I feel cheated by cruising opportunities in Australia

[MMDown Under]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I'd probably say "What? Only 3 sea days? Damn!" 🤣🤣🤣

 

It was really funny on the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise we did in 2019. It had several sets of 4-5 sea days and at the end of each set we'd grumble about it being port day next but, of course, we thoroughly enjoyed the port days as well. 

I don’t like too many ports close together because you have no free time to recover.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

32 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I don’t like too many ports close together because you have no free time to recover.  

The maximum port days we had in a row on the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise was five and that was enough. I think six is the maximum in a row on the world cruise and two of those are an overnight stop.

[MMDown Under]

8 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The maximum port days we had in a row on the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise was five and that was enough. I think six is the maximum in a row on the world cruise and two of those are an overnight stop.

A crew member told me five days plus is too much work for staff to keep passengers happy!! 😀

[MicCanberra]

QM2 does  7 nights at sea nearly every Transatlantic cruise.

[Ozwoody]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I don’t like too many ports close together because you have no free time to recover.  

Yep to many port days together can leave you exhausted not only physically but also mentally, some of those guides can really keep going. On a couple of cruises with a number of ports in a row, we ended up skipping a port. 

But then adding insult to injury as they say, friends came back saying, oh god that was one of the best ports so far. grrrrrrr. bugger now I'm scared to miss a damn  port, and I'm not a pretty sight after 5 or 6 ports.🤣

[MMDown Under]

13 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Yep to many port days together can leave you exhausted not only physically but also mentally, some of those guides can really keep going. On a couple of cruises with a number of ports in a row, we ended up skipping a port. 

But then adding insult to injury as they say, friends came back saying, oh god that was one of the best ports so far. grrrrrrr. bugger now I'm scared to miss a damn  port, and I'm not a pretty sight after 5 or 6 ports.🤣

I feel your pain.  Skipping a port to be told that was one of the best ports so far.  

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

QM2 does  7 nights at sea nearly every Transatlantic cruise.

QM2 is an ocean liner so is different.  I would love to cruise on her.

[MicCanberra]

22 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

QM2 is an ocean liner so is different.  I would love to cruise on her.

How do sea days differ on a liner? IMO, Sea days are sea days whether on an ocean liner or a cruise ship, I enjoy them both.

[MMDown Under]

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

How do sea days differ on a liner? IMO, Sea days are sea days whether on an ocean liner or a cruise ship, I enjoy them both.

True.  However, I'd be so excited to be cruising on a liner I wouldn't mind how long.  I missed the last one

 

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

 

 

[MicCanberra]

31 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

True.  However, I'd be so excited to be cruising on a liner I wouldn't mind how long.  I missed the last one

 

 

The QM2 is special, and is a floating museum as every corridor and walkway has photos and memorabilia from Cunard (and the White Star line).

[Aussieflyer]

30 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

The QM2 is special, and is a floating museum as every corridor and walkway has photos and memorabilia from Cunard (and the White Star line).

Love QM2 - way better than QE. Interesting to read views on the sea days versus port days - I enjoy sea days but MrAF loathes them - can manage 2 in a row maybe but after that he becomes a bit stir crazy. Guess everyone is different.

[MicCanberra]

5 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

Love QM2 - way better than QE. Interesting to read views on the sea days versus port days - I enjoy sea days but MrAF loathes them - can manage 2 in a row maybe but after that he becomes a bit stir crazy. Guess everyone is different.

We had 6 sea days in a row on her in 2015, before a port and then another 3, wished there were more. That said I like port days as well so a mix is best.

[MMDown Under]

12 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

Love QM2 - way better than QE. Interesting to read views on the sea days versus port days - I enjoy sea days but MrAF loathes them - can manage 2 in a row maybe but after that he becomes a bit stir crazy. Guess everyone is different.

 

5 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

We had 6 sea days in a row on her in 2015, before a port and then another 3, wished there were more. That said I like port days as well so a mix is best.

Does QM2 have cruise segments in Aust /NZ?

[MicCanberra]

Sometimes,

[Aussieflyer]

1 minute ago, MMDown Under said:

 

Does QM2 have cruise segments in Aust /NZ?

She used to - this year I think there was a segment from Sydney to Perth but nothing shorter. A friend boarded in Perth and sailed across to Cape Town - hasn't been home long. Looks like Cunard is using QE for those short 2 - 4 - 6 day cruises which is a pity as I really didn't warm to her at all.

[MicCanberra]

2 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

She used to - A friend boarded in Perth and sailed across to Cape Town 

That is what we did in 2015

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

 

Does QM2 have cruise segments in Aust /NZ?

The shortest advertised sectors down here are usually between Hong Kong & Sydney. If they have available cabins 3 or 4 months from sailing, they will split the sectors up even further. We have done a short one from Sydney to Auckland with a single stop in Wellington this way.

 

They have listed a 10 night Fremantle to Sydney cruise in Feb 2024, and anyone with a love of trains can do the other half of the loop on the Indian Pacific.

https://www.cunard.com/en-au/find-a-cruise/M405/M405

 

 

[MMDown Under]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

The shortest advertised sectors down here are usually between Hong Kong & Sydney. If they have available cabins 3 or 4 months from sailing, they will split the sectors up even further. We have done a short one from Sydney to Auckland with a single stop in Wellington this way.

 

They have listed a 10 night Fremantle to Sydney cruise in Feb 2024, and anyone with a love of trains can do the other half of the loop on the Indian Pacific.

https://www.cunard.com/en-au/find-a-cruise/M405/M405

 

 

Oh the latter looks interesting.  I have researched it already.  Thank You.

[Ozwoody]

10 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

Love QM2 - way better than QE. Interesting to read views on the sea days versus port days - I enjoy sea days but MrAF loathes them - can manage 2 in a row maybe but after that he becomes a bit stir crazy. Guess everyone is different.

I thought the QE was quite average, it was ok but had expected it to be better.

Did like the Pub venue, fell like you were in a real pub, and the food was great there.

And yes we are all different, thank goodness for that, be very boring otherwise.

[MMDown Under]

22 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

I thought the QE was quite average, it was ok but had expected it to be better.

Did like the Pub venue, fell like you were in a real pub, and the food was great there.

And yes we are all different, thank goodness for that, be very boring otherwise.

 

11 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

That is what we did in 2015

What was your one port?  Apart from the history, what did you enjoy the most?  Are you a ballroom dancer?  

[MicCanberra]

The port between all the sea days was Port Louis, Mauritius before getting to South Africa, with stops at Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Capetown.

Not a ballroom dancer but did enjoy watching, I really enjoyed The Red Lion (pub) with the trivias and other activities, the planetarium, the virtual golf, the shipboard activities, G32 (disco) and the cruise on a liner, travelling at a cruising speed of 23 knots (top speed 33 knots) and not feeling it.

[MMDown Under]

7 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

 

 

7 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

The port between all the sea days was Port Louis, Mauritius before getting to South Africa, with stops at Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Capetown.

Not a ballroom dancer but did enjoy watching, I really enjoyed The Red Lion (pub) with the trivias and other activities, the planetarium, the virtual golf, the shipboard activities, G32 (disco) and the cruise on a liner, travelling at a cruising speed of 23 knots (top speed 33 knots) and not feeling it.

Port Louis is where the current world cruise passenger was put off because he was critically ill.  He managed to take photos of the island during his recovery waiting approval to fly home to Alaska.

I enjoy watching ballroom dancers on ships.  

[Ozwoody]

2 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

 

What was your one port?  Apart from the history, what did you enjoy the most?  Are you a ballroom dancer?  

 

What is my one port? Now that is a very hard question to answer.🤔
What makes a favourite port? What you see? What you do there? The feel of the place? What you experienced?
So many ports, so many experiences? As I think about it, it is an amazingly hard question.

Places that spring to mind that I would love to go to again are: 
Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Barcelona, Cork Ireland, Pago Pago, Hobart, Lisbon, Corner Brook Canada, Quebec City, Charleston, Mantra, so many others.

All for different reasons, Mantra for one of the most memorable excursions we have ever done. Corner Brook for one of our best hikes we've done; Cork for the people, we cried when we departed there; Pago Pago for similar experience; all of them really for their visual experience.

 

Which was our favourite, I'm sorry I don't think I could pick one.
That's the wonder of cruising, so many places to see, so many experiences to engage in, so many wonderful people to meet.
Every cruise I go on is like my first, so full of wonder and excitement, I know that sounds a bit cheesy I suppose, but that is how I feel.

 

I'm sorry MMDown Under, I could not answer your question with a single place, and experience, too many great memories.

 

Oh, and why in the world would you think I was a ballroom dancer.🙄

Unfortunately I have the grace of a drunken sailor with a wooden leg and severe arthritis.

 

Regards John
 

[MMDown Under]

Sorry I should have addressed that to MicCanberra. He mentioned QM2 only stopped at one port between Fremantle and South Africa.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, Ozwoody said:

 

What is my one port? Now that is a very hard question to answer.🤔
What makes a favourite port? What you see? What you do there? The feel of the place? What you experienced?
So many ports, so many experiences? As I think about it, it is an amazingly hard question.

Places that spring to mind that I would love to go to again are: 
Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Barcelona, Cork Ireland, Pago Pago, Hobart, Lisbon, Corner Brook Canada, Quebec City, Charleston, Mantra, so many others.

All for different reasons, Mantra for one of the most memorable excursions we have ever done. Corner Brook for one of our best hikes we've done; Cork for the people, we cried when we departed there; Pago Pago for similar experience; all of them really for their visual experience.

 

Which was our favourite, I'm sorry I don't think I could pick one.
That's the wonder of cruising, so many places to see, so many experiences to engage in, so many wonderful people to meet.
Every cruise I go on is like my first, so full of wonder and excitement, I know that sounds a bit cheesy I suppose, but that is how I feel.

 

I'm sorry MMDown Under, I could not answer your question with a single place, and experience, too many great memories.

 

Oh, and why in the world would you think I was a ballroom dancer.🙄

Unfortunately I have the grace of a drunken sailor with a wooden leg and severe arthritis.

 

Regards John
 

That is a lot of interesting cruise ports you’d like to visit again.  Can you tell me more about Mantra as I’m not familiar with Mantra?.  I adore the Cook Islands, the nicest friendly people.  It is always the strangers I

meet which take places to the next level. Like the people in Newfoundland.  A lady picked me and took me for a tour - warm hospitality, rich culture and natural beauty it has it all!
 

Because we were talking about QM2 which is known for its ballroom dancing@