drron29

SS provides a shuttle bus to the Old Terminal and you pick up your luggage there. Then get a private transfer to the Gritti. It would be cheaper than SS could offer. We had our private driver pick us up there.

10 minutes ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Hope it’s sorted soon QSS. It’s like winter here right now. I’ve lit the fire the last 2 nights.

Should come back to Queensland where it is winter. Colder than usual with our minimum temperature only in single digits. Today also colder than usual with maximum 20C. Next few days it gets back to a more usual winter's day of 22C.

It is a small world. I have had lunch with Sir Zelman. We were both on stage at a public debate.

Of course in Australia our sense of humour is often lost on visitors from elsewhere.

The Covid instructions for a pharmacy in Kalgoorlie Western Australia.

Ah the USA. Amazing how we speak the same language yet sometimes can't communicate.

I vividly remember our first time in New Orleans. We went to a diner for breakfast and I ordered my eggs over easy. The waitress replied Can you run that by me again? I repeated my order and this time it was one more time honey.

At this stage Rojaan spoke up and said he wants his eggs over easy. Gotcha honey she said and then - Is your husband Eyetaalian?

Rojaan can do the southern drawl very well/ Basically I am understood in Oklahoma as they speak slowly and in Washington State where some have thought me a local.

1 hour ago, Joc123 said:

As an Australian I’m so sorry for the experience. 

We have so much to offer and this is unacceptable, not sure who is to blame.

Possibly because there are no SS office staff now on weekends in Australia. Phone calls diverted to the Phillipines.

7 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Lucky you, Jeff, it is cold and windy and sometimes raining here.  And I think for quite a lot of the country, the usual four seasons in one day stuff.

 

I see jp posting at present, I feel sure he should be in bed asleep.  The stamina those two have is amazing, wish I had half of it.  But then I am in the age group of the dame in the wheelchair, of course.

 

Lola

Well where I am it is only coming up to 9pm. where JP is on the other side of the Continent it is just before dinner time at 7pm.

We arrive in Darwin in 2 weeks time and spending 3 nights there. I know in that time we won't see as much as you have just done.

And when we go from the seafront up to the CBD it won't be stairs for us.

Don't worry Lola I was the subject of quite a few Dick Emery jokes. Served me right sitting in the front row and getting a call from the hospital.

Two hillbillies walk into a restaurant. While having a bite to eat, they talk about their moonshine operation.

Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough.

After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress. One of the hillbillies looks at her and says, Kin ya swallar?'

The woman shakes her head no. Then he asks, 'Kin ya breathe?'

The woman ...begins to turn blue, and shakes her head no.

The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress, yanks down her drawers, and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his tongue.

The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm, and the obstruction flies out of her mouth. As she begins to breathe again, the Hillbilly walks slowly back to his table. His partner says, 'Ya know, I'd heerd of that there 'Hind Lick Maneuver' but I ain't niver seed nobody do it!'

We had a May 2025 back to back cruise Singapore to Doha then Doha to Athens. SS shortened the first sector and delayed the second sector leaving us 6 days in Doha. They offered us 15% off the first sector. I said I would accept it on the condition they paid for the accommodation in Doha. They refused so we asked for a reduction in the fare for being 2 days shorter plus the 15%. It took nearly 3 month of arguing but they eventually agreed. then we cancelled the Doha to Athens cruise.

Very sad @turtlemichael

I am getting much more certain in my belief that our remaining bookings on SS will be our last.

7 hours ago, LAexNY said:

Actually, each day’s menus are distributed the night before - both lunch and dinner.

Indeed they are on the TV under restaurants.

As to those who cough there was one spectacular failure on our last cruise on an excursion. A couple were wearing masks but took them off to cough!

3 hours ago, Techno123 said:

I wonder what the issue is - dirty bottoms perhaps not acceptable in NZ 😜 I know there was uproar on the Regent board when they kept being sent away to get the hull cleaned.
Quite a few of the early 2025 cruises are either just doing the North Island or if doing the South, avoiding the sounds.

No SS ships have been cruising NZ since the dirty bottoms policy began so that's not the issue.

Possibly because Australia in particular has become a lot more expensive recently and cruise bookings are down but at the cheap end. Carnival has just announced they are shutting down P&O Australia so losing their 3 Australian ships from the market.

"But now the brand is set to fold as the harsh economic realities of the 2020s take their toll.

Its parent company, the Miami-based Carnival, has decided it's too expensive to operate the brand in Australia."

But now the brand is set to fold as the harsh economic realities of the 2020s take their toll.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-05/how-american-investors-helped-kill-p-and-o-cruises/103935344

I have just looked up an Amazon cruise we did on the  Wind back in 2008 when it was still a classic ship. The Atlantide lunch menu did have a burger and caesar salad but the last page reminded you you could order from the room service menu as well. Mentioned steak and lobster (which were much larger in those days ) but also Pizza.

A cruise up the Amazon can be interesting but if you really want to experience wildlife up close you need to stay at a jungle lodge. In 2008 we stayed at the Napo Lodge in Ecuador. Yes it was hot and yes I perspire excessively but it was well worth it. I couldn't post pictures back in 2008 but here are a couple of paragraphs from that stay.

"Day 3 and another 5am wake up call.The group has decided on the 5 hour hike through the jungle.As always it starts with a canoe trip to the trail head.Along the way we see Golden Tamarin monkeys.A short way into the endurance trip(drron has a ****y knee),we see 2 groups of 4 blue and yellow macaws-magnificent.Thanks to our native guide we get close up to 3 different groups of spider monkeys-1 group feeding and 2 traversing the jungle-a privilege indeed.soon however drron is doubting the wisdom of this pursuit.Several times he has to put in the hard yards to catch the peloton.Although the ups and downs are minor hillocks they are starting to feel like the Pyrenees.Just over 2 hours and my shirt is totally soaked.3 hours and so are my pants.By now I start to realise that i have only been going through the foothills of the pyrenees.Now these little rises are really like mountains.We have a rest and are refreshed by Ecuadorian passionfruit.another hour and drron calls for another break.Now I can empty the sweat out of my wellies-our native guide has never seen anything like it."

"Another day in the jungle,another 5am wake up call!Off to the viewing tower in the middle of the jungle-38M up in a kapok tree.The others are really keen and soon we see macaws,toucans,capucin monkeys etc.Poor old drron though is rather fragile today and after an hour I requisition the one seat up in the tree and retire to the shade.
Now drron has this peculiar belief-he can talk to the birds.Sitting by myself i start imitating the various bird calls.Over the next 2 hours at least 25 different species come and sit on the branch near drron including 2 rare sightings and 1 species that is not supposed to be here.The highlight though is a little flycatcher who decides to catch a cicada half his size.Bangs it around a bit then flips it head first and swallows it whole-sits on the branch for the next 45 minutes-now this I can relate to!
On the way back we pass million of army ants and leaf cutting ants.Then a nest of marching wasps-everyone makes a loud noise and from the nest is the unmistakable sound of a thousand marching feet.
Lunch again is a very nice fish dish.Late afternoon a canoe ride around the afternoon and down a small creek.One of our dutch police spots something-the canoe stops and drron finds his head is about a foot from the head of a 4M Anaconda-its body the size of my thigh.Snakes are not my thing but fortunately it takes fright first,backs up then slithers off quickly into the water in front of the canoe.
After this we head off to see the night monkeys-nocturnal feeders-we are in luck and see them depart their daytime hiding place close up"

Those every day classics are the menu at the Grill for lunch. Why duplicate in Atlantide.

Sent by my niece.

The laundry on SS ships is excellent my shirts come back on hangars and are not wrinkled and my underpants and socks come back folded and wrapped up.

I will.

But if you can enquire straight after boarding they may very well add extra flights. you don't want to miss this.

You could email the helicopter company and see if you can do it privately.

https://helispirit.com.au/scenic-flights-and-tours/mitchell-falls-helicopter-tours/

1 hour ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Have an amazing time both and if you happen to see the Ye-Ye la Violetta Grise anywhere snap it up, you’ll love it JP. I Regret not bringing some home thinking I’d find some back here. There’s not a single bottle on sale in the UK! 

I will have to organise a trip to Wales. Our local bottle shop has it for sale.

3 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi coolers......home from my cruise and I seem to have caught a cough.......not sure where  I caught it except to say they kept the public spaces FREEZING cold.........and I don't keep my stateroom that cold so I was in between temperatures. I don't have a cold and no fever (thankfully) just a Pain in the A$$ cough. 

I would say overall I had a good time but I definitely did some comparisons and as much as I have been reading people's displeasure with SS.......I missed the intimacy of the smaller ships and it was SO NOISY on board too. but I guess when you have 2800 people on board that is what happens. 

My cabin was vert good size and so was my balcony so that was good😀and I met some really nice people too. So that was really good too.

 

Hope all of you are doing well.

If there were any coughing Australians on board it is quite likely you have RSV -Respiratory Syncytial Virus. A lot in Australia at the moment and often is just a cough which can last a while. We are up to the average yearly number of cases and winter has only just started. Sad as it is very dangerous for infants especially under 6 months. There have been a few deaths in that age group. but you will recover if that is the cause.

I have just got over it for the second time that I know of. The first time i got it was when running an Influenza ward. found out how quickly PCRs can be done. When it ws confirmed as RSV it was straight back to work.