Bubbeh

They could go to one of the bars, get drunk and make a fool of themselves? Just a suggestion. 😉

I'm not trying to be a smart ar^e but this is the very reason to never fly in/out on the day of embarkation / disembarkation. Given what you've probably paid for the trip, one night in a hotel surely wouldn't break the bank? I'd be on the phone to QANTAS immediately to change that flight to the next day or even overnight. I'm thinking that your travel insurance would most likely have an 'inconvenience clause' where your expenses would be covered assuming you've expended more than the excess/deductible. Also, given that QANTAS changed the flights and you're negatively impacted, they may well put you up in a hotel overnight. It's worth investigating your options.

Sorry Mic this response is supposed to be for the OP. I don't seem to be able to unrespond/delete a reply to you???

When I'm in my 90s I plan to be living in the spare room at my daughter's house being spoon fed, wearing a nappy and dribbling uncontrollably. Just like she used to do a long time ago. Ah revenge, sweet revenge!!!

Not me! When my kids were young I would have thought now's my chance! 😁

We traded in our Ford Territory on an MG ZS and I can't speak highly enough of this little car. Our Territory was a brilliant vehicle for us when we bought it travelling to Perth several times a month, driving interstate and just generally doing quite a few kms a year (+20 000). In the 9 years we had it the only thing we ever replaced were tyres and a battery. Fantastic! However, she was getting long in the tooth and since buying our motorhome during the dreaded COVID years we were doing less than 2000 kms a year - time to trade. The MG is basically a shopping trolley, it goes locally to the shops and back, to the Drs on occasion and that's about it. The only time it will go further is when we travel overseas and leave it at the airport. Still it was a magic price and with 7 years warranty and capped servicing, we're pretty damn happy. Just sharing.....

At the risk of sounding unsympathetic, if you can't afford a passport you really can't afford to travel. Our Govt takes great interest in knowing where it's citizens are in the world in order to assist them if needs be. I see this as such a minor increase. Having said that, my passport is valid unit 2030 and Grumpy's to 2031 when I'll be 72 and he'll be 78; I wonder how many more 10 year passports I'l require after that?

What the???????

Now that's a wonderful suggestion. Good thinking buchhalm.

Yew, yew, yew! I'm itchy all over just reading that. A million years ago my Dad brought back bed bugs from an army camp. It was horrible and very expensive to replace mattresses, carpets, furniture etc etc etc. Mum was so angry and upset, Dad was just lucky he didn't get replaced.

I'm coming to this for a bit of a different angle to most responders. I would suggest doing a circumnavigation of the continent. You could even extend with a B2B onto NZ. Unfortunately, we tend to get a bit forgotten over this side of the country as does South Australia. Others have said it and it's very true, she's a big country and you couldn't hope to get a feel for her in anything less than 2 - 3 weeks. And, yes, I do think Australia identifies as female not male, non-binary or anything else.

And rightly so. Kudos.

Grumpy and I have also made the same decision. Whether it's a natural disaster emergency at home or something overseas/ at sea, we've agreed to meet each other at the nearest evacuation centre. We've also got a plan in case we have to evacuate our home in terms of who takes what; he grabs the hard drive (all our family photos etc are on this) while I get the insurance documents and identifying certificates (birth certificates etc). If only one of us is home, it's the hard drive and insurance documents and if nobody is home it's cross your fingers and hope.

Will await with bated breath.

Sounds just like a Cabin Attendant to me. Butler? Not sure if it's because I'm Australian and to a greater or lesser degree we tend to pride ourselves on being egalitarian but, the whole concept of a Butler makes me feel most uncomfortable. Happy to have a Cabin Attendant but I'll give the Butler a great big miss thanks all the same.

Or even the beerholder. 😉

Wouldn't even consider anything other than a balcony cabin. Once did a cruise on a small ship with no balcony's, somehow kneeling on the bed while struggling to see our to a port hole just doesn't compare to walking out onto a balcony. If I couldn't afford one, I simply would not book.

Common sense and the law sometimes sleep in different beds, Occasionally in different cabins on different decks!

Don't mean to be rude but it's doesn't matter what you agree with or think, it only matters what the decision makers think.

Well that in itself is enough to give them the bums rush!

Couldn't even be bothered getting the suitcase down for anything less than 10 days. And, there better be a few sea days in those 10 days too.

I have only done one P & O cruise and wish I gave it up before that one. But that's enough about me, why?

If you need to ask there's probably no point telling you 😉

I've heard a million justifications for why this occurs and how hard it is for some people in third world countries to make ends meet. I remain unconvinced, to my mind these various scammers are the scum of the earth. Not to put too fine a point on it.

Not that I'm aware of.