Down! Down! Down!

[cruisine21]

It is a lovely place with many things to do and see, and it's surrounds has even more.What was the issue with Chinatown, they had some nice eateries when we were there last.

 

Most of the businesses were boarded up and the area was full of undesirables mainly druggies. The streets were full of rubbishy. We felt so unsafe we wanted to get a taxi out of there but there were no taxis available. I should have read the reviews on Trip Advisor.

Edited January 13, 2016 by cruisine21

[Pushka]

Most of the businesses were boarded up and the area was full of undesirables mainly druggies. The streets were full of rubbishy. We felt so unsafe we wanted to get a taxi out of there but there were no taxis available. I should have read the reviews on Trip Advisor.

 

 

Thanks for that tip. We normally check out the 'Chinatowns' of cities we visit.

[MicCanberra]

Most of the businesses were boarded up and the area was full of undesirables mainly druggies. The streets were full of rubbishy. We felt so unsafe we wanted to get a taxi out of there but there were no taxis available. I should have read the reviews on Trip Advisor.

 

That is a shame, as it is the oldest Chinatown in the USA as San Francisco's burnt down and had to be rebuilt.

[rabbitoh_777]

.

That is a shame, as it is the oldest Chinatown in the USA as San Francisco's burnt down and had to be rebuilt.

.

.

Bloody Yanks and their strong dollar.

 

How much did they buy Canada for Mic? :eek:

 

Cheers r :cool:

 

.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I did some sums on a couple of RCI sale fare sailings and factoring in on board spend it still wasn't great. I'd be counting and converting every dollar on board and I don't like to do that. I've been enjoying my domestic explorations the past few months so can't complain!

 

*Down Down, the dollar is down!*

 

The problem is that most of the RCI fare sales are on inside cabins and usually don't include anything except, maybe if you're lucky, some OBC. They suck people in by making the fare seem really low then the onboard cost shock hits.

 

However if you're savvy you can still pick up some good deals, especially if you plan your onboard spending ahead of time.

 

We recently did a 12 night cruise on Celebrity. At the end of the cruise our bill was less than $200. It would have been almost nil except that we decided to buy some duty free, plus DH bought a $10 hat, and I had to replace my powder compact (should have done it before we left but thought it would last one more cruise). All the rest of our onboard spending had been preplanned and prepaid by buying OBC at a decent rate.

[NSWP]

.

Bloody Yanks and their strong dollar.

 

How much did they buy Canada for Mic? :eek:

 

Cheers r :cool:

 

.

That's not nice, the North Americans are our allies, protecting us from those bad guys up north.

 

God Bless America and Australia too, may as well bless NZ and Canada as well.

Edited January 13, 2016 by NSWP

[MicCanberra]

.

Bloody Yanks and their strong dollar.

 

How much did they buy Canada for Mic? :eek:

 

Cheers r :cool:

 

.

 

Sorry meant in North America.:D

[rabbitoh_777]

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That's not nice, the North Americans are our allies, protecting us from those bad guys up north.

 

God Bless America and Australia too, may as well bless NZ and Canada as well.

.

.

 

Lol, G'day Uncle Les

 

Belated Christmas & New Year wishes mate.

 

Always loved a good Yank! :D

 

Also never forget the fuzzy wuzzy angels in PNG too.

 

Bit of nastiness on the Kokoda overnight though from all reports.

 

Cheers r :cool:

 

.

[NSWP]

.

 

Lol, G'day Uncle Les

 

Belated Christmas & New Year wishes mate.

 

Always loved a good Yank! :D

 

Also never forget the fuzzy wuzzy angels in PNG too.

 

Bit of nastiness on the Kokoda overnight though from all reports.

 

Cheers r :cool:

 

.

Same to you old son, and happy cruising. Yes I just read about the incident on Kokoda, not good for PNG tourism.

 

Up the red and greens.

Edited January 14, 2016 by NSWP

[rabbitoh_777]

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Sorry meant in North America.:D

.

 

It is treated as that big state between Alaska & the mainland anyway! :o

 

Similar to us and those couple of shaky Isles appendage states across the dutch.

 

What is the NZ Dinar currently at?

 

Still lower than our Peso. :p

 

Belated Christmas & New Year wishes matey. ;)

 

Cheers r :cool:

 

.

[rabbitoh_777]

.

Same to you old son, and happy cruising.

 

Yes I just read about the incident on Kokoda, not good for PNG tourism.

 

Up the red and greens.

 

.

 

Thanks.

 

Not good at all, they will need to knock that on the head quick smart!

 

We have few friends heading up to the track over the next couple of months.

 

One thing it will probably result in is the safest time to go now this terrible incident has happened.

 

Just atm trying to convince the child-bride we need to hop over the ditch to see the Cardinal & Myrtles in the rugby league nines comp as we are the defending champions, but not having much joy yet. :mad:

 

Go the Mighty rabbs!

 

Cheers r:cool:

 

.

[windsor26]

Most of the businesses were boarded up and the area was full of undesirables mainly druggies. The streets were full of rubbishy. We felt so unsafe we wanted to get a taxi out of there but there were no taxis available. I should have read the reviews on Trip Advisor.

 

There are 2 China Towns you must have gone to the old one I think We were there last year (visited both) and saw the difference

[avalon007]

We got a great deal on our upcoming VOS cruise in March - $400 OBC plus we have $150 OBC from our open ticket booking - so $500US all up which must be worth over $700AUD at the current rate.

 

Plus we are Diamond with RCCL so that saves on drinks. Just the 3 drinks a day for the two of us could normally cost about $800 at the current rate, so the perks will really be appreciated now the dollar is down.

 

On top of all that the deal was second person 50% off & they let us use our Diamond balcony discount as well - best deal I've ever got as most times they don't allow combination of all the discounts.

 

However - we are paying top dollar & no OBC for our Ovation cruise Jan 2017 - hoping the dollar recovers a little by then because it's a cruise to NZ which is always a more expensive cruise port wise than the islands!

[Mothballs]

My ability to cruise is not only the falling dollar but my workplace. I work in a supermarket and have had my hours reduced and pushed forward so that we receive minimal or no shift penalties.

Seriously depressed as I only have two 3 night cruises booked this year.

Elaine.

[avalon007]

My ability to cruise is not only the falling dollar but my workplace. I work in a supermarket and have had my hours reduced and pushed forward so that we receive minimal or no shift penalties.

Seriously depressed as I only have two 3 night cruises booked this year.

Elaine.

 

That's unfortunate Elaine - sorry to hear your hours have been cut.

 

Maybe it's time to keep an eye out for a different employer - although not sure what the jobs market is like in your field.

 

I work for myself which does give me a lot more freedom timing wise to cruise when it suits me to some degree, but you do also live under never knowing what next months wage will be. No guarantees I guess for anyone really unless you have a cats iron work contract.

[Mothballs]

Thanks for your good thoughts avalon007. I'm only a couple of years away from retirement so I will try and hang in there. I just encourage the youngun's not to make a career out of retail. Our hours can be reduced by 20% twice a year so if my employer keeps on doing this my only cruise I can afford will be the Manly Ferry.

Elaine.

[avalon007]

At least you still have your sense of humour! :D