Opinions on whether the Commonwealth Government will green light the resumption of cruising on the 17th December, 2021??

[ilikeanswers]

12 hours ago, Russell21 said:

Fed Gov want the money spent in Australia. Who in their right mind would pay $10,000per person for a 10 day camping trip in the Simpson Desert, or some similar enticing destinations. I refuse to pay the prices set to rip off the foreign tourists.

 

You really should shop around it is not that expensive travelling in Australia😂. 

[NSWP]

17 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

You really should shop around it is not that expensive travelling in Australia😂. 

Just do a few days road trip once a month like I do, costs me about $700 for 4 nights accom, fuel and food/grog. No la de da eateries for me, pubs and clubs and the odd roadhouse, mixed grill please.

[ollyoeno]

Oi oi, Scotty has such low polling he’s decided to open up Aus!

[ilikeanswers]

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

Just do a few days road trip once a month like I do, costs me about $700 for 4 nights accom, fuel and food/grog. No la de da eateries for me, pubs and clubs and the odd roadhouse, mixed grill please.

 

I have done road trips in Europe and North America and when I compare the daily costs of similar length road trips I have done in Australia it isn't more costly as people seem to think. We are pretty much on par with Europe (excluding Iceland and Norway which are much more expensive) and cheaper than USA. Mexico was cheaper but only by a third. In my experience Australia's reputation as being a really expensive place to holiday is a little exaggerated😆. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by ilikeanswers

[lyndarra]

7 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I have done road trips in Europe and North America and when I compare the daily costs of similar length road trips I have done in Australia it isn't more costly as people seem to think. We are pretty much on par with Europe (excluding Iceland and Norway which are much more expensive) and cheaper than USA. Mexico was cheaper but only by a third. In my experience Australia's reputation as being a really expensive place to holiday is a little exaggerated😆. 

The "expensive place" label is for organised tours not personal travel. I look at many of the holidays in newspaper travel supplements and just shakes me head.

[bazzaw]

7 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

The "expensive place" label is for organised tours not personal travel. I look at many of the holidays in newspaper travel supplements and just shakes me head.

I agree -- most tours in Australia are advertised as being "luxury". 

[NSWP]

23 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

The "expensive place" label is for organised tours not personal travel. I look at many of the holidays in newspaper travel supplements and just shakes me head.

Those tours in the top end and central Australia are way over the top in pricing.

[lyndarra]

3 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Those tours in the top end and central Australia are way over the top in pricing.

True. When our kids were little we did a few tours or Central Australia, NT, Qld and northern WA. A couple of weeks each time. We had a Cub Drifter 6 camper or othertimes we tented. No big fancy 4WD either. We did the Oodnadatta track in a Datsun Bluebird wagon towing the Cub. Or Subaru Touring wagon also towing the Cub. Or Mitsubishi Express van packed with camping gear all the way to Kunnanurra and another time to Darwin.

[Russell21]

16 hours ago, NSWP said:

Just do a few days road trip once a month like I do, costs me about $700 for 4 nights accom, fuel and food/grog. No la de da eateries for me, pubs and clubs and the odd roadhouse, mixed grill please.

No thanks, been there done that. We spent 4 years working our way around the coast of Aus. We have spent a month doing a motorcycle ride 10,400Km from the Central Coast of NSW to Perth and back via Adelaide, Esperance, Cape Leuwin, Whyalla, Broken Hill. In our time we did over 900,000 Km touring Aus, most of it by motorbike. I think we may have seen a fair bit of it, and at nearly 78 I've had a gutfull of driving.

[lyndarra]

1 hour ago, Russell21 said:

No thanks, been there done that. We spent 4 years working our way around the coast of Aus. We have spent a month doing a motorcycle ride 10,400Km from the Central Coast of NSW to Perth and back via Adelaide, Esperance, Cape Leuwin, Whyalla, Broken Hill. In our time we did over 900,000 Km touring Aus, most of it by motorbike. I think we may have seen a fair bit of it, and at nearly 78 I've had a gutfull of driving.

I haven't done the Ks on two wheels that you have as many of my riding years were off road competition and commuting but I'm still riding at 73 and have done tours to SA, VIC (Great Ocean road) and Qld for a couple of VJMC rallies. Heading to Bermagui on my FJ1200 for an owners rally end of March. I also have a GL1500 for more relaxed touring.

Edited February 8, 2022 by lyndarra

[GUT2407]

20 hours ago, NSWP said:

Just do a few days road trip once a month like I do, costs me about $700 for 4 nights accom, fuel and food/grog. No la de da eateries for me, pubs and clubs and the odd roadhouse, mixed grill please.

So true Les, pub, club, a feed of Chinese, some fish and chips, or a good truck stop you can eat pretty cheap. Even better when there are two of you a Woolies Chook, some rolls and salad probably do me and Mrs Gut 2 days if we didn’t have Maxy with us to share the chicken.

 

[Russell21]

20 hours ago, lyndarra said:

I haven't done the Ks on two wheels that you have as many of my riding years were off road competition and commuting but I'm still riding at 73 and have done tours to SA, VIC (Great Ocean road) and Qld for a couple of VJMC rallies. Heading to Bermagui on my FJ1200 for an owners rally end of March. I also have a GL1500 for more relaxed touring.

Half your luck mate, I'd still be riding if it wasn't for a stuffed back. My wife was in tears when we sold our last BMW, and I must admit to a lump in the throat.

[Blackduck59]

On 2/7/2022 at 1:08 PM, bazzaw said:

I agree -- most tours in Australia are advertised as being "luxury". 

 

Somehow Bus trip and "Luxury" really don't go together. At least not for me. When we were in Europe traveling independently by rental car and train we ran into some bus hoards, we vowed right there that would never be us.

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Somehow Bus trip and "Luxury" really don't go together. At least not for me. When we were in Europe traveling independently by rental car and train we ran into some bus hoards, we vowed right there that would never be us.

We did a few coach tours of NZ, UK, Ireland and Europe with Trafalgar, Insight and other companies, we enjoyed them, good to share the journey and all hotels, meals sightseeing included. Stress free.

 

Likewise on the cruises, in around 22 cruises we never had a table for two at dinner, always big table of 8. If in the MDR for breakfast and lunch always shared a table, likewise in the buffets happy to share.  I cannot understand couples going on a cruise and having a table for 2, for heavens sake you have that every evening at home !!

Edited February 10, 2022 by NSWP

[OzKiwiJJ]

We had mixed results when we used to do traditional dining. We had a few great tables for 8, one not so good, and a couple of cruises where we were the only ones at the table. At least with Anytime dining we could choose depending on our mood - if we were feeling sociable we'd ask for a share table, if we were feeling tired we'd wait for a table for two. But since I'm a nice person I'd never inflict myself on anyone else, except Rolf, for breakfast - I'm not civilised until I've had food and a large pot of strong tea! 🤣

[bazzaw]

On 2/10/2022 at 1:20 PM, Blackduck59 said:

 

Somehow Bus trip and "Luxury" really don't go together. At least not for me. When we were in Europe traveling independently by rental car and train we ran into some bus hoards, we vowed right there that would never be us.

--and yet you go on cruiseships with literally thousands of passengers.

[bazzaw]

On 2/10/2022 at 2:45 PM, NSWP said:

We did a few coach tours of NZ, UK, Ireland and Europe with Trafalgar, Insight and other companies, we enjoyed them, good to share the journey and all hotels, meals sightseeing included. Stress free.

 

Likewise on the cruises, in around 22 cruises we never had a table for two at dinner, always big table of 8. If in the MDR for breakfast and lunch always shared a table, likewise in the buffets happy to share.  I cannot understand couples going on a cruise and having a table for 2, for heavens sake you have that every evening at home !!

Couldn't agree more Les - bit like the chap who was asked what route he intended to take on his drive to Sydney from Brisbane - he answered - Oh, the same old one!!!! 🙂 

[Blackduck59]

36 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

--and yet you go on cruiseships with literally thousands of passengers.

 

You do know that cruise ships are much bigger than motor coaches right? We enjoy meeting new people and often share tables with other guests. Our next cruise has less than a thousand passengers at Maximum capacity.

My point was there is very little about a 50 passenger bus that could be considered "Luxury" not even if they had gold plated fixtures in the loo.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Blackduck59

[OzKiwiJJ]

57 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

--and yet you go on cruiseships with literally thousands of passengers.

 

22 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

You do know that cruise ships are much bigger than motor coaches right? We enjoy meeting new people and often share tables with other guests. Our next cruise has less than a thousand passengers at Maximum capacity.

My point was there is very little about a 50 passenger bus that could be considered "Luxury" not even if they had gold plated fixtures in the loo.

Plus:

 

Cruise ships: unpack once, sleep on board, dine on board (all included), entertainment on board, plenty of space to walk around, swimming pools for hot days, trivia to keep the brain active, etc.

Bus Tour: unpack and repack every day, some meals not included and no choice of restaurant for those that are, grotty loos (if you're lucky), relatively small seats even on a luxury coach. 

 

The only similarity is that they both take you to different places every time they stop. 

 

However depending on the port you can still end up in crowds. ☹ Luckily not so much in our part of the world.

 

[ekka49]

Horses for courses

We will stick to the cruise ship race track.

[OzKiwiJJ]

45 minutes ago, ekka49 said:

Horses for courses

We will stick to the cruise ship race track.

Me too, but bus trips are useful if you want to explore a country inland from the ports and don't want to drive yourself. 

[NSWP]

17 hours ago, bazzaw said:

Couldn't agree more Les - bit like the chap who was asked what route he intended to take on his drive to Sydney from Brisbane - he answered - Oh, the same old one!!!! 🙂 

A big table in the MDR for dinner is a daily cruise highlight, glad you agree.

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, NSWP said:

A big table in the MDR for dinner is a daily cruise highlight, glad you agree.

We like 6 or 8 person tables but 10 person tables are just too big, they don't work well for some reason.

[MicCanberra]

Travel can be expensive, but there are always cheaper options available depending on what standard of accommodation  and eateries you want.

[GUT2407]

48 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Travel can be expensive, but there are always cheaper options available depending on what standard of accommodation  and eateries you want.

Yep just like cruising really, you can pick according to your budget. We have done near identical cruises to Tas ranging from about $1500 to about $4000, same for land trips to Lismore (a frequent land trip for us) from a about $500 petrol and meals included, to about $1750. Pick your budget I’m sure I could have gone higher and lower price on both had I chosen to, the cruises were all balcony cabins, ranging from P@O to Cunard, so not even with one of the real premium lines.