

Stay safe, it is  a jungle out there.

Hope it all goes well for you mate. Hope to catch up again in new year.

Stay safe.

Cheers,

Neil & Tracey

5 hours ago, lesands77 said:

 

and Noumea again…… almost managed to avoid it 😂

we had a lovely day in Noumea last week on Pacific Adventure cruise. It was P/H there so some shops were closed but all tourist venues were open. It was truly beautiful weather.

Took the HOHO bus (A$15), did a full loop & got off at Lemon Bay, walked along beach & then adjourned to La Barca for coffee & then a few local brews with lunch & then back to terminal where the ladies did some shopping. It was great to visit there once again