CountessCookie

19 hours ago, CDaze71 said:

Those bloody Yanks can stop rubbing their hands together and get their dirty mitts off our ships. They have enough choice over there, sooooo many ships. 

Yeah, I've been doing some reading over in the Carnival form (some of the attitudes have remindedme we I stay out of there). Seems a lot are excited for the possibilities the two "new" ships will bring. But they really aren't new. Wasn't P&O Australia basically been the retirement home for Princes ships? 

Edit: shoutout to the Aussies defending us in the other pages. 

The vibe is what I was wondering about when they said it would be "buisness as usual" untill March. I would personally hate to be on the February sailings.

Anyone notice an increase of P&O ads on social media this week. Then in the comments they are having to explain that there are still cruises untill march. 🤣

1 hour ago, ceeceeDee said:

Just a thought. I wonder if the P&O fan sites members are slashing their wrists yet or at the very least donning black and going into mourning.

I'm now imagining everyone on the last few P&O sailing decked out in full victorian mourning gear. An absolutely halarious mental image.

1 hour ago, gbenjo said:

Carnival said it was because of the regulations that they have to operate under in Australia that was a reason for the merge but wouldn’t the same regulations apply to any ship operating in Australia regardless of which line was operating it?

I just see this as as meaning the can pull the ships from down here when they want to. A bit harder to do if the ships are sailing under P&O "Australia" 

The thing which worries me is the "buisness as usual until March 2025." Maybe they don't plan any changes yet, but situations like this can be hard on staff (even if the same parent company). Mix that with customers having their last "P&O AU cruise" and I can see a change to the atmosphere onboard in the coming months.

(Or maybe I'm just salty over past experiences with things like company merges from an employees perspective 😅).

49 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

You could be right, but there may also be people jumping on board for last minutes, filling the cabins as they vacate, I suppose we won't  ever know for certain 

I mean I did just consider doing this. 😅

I wouldn't mind stopping in there on a cryise, but I wouldn't be in a rush to be yhe first on these new iteneries. I'll let the work out all the kinks before I go.

16 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

Ugh, I hadn't thought of that.  Unless there is a pillow menu I always take my pillow with me wherever we go domestic or international.

Might be worth getting a second pillow for travel? When you get home you can douse it with bug spray and let hit air out and still have a clean pillow to sleep on that night.

I'm so sorry to here that this experience has been so awful for you. The presence of those bed bug would have been bad enough without then dealing with this ongoing fallout.

Honestly, I don't blame you for not taking part in the Accurate Affairs interview. Personally I never trust those sorts of shows to present things fairly, they just go for the story which will get them the most views.

The idea of bed bugs and the possibility of bringing them home terrifies me. I've never encountered any, but still always check and take precautions.

I'm doing a week trip to Sydney soon and my sister plans to take her own pillow and blanket to the hotel. I would never do that for fear of bed bugs coming home.

3 minutes ago, resordanis said:

We booked this cruise (prior to this announcement) as part of a B2B. Might be a bit livelier than normal on a quick TAS cruise. We got a great price too, will be interesting to see current pricing.

I feel I got a pretty good price for my booking too. This cruise is my replacement for a cancelled Vorgin Voyages cruise. Got balcony for a similar price as the solo inside cabin on VV. A little lively wouldn't be too bad for me.

5 minutes ago, resordanis said:

We are on this cruise too. Luckily DH supports Swans, but me I am not sure🤔

At least it is his team, wouldn't be got to find out a rival team was having their event on your cruise.

Glad to know it should mostly be avoidable and shouldn't impact normal activities too much. It could encourage a slightly younger demographic and I'm younger than the average cruiser, which could benefit me. I'm sure their will be plenty of partners who aren't big into footy and are coming along just for the cruise. 😅

Just saw a news article that the Princess cruise I have booked for January is going to now going to be hosting a Sydney Swan fan events. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid this as much as possible 😅.

https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/1555381/princess-cruises-sydney-swans-unveil-unique-fan-experience

Don't have a winter cruise booked this year. Instead my family has a week stay in Sydney booked. I'm now banned form pointing out how we will be spending more than if we did a cruise. 

On 5/5/2024 at 10:24 AM, cruiser3775 said:

Yes, Sydney hotels are generally more expensive than Brisbane. My go-to budget hotel in Sydney is the Great Southern. It's on George Street, right opposite a light rail stop that takes you and your luggage down to Circular Quay. An old fashioned large hotel, not fancy, but clean and with good bathrooms, and lots of good eating places around it.   My other choice is the Grace Hotel, closer to the port, costs a bit more, but often has discounts.

In Brisbane, I usually stay in the suburb of Hamilton, which has a range of accommodation choices, and lots of places to eat dinner. Plus it's a good location for minimising taxi fares from the airport and then to the port.

The Great Southern is my go to in Sydney, too. Only short walk to China town restaurants is an important point too.

Isn't that such a truth. 

1 hour ago, 555 said:

There actually a cheap way to advertise. 

"Free" functional branded items (stationery, bags, etc), is a type of advertisement I'm happy to support. 

3 hours ago, Gimer said:

Off Crown in January.  Future Cruise Consultant Beulah is a big collector. 

I love that there are some "not duck ducks," too. The cow is my favourite.

51 minutes ago, bassmk said:

I don't love the ducks, and I have zero reason for that. It's just not something I see the point of for myself. I do appreciate that other people find big joy in them, and that part is nice. I like for people to have fun! So rest assured that if I ever see any ducks (funny enough, I've never found one!) I will leave it to be found by someone who will be thrilled by it.

I'm much the same. I'm not interested in finding or hiding ducks. But it makes me happy to know other people are enjoying it and I do like hearing the stories of those who hiding and hunt for them.

On 3/5/2024 at 12:32 AM, Cruise Raider said:

I’m beginning to cave as my DH loves those little ducks and has found quite a few of them.  It’s almost like collecting throws at a Mardi Gras parade. 
The crew absolutely love the collecting the ducks.  
However, I want to see these little ducks made out of bird seed or at least something that won’t cause any trouble in our environment! 
 

I understand wishing for a more sustainable alternative. But seeing as cruises come from all over the world, it would also be important to make sure they don't pose a bio-hazard risk. Which would rule out seeds, or people will be getting their finds confiscated by boarder control on the trip home.

I've booked my first cruise and I'm thinking of combining this cruise with my hobby of decorative planning. I'm thinking of setting up a pretty Traveller's Notebook which I can use to plan my cruise, journal during my cruise and then be able it of a scrapbook/memory keeper after the cruise. I was wondering if anyone has done something similar and have some tips or inspection they could share?

I have a some idea of what I want to do, but currently a little overwhelmed by too many abstract ideas and nowhere to start.

56 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Just when you thought it would get easier, there is this Princess APP .... 🤣

I have read a few things about that, but at least this cruise should go ahead. And I get a balcony for the same price as the solo insider I had with Virgin. Hopefully the APP doesn't give me too many dramas.

I ended up booking that cruise with Princess as an alternative to the cancelled Virgin cruise. I booked with Princess, but transferred the booking to a local TA this morning. I told her that I had originally had a Virgin cruise booked. I could just tell by her face that she had a hard week due to those cancellations.