fstuff1

My Diamond upgrade was cluster. I had a free OV room from the casino. The Diamond upgrade dept said i had to go through CAS to get the upgrade. CAS said no they're not the ones who do the Diamond upgrades. Eventually it got sorted and i got my upgrade but i don't remember if i could change the balcony room they assigned to me. For Ambassador, i get a free 7day cruise in balcony. I also get an Ambassador 1 time room upgrade. So my plan is book the Ambassador 7day balcony and use a free casino cruise in OV and upgrade to balcony so it'll be a b2b in the same balcony room. Does anyone know if i can change my assigned upgraded room to another room? Thx

April 14,2024 Joy: Sunday, April 14 New York (Manhattan), NY 4:00pm Monday, April 15 At Sea Tuesday, April 16 Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda 8:00am Wednesday, April 17 Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda Thursday, April 18 Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda Friday, April 19 Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda 7:00am Saturday, April 20 At Sea Sunday, April 21 New York (Manhattan), NY 7:00am Incidentally, subsequent Joy cruises to Bermuda after that cruise seems to be back to the normal 3days in Bermuda. Wonder why a special 4 day Bermuda cruise? And to those that love Bermuda, congrats!

hm.. the seating area in the oceanview cafe buffet is carpeted

When I was on Infinity earlier this year the Elite breakfast had a small menu you ordered from. With this buffet style on Solstice, all the foods that were available on the menu is out on the tables near the entrance. I like it better. It's also less work on the servers. They now just get your drinks (coffee, oj, etc). Hopefully this carries to the rest of the ships

At the top of the skylift is the town of Kuranda. Unfortunately, I found it to be like the gift shop at the end of a Disney ride. So many shops selling stuff. That's not me. There was a koala habit place about 8 min walking into the town. It costs 21aud but it was around 1230pm and I didn't have time with a 115pm sky lift ticket back. it looked like you can have pics taken with a koala Protip: Theres a free guided tour at the Red Peaks stop, every 30min. It was crowded in the morning so I skipped it. At 130pm I was the only person so I got a private tour of that area of the rainforest. So if you're taking the skylift back, do the tour then

Uber from Yorkie to Smithfield station is 17aud. Uber driver suggested it'll be cheaper for a group to Uber to kuranda (40 Aud) then one way skyrail to Smithfield than to do roundtrip for the group

My Cruise ship took all the morning bookings :(

oh.. that makes sense. instead of freshwater shuttle to smithfield then catching an uber to yorkey knob, get an uber at freshwater. anyway, we decided that with a 4pm last tender, it was cutting it too close. we're just doing the skyrail roundtrip with 115pm going down. (the last time slot of 130pm is sold out)

Lots of koalas everywhere. All the koalas are outside and all can be seen by the public. There's a bunch of koalas at the outside food sitting area. I was told there were baby koalas at the top of the hill next to the platypus building but I didn't see any. :(

Train going up in the morning is sold out due to cruise ship excursions. 😞 i called up the train company directly since they are separate from skyrail: (https://www.ksr.com.au/Pages/SecureBookingEnquiry.aspx) since my last tender is at 4pm, they dont recommend the 2pm train. it's arrives at freshwater station at 330pm. then need to take their bus transfer to smithfield. then i need to get from smithfield to tender pier. Looks like i'm only doing skyrail. (roundtrip) So how much time do you recommend to spend at Red peak and barron falls stations? and how much time to spend at Kuranda station? edit: skyrail times note: there's also a 129pm but it's sold out for my day. thats why it's not listed. that's the last skyrail back to smithfield

Will be in Cairns this Tues on ship, 8am-5pm. (Last tender 4pm) I can get priority tender so be on 1st tender off ship. skyrail/train combo: https://www.skyrail.com.au/plan/skyrail-kuranda-train/ i am confused as to how to do this myself. Which one to start? Skyrail first or train first? How do i get there? Do i need a bus transfer? Where does it drop me off at? How to get back to cruise ship? Thx

Thx. google says High5 casino is temporarily closed?

I prebought koala holding pics weeks in advance. I chose 1215pm but if you do 1230pm (last time slots before their 1 1/2 break), you have time to do the 10min crocodile talk at 12pm and have time to walk to the koala pic area. (I skipped the croc talk :( ) protip: when holding the koala, suck in your stomach. In my pic, I look really fat because I'm leaning back a little because I'm holding the koala

It opens at 9am. (My ship docks 8am) Uber from pier is 60aud but if you choose share, you save 15aud if others go to either the sanctuary or city center. Or prearrange with others from on ship. You can buy tix at kiosk at the sanctuary. Before going to the kangaroo exhibit, buy food (2aud) first to feed them and take pics. So far it's GREAT! (To be continued)

ok, booked The Peninsula Excelsior (Wyndham). Thx Agape01!

im going to assume infinite balc since it's e-class. any which way, i'd pick free ov vs $1350 real balc for a 7day. makes no financial sense to upgrade over free at that price!

thx all. booked the ascent 7day in OV. upgrade to balcony was $1350/person. yeah no way! i'll take free ov 🙂

you're comparing apples and oranges and price points

Glad I did the 1230p. Today was b2b day for me and I was moving cabins. Was still packing at 7am. :o Guide Took us to 3 of the 6 venues. The 2nd biggest one and 2 of the smaller ones. the largest one (concert hall) had performers practicing so we couldn't even take a peek. she said it looked similar to the 2nd biggest one except 1k more people. great tour. if I ever come here again, Im going to book the backstage tour

Oh yeah amazing view... Sydney harbour bridge. If I look right is the iconic opera house. glad the captain parked the ship nose first :)

Mines isn't that wide either. I looked at the cabins immediately below and above me. None of those aft balconies look like they can fit a long lounger like I'm used to on m&e class sunset balconies

When I was in aft balcony on m-class and e-class, the balcony were deep! I was surprised it was in s-Class it's as shallow as a regular balcony :o :( Solstice

Take the free shuttle to town from tender pier. (Note: I think Kayaking vendors are near the tender pier. Walk past the shuttle busses.) It drops you off a block from the Visitor's Center. They are a consolidator for all the excursion companies. It seems to be the same price. My Glow Worm/Waterfall tour was $125nz, same as the company advertising in front of the shuttle bus stop. Glow Worm tour was eh. Guide was great and told about the interesting history of the cave. but it was basically Firefly's without wings on the cave ceiling that didn't move. And you can't take pics because the camera flashes disturb the worms, which made the tour eh. (This wasn't told to me at the Visitor's center. 😞 ) If you go there yourself, admission is $40nz. The 10min waterfall stop was a nice picture location. There's a 3hr boat tour of the island for $150nz at 12:30pm. There might be one at 9am. (My cruise ship tenders started at 7am but i didn't leave my cabin till 930am) There's also a 4.5hr island boat tour AND snorkel for also $150nz. I can't swim so didn't inquire why they are both the same price. There's also many other tours. Visitor's center: Glow Worm pricing if going there yourself: Vendor in front of shuttle stop:

what do you think of Holiday Inn Express Novena for $1400? And it comes with Breakfast.. lol if i'm going to get holiday inn clarke quay for $2100, why not holiday inn atrium for $1900? it's only a few blocks to the left of Clarke Quay

the Peninsula Excelsior for $1500 doesnt have free breakfast. The holiday inn for $2100 does. you would still pick the Peninsula Excelsior over holiday inn?