Yillup

This is the kind of view we got from room 7062 on Radiance. Yes, the cover is there and you can't see directly down. It didn't really have that much of an impact on our cruise at all. With a fairly young family it actually gave me a bit of a sense of security.

The worst part about being directly above the life boats was the noise of the tenders! At 6:30 in the morning (with kids in the room), the noise was a bit of a pain. Those winches are LOUD!

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On our recent Radiance cruise (11 nights, but still only 2 formal nights), the women seemed to be more dressed up on the first night (long dresses, even a huge ball gown and full length gloves! It was gorgeous). The men put on a good showing too with some great suits and a few tuxes. On the second night though, it seemed the women toned it down a little more (shorter dresses, etc.), but I seemed to see more men wearing suits/tuxedos and ties/bow ties. Our theory was that the men had packed their stuff but their wives weren't too successful getting them to wear them, until they'd already been to one formal night already and they saw that others got into the fun of it...

I don't think it matters too much really...

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I think some are getting the late night pool party buffets confused with the midnight buffet of days gone by :)

 

Wasnt the midnight buffet in the MDR back then?

I only know that it was held at midnight and it was a buffet. If they had something different years ago, good for them, but it was what I'd call a "midnight buffet"... Lol

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The Radiance only a few weeks ago had a midnight buffet on the pool deck. I seem to remember two of them on an 11 night cruise?

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My mum took a picnic bag with her on our recent cruise. Inside was the usual picnic type stuff, plastic glasses, plates, etc. They took her two butter knives. Not even sharp knives! She had to claim them back at the end...

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When you get on the ship, they take a photo of you that they connect to your card. It's used for when you get on and off the ship, and when you use the card. They can tell if it's you. The only thing is that sometimes they really don't care if it is you or not. If you find a bartender who doesn't care, you can share a card. We had a card each, so it wasn't a problem at all...

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I loved going to the MDR as often as possible on the Radiance. The salads for lunch were so yummy. You didn't have to order anything off the menu because they filled you up so much (but of course we did!). And the night time service is such a treat to a mum of 2 younger kids. We ate at the Windjammer for 1 night and a couple of lunches (when the kids didn't want what the Park Cafe were offering on port days). There wasn't anything really "wrong" with the a Windjammer, but I didn't like having to scramble with the kids to gather the food we wanted, wandering between other people, then trying to find a seat, then having to leave the seat to go get drinks (because our hands were full of ours and the kids plates), having to plan who was getting up to go get dessert, etc. Why do that if you can have the person at the front find you a seat, the waiter puts the serviette over your lap, they remember the breads the kids prefer, how they like sauce on their chips, what drinks you like to have with each course, icy water constantly being poured, and everyone gets fed at about the same time with no organisation needed... Lol

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They even had Kangaroo on the menu one night in the Mdr.

 

Skippy was delicous.:)

 

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Skippy certainly was delicious. Very tender and cooked perfectly...

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One other question. Did they have white chocolate donuts and escargot? Thanks.

I can answer this one. They had escargot every night and white chocolate donuts every morning. :)

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Looking forward to seeing this cruise through another's eyes! Cyclone Edna certainly made for a fun night. We spent it in the champagne bar people watching. Hilarious!

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There was a pile of board games on the radiance last week.

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27km tonight so I'll have to do the last 20km after we board.

 

 

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Ahhh, with only 20ks to go I'd be pretty proud! That's close enough to walk. Or grab an overpriced taxi in Sydney... lol

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Sorry about the picture quality. The forum doesn't upload things very well...

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Bottles of water are no longer included in the aus premium package we are on radiance right now and when you board there is a letter in your cabin which states what is and what is not included in your package.specialty coffees bottled or canned sodas and bottled water and the mini bar are not included

The website still says bottled water is included. This is what comes up when I click on the link from my purchase page...

EVIAN isn't included, but other bottled water certainly should be. If they tell me it's not included I will be kicking up a stink...

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Another 33km this morning so the total is 266km with 47km to go.

I've just crossed the Hawkesbury River.

I think I'm going to make it!

 

 

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Congratulations! That "mistake" in the middle made all the difference! I'm sure you'll make it in time!

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What a bitter OP. I'm taking my 8 and 6 year old on our cruise on Monday. I am SO looking forward to not having to cook for them, looking forward to them paddling in the pool, and swimming on beaches in different countries.

I certainly hope I'm not on a cruise with you, or anyone similar to you. Just because you have a few more years experience you're the only one allowed to have a holiday? Even though you have years, it might be an idea to "grow up"...

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If you have completed the online check in, obviously your documentation already is available. I use the Australian website, so I'm only assuming it'd be similar. Click on the "cruise documentation" tab that you used to do your online check in. Once there, click on "check status" under "check in online". You'll have a list of all the passengers in the stateroom with a little "print" button next to each one. At the bottom of that there should be another button that says "print paper luggage tag". It'll open a PDF of the luggage tag you can print as often as you want.

Hope that helps! Sorry if the website is different to yours...

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If you want to see the "whole" barrier reef, a big cruise ship isn't the right way to do it I don't think. There's no way a cruise ship will get close enough to appreciate anything, and the ports up that way are limited in size and are quite spread out. The Great Barrier Reef itself is 2300 kilometres long and covers 344400 kilometres squared. The length is like a few Englands stacked on top of each other. There are small islands all the way along and many you can stay at.

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I watched the Rhapsody leave Circular Quay a few days ago. It goes "head" first in to the OPT the same as the Radiance. It took almost an hour from cast off to the time she was facing the right way and starting to very very slowly move towards the heads. In that time a ferry leaving for Manly would be there already. As the ship was finishing its reversing and turning, and as it was passing in front of the Opera House, larger ferries heading the Manly direction were delayed, sitting in the main area of Circular Quay for about 15 minutes to half an hour waiting for the manoeuvring to finish. Once they could squeeze past though, they overtook the Rhapsody very easily. I don't think a ferry in any direction is going to be a very good option for watching a cruise ship leave. Hope that helps! :)

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I've heard that only one type of "champagne" (sparkling wine) is included with the new premium drinks package. That they do not count champagne as a "wine" in the dollar limit and only offer their house champagne. Did you have any experience with this?

Nice to know the coffee they offer when departing Sydney isn't as bad as the American syrup stuff everyone complains about in America. I don't drink coffee, but my husband does and he'd be sad if there was only the syrup stuff or paying for it...

Thank you for answering everyone's questions!

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I receive government assistance too and am cruising. Government assistance in Australia is very different to America. Fortnightly payments of a small amount are paid to those earning over $100 000 even. There are other payments that aren't means tested and are paid to pretty much everyone. In our case, we're not earning anywhere near that much, but we have budgeted and paid the cruise off over a year. People on limited incomes are allowed to have holidays too you know... Lol

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On Allure, in October, one bottle per person, per cabin. B2B you can bring two per person, and they hold the two extra.. Unless it has changed in the last 60 days..

While they may have allowed you to break the policy, the official policy is (and has been for as long as I've been looking at cruising, approximately 18 months):

"Guests are not allowed to bring beer, hard liquor or non-alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or for any other use. Guests wishing to bring personal wine and champagne onboard may do so only on boarding day, limited to two (2) 750ml bottles per stateroom."

It is pretty clear that it is per stateroom, not per person...

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Does every package include all the things listed in the packages before it?

If i get the premium package, will that include fresh squeezed juices and bottled water??

No, each package shows what's included listed under it. If you want alcohol, juice, tea, coffee, bottled water, soda, you'll need to get the highest package.

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You could say the same kinds of things about any activity though... "Why would you go for a hike here when you could walk around the block at home, why not use the time doing <insert activity of choice>"

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I'm getting seriously worried about you. You seem like a young girl who is very unhealthily obsessed with her weight, exercise and diet. This is something like the 4th or 5th weight and exercise related thread I've seen you start.

Are you consulting with a personal trainer and a nutritionist? They're probably the best people to be talking to about exercise regimes and ideal BMI. I may be adding a psych to the list if I were you. Not saying there's something wrong, but you do seem to be quite obsessed and it would probably help to talk to someone...

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