Tigerlily75

Hopefully this works, here is my original booking. It must have been a $US1 deposit special, because I paid $1.34 as the deposit 

I just checked my receipt from 2019, and it's in AUD. That was for a transatlantic from Orlando to Barcelona. Gratuities were not included in the fare; I prepaid them as an add on. There's an option for direct deposit with Australian bank details, and then a note that says if you pay by credit card "we do not charge any credit card fees but your bank may charge an international service fee as our account is in Miami". I did pay by credit card, and I can't be sure now, but I really don't think I was charged an international transaction fee.

Following along, have a great and safe trip! 

Following along! Have a wonderful trip.  I'll be on Westerdam in February which arrives in Shanghai for an overnight stop on February 6, I can come back and let you know how it went if you like. Not many ships have been yet since the re-opening of China, so it's very hard to find current reports! 

I get motion sickness really easily, but the medication for it will put me to sleep. I can even get sick from YouTube videos where they move the camera too much or too fast! I wear SeaBands on cruises, I put them on before I even step on the ship and don't take them off again until on dry land, and they're amazing. They work really well for me. I carry ginger tablets as well, just in case, but never really need them.

Following along, enjoy your cruise! 

I'm on the same cruise and it's been discussed at length on the roll calls! Not many have been recently because China has just opened up to cruises after covid, I think ours will be the 2nd or 3rd to visit since. Anyway, consensus seems to be: if you are taking a ship tour, or a tour with an agency registered with the government, then you qualify for visa free transit. If you want to get off and do your own thing then you do need a visa. 

We have decided to go ahead and apply for a visa here in Melbourne. There's so much confusion and even HAL and CIBT don't seem to understand the requirements. We are not using a service like CIBT though that seem to charge a ridiculous fee on top of the cost of the visa, we are doing it ourselves at the Chinese consulate and it's not overly expensive - AUD$139 (USD$91) for a double entry visa. We want to get off and do our own thing.

On 12/4/2023 at 12:21 PM, Bill B said:

 

At $3.75/pack that's not too bad (I live in Vietnam where I pay 47 cents/pack).

 

Excise duty on bringing cigarettes into Singapore is (from Singapore Customs website):

Duties payable = Total number of sticks x Weight of individual sticks (every gramme or part thereof) x Excise duty rate

Company A imports 100 sticks of cigarettes weighing 1.5 grammes each. Assuming the excise duty for cigarettes is 49.1 cents for every gramme or part thereof of each stick:

Since the weight of each cigarette is between 1 and 2 grammes, the weight to be taken to calculate the duties payable is 2 grammes.Hence, duties payable = 100 x 2 x S$0.491 = S$98.20 

That's S$196.40/carton (200 sticks), or almost S$1.00/cigarette, Crazy!

 

Fines (and/or 3-6 months prison if more than 2kg) for being a 'drug smuggler' are harsh!

 

Thanks to those who replied.

It looks like your copy and paste is for company importers, here is the info for travellers bringing some in for personal use: 

For travellers bringing in tobacco products for personal consumption (at checkpoints)

From 1 July 2020, travellers bringing in tobacco products* at the checkpoints must ensure that:

a) Total weight of all the tobacco products* imported does not exceed 400 g;

b) The tobacco products* are for personal use only, and not for sale or supply in Singapore; and

c) The retail packing of the tobacco products* must:

     i) Have no tobacco-related logo or branding;

    ii) Have a graphic health warning; and

   iii) Be drab brown in colour.

From: HSA | Overview of tobacco control

So you can bring in some to tide you over if it's under 400grams, but the packaging must comply. I'm Australian and Australian cigarette packaging would comply. But cigarettes are insanely expensive here, so I'd only bring a couple with me anyway and buy some there!

Very sad news, thinking of his family and loved ones 

I wish Carnival would send us some of their more modern ships. I've cruised on Spirit and Legend and thought they were pretty out there decor wise, but Splendor and Luminosa seem next level. I did enjoy my previous cruises very much, but I just haven't felt inspired to cruise Carnival again on those ships! I thought their food was pretty good, but agree the comedians are not great. The "adults only" shows generally rely on swearing and sex without actually being funny, like a 14 year old who has just discovered both

18 hours ago, rsl1958 said:

Thanks for all your help we have now booked on Crown Princess 19th March 2025. I was surprised that Princess still require a Covid test before boarding . Is it easy to get a test in Sydney? As a quick look shows that many test stations are closing .

However I'm hoping as the test isn't required by Australian law Princess may drop this test as they have in other parts of the world .

 

I’ll see you on board! I have booked that cruise Brisbane to Brisbane. There’s a roll call for it here if you’re interested 

I'm in Australia, so only see Oz rolled-in pricing, but I've never been able to figure out Royal's pricing. It's up and down and all over the place, and changes day to day. I was looking at a transpacific once and the solo balcony cabins were around $12,000. Far far higher than a regular balcony. It was just weird. I've previously booked a solo balcony for less than $4k on the same itinerary (but cancelled due to covid). None were sold, unsurprisingly. It's like a robot does their pricing and it never makes any sense. 

Now I have an interior booked for next year for around $3k but could only find that at on online agency. I stopped trying to make sense of it and just book if the price is right on a day I'm looking! 

I'm wondering what peoples experience is on HAL with set dining shared tables? We have our first HAL cruise in February on Westerdam and have booked main dining with a table of 8 request. On a Carnival cruise we had the same and it seemed like the dining room had made the effort to match tablemates. (parents with young adult kids). We had such a great week and all got along so well. But a cruise before that we were put at a table of 4 and the other 2 never turned up. I guess it's hit and miss! 

Test test 

Test

Test

Test

Bon Voyage!!

I really enjoyed this, thank you Matthew! 

Mine was not so long ago, Carnival Spirit from Sydney to the South Pacific in 2015. I won it in a competition Carnival Australia was running on their website. I had never even thought about cruising before, and I was definitely hooked. I took two more Carnival cruises after that, then an NCL transatlantic, and now looking forward to trying out HAL in China and Japan in February! 

Some ideas for Melbourne:

Pick up some walking maps from a tourist information centre at Federation Square, there are all kinds of self guided walks you can take such as Street Art and Arcades, or Parks and Gardens, or various historical paths. Or otherwise, look up a walking tour for your first day, that will help you get your bearings as well as hit up some of the main sites (such as the arcades, laneways and street art, much of Melbournes beauty is off the main streets). You might then find something you want to go back and visit properly on your other days such as the National Gallery of Victoria, or the Royal Botanical Gardens, or St Pauls Cathedral.  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (visitvictoria.com)

Get Hot Jam Donuts from the "American Doughnut Kitchen" caravan at the Queen Victoria Market. Queen Victoria Market | Melbourne's Marketplace (qvm.com.au)  American Doughnut Kitchen - Queen Victoria Market (qvm.com.au) You can even do some foodie tours: Book Now - Ultimate Foodie Tour | Queen Victoria Market | Melbourne (qvm.com.au)

Have an espresso (and a bowl of spaghetti) at Pellegrinis. Pellegrini's (broadsheet.com.au)

On another day you could venture slightly further afield by taking the 96 tram from Bourke Street to St Kilda, take a stroll along the boardwalk, visit the famous cake shops on Acland Street (Monarch Cakes is my personal recommendation, especially the chocolate kuglehopf ) St Kilda, Destinations, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (visitmelbourne.com)   Monarch Cakes: Exquisite Since 1934

Or explore just north of the city around Fitzroy and Collingwood Fitzroy area guide | A local's guide to Fitzroy in Melbourne (timeout.com)  Top 10 things to do in Collingwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (visitvictoria.com)

Take a rest in Carlton Gardens, in front of the Royal Exhibition Building Carlton Gardens - What's On Melbourne

I just booked a solo cabin on Ovation's Honolulu to Sydney transpacific in October 2024 for $3281. That is $172 per night, not too bad! I actually could have had it at $3077 but the deal with the $25 deposit on that particular website was a bit more.

It's a tiny interior cabin though! But I sailed in one of NCL's solo cabins on a transatlantic and loved it. In that case the shower was literally in the bedroom. The room was so cute though and had tons of clever storage, and I don't recall ever feeling unhappy in there! 

Bon Voyage!!

Hello! 

I have booked my very first HAL cruise and am very excited about it. I'll be travelling with my daughter.

February 3, 2024

Westerdam

14 Day China & Japan

Thank you so much!

On 5/29/2023 at 7:47 AM, Sparky74 said:

I was about to write the same. The ship's shampoo or "mystery goop" is fine for hand washing my smalls. It also works as shaving cream!

 

I usually take a ziplock bag of powder if the ship has self serve machines and I’m planning to use them but last year we bought some Tide Pods in the USA before our transPacific. I kept the ones we didn’t use for future cruises so I must throw a couple in my bag for our 10 night cruise NEXT WEEK!

 

When we sailed in Alaska with HAL and bought their laundry package which was great. I’m guessing that Princess will cut out free laundry by the time we become Elite. 🤷‍♂️

Have you had anything shrink? I don't usually put my t-shirts etc in the dryer and I assume they do use dryers. I have a 14 day HAL cruise booked and it will be so much easier to use the laundry service! 

Yes! Me too.

They should not be taking money from anyone right now. What happens I wonder if someone tries to book a cruise with them right now? It’s the one email address they use for everything and they are certainly not responding to my emails.

Plenty from my April 20 Ovation cruise have received refunds in the last few days. However, not those of us who booked via an online oz cruising website who remain completely and utterly uncontactable. The debacle continues. 
 

Royal has told me to call them back on the 27th if I haven’t heard from the company and they will deal with me directly. They told a fellow passenger that even they can’t contact said company and therefore they won’t release our refunds to them.. 
 

Fingers crossed Royal will be true to that and will be able to refund us directly. I understand it’s a big deal to break the contract with a travel agency, but no one can contact them. I’ve contacted everyone I can think of to ask if they are still in business, AFTA: not a member, CLIA: no longer a member. 
 

I got fed up and made a report to the ACCC. Even in unprecedented times, they need to communicate with their clients. And can a company just shut down and not even tell anyone? Frustration is high right now!