Now for something completely different

[BRANDEE]

21 minutes ago, mr walker said:

was that 'Blue Mountains Day Tours'? The bloke that runs that 'Chappo' is a bit of a legend in these parts.

It was the Blue Mountain Day Tours and worth every penny we paid. The tour guide was very informative and accommodating.  We had fog in the early morning, so he returned again for a viewing of the Three Sisters when it cleared up.

[MMDown Under]

41 minutes ago, BRANDEE said:

It was the Blue Mountain Day Tours and worth every penny we paid. The tour guide was very informative and accommodating.  We had fog in the early morning, so he returned again for a viewing of the Three Sisters when it cleared up.

It is always appreciated when someone goes an extra mile!

[NSWP]

I am going to Bunnings tomorrow to get a refund on the construction helmet I purchased in case the Chinese Rocket landed in Batemans Bay, lucky it landed in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, might have splashed the Aussie cricket mob stuck there, lol.

[MicCanberra]

Good idea les , although you may want extra protection for when the sky falls down.

[GUT2407]

15 hours ago, NSWP said:

I am going to Bunnings tomorrow to get a refund on the construction helmet I purchased in case the Chinese Rocket landed in Batemans Bay, lucky it landed in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, might have splashed the Aussie cricket mob stuck there, lol.

Have a sausage Santa while you’re there. Ohh forgot, you’d have to chuck the bread, and I guess most sausages are a “no-no” for you too. Howabout just a heap of onion.

[possum52]

12 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Have a sausage Santa while you’re there. Ohh forgot, you’d have to chuck the bread, and I guess most sausages are a “no-no” for you too. Howabout just a heap of onion.

Onions with some tomato sauce perhaps.

[MicCanberra]

 The onions go on top of the sauce, of course.

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Have a sausage Santa while you’re there. Ohh forgot, you’d have to chuck the bread, and I guess most sausages are a “no-no” for you too. How about just a heap of onion.

Take my own gf bread or gf roll, 99% of snags are ok, sauce is ok, onion ok. Done the aforesaid operation.

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by NSWP

[GUT2407]

54 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Take my own gf bread or gf roll, 99% of snags are ok, sauce is ok, onion ok. Done the aforesaid operation.

 

Whereas we need to be careful what sausages we buy if they include Miss Gut, she is only intolerant, but most Snags set her off.

[NSWP]

4 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Whereas we need to be careful what sausages we buy if they include Miss Gut, she is only intolerant, but most Snags set her off.

That is unusual, as you know I am a full blown, medically diagnosed coeliac, not had a problem with snags, but before eating/buying, I read the label and/or ask the purveyor.  Most snags these days have rice flour as the thickener, Woollies, Coles, Aldi ok.  Butchers, ask re ingredients. On Princess cruises I was warned off the snags at b/fast, both in MDR and Horizon Court by Buffet Supervisor and Head Waiters, they contained gluten re the filler. I got a list of small goods from the Food and Beverage Manager with ingredients, snags were the only issue from memory.

 

I know Bunnings here stipulates snags only from Woollies, Coles and Aldi and the bbq operator on the day is checked by Bunnings Manager re snag source, true, friend of mine from the Garden Club runs a Bunnings bbq, he enlightened me. 

[Blackduck59]

Well it has been a difficult week with the realization that our down under adventure is surely a bust again. We will leave everything in place for now because final payment isn't until October. I think the universe is trying to tell me something. 

I think we are going to shift our focus to East Coast Canada, there are a couple of itineraries that may work. One is 11 nights out of Boston and includes a stop in Newfoundland and is on Nieuw Statendam, The other is 1o nights out of New York on Caribbean Princess with no stop in Newfoundland. Has anyone been on either of these ships?

[MicCanberra]

I have been on Caribbean Princess, sister ships to many like Diamond and such, but more crowded (extra 300-400 pax) than the Diamond princess, the cruise was still good just got a little crowded for indoor events.

I have been on the smaller HAL ships Maasdam, size which are good as well.

[OzKiwiJJ]

17 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Well it has been a difficult week with the realization that our down under adventure is surely a bust again. We will leave everything in place for now because final payment isn't until October. I think the universe is trying to tell me something. 

I think we are going to shift our focus to East Coast Canada, there are a couple of itineraries that may work. One is 11 nights out of Boston and includes a stop in Newfoundland and is on Nieuw Statendam, The other is 1o nights out of New York on Caribbean Princess with no stop in Newfoundland. Has anyone been on either of these ships?

I think that's sensible, Lyle. Long distance international travel is too unpredictable at the moment and there is no real solid indication of when the world will start settling down. Better to stay relatively close to home for the near future. Hopefully we can welcome you down under at some later date.

 

I haven't been on either of those ships but have been on a number of similar Princess ships. They are comparable to Celebrity - the cabins aren't quite as nice but I prefer the public areas on that class of Princess ship, somehow they seem cosier than Celebrity. I also think the food is slightly better on Princess, at least to my taste. 

[onlyslightlymad]

21 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I think that's sensible, Lyle. Long distance international travel is too unpredictable at the moment and there is no real solid indication of when the world will start settling down. Better to stay relatively close to home for the near future. Hopefully we can welcome you down under at some later date.

 

I haven't been on either of those ships but have been on a number of similar Princess ships. They are comparable to Celebrity - the cabins aren't quite as nice but I prefer the public areas on that class of Princess ship, somehow they seem cosier than Celebrity. I also think the food is slightly better on Princess, at least to my taste. 

That is ver interesting.  We are quite new to cruising - I have only been on NCL and Celebrity.  I cannot get my beloved husband to consider Princess.  He has strong preconceptions as to what it is like.  Maybe it's watching The Love Boat as a child, I've no idea.

[onlyslightlymad]

52 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Well it has been a difficult week with the realization that our down under adventure is surely a bust again. We will leave everything in place for now because final payment isn't until October. I think the universe is trying to tell me something. 

I think we are going to shift our focus to East Coast Canada, there are a couple of itineraries that may work. One is 11 nights out of Boston and includes a stop in Newfoundland and is on Nieuw Statendam, The other is 1o nights out of New York on Caribbean Princess with no stop in Newfoundland. Has anyone been on either of these ships?

Sorry to hear that, but I think you're right to stick close to home for the moment.  I have no useful advice to offer but would be very interested to hear about those cruises and the ship when you do choose.  Living vicariously through others....

[Blackduck59]

It turns out Nieuw Statendam is a Pinnacle class ship, it's surprising to see a ship that new on these itineraries. The HAL price is quite a lot more, we will have to talk with our TA about the actual price.

Anybody interested in an East Coast Canada cruise in Late August early September 2022?

[MicCanberra]

It would be nice but there is no guarantee we can leave Australia.

[Blackduck59]

Take a look at the itinerary Mic, I think we will really look at this. It will actually cost more than 14 day New Zealand cruise, hopefully air fare will be less.

[BRANDEE]

40 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

It turns out Nieuw Statendam is a Pinnacle class ship, it's surprising to see a ship that new on these itineraries. The HAL price is quite a lot more, we will have to talk with our TA about the actual price.

Anybody interested in an East Coast Canada cruise in Late August early September 2022?

I've cruised on the Caribbean many times.  I enjoy her class of ship.  I've also been on the east coast itinerary and also enjoyed that. Aim for early August, we found it gave us the ability to do some water excursions up in Nova Scotia/St John's

[Blackduck59]

7 minutes ago, BRANDEE said:

I've cruised on the Caribbean many times.  I enjoy her class of ship.  I've also been on the east coast itinerary and also enjoyed that. Aim for early August, we found it gave us the ability to do some water excursions up in Nova Scotia/St John's

Thanks Brandee, I have this little conundrum, the Princess cruise sails out of New York and there are things I would like to see there and the cruise is much less expensive. On the other hand Neiuw Statendam is almost new and she stops in Cornerbrook Newfoundland, Baie-Comaux Quebec and Saguenay Quebec. From a Canadian point of view it is a better itinerary.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, onlyslightlymad said:

That is ver interesting.  We are quite new to cruising - I have only been on NCL and Celebrity.  I cannot get my beloved husband to consider Princess.  He has strong preconceptions as to what it is like.  Maybe it's watching The Love Boat as a child, I've no idea.

It's nothing like The Love Boat.🤣 Although the theme music used to be used in the safely briefings which always made people smile. And the horns on the newer ships also play the theme song.

 

The decor on Princess is more traditional than Celebrity, think warm colours and woods rather than Celebrity's cool, silvery look. The newer ships - Royal, Majestic etc - have stunning atriums but we like some of the older ships better. The cabins have great storage but the bathrooms are tiny. No sofas in the standard cabins but they do feel more spacious than Celebrity as they don't have that indent on one side. Celebrity has nicer balconies though. I prefer the Princess MDRs over the huge Celebrity ones. The Princess ones are single level and have a nicer ambience. However Princess doesn't have sommeliers so drinks service in the MDRs can be a bit hit and miss, although it looked like they were trying to improve that on one of our last cruises. Personally I prefer the entertainment on Princess.

Edited May 14, 2021 by OzKiwiJJ

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

It turns out Nieuw Statendam is a Pinnacle class ship, it's surprising to see a ship that new on these itineraries. The HAL price is quite a lot more, we will have to talk with our TA about the actual price.

Anybody interested in an East Coast Canada cruise in Late August early September 2022?

As much as I'd love to I'm not planning on going anywhere overseas that involves flying until 2024 at least. We do have a Hawaii/Tahiti cruise booked in 2023 but that's out of Sydney so no air travel involved. As we get older we're finding long distance air travel harder to cope with so may not ever get to do some of the cruises and trips on our bucket list.

[onlyslightlymad]

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's nothing like The Love Boat.🤣 Although the theme music used to be used in the safely briefings which always made people smile. And the horns on the newer ships also play the theme song.

 

The decor on Princess is more traditional than Celebrity, think warm colours and woods rather than Celebrity's cool, silvery look. The newer ships - Royal, Majestic etc - have stunning atriums but we like some of the older ships better. The cabins have great storage but the bathrooms are tiny. No sofas in the standard cabins but they do feel more spacious than Celebrity as they don't have that indent on one side. Celebrity has nicer balconies though. I prefer the Princess MDRs over the huge Celebrity ones. The Princess ones are single level and have a nicer ambience. However Princess doesn't have sommeliers so drinks service in the MDRs can be a bit hit and miss, although it looked like they were trying to improve that on one of our last cruises. Personally I prefer the entertainment on Princess.

I'll keep working on him.  I watched a review on YouTube that said that Princess was great for multigenerational family trips so that might be a way to get him on board.

[onlyslightlymad]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

It turns out Nieuw Statendam is a Pinnacle class ship, it's surprising to see a ship that new on these itineraries. The HAL price is quite a lot more, we will have to talk with our TA about the actual price.

Anybody interested in an East Coast Canada cruise in Late August early September 2022?

It sounds awesome but I already have a local Viking cruise booked in December 2022 (If it goes).  

[Blackduck59]

4 minutes ago, onlyslightlymad said:

It sounds awesome but I already have a local Viking cruise booked in December 2022 (If it goes).  

 

So when it doesn't go 😉if your country will let you out you could come to my country😎 and we'll make you welcome. Of course you would have to start the cruise in Boston or New York (Probably Boston)