Boatharbour

We were on Millenium in a C1 aft cabin and thought the ship was in excellent condition. Couldn’t fault anything in our stateroom. Public areas were all beautiful too. The Oceanview Cafe was well designed, with hand washing areas. We loved the high stools that faced out to sea. Can’t say I would feel the same about eating at a buffet these days though. Prior to Millennium we had only sailed on S class ships, but we really enjoyed the ambience of Millenium. By the way, while we were on board, there was a session in the theatre about the refurbishment which was very interesting.

Me too. I guess it provides options for people who need to return to their own countries, have compassionate reasons and are prepared to go through the quarantine period.

Emirates may be flying here, but unless you’re a permanent resident or citizen, you won’t be allowed to enter the country. Even if you are eligible, you’ll spend 14 nights in quarantine in designated quarantine hotels. Australians are still banned from leaving the country ( except under the most exceptional circumstances).

Agree you can’t put a bubble around everyone, but difficult to make the right decision about travel when information may be withheld from you by the cruise line. In at least one instance, passengers embarking on a New Zealand cruise were not informed that passengers on the previous cruise had flu like symptoms. Nor were they told until after they had disembarked that there was an outbreak on their cruise too. An unusual pre-dawn arrival, ambulances meeting the ship and taking sick passengers away in the dark and an unusually hasty disembarkation for the remaining passengers.

The airlines are not responsible for what is alleged to have happened on the Ruby Princess.

It may well have arrived by air to start with, but the criminal investigation taking place in to the Ruby Princess is about the actions of the ships management after the illness became apparent on board - on two cruises. If their actions are found to be wanting, then they should be held to account.

18 passengers now deceased and over 40% of the Australian passengers have become infected. Alarmingly, nearly 1000 passengers flew overseas after the cruise, many to the US.

To add to this story...another two passengers from the Ruby Princess died in Australia today.

I thought it was odd too, but the news report said the destination was Singapore. Last time I checked she was heading down past Eden off the south coast of NSW - which is in the opposite direction to Singapore. I believe there are sick crew on board, so maybe they want to stay close to Australian waters as long as they by taking the long route.

Solstice was restocked and refuelled with provisions yesterday in a massive operation in Sydney Harbour, along with four other ships. All were required to leave Australian waters under Border Force orders. Solstice is currently south of Sydney and heading to Singapore The Ruby Princess is still anchored outside Sydney . Over 600 cases of COVID19 have been linked to this ship.

The largest peacetime maritime operation in Sydney Harbour is currently underway as 5 cruise ships are restocked with provisions. Celebrity Solstice is one of the 5 and is leaving Australian waters tonight by order of Border Force.

The New Zealand prime minster has announced a ban on all cruise ships coming to New Zealand from midnight tonight. Effective until at least 30 June.

We had solid dividers on our Millenium cruise in late November 2019. We were in an aft cabin and enjoyed the privacy.

I agree with you. Our sailing from Tokyo to HK last November / December was definitely not predominantly Asian. Canadian, American, European and Australian passengers far outnumbered Asian passengers.

We also celebrated our anniversary (40th) at LPC on Millenium recently and had a fantastic time too. DH thought it was a regular restaurant having done no prior research. The look on his face was priceless when the animations began. We had so much fun that evening that we’ll always remember. There are other threads where opinion differs about LPC and the quality of the food, but two of the three courses we had were among the best of the cruise. Not impressed by Tuscan at all. On M class it lacks the wake view and the food was really no better or different to the MDR.