cheznandy

We did a short 3 nighter on Adventure 3 weeks ago, the variety of food was a big let down for us, the menu was the same every lunch and dinner in the main dining room, the buffet hardly changed......but we have been on plenty of 3 nighters and know they are not comparative to a longer cruise. We liked what they had done to the adult only aft area, and the updated decor through out the ship. Nothing much has been done to the cabins though. You will also not get tissues, face cloths and other amenities that may be supplied on other lines. We had one hand towel and bathmat and two bath towels, there were a couple of pool towels in the wardrobe area. Surprisingly we had a nightly turn down service which we did not expect. You will pay for room service, pizza, burgers, seafood, any sweets from the cafe had a charge as well. As said above the Blue room is lovely, though very understaffed, as were most of the bars. A lot of the staff were overworked, training new recruits, our dining experience was an experience!! Dragon Lady was lovely, we had been on Explorer but the way they have done this restaurant was nicer, and a different menu, be prepared for darkness! If you have booked a balcony, go for deck 10 (Old Caribe deck on Princess) they have larger balconies, half covered half open, if you book aft it is only up two deck to the adults only area.

OMG Leigh, that's was my absolute fav chocolate. I if was ever tempted to eat a high sugar diet again, that would be it!!

No worries, last time I called ANZ CC Insurance, gave the info and she emailed me the paperwork. This time when I called she said I could do it online through the eligibility checker, so I did but the paperwork was a little different and there wasn't a separate COVID cover certificate but was written on that last page. Anyway as long as it is there and you have the cover you need, hoping none of us will need it!

Are you using your ANZ CC travel Insurance for this? I just printed mine out from and the 3rd page has the eligibility for COVID cover.....it states "Under this group policy, the elible travellers listed below have access to International Travel insurance which includes epidemic/pandemic (such as COVID 19) coverage and cover while cruising including while aboard a foreign registered cruise vessel in Australian territorial waters."

$1500 is a lot to be squished in, I hate the 3/3 seats. Our little regional planes have heaps more leg room and are 2/2. I have just put in for a points upgrade to Business for a Sydney/Cairns flight in April, I know we wont get it but worth a try, only 5 left and we are not that high on the Loyalty scale with Qantas.

Yeah, we are using our Qantas FF points for fares to and from Brisbane and Sydney, costing us about $45 in taxes each way but still better than driving and parking. Cheapest flights Port Macquarie to Sydney is about $170, so that's $680 for two of us return......for that we would drive!

Thanks Don, a nice review of something new. We tried QM2 a few years ago, loved that it was something different, loved the ship mostly, just beautiful but not for us to cruise on regularly. We are pretty casual dressers these day so the jacket every night would annoy hubby!! We are in that not old not young group ATM!!

I think that may be a big factor, I have read of some posters on here saying they would book but the flight costs negate the cheap fares.

Have a look at Alliance travel insurance, travel.alliance.com.au A total of $344 including the Cruise pack, I put in South Pacific and two adults aged 75. Their plans exclude Pandemics in general but when you add the cruise pack it is an inclusion, have a read of the PDS. Same Alliance Global as your ANZ CC insurance. I was so surprised at the cost of being over 70 for insurance, I had a look at Insure and Go and it was over $1000!

Where are you going to look? If you want to cruise from Sydney......Princess, P&O and Carnival.

Yes, I noticed Ovation is higher priced, but as we can now fly Port to Brisbane, we don't mind doing either. Really sad that the Brilliance is only here for a season as we loved Radiance class. We are just doing some short cruises for now, although I did book the Carnival Splendor Singapore to Sydney next year, we did it in 2019 and loved that cruise and itinerary, good price too, $107p/p per night for one of the big outside cabins, 16 nights yay! This one stops in Jakarta, Benoa, Lombok, Darwin, Airlie and Moreton, no Brisbane which I can do without as a port stop. Hope your day gets better!!

Hey Cheryle, what problems are they having? I haven't really been following Royal but have Quantum booked for Xmas.......not ready to let it go as I booked it for $600 cheaper p/p than it is now. It's that or a caravan trip🤣

Yes, gut health is the most important, we changed the way we eat a couple of years ago, cutting out grain, seed oils, sugar and preservatives. The results are amazing, no statins, blood pressure meds or high blood sugars in this house!! Healed eczema, psoriasis, gut issues etc, now working on my bad knee so I don't have to have a knee op haha! For those that are trying Flo travel nasal spray, test first at home to make sure you dont have a reaction to Carageenan, it is something used to thicken milk products and something I avoid in cream/milk products, but if it kills a virus getting into my nasal passage or lessens the severity , I use it for planes and crowded places

Flo Travel is what we use as well, yes hard to get but we stocked up recently as well combined with Iodine throat gargle as preventative to lessen the viral load. We travel with our supply of Quercetin, Zinc, Vit C, Magnesium, D3 and K2 in case we come down with anything.

Here you go.....looks like it is pay per item. Room service is at 2.21.

Yes, looking at those prices Geoff, I remember a figure of about $1600 for my 15 night cruise in a 6 berth with out shower/toilet!........saved hard for that on apprentice wages of $76 per week while still paying off my 1974 Datsun 180B, my Waterbed, paying Mum and dad board and even joined my own health fund. Times have changed, my grandkids think everything just goes on the Credit card.

Ah the good ol days, back in the '80s it was P&O's Oriana and Sitmar's Fairstar ( until it became P&O) sailing from Sydney, you were either one or the other. When I was a young apprentice hairdresser, us girls would argue which one was better. Of cause Fairstar was the Fun Ship, where you could drink your duty free on the first night, never see your cabin, line up in the corridors for a shower in your satin happycoat haha!, sleep on the deck chairs all night.......and everyone stayed up all night on the last night to sail in to Sydney harbour with pillows and blankets from you cabin. Smoking everywhere, never enough seats so we sat on the floor, no one complained though!

Can't help you there Cheryle....there was a Palm Tree Island resort listed which is/was on an island in Tonga, but doesn't look like the location on those maps. They have changed the names from the traditional names of the islands to make them more appealing. Back in the early 80's on my first Fairstar cruise we visited Noumea, Vila, Suva, Lautoka, Mystery Isle, Isle of Pines and Dravuni Isle over 40 yrs ago OMG! I remember being in Primary school and a friends Nana went on a cruise that visited Pago Pago, Honiara, Rabaul etc, so exotic back then we thought they were rich!! They bought her back grass skirts and hats. I have now been to all those places......but hey, another kid in our class used to go to the Entrance for Xmas holidays and we thought that was so far away, who would drive from Quakers Hill to there haha!!

Good for you, glad you found some good prices this time. I also logged in today and saw the cheap fares, but no holiday leave left for us for a while. We are on Luminosa in 4 weeks for a 3 nighter, got a balcony for about $150 I think. Looking forward to checking the ship out and being back on Carnival

Yes, I think the key words are " required" and "recommended" If it was required on our embarkation, it was not enforced and those unmasked were not questioned. Won't get into the debate of efficacy of vaccines/boosters mask wearing etc, we didn't mask up after boarding or our flight home, home three days and all good so far!!

Agree if you have a group take a taxi van/cab from the taxi rank. We took a taxi last Thursday, public holiday in Australia, Domestic terminal to Sofitel Darling Harbour $41AUD. Disembarkation we walked from OPT to Circular Quay station, took the lift, hopped on a train to domestic terminal, used lifts and escalators, all easy with luggage. $18AUD p/p.

I can agree with that Lyndarra, between the hearing aid, glasses and earrings it is a tangle!

We were on P&O Pacific Adventure over the weekend, 3 night Comedy cruise. No one wearing masks on our regional flight Port Macquarie to Sydney, we did as we had a day/night in Sydney prior to boarding and had not done our pre cruise RAT yet. 50% of passengers wearing masks at OPT, once onboard I probably saw 2 mask wearing people for the 3 days, crowded lifts, bars etc, the cruise was fully booked so lot's of people. Disembarkation the same, no masks. We are not mask wearers but will do if required. We did our RATS at the hotel, photo, ID, time etc, not even looked at. Had to do verifly and show the green tick. We went with no expectations of P&O, our expectations were met haha! but that's for another thread.

I would but others are in the photo and I do not like to do that. I have a heap of the interior, cabin, leaving, QE2 passing, didn't realise how many I took.

Such a bad memory!! Yes black suits and tuxes on our table of CCers, ladies all in bling and black too.