christodan

16 minutes ago, arxcards said:

No, it isn't a new requirement. It is a domestic cruise, and Willis Island is part of Australia. The whole Willis Island arrangement is purely about allowing the sale of duty free goods on the ship.

 

A couple of possibilities - Do you book your cruise via the US? Are you a resident with an overseas (ie, British) passport?

No. Booked on the Australian website and I am born in Australia -, Aussie citizen. But they said on the cruise, Willis Island belongs to the Coral Sea Territory, not Australia (technically)., i.e. enough to say it is doing an OS cruise).

2 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

No. All North Queensland cruises go past Willis Island so they can sell duty free, but for many years now, Princess and P&O have not required passports.

Yes but maybe it's a new requirement. I didn't question RCI as I had one, but things do change. Can't always assume things stay the same.

I recently came back from a Queensland cruise with RCI and they said we needed passports. And maybe this is why. We sailed out of Australian waters past Willis Island. They told they do this because then technically they are doing an OS cruise and they can charge duty free. So if it is technically an OS cruise then yes you probably do need a passport.

On 10/28/2023 at 3:46 PM, valantine80 said:

We were on Majestic Princess which left Sydney about 11th February on 10night cruise to Perth via Melbourne and Adelaide and then continuing on to Singapore. Before we even got to Adelaide they had cancelled the remainder of the voyage from Perth so that was well before the Ruby Princess embarked in Sydney.

I could understand that as the time COVID was thought to only be in Asia. But a New Zealand cruise would have been considered safe. 

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

It isn't just about the money, but also about finding the truth. I would also be cynical about the whole process, but there are people that just wanted answers for the loss of a partner or family member.

And literally millions of people have died from COVID, including a relative of mine. So the answer is, this is what a pandemic means and no one deliberately set out to spread it or kill others. We are not talking about some malpractice here, but a worldwide pandemic. What do people expect?

11 hours ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

Not sure about 8th March, but we were definitely temperature checked before embarking CarnivalSpirit on 14th March in Melbourne.  My son initially registered high by the scanner and had to undergo further temperature checking before being allowed to board.

Yes but the pandemic wasn't declared until March 11 by WHO so IMO it was perfectly reasonable to not be checking until then. I can't see how Carnival was negligent before a pandemic was declared. If anything WHO was negligent.

On 6/28/2023 at 10:21 AM, Worldtraveler 4727 said:

Agreed!

But…for us, the Bridge Climb is not about money. It’s about the height! 😱

Sadly, can’t do it. Sigh. 🫨😬😮

There is an lesser known alternative i.e. going up one of the pylons. Much cheaper and much lower in height.

https://pylonlookout.com.au/

Lyndarra maybe you should say it around Belmont and see what the reaction is. I'm curious if they know it or it's very parochial and only from a certain era. If it helps these people  I know who say it are in their 60s.

4 minutes ago, Kellyansapansa said:

Hooray or hooroo? Hooroo is definitely not endemic to Lake Macquarie. I've heard it in many places around Oz. 😉

I know hooroo, but these people say "hooray"

45 minutes ago, valantine80 said:

My brother still says "Hooroo" and we grew up in Brisbane.

I've heard of hooroo but hooray just sounds like they're happy to see you go. I knew someone else from Newcastle who also knew the term hooray, so I was wondering if it's unique to that area.

 Lyndarra if you're from Lake Macquarie do you say "hooray" for good bye? My friend from Belmont says that and I think it's funny.

21 hours ago, robncruise said:

Just got off Majestic in Sydney yesterday.  1st cruise since covid hit.  Was on the ill fated Ruby Princess cruise and was always puzzled by the comments made by numerous disenchanted passengers.   Such as "they couldn't wait to get rid of us", "we were rushed off the ship", "didn't even check our passports", "didn't even ask for  transfer tickets for transport to airport"  etc etc. I felt at the time the disembarkation was the usual. And yesterday proved that it was.  All disembarkation groups off by 9.15 am,   no passports required to be shown,  and our transfer tickets not collected when we got on the bus to the airport !!   It made me so mad that people made accusations at that time.  Yesterday was no more than 10 minutes from our group being called through luggage collection and onto bus  and a really nice touch I hadn't experienced before .  Two young port/ bus staff travelled on our bus with us to unload our luggage at the airport.

And if they were delayed it would have been, "we had to wait ages and that's probably why we caught COVID. They should have let us off quickly". Honestly some people are just pains, having worked in hospitality myself. Ironically, I now work with people who have mental illnesses and I haven't met anyone who is anywhere near as bad as some of the customers I served.

We had Jamie's Italian for lunch. It was pretty cheap and my daughter said it was better than the one in London. I quite enjoyed it, but like Auscruisefam we overate and almost felt sick. 

I'd say avoid the lifts if you can. A small enclosed space with lots of people squashed in is a recipe for disaster.  

Went to Noumea in January, no one asked to see the insurance papers.

10 hours ago, CCC's said:

One issue which concerns me is..... if I don't advise them the other 2 pax will not be embarking, will they be looking/waiting for those 2 persons at sail away time and therefore delay the whole process. 

Might be  different situation, but when I was driving a friend to the airport and she was running late, she rang the airline to say she was coming. They curtly told her "we're not going to hold the plane waiting for you".

1 hour ago, GUT2407 said:

My last Dr never bulk billed, I often argue with my current Dr that they bulk bill too much, till she told me that I am billed (for some visits) under a special code due to some of my conditions.

It true there are special incentive payments that most patients are not aware of. Even just bulking billing a concession holder gives the GP a bonus payment.

Wilson Parking has four options.

https://www.wilsonparking.com.au/whats-on/sydney-cruise-parking/

There was some story I think on ACA the other day about this. Looks like Qantas is cancelling and then putting on a similar flight with greatly inflated prices.

I don't know about Princess but RCI states that you have to be living in the same household for both to get the FCC, otherwise the healthy person has to go on their own.

"We are also wondering about the 'free' items, such as iFly and North Star. There are paid experiences on line, but are there free slots, and how hard are they to book? We will be looking forward to the reviews over the next few weeks.

Thanks in advance!

Lynn and Carl"

We did a short cruise to Tassie, so there were a lot of people in a short amount of time who wanted to do the North Star. So we must have queued for at least two hours. Also because it was rough seas the day before all the people that booked that day got to go first and got to push in the queue. So my advice is it depends on the length of the cruise whether it will be an impossibly long wait or not.

2 hours ago, chubbypiggy said:

Just checked the link, so many choices of restaurants.  Definitely will go check it out.  THANKS!!

No problem. The food is much better there  than the tourist traps around The Rocks.

Chubbypiggy, if you are down at Circular Quay you should try out this place for a variety of places to eat.

https://www.gatewaysydney.com.au/dining-and-more 

Chat Thai is one of the best Thai restaurants in Sydney. The French crepe place is also excellent and cheap. Hurricanes have great steaks. And Messina Gelato is to die for !

Oh and maybe you do not realise this but you can eat at the Sydney Opera House if you are looking to do something special and memorable.

https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/visit-us/eat-and-drink/bennelong.html

Which part of "pandemic" do people not understand?

That what happens when there is a pandemic. People catch it anywhere and everywhere. Land, sea, air.

It seems to me if they are successful in suing Carnival, then anyone could sue anybody. Shopping centres, airlines, theatres, pubs, restaurants, schools etc.

Considering the pandemic had not yet been declared by WHO when it set sail, I can't see how successful they will be in accusing Carnival of being negligent. Also considering how many people have died from COVID worldwide can anyone blame anybody? What about people who caught it in hospital when they were in there for something else? If hospitals couldn't control it, what hope does a cruise ship have?