Transpacific Brisbane to Seattle April 13, 2023

[EngIceDave]

I can't believe we're under 20 days for us

[EngIceDave]

Working out my cabin door navigational map.

 

 

[baloothecat]

Hi 

Suva- I had reserved spaces on a snorkel excursion to Beqa lagoon thru Untouched Fiji for 100USD (transport/snorkel/light lunch pizza & water) because they said it was a small group tour, no more than 12, payable on day of tour. See the wording I copied back on post #84. After seeing them confirm a lot of people I contacted them to find out how they were transporting so many people since I was led to believe they only did small groups.

 

Well I’m  now finding out it’s going to be a large group (at least 40) on a 1hr bus to Pacific Harbor then splitting into  2 groups of 20+ on snorkel boats. Your light lunch is pizza (veg/chicken or beef) and bottle of water. 

There is now another option available which I will be switching over to. Vasiti Koi, who works for Nautilus Adventure Tours Fiji has set up another snorkel excursion to Beqa Lagoon. It’s pretty much the same timing except :

1) the transfer is from/to Suva dock by boat to Pacific harbor .
2) bottle of water only, no light lunch

 

Cost is USD $65 , payable on day of departure 

* For $35 difference I’d rather be in the fresh air on a boat than on a bus, and I can buy my own snack or lunch and I hope it might be a smaller group. She says she can accommodate up to 40.

I don’t expect anyone else to switch providers. I just want to let you know what you’re now getting on your snorkel tour thru Untouched Fiji

you can contact Vasiti Koi by private messenger with any questions.

Stephanie

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by baloothecat
Typo

[elviswahoo]

On 11/9/2022 at 10:21 PM, newredcar said:

Hello all, Bonnie and Ed from Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. Looking forward to sailing most of the way home.  Flying over March 16 for a 9day/10day b2b on the Splendor.  Then visiting with friends in Sydney and Melbourne that we met on L.A to Singapore Oct 2019 cruise, before hopping on the Luminosa.  First time to Australia.    Any other Canucks on board?

 

I'm doing the same cruises,  not sure what is between yet... but a Florida guy.  If you gamble I'm sure we'll meet.

 

[elviswahoo]

Going single on this one,  hope to have fun with you all. 

 

First time posting on this too, but have cruised a lot. 

 

Any diving info would be appreciated. Thanks 

 

[baloothecat]

24 minutes ago, elviswahoo said:

 

Any diving info would be appreciated. Thanks 

 

If you go to fb group for this cruise someone set up dives for each of the ports.

[BlessedAgain]

18 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

Not sure if you saw earlier, I found decent flights to Australia out of Orlando 

Emirates can get you there in one stop in Dubai

MCO>DXB>BNE (Brisbane)

We have been in Hawaii since the middle of February.  We are flying to Sydney on 3/25 to take a cruise to New Zealand.  We return to Sydney on 4/7.  I've been trying to figure out how to spend the 6 days before the 2nd cruise.  Trying to figure out flights to Brisbane with all our luggage....yikes!   Are Australian airlines fussy about the weight of carryon luggage?  Are you allowed to have a roller board and a backpack as a personal item?   

[Dsaar50]

14 hours ago, baloothecat said:

Hi 

Suva- I had reserved spaces on a snorkel excursion to Beqa lagoon thru Untouched Fiji for 100USD (transport/snorkel/light lunch pizza & water) because they said it was a small group tour, no more than 12, payable on day of tour. See the wording I copied back on post #84. After seeing them confirm a lot of people I contacted them to find out how they were transporting so many people since I was led to believe they only did small groups.

 

Well I’m  now finding out it’s going to be a large group (at least 40) on a 1hr bus to Pacific Harbor then splitting into  2 groups of 20+ on snorkel boats. Your light lunch is pizza (veg/chicken or beef) and bottle of water. 

There is now another option available which I will be switching over to. Vasiti Koi, who works for Nautilus Adventure Tours Fiji has set up another snorkel excursion to Beqa Lagoon. It’s pretty much the same timing except :

1) the transfer is from/to Suva dock by boat to Pacific harbor .
2) bottle of water only, no light lunch

 

Cost is USD $65 , payable on day of departure 

* For $35 difference I’d rather be in the fresh air on a boat than on a bus, and I can buy my own snack or lunch and I hope it might be a smaller group. She says she can accommodate up to 40.

I don’t expect anyone else to switch providers. I just want to let you know what you’re now getting on your snorkel tour thru Untouched Fiji

you can contact Vasiti Koi by private messenger with any questions.

Stephanie

 

Thanks so much for this info! I too would like to change but don’t use FB. Do you have any other contact info by chance?

 

[EngIceDave]

8 hours ago, elviswahoo said:

If you gamble I'm sure we'll meet.

Hi, I'm Dave. I'm a degenerate gambler

 

(*Not really me in picture)

 

[EngIceDave]

I realized this morning, we're going to do a full 'round the world on this trip.

Completely circumnavigate the globe going East to West

MCO>DXB>PER>BNE>PPT>SUV>HNL>SEA>MCO

That's....Orlando>Dubai>Perth>Brisbane>Tahiti>Fiji>Honolulu>Seattle>Orlando

DXB Dubai is a 7 hour layover.

Week in Perth before cruise.

[kangforpres]

12 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

Hi, I'm Dave. I'm a degenerate gambler

 

(*Not really me in picture)

 

Let's start a "I Gamble on Cruise ships to get free cruises" support group!

[EngIceDave]

Just now, kangforpres said:

Let's start a "I Gamble on Cruise ships to get free cruises" support group!

Give ya 30:1

[kaykayozzie]

I'm having a battle with reply to Blessed. Why not take the train from Sydney to Brisbane? You could probably stop off at towns along the way. It would be a way of taking more luggage too. Good luck. Kay

[EngIceDave]

1 hour ago, kaykayozzie said:

I'm having a battle with reply to Blessed. Why not take the train from Sydney to Brisbane? You could probably stop off at towns along the way. It would be a way of taking more luggage too. Good luck. Kay

Isn't it expensive?

At least trains in the US are costly and they suck for long travel

[EngIceDave]

The Masters (Golf) will be going on during the cruise, I wonder what we'll be able to watch onboard?

[baloothecat]

9 hours ago, Dsaar50 said:

Thanks so much for this info! I too would like to change but don’t use FB. Do you have any other contact info by chance?

 

I contacted her on fb messenger and this is her email:

vkoi277@yahoo.com

[baloothecat]

Suva- If you’re not a snorkeler and still looking for a tour, Vasiti Koi of Nautilus Adventure Tours Fiji has set up a cultural tour for our port stop. You can contact her to reserve your spot by fb messenger Vasiti Koi or email vkoi277@yahoo.com

Or for more information 

[BlessedAgain]

11 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

Isn't it expensive?

At least trains in the US are costly and they suck for long travel

 

12 hours ago, kaykayozzie said:

I'm having a battle with reply to Blessed. Why not take the train from Sydney to Brisbane? You could probably stop off at towns along the way. It would be a way of taking more luggage too. Good luck. Kay

I’m sorry you had trouble responding….not sure what the problem is.  We did look into the train, but the only  daytime trai. We could find us actually train and bus and takes over 4 hours.  The reviews we read were not to favorable.  I appreciate the suggestion, though!  Do you know if the airlines weigh your carryon bags?

[EngIceDave]

2 hours ago, BlessedAgain said:

 Do you know if the airlines weigh your carryon bags?

We have a Qantas flight from Perth to Brisbane (Internal Australia) and we have baggage weight limits of 50#

 

They have to weight them, have to know total pax and stowage weights to fly

[seawitch111]

Does anyone know which of the excursions include the swimming with sharks? Wondering if its been renamed... We did this in Moorea a few years back 

[kaykayozzie]

11 hours ago, BlessedAgain said:

 

I’m sorry you had trouble responding….not sure what the problem is.  We did look into the train, but the only  daytime trai. We could find us actually train and bus and takes over 4 hours.  The reviews we read were not to favorable.  I appreciate the suggestion, though!  Do you know if the airlines weigh your carryon bags?

The train is not glamorous, but does cater to your basic needs, toilets and dining car, and the scenery is gorgeous. the bus is just the last little bit of the trip.

Also swim at Bondi Beach [water is 24degrees Celsius now] and take the train to Blue Mountains just out of Sydney. See the Opera House and ride the ferries around Sydney Harbour. If you get a day pass you can do all that.

[baloothecat]

15 minutes ago, seawitch111 said:

Does anyone know which of the excursions include the swimming with sharks? Wondering if its been renamed... We did this in Moorea a few years back 

Are you talking about the harmless reef tip sharks? Not sure if any ships excursions do. In Moorea I know Corallina Tours morning lagoon tour does stop in an area between motus that has sharks & rays.. They have an 8:30 tour and will p/u from tender dock. Small group size max.12

https://www.corallinatours.com/

[mainecruisefan]

12 hours ago, BlessedAgain said:

 

I’m sorry you had trouble responding….not sure what the problem is.  We did look into the train, but the only  daytime trai. We could find us actually train and bus and takes over 4 hours.  The reviews we read were not to favorable.  I appreciate the suggestion, though!  Do you know if the airlines weigh your carryon bags?

I can only speak about virgin australia in 2019. I was a delta diamond which gave me status on VAu at that time. They checked extra checked bags for free.

 

That said, they weighed my carry on which was over weight and over sized. I went into the bathroom and put on 3 sets of clothes. 

 

Now underweight and under max size, I was able to board the plane from SYD to Gold coast airport.

 

This time I will be more careful as i should have shoved stuff in my checked bags last time.

 

 

[Suz&Sean]

19 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

We have a Qantas flight from Perth to Brisbane (Internal Australia) and we have baggage weight limits of 50#

 

They have to weight them, have to know total pax and stowage weights to fly

We fly Hawaii to Brisbane on Jet and it is one 44 lb checked and one 22 lb carryon + purse total I think (roughly). That's going to be hard. We fly Southwest to Hawaii and it's two 50 lb. checked and 2 carryons of any weight. 

[Suz&Sean]

On 3/16/2023 at 6:30 PM, baloothecat said:

Suva- If you’re not a snorkeler and still looking for a tour, Vasiti Koi of Nautilus Adventure Tours Fiji has set up a cultural tour for our port stop. You can contact her to reserve your spot by fb messenger Vasiti Koi or email vkoi277@yahoo.com

Or for more information 

Are you going on this? Is anyone else? Do you know what the pickup time is? Do they pick us up at the dock? :^)