Predict when cruising will start again post-Coronavirus

[Chiliburn]

We took 8 friends on Ovation to mystery island in February. 
They were diehard camping enthusiasts,members of scouts,rovers,adventures.

They WERE  anti cruise .when we said we are busy,doing a couple of cruises.They would shake their head and say .You don’t know what you’re missing out on.

 

A couple of their adult kids wanted to come with my daughter on a cruise. The parents wouldn’t let their 20 year old kids go unattended so two families  ended coming.

They said this is the one and only cruise we will ever go on .so we are all getting the booze package,specialty dining, the lot.
 

 Half way to noumea ,they said  `how long has this been going on’. ??? 
This is nothing like we expected.
Every time I see them they ask,when are we going on a cruise.
 

[MicCanberra]

Yep, I only have one couple who tried cruising and didn't think it was for them. They enjoyed the cruise but just prefer their caravanning around. They have a large luxury caravan that includes a full bathroom and has one of the TV's that pops out of the end of the bed. I suppose they want to get value out of their investment.

[NSWP]

14 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I know.  But you can stay in one place and do long day trips from there, either self drive or by bus.  We met people, camping in their own caravans, who chose to do long bus trips in NT, rather than drive because of the distances. 

Centralised touring stay in one place for a few day then do day trips, only unpack once. Like tomorrow staying in Mudgee 4 nights then just drive out and about for half a day or day, unpack once. That is my method.🇦🇺🚙

 

[NSWP]

13 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Yep, I only have one couple who tried cruising and didn't think it was for them. They enjoyed the cruise but just prefer their caravanning around. They have a large luxury caravan that includes a full bathroom and has one of the TV's that pops out of the end of the bed. I suppose they want to get value out of their investment.

If you spend 100k on a 5 star big van, you need to use it. Plus another big spend on a V8 Landruiser  to tow it, probably another 80k or more.

Edited July 25, 2020 by NSWP

[Chiliburn]

11 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Centralised touring stay in one place for a few day then do day trips, only unpack once. Like tomorrow staying in Mudgee 4 nights then just drive out and about for half a day or day, unpack once. That is my method.🇦🇺🚙

 

Henry Lawsons cottage is worth a stop ,uncle Les.

 It’s on the back road to gulgong.

[mr walker]

14 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

And caravan or camping holidays aren't much of a holiday in my eyes. They are too much work.

When we were kids we would go away at Xmas each year, setting up the van for up to 4 weeks stay in a waterside caravan park. This was a holiday for Dad and us 6 kids, but far from a holiday for Mum. She still had to look after us all, cook, clean, do laundry etc etc, without access to the mod cons at home.

 

Tracey & I will go land travelling for next few years, self-driving & staying in hotels, apartments etc. No tents or vans for us 🙂

 

[NSWP]

15 minutes ago, mr walker said:

When we were kids we would go away at Xmas each year, setting up the van for up to 4 weeks stay in a waterside caravan park. This was a holiday for Dad and us 6 kids, but far from a holiday for Mum. She still had to look after us all, cook, clean, do laundry etc etc, without access to the mod cons at home.

 

Tracey & I will go land travelling for next few years, self-driving & staying in hotels, apartments etc. No tents or vans for us 🙂

 

Like me Mr Walker, these days I like my comforts, 3 star motel minimum, club or pub for dinner.  I had my fill of tents when I was a Boy Scout and when I was in the Army.  When my kids were young, we always went on hols every year, rented on site caravan for a week, over to the communal showers, beers and bbq's, great times.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Yep, I only have one couple who tried cruising and didn't think it was for them. They enjoyed the cruise but just prefer their caravanning around. They have a large luxury caravan that includes a full bathroom and has one of the TV's that pops out of the end of the bed. I suppose they want to get value out of their investment.

I have a few friends who have “had” motor homes. They have said the best day of their life was when they bought it , and the second best was a few years later when it sold . 
It’s one of those , been there, done that . ..glad to move on from the cost of maintenance .

[Chiliburn]

Just now, Kiwi Kruzer said:

I have a few friends who have “had” motor homes. They have said the best day of their life was when they bought it , and the second best was a few years later when it sold . 
It’s one of those , been there, done that . ..glad to move on from the cost of maintenance .

I had some friends who sold their house and bought a big winibago for something like quarter of a million.

As someone said ,It will be slow ,fuel will cost a fortune,you won’t be able to park it in town and go to the shop plus because it has a aircon You will pay a fortune for camp sites.

They sold it in 6 months and put a tent in the boot of their luxury car ,just in case they couldn’t find a motel.
Now renting a house.
 

[Chiliburn]

47 minutes ago, mr walker said:

When we were kids we would go away at Xmas each year, setting up the van for up to 4 weeks stay in a waterside caravan park. This was a holiday for Dad and us 6 kids, but far from a holiday for Mum. She still had to look after us all, cook, clean, do laundry etc etc, without access to the mod cons at home.

 

Tracey & I will go land travelling for next few years, self-driving & staying in hotels, apartments etc. No tents or vans for us 🙂

 

When I had a young family, all I could afford was to put a tent up.Had some great times with similar friends.

But a cruise for a $100 a day is cheap, catch the train to Sydney and your on holiday.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

If you spend 100k on a 5 star big van, you need to use it. Plus another big spend on a V8 Landruiser  to tow it, probably another 80k or more.

Yes, agreed.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

When we were kids we would go away at Xmas each year, setting up the van for up to 4 weeks stay in a waterside caravan park. This was a holiday for Dad and us 6 kids, but far from a holiday for Mum. She still had to look after us all, cook, clean, do laundry etc etc, without access to the mod cons at home.

 

Tracey & I will go land travelling for next few years, self-driving & staying in hotels, apartments etc. No tents or vans for us 🙂

 

The same, as we have been doing just on a larger scale.

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

I had some friends who sold their house and bought a big winibago for something like quarter of a million.

As someone said ,It will be slow ,fuel will cost a fortune,you won’t be able to park it in town and go to the shop plus because it has a aircon You will pay a fortune for camp sites.

They sold it in 6 months and put a tent in the boot of their luxury car ,just in case they couldn’t find a motel.
Now renting a house.
 

Classic case study, plenty of them around. Selling their house for the Winnebago etc. And what happens when they cannot drive any more?  Now those people have not much.

[OzKiwiJJ]

50 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Classic case study, plenty of them around. Selling their house for the Winnebago etc. And what happens when they cannot drive any more?  Now those people have not much.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to sell my house to buy one, that's why I need to win lotto. Then I'd pack up the house stuff and put it in storage, rent out the house, and travel for 2-3 years around Australia. Then move back home and sell the Winnebago.

 

With those you'd definitely need an alternative mode of transport for getting around the towns you stop in. That's why I want a tiny Smart car that could be towed behind the Winnebago or possibly even carried on a fixed platform on the back.

 

Ah well, dreams are free. 🤣

[Blackduck59]

About 30 years ago my uncle's brother was converting a highway coach into a motor home. My brother and I spent about 3 months custom building the interior using something like 500 board feet if solid oak including the dashboard and instrument panel. He used it for many years but was forced sell it when he had a stroke. This was a 30 foot motor coach with a large bedroom with a queen sized bed at the back, I full bathroom, laundry and the kitchen had a proper stove. He also had a generator on board so could be self contained. He towed a compact car behind.

[Aus Traveller]

We have had two motorhomes - consecutively, not at the same time😁. They were just over 20 feet long and had all the mod cons (except no laundry). We could park them in car spaces in towns, but often had to find a space at the end of a row of spaces so we could manoeuvre in and out of the space. After a lot of travelling over more than 15 years, we both felt we had done enough of that style of travelling. We started cruising way back in 1983. After we sold our second motorhome, we just cruised more often. 🙂

[Chiliburn]

38 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yeah, I wouldn't want to sell my house to buy one, that's why I need to win lotto. Then I'd pack up the house stuff and put it in storage, rent out the house, and travel for 2-3 years around Australia. Then move back home and sell the Winnebago.

 

With those you'd definitely need an alternative mode of transport for getting around the towns you stop in. That's why I want a tiny Smart car that could be towed behind the Winnebago or possibly even carried on a fixed platform on the back.

 

Ah well, dreams are free. 🤣

A friend who does a lot of road trips recons that any large town in the bush has these grey nomads camping in the bush and waiting for pension day.

Once they have the pension they fill their fuel tank up ,fill the cupboard up ,go to a caravan park for a couple of nights for a bit of hygiene and drive till the tank is empty.

 

NOW THATS LIVING 

[Chiliburn]

27 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

About 30 years ago my uncle's brother was converting a highway coach into a motor home. My brother and I spent about 3 months custom building the interior using something like 500 board feet if solid oak including the dashboard and instrument panel. He used it for many years but was forced sell it when he had a stroke. This was a 30 foot motor coach with a large bedroom with a queen sized bed at the back, I full bathroom, laundry and the kitchen had a proper stove. He also had a generator on board so could be self contained. He towed a compact car behind.

We don’t have those tow along cars here Lyle. I’ve seen a couple but they are rare. I don’t know why?

[Blackduck59]

He had a sort of half trailer that the front wheels went on  and a there was a rock shield on it. It was a diesel Rabbit so the motorhome and car used the same fuel

[Chiliburn]

7 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

He had a sort of half trailer that the front wheels went on  and a there was a rock shield on it. It was a diesel Rabbit so the motorhome and car used the same fuel

Yeh ,I know ,I’ve seen them in the states . A great idea.

We must have different rules here.
I think in Australia you may have to have a heavy vehicle license or something.Which is hard to hold onto when you get older.

[Chiliburn]

So here’s the proof no cruises till 2022 . Postponed till 22.
 

.https://www.startrekthecruise.com

[lyndarra]

39 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Yeh ,I know ,I’ve seen them in the states . A great idea.

We must have different rules here.
I think in Australia you may have to have a heavy vehicle license or something.Which is hard to hold onto when you get older.

I've seen plenty about except the car runs on all four wheels with a steering lock of some sort.

In NSW  smaller RV motorhomes may require a LR - Light Rigid licence. Bigger vehicles e.g. bus/coach size, require MR - Medium Rigid. I'm not sure about 5th wheelers, it could depend on the combined weight.

 

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

So here’s the proof no cruises till 2022 . Postponed till 22.

 

At least it's not the 23rd Century. 🤪

[Chiliburn]

23 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

At least it's not the 23rd Century. 🤪

Beam me up Scotty 

 

[Sallyandtex]

7 hours ago, mr walker said:

When we were kids we would go away at Xmas each year, setting up the van for up to 4 weeks stay in a waterside caravan park. This was a holiday for Dad and us 6 kids, but far from a holiday for Mum. She still had to look after us all, cook, clean, do laundry etc etc, without access to the mod cons at home.

 

Tracey & I will go land travelling for next few years, self-driving & staying in hotels, apartments etc. No tents or vans for us 🙂

 

That's the best way and cost effective. Went to Tassie in October last year. Own car 4 weeks wonderful! Staying in B and Bs and cabins and houses. To hire a camper soooo expensive and then park fees and extra fuel...plus limits on where you can go