lagoon380

As The Big M mentioned, the app they plan to use here works off bluetooth, it does not track your location, all it does is track other users of the app in your vicinity, if you are close to someone for a length of time, say 15 mins it records the details of the users of the app close to you at that time, so they can trace people who you were close too if you or someone else gets the virus but for it to be useful many people need to be using the app.

Australian government extends cruising ban until June 15 2020.

From P & O website.

After a few years of planning to take a year out and travel this Country, I wound my business down and closed it on the 20th of February and planned to reopen in early 2021, not sure if it's good timing or not but business would be very slow now.

I converted a bus/coach into a motorhome which was just about to be registered but will delay that now and finish off the small things left to do. We planned to leave mid April but now that's not going to happen.

We got back from our cruise on Voyager 2 weeks ago then got an email on Saturday to let us know someone on board tested positive to the virus but as it's been 2 weeks now no action needed.

So still taking the rest of the year off and if we are lucky we may get to travel a bit later in the year.

NZ looks to be going for a total eradication of the virus with a total lockdown so short and drastic, where we here in Oz look to be going for a plan to reduced the infection rate to a more manageable level but will take a lot longer to go through.

Carnival Spirit apparently is going to off load non essential crew and sail back to the US/CANADA and wait it out there.

Good luck with the purchase.

We went with a bus conversion, it's been a lot of work but just about done now.

Here's a crew members daily vlog on Oasis of the seas, the crew have got the ship to themselves.

Due to start our lap around Australia in a few weeks in our motorhome.

They have several medications available that kill the virus now, the first people in Australia that got the virus were Chinese tourists and they told the doctors what to give them as that is what they were doing in China, so no real need for a vaccine if they can stop the spread now, so if they can get their act together it could be all over in a couple of months.

On Voyager of the seas last week, denied entry into Vanuatu due to 3 crew members having influenza a, so we went to NZ  & Eden instead, luckily we had the drinks package and made good use of it on those extra seas days.

Just off Voyager, I saw it advertised at one of the bars for $89

Also Pacific Aria and Pacific Dawn are off to CMV.

$60.28 That would of been when they had a glitch in the system, I saw it at that price but the system was not working by then so couldn't complete the payment but got it later for $65

I'll second Signal Island, great snorkeling & should be a few turtles there, also seen a few at Escapade Is as well.

Going again in Feb and doing a sailing cat tour to Laregnere Is thru Noumea turtle tours.

The behind the scenes tour was $95 when we did it.

1 hour ago, oskarNZ said:

I don’t suppose you know roughly what the behind the scenes tour costs and whether it’s any good?  My husband is an engineer and loves to do these tours.  I like them to, but only when they aren’t too expensive.  

 

We’ve done galley tours on ships before that were free, while at the opposite end of the scale, Celebrity was so expensive (around $150pp from memory - possibly more), that I could only justify booking my husband.  

It sounds like it was extremely comprehensive and he loved it so much that he spoke for ages afterwards about all he’d learnt about the engines, waste water filtration systems etc etc.  But I still could never have justified that cost for myself. 

The behind the scenes tour was $95 when we did it. We thought it was great, worth the money.

The agent should be able to sort your dining arrangements so it's just your family.

If you want to do the behind the scenes ship tour, book that as soon as you board, only limited spots available.

With the coffee machines, they are all calibrated differently so try them all and see which one best suits your taste.

Drinks included are water, lemonade (American), coffee, tea, hot chocolate also apple & orange juice available at breakfast.

On our last cruise there was a very young diamond all of 9 years old.

The mood on board that day wasn't great, many disappointed to miss Santo, us included but we still got 5 ports and the weather was great the whole cruise, we will just have to book another cruise to Santo.

Just got off the Spirit, we missed Santo and Mare replaced with Lifou and Isle of Pines.

9 hours ago, dbn89 said:

Get in fast with this one, last day of the 72 hour sale. Price dropped by $500pp for March 27 on the Spirit.

 

https://www.carnival.com.au/find-a-cruise/details?voyage=S913

Just booked this one, looking forward to getting back on the Spirit.

Last time we cruised from White Bay we stayed at the Metro apartments, it's a very short walk to the ferry wharf.

no azipods just props and rudders

2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

Is there anything to indicate that the problems on Eden are fixed?

Or are they going straight out again with unresolved issues?

I heard it was a prop shaft issue, they seem to have done some sort of repair in Noumea as her speed has improved.

I got off the Eden on Friday, 8 hours late due to the rough weather, 6 - 8m seas and 50 - 60 knot winds, ship was down to 7 - 10 knots speed.

We still had a great time, although only 2 sunny days on the 10 day cruise, worst weather we have had on any of our 9 cruises.

I have been watching that cruise just in case the price dropped but didn't expect it to drop that much.

Pacific Eden 22 May 2018 10 nights from $359 inside quad, $410 Oceanview quad