Cbtours

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Not sure if it has been repaired properly as yet, but many ships had issues with the air bridge, or gangway into the terminal at Port Melbourne over the few times we arrived there over the years.

Perhaps the terminal needs a major upgrade.

Definitely does need that

4 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I'm not sure where the "freeze" actually was. Was it the cruise lines or was it actually the Port of Melbourne? Most people seem to think it was the increase in port fees but I disagree as it wasn't a big increase and the new fees were still lower than Sydney's. Someone we chatted to a while back, who appeared to have some knowledge of the situation, also said it wasn't a port fee issue but couldn't / wouldn't say what the issue actually was. We did get an impression that it may have been some sort of political issue. My guess is that it was something to do with Station Pier itself.

I just know there’s very little from Melbourne 😩

3 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

I just received an email from NAB. Amongst other changes, they are no longer going to offer me complimentary travel insurance from May next year. 
 

 

Travel Insurances will be removed so you'll no longer be eligible for complimentary International, Domestic Travel insurance and Rental Vehicle Excess Insurance in Australia. This means you'll need to make your own alternative insurance arrangements to be covered on or after 15 May 2026.

 

I wonder if the other banks will follow suit. 🤔

Wow! I’ll be watching with interest 

2 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Thanks. Glad to hear you were never bored.  Good to know you can stand at the end.

 

Each carriage also has a little “stove” heater. Not sure if it was coal

or wood but it made it nice and comfortable 

7 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

We've booked the White Pass Scenic Railway as it seems to get great reviews and it was on sale (through the ship as we prefer to book with them).  It's the basic one that is just under 3hrs.

 

My one concern is that I can't sit for long due to back/joint issues.  Are you able to stand during the ride (e.g. in the aisle)?  Or do you need to stay seated?

 

Also...not to play devil's advocate, but does it get boring at all? Seems like a long time to watch out a window. 

We loved it! Could stand at end of each carriage for a stretch. Never bored for a minute. We went may 2023 and enjoyed snow up the mountain

41 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

I don’t have a good track record. I still haven’t finished the report of our  "Are We Mad?" Trip from 2022! 😱

But we enjoyed every thing you did share 😁

5 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

As the T-shirt says, "I have no cruise control: it’s like the book themselves!”

 

We are planning a trip to Japan and will circumnavigate the country aboard the Westerdam in October. As I’m sifting through my emails there’s the usual spam from our TA but I open it and click on the link. $111/person/day (inferior cabin) for a 15 night cruise from LA to Tokyo in September on Ovation OTS. Do the dates work? Yes; it gets in on a Wednesday and we board the Westerdam 4 days later on the Sunday. I email the link to DW.

A few hours later…

I'm roused from my peaceful slumber by DW loudly asking if I’ve "booked that cruise" as she climbs into bed. "No", I reply. "We haven’t discussed it yet." Then I roll over and journey back to the Land of Nod. 

It turns out that that price is for a "virtual balcony" cabin. We've not had one of those before. 

 

So now I’m investigating flights to LA, and accommodation, and Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland, and possibly coming home via Hong Kong to go to Disneyland… Did I mention that DW owns nearly 200 Mickey Mouse watches? And no, we’ve not been on a Disney cruise

 

 

 

 

yet!

Great to see you pop up in CC🥰

we’re currently in UK visiting family, (Manchester), fly back to London Tuesday 1st, coach to Southampton, four nights there which includes nephew coming from France to join us there and show us the sights 😁, 5-26 April we’re on b2b sky princess France, Spain and Mediterranean adventure 🥰🥰🥰. First time to any of those places. Happy cruising. Frank & Irene

23 hours ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

Happenings.

 

I had my first experience with the Medical Centre the day after we'd left Cape Town. I'd been in a crowded theatre listening to a destination talk about an hour before and felt a bit nauseous on return to my cabin. I thought I must be feeling sea sick which is a total rarity for me and was hunting through my case for some pills when I started to repeatedly violently vomit. The last time I was sick was 15 years ago in hospital and nothing like this. I was alright lying down but when I moved around I started again and again. To cut a long story short a whole hidden team of workers descended. They wheeled me off to the medical centre where they gave me an injection and tablets to stop the vomiting. The clean up team (what a job!), covered in masks and plastic arrived. The most bland menu I've ever seen arrived and all sorts were ringing up and checking on this and that for the next 2 days while I was in iso. I have to say. I was very impressed. To think one minute I was on the floor being sick and a bit scared as nothing like this has ever happened to me before and the next minute I was flooded with help. Sure my safe was broken, my fridge was broken but I just say pfft to all that. Princess was there when it counted.

I was diagnosed after exam by the Dr with gastro and colitis of unknown origin. Before I went to the MC, they did explain costs and offered to send pills up to the room if I did not wish to see Dr. I'd do that if there is a next time but for a first time I wasn't concerned about the US$150. All up the bill was US$228 and worth every penny, particularly when you are travelling alone.

 

So I missed Walvis Bay. This year folks were allowed get off and the shuttle bus took you to the Dunes Mall. I planned to do that and walk back to the ship but having been through Namibia on a land tour, I just took a look on my balcony and went back to bed plus I wasn't allowed out of my room for 2 days. I was a bit naughty though. The wait staff insisted I have black coffee, no milk allowed. I told him I was an addict and had to have coffee with milk. He wouldn't relent so I just smiled sweetly and said 'thankyou' because I remembered I'd pinched 2 packets of creamer from the hotel in Cape Town thinking they might come in handy. So half a pack went into my coffee!

 

There was week of sea days, plenty of time to rest up before Cape Verde where I did 14K steps so pretty much back to normal although not eating as much, particularly sweeties so thats a good thing.

Good to hear a great report from your medical episode 🥰

13 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

I boarded in Cape Town. There were quite a few boarding in Cape Town. I guess some people like to do just half a WC or perhaps that was all that was available. I fly out of Rome. I flew on Emirates. A380 totally full to Dubai and then the 777 down to Cape Town. Even though I had a spare seat next to me on the DXB-CPT leg, its just not a comfortable plane. I fly FCO-DXB-MEL all the way home on the A380.

 

It was the the big Cape Bike Ride attracting an extra 30 000 odd bikers on Mar 9, the day the cruise started so many hotels booked out or expensive so I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Greenmarket. I liked it and they have security personnel wandering round the area so you can go for a bit of a walk and chat to them as go.

 

I can see why people in Cape Town never get sick of looking at the mountain.

I married my South African husband 16 years ago and I have traveled to South Africa 17 times in that time

1 hour ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

I'm currently on the Island Princess somewhere off the west coast of Africa on my way to Funchal. This is a WC segment originating in the US that has already travelled across the Pacific through Australian ports.

There are just over 2000 on board with 947 Elite members and in fact the most travelled couple is from Tasmania. I chose this cruise as it was the best value for European cruises when I was looking late last year. I don't mind going around the long way but its not for everyone.

 

I just thought I'd post the itinerary and port information so that anyone who has any questions about the ships or ports can ask. if anything of excitement happens I'll post of course.

We've got Capt Marco Cataldi (only been captaining a year or two). The CD is Andi Sanders who I have had 4 times in the last 2 years - a master of spin but overall good value and he can sing. Destination Expert is Deb Fraoili from the US who I've sailed with once before.

 

The focus of my trip is garden, ruins and my doors and windows to the world.

 

Well, its not letting me attach anything even though I did before in another thread. I'll be back with those attachments.

So did you board Capetown? Re are you SA? Or fly out there??

very interested as we go Capetown most years for my hubby to catch up family but I’d love to cruise home to Australia 😁

8 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We've been on a couple of cruises with fires onboard.

 

One was below decks, I can't remember exactly where. We were in the Vista Lounge watching some sort of Music Hall type show. The MC kept getting interrupted by the announcements and, in true music hall fashion, reacted to them in various ways which stopped any potential panicking. 

 

The other was in the middle of the night, a room service galley fire in the adjacent section of the deck our cabin was on. We were all told to stay in our cabins, which we did, and it was extinguished very quickly. I took me quite a while to get back to sleep though.

I think I’d be a bit sleep deprived after that too 

2 hours ago, eddieager said:

We were on the morning of the Fjordland Scenic Cruising day on Crown Princess (25th February 2025) and had been up very early as the ship entered 7am early. I had been to the gym and laundrette and my wife and daughter had been on deck but not seen much as it was raining and poor visibility. We were all back at the cabin. I had taken the laundry back and was heading back to the gym to finish off. The ship suddenly lurched and was listing heavily. Our room was 6 doors in from the back of the ship on deck 14. As I looked out of the cabin I could see water coming in from the door to outside and flooding the corridor. It wasn't just coming through from under the door, it was bursting through in huge jets from half way up the door. I thought we had hit something in Milford Sound, had been holed and were going down. I grabbed life jackets and told my family we had to move NOW - didn't even get the passports. It was difficult to get out of the corridor as the stateroom attendant's trolley had fallen across it. With our life jackets in hand we made our way up the floors. We were so scared and thought this was it - 40 cruises and never been through anything like this. It turned out the the ship was swivelling, had been hit by freak winds coming down the Fjord, which had caused it to list by 15 degrees and the pools to tip out, which had caused the wave half way up the outside door on deck 14. People were hurt, stuff got smashed and on deck 14 cabins were flooded and people had to be moved out. We were right on the edge of the flood zone where people were evacuated. The corridor completely stinks and we are in a compromised area like a building site. We asked to move. Princess staff were looking into alternative accommodation and promised to get back to us but never did and terminated the support stream. When we got back to them the next day they denied this but still no contact or support. Totally fobbed off and ignored.

There were also injuries on board including a broken arm.

Wow

10 minutes ago, arxcards said:

That is good general advice, and not just for credit cards. Even having a dual account for savings can be frozen by probate, and having separate funds is worthwhile.

 

Also when travelling, a dual card account can see both cards out of action if one has an issue. Where possible, independent accounts allow you to support each other if there is a problem 

Good advice that I’ve not really thought about the ramifications. I guess in our case we both have Qantas money cards separately so have some coverage.

11 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Jan 2020 The wife had a night in the ships hospital onboard a Princess ship (unknown viral infection on an Asian cruise.. hmm). They decided to disembark us the next morning in Singapore for further tests. I was summonsed to the front desk early that morning to settle our ship account including the $7k medical bill from the ship (with further to pay at Changi Hospital). I had to put it on my c/card which I did no problem. I had to put a further $2k on it a few hours later to pay Changi Hospital for a scan. When I got home, I asked my insurance adviser what would have happened if I didn't have a suitable limit on my card and he said the ship would have got authorisation from the insurer to cover it.. and the insurer would have gone us for the money back if the claim was subsequently denied. Cost us $9k for what started off as a migraine and high temp. Luckily, we were docking at Singapore the next day or otherwise the fee could have skyrocketed. Even more lucky for us.. after the tests at Changi Hospital.. they cleared us to get back on the ship that afternoon and resume our cruise 🙂 

 

Wow. Glad to hear it ended well.

40 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

The bank (any bank) hates us people who pay off their credit cards. We are loss leaders.

 

You can't get a good credit rating unless you are in debt. 🤑

Like Jean C, I pay everything possible on my credit card and always pay in full every month 

1 minute ago, cruiser3775 said:

What would they actually do at the ship's medical centre if you didn't have enough equity on your credit card?   Surely they couldn't refuse to treat you for a genuine medical emergency?

It would be good to hear from someone who actually ran up one of these huge medical bills on board. 

I agree! Cos I never thought of this situation cos you assume TI covers it !!!!

12 minutes ago, Jean C said:

I'd be in trouble. I have a low limit on my credit card of $4,000 - I figured if my card was ever scammed It'd limit my liability. If I anticipate bigg'ish charges on my card, I transfer funds to it. I tried to up the limit, specifically for cruise ship medical emergency scenarios, but because I'm now a government liability (ie a pensioner), the bank won't have a bar if it! I've never in 5 decades of loyalty not paid the card off in full every month without fail. Wish I'd upped the limit a bit while I was still working. I don't have $40k sitting in my bank accounts available for instant tansferability, what I have needs a period of notice to withdraw - eek, not sure how they'd deal with me if I had a medical emergency on board 😰 

Were government liabilities too 😁. Wonder if theyd toss us overboard😁

13 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

My credit cards are the standard size, approx 50x70mm. Limits are not large and we wouldn't be able to cover those type amounts until we were home

Wonder if it would work by using wifi to do authorisation to cc from your accounts???

1 minute ago, bazzaw said:

Reading a newspaper report yesterday about an American man who was 'hospitalised" in a cruiseship medical Department for a few days - and got a Bill for $40,000 USD. I also had a friend who this happened to - a HUGE bill in US Dollars. Now don't just think - Oh, I have Travel Insurance. The Bill has to be paid first before you can make a TI claim - and even then you don't really know if the TI Company will come to the party. My CC spending limit does not even approach multiple tens of thousands of Australian dollars - much less US Dollars. What is the answer?? I don't know - but certainly avoid these ships medical centres if you can .  What has been your experience of ship's medical centres?? 

Wow! I have had friends make TI claims but not while cruising, that run into similar amounts, and the TI company “authorised” payment so she didn’t have to pay first. I was thinking that this is how TI would work but maybe it doesn’t on a ship!!! We’d be in real trouble!!! Do you know if this is all cruise lines?

4 hours ago, windsor26 said:

Thanks for your good wishes   DH is working hard to get balance and walk with a practice leg but until he gets one with a microprocessor  knee walking will not be easy  the practice leg just has a joint.

Luckily there were no medical costs as we were coming home from a cruise when he felt so ill and in pain that at the half way station I asked for an ambulance and he was taken straight to surgery.   Silver lining  he is alive (as we were told he had a 10% chance of life at the time)

Looking forward down the line to have another cruise but medical visits etc take all our time at present. Live life for today you do not know what tomorrow will bring

Definitely agree with that. No one is promised tomorrow so we live every day as if it were our last 🙏🏻❤️

6 hours ago, windsor26 said:

Just for interest I would advise that we have always used our credit card travel insurance and sadly recently had to cancel a cruise due to illness which resulted in a leg amputation.  I cancelled at the time when it was 50% charge to do so and received the 50% plus port taxes from the TA   I claimed on the Allianze insurance cover for my card and after managing to get a detailed statement from the hospital doctor (the most difficult part)   today I received the whole of the balance from Allianz   No excess was applied.   Great news of course but I may not be able to use them again without possibly an additional cost due to DH medical problem.

Glad it worked out for you. We have claimed cc insurance with no problems in the past, though nothing serious like yours. All the best for your future. 🥰

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

did you get something to print out.  I started a new topic on this.

I do not want to sign up for a phone plan for Europe just to show bus tickets.

wondering what you did

I printed out the ticket 

10 minutes ago, windsor26 said:

If you still have a UK passport  you do not need a visa electronic or otherwise

I no longer have uk passport. I migrated here with my late husband and our first daughter 18 mths old (now 53!). We were on his passport! Olden days system lol 

I got a UK one years ago and never used it! Expired like 20 years ago. Or more. Hence my decision to pay $20 and avoid all the expense and rigmarole. 

7 hours ago, Visas said:

I am wondering exactly what visas I and other Oz citizens will need to obtain before l travel early April. We are flying into London for a couple of weeks then to Rome ? how yet to join a cruise visiting multiple Schengen countries. Thinking from what I've read I need the Uk ETA plus a European one to cover all the cruise ports? Then probably another to get back into UK after cruise to visit more and fly home.(Airline tickets only were bought ages ago and decision to cruise only recent.) I also noticed on a visa help site that there may be a cost waiver for over 70.s.

Aus citizens need an ETA now (not visa) and we are over 70 but still cost $20AUD. I am Uk born but rather than go through lengthy process decided just to pay.

Now waiting for details from Europe re Schengen ETIA. I’ve registered with relevant authorities to get updates as it was due to come in 2025 with 180 day grace period, no word yet but we’ll get them rather than rely on any delays possible in the grace period..

10 hours ago, ajaxup said:

We’re going to Australia in two weeks for a cruise circumnavigating the continent. I applied and received approval of a 601 ETA in September good until September of 2025. I’ve since turned 76 and hear there might be a requirement for people over 75 to have some sort of health examination. I went on the Australian VEDO site which verifies ETA and VISA status and my ETA is showing as valid. So will I have any issues entering Australia?

I personally don’t think so. I know we are both Aus citizens (I’m a migrant Pom and Frank a migrant South African) and obviously don’t need ETA to enter sus but we did for Alaska and Vancouver last year and had no problems at 72 and 84. No medical requirements.