onlyslightlymad

Not always late in life. My daughter had shingles at five months of age (which is unusually young). A couple of years later my son had shingles at 8 years old. When you have shingles, you can give people chicken pox if they haven't had it before.

I own a restaurant in NZ. We have a tip jar. Tips are not expected but sometimes customers will put extra cash or change in there. Some businesses use the money towards a staff function at Christmastime or split the cash once a year. To be honest, tipping is a curse, I don't encourage it.

Here's the best ship tour I've watched so far. I know this is Scarlet lady but I think all the ships are the same.

I haven't cruised since the start of 2020 and I'm booked on three next year! I can't wait!

We had a cruise credit to use up. We had been booked on the maiden voyage out of Melbourne this year but life got in the way. Actually, I was wrong, they are not both out of Brisbane. My husband booked them while I was at work. It's a four night Sydney-Newcastle-Mooloolaba-Brisbane followed by a seven night Brisbane-Port Douglas-Cairns-Brisbane I'm looking forward to giving Virgin a go but I am also an early to bed early to rise person. Apparently, restaurants, shows, and fitness classes have to booked on the app as soon as possible or you can miss out.

We just booked for next season, December 2024. Two B2Bs out of Brisbane,

I'll take your photo 🙂

Here's a better pic. Grand Princess taken from Pilot Bay

In NZ, it really depends on the port. I've taken Ubers in Auckland and Christchurch - they are fine. They have had some issues in Dunedin, with cars masquerading as Ubers when they are not. My daughter lives there and she is not keen on Uber there. Be careful in downtown Auckland, there have been multiple instances reported in the paper of cars which look like they belong to taxi companies (with a lighted taxi sign on top etc) but who are not affiliated with any taxi company. They have taken tourists for a ride both literally and metaphorically. They pick up tourists (and locals) and charge exorbitant rates for short distances. There is no taxi company to complain to, so they generally get away with it. When I'm travelling in Auckland I either use Uber or call a taxi using the app of a company I am familiar with. I live in Tauranga and Uber here can be jolly expensive. I am more likely to use a taxi (which is also jolly expensive). Not much competition in the market here.

Actually the ozone hole is much smaller now. . The banning of CFCs worked. It's amazing what we can do if we all pull together. However, we still have the highest incidence of melanoma in the world.

Mostly natives and grasses. It is nice and the dogs enjoy it. We do have a semi-tropical garden, though. I'll take a photo for you today (better than the last one). Unfortunately, the plaster surface of our pool is deteriorating and it has gone a spectacular shade of vibrant green. Something else to deal with before Christmas.

It's the reserve next door. It is lovely though

Not actually the first ship of the season but I was greeted by the sight of Royal Princess in port today and thought I'd share. I do apologise for the terrible photo, I should have taken it a bit closer and not waited till I got home. It's such a beautiful day to be in port, though, so I thought I'd still share.

I was idling away pretending to book cruises online when this popped up. Rather a lot for a ten night cruise up the Queensland coast on Cunard

Oh c'mon the Aussie accent's not that bad. I can mostly make it out just fine.

Have you been to Japan before Julie? It is my favourite cruise so far. I would definitely go again.

I loathe tipping. I always leave the auto-gratuities on because, to me, that's just part of the cost of the cruise. It's not like I have the option of fetching my own drinks and staff need to be paid. I just wish it was part of the fare upfront and not some bogus add-on. Just put the price up to the proper amount in the first place and don't play tricks. Also, chasing people with an envelope of cash at the end of a cruise is very unpleasant and demeaning to me and the staff involved. Just pay them properly in the first place, which shows them a lot more respect for the job they do. As to getting 'better service', isn't that what I paid for in the first place? If the cruise line wants to reward exceptional crew, then they should pay them a bonus or give them a promotion.

I meant 24/25 season. Whoops.

We were booked on Resilient Lady in December but had to cancel because of a change in work commitments. Happy to see that she is coming back for 2023/24 season so will try again. I would like to try Disney but it's so expensive. Actually, the prices on Celebrity have soared as well. We are doing the Edge in February on a much deferred cruise (Covid), and I couldn't afford to book our room now. The price has doubled.

Yes, much as I have mocked others, it came back to bite me. In Hoi An, I had a blazer made at one of the bespoke stores. They assured me it would be ready that afternoon. It did not fit. They assured me they could fix it straight away. Nope. Stress levels rose. The family started hopping from foot to foot. After some time, I pounced on the blazer as was and we went for it. Our driver was informed we were in a hurry. He overtook three buses at once in the Hai Van tunnel. We thought we had arrived at our final day on this earth. As we crested the rise we saw that our ship was still there, but getting ready to leave. Our tour guide asked if we would like to pull over for some photos with the ship in the distance. We did not think this was a good idea and expressed our feelings vehemently. We made it just before they lifted the gangplank and did, indeed, do the walk of shame. Every time I wear that blazer, someone says "Is that the one?". Nice jacket, though.

I wouldn't want crew members to go without so I would never ask for tips to be removed, I would just much prefer that all service charges be included. One less stress to worry about.

Okay, I bite. You are scaring me. One of the reasons I have booked Viking is because 'tips' are included. Thank god. Please don't tell me I'm wrong.

Not quite true. They have never been legal tender, but a bill of exchange (or iou note). So, businesses have always been able to refuse to accept them and now the banks have stopped offering cheque books to customers.

Um, I prefer NZ beef, being from NZ and all. Not overly fond of American beef. I guess it depends what one is used to.

Yes, I do remember that.