Queen Mary 2 - from those who've been onboard

Last night I was invited on a tour on board the Queen Mary 2 and to dinner on board afterwards. On the same day, Biba, our cruise consultant at the Mosman Cruise Centre, disembarked after travelling on board this grand lady for 3 weeks from Los Angeles. So we have lots to tell - and we will be updating this blog as we get more pictures and information.
For Biba, cruising on the Queen Mary 2, was a ''fantastic experience''. You can read her email below that was sent while she was on the voyage. We will put up some highlights of her trip in the next few days.
For us, last night, it was a quick trip around this floating mini-city, we simply didn't have time to see very much in an hour and a half. The ship has the atmosphere of a grand old English hotel, like the Ritz. Highlights such as the real English red post box, outside the English pub, help to encourage the feeling that you are enjoying a little bit of England. Many years ago we spent a day on the original Queen Mary at her permanent mooring in Los Angeles. We visited the suites occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, marvelled at the size of the engine room and the pool in the depths of the ship, and enjoyed an English high tea - of sorts (the American idea of a pot of hot water and tea bag was unfortunately found even here).
At the moment the Queen Mary 2 is the world's fastest ocean liner. Ocean liners are built to travel the world including crossing the North Atlantic - cruise ships are built to cruise in calmer waters and are not constructed with the same strength and stability of the ocean liners.

Last night we dined in the Todd English restaurant in the bow of the ship. Named after one of England's first celebrity cooks, this restaurant has a cosy, comfortable atmosphere and the food was excellent. The entree was a goat's cheese with salad and crouton, the mains were rack of baby lamb or yellow fin tuna served on a risotto and dessert was creme brulee. A selection of wine was served and we finished with coffee and petit fours. According to Biba the food was generally 'excellent'. There are 10 restaurants on board, though not all passengers may eat at all the restaurants as the Queen's Grill and the Princess Grill are for those paying for the top suites. However says Biba, this was not a problem.
I've downloaded an album of last night's visit... and we'll bring you more photos as they become available. The picture above is one of many on the walls of the QM2.
Bookings are being taken for next year's QM2 trip to Australia - and you will be surprised at the prices, there are some great bargains to be had.
Contact me - martin@travelchoice.com.au or Biba - travel@travelchoice.com.au - for more information.

Queen Victoria, Queen Mary and the Crystal Serenity

Well dear readers, I was hoping to present you with some beautiful photos of the Queen Victoria docked at Sydney's International Terminal, followed by the Dawn Princess sailing out of our beautiful harbour at night... but I need to brush up my photography skills.
So this week - the Queen Mary 2 will arrive in the Harbour on Thursday (bringing the lovely Biba back into the offices of the Mosman Cruise Centre) and the Crystal Serenity will follow on Saturday. I am thrilled to have been invited to visit both of these luxurious ladies of the sea and hope to do a better job of photography so I can present you with a slide show of them both.
If you're out cruise spotting this week look for...

24th February

• Rhapsody of the Seas in Sydney Harbour
• Diamond Princess visits Melbourne for the day
• Queen Victoria visits Adelaide for the day

25th February

• Royal Princess arriving and leaving Sydney
• Celebrity Millenium visits Melbourne for the day
• Black Watch moors in Burnie, Tasmania for the day

26th February

• The Queen Mary 2 arrives in Sydney, docking at Garden Island, and stays for a day
• Saga Rose arrives in Sydney and berths at the International Cruise Terminal overnight
• Rhapsody of the Seas visits Brisbane for the day
• Black Watch visits Melbourne for the day
• Diamond Princess goes to Hobart, Tasmania for the day

27th February

• Aurora arrives in Brisbane and leaves same day
• Royal Princess will also moor in Brisbane for the day
• Volendam visits Burnie, Tasmania for the day
• Athena goes to Fremantle for the day
• Diamond Princess goes to Adelaide for the day

28th February

• Millenium returns to Sydney and stays until March 2. She will moor at Athol Buoy
• Crystal Serenity arrives in Sydney and stays at the Overseas Passenger Terminal until 1 March
• Pacific Sun arrives in Brisbane and leaves same day
• Volendam visits Melbourne for the day

1st March

• Pacific Dawn arrives for the day in Sydney Harbour
• Aurora also visits Sydney and stays overnight. She will moor at Point Piper Buoy then move to the Overseas Passenger Terminal
• Saga Rose arrives in Brisbane for the day
• Pacific Sun moors in Adelaide for the day

2nd March

• Volendam arrives in Sydney and departs same day
• Athena returns to Fremantle for the day

Phew! Busy time. If you'd like more information I'm always happy to oblige. Just email me, martin@travelchoice.com.au or phone me during office hours on 2 9968 1600

Cruise ships keep on coming

Sorry - I missed a few days on the blog. I hope you weren't planning to go ship spotting in your harbour. This the list for this week - there's is barely time to draw breath as the cruise ships come and go at the height of our season.
If seeing these ships inspires you to cruise, we can handle last-minute bookings for this year, or take early bookings for 2010. You could be arriving in Sydney March 8, 2010 aboard Queen Mary* 2 after a relaxing 23-night sailing from Hong Kong to Sydney for $5,500 - or arriving aboard Queen Victoria - 23 nights from San Francisco - for $4,330.00
*(See below for traveller's impressions).

16th February

• Oriana sailing into the International Cruise Terminal in Sydney and departing again

17th February

• C. Columbus making an entrance into Melbourne, leaving same day
• Tahitian Princess sails into Burnie Tasmania and leaves same day
• Queen Victoria sails into Hobart and sails again
• Seven Seas Voyager will dock in Adelaide for the day

18th February

• Amadea arrives in Sydney and leaves next day
• Oriana arrives in Brisbane and leaves same day
• Black Watch also docks in Brisbane and leaves the next day
• Arcadia arrives in Melbourne and leaves again
• Sun Princess also sails into Melbourne leaving same day
• Diamond Princess sails into Hobart
• C. Columbus visits Devonport in Tasmania

19th February

• Queen Victoria will dock at the International Terminal in Sydney overnight
• Tahitian Princess will make her inaugural visit to Sydney and leave again
• Amadea will move to White Bay so the other two liners can dock and not moor in the Harbour.
• Rotterdam visits Fremantle overnight (see new slide show on right, taken when I was on board the Rotterdam in Sydney last week)
  

20th February

• Arcadia arrives in Sydney and stays overnight
• Pacific Dawn also arrives in Darling Harbour for the day
• Diamond Princess sails into Melbourne and sails out that night
• C. Columbus returns to Hobart for the day

21 February

• Black Watch arrives in Sydney, staying for 2 nights
• Pacific Sun arrives in Brisbane sailing same day
• Tahitian Princess will also dock in Brisbane and leave that day
• Seven Seas Voyager sails into Fremantle for the day

22 February

• Dawn Princess sails into Sydney departing same day
• Diamond Princess will arrive and depart Sydney this day too

If you'd like to know more about any of these ships and their schedules drop me an email - martin@travelchoice.com.au

Message from the Queen Mary 2

I'm flat out without her so it was wonderful to get an email today from my consultant, Biba who is enjoying the pleasures of the Queen Mary 2 as it sails from Los Angeles to Sydney on its 2009 world voyage.
Biba writes:
"We are in 'heaven' and enjoying every single moment on the incredible one and only Queen Mary 2.
"A typical day consists of the following:

• early morning walk round the 600M deck
• 10 - 15 mins in the gym using the deluxe equipment
• beginners' bridge classes
• lectures in the Royal Court Theatre
• RADA workshops
• games - backgammon, trivia etc
• dance classes - tango/rumba etc.
• volley ball/paddle tennis/pools + spa
• afternoon French lessons (for me)
• enjoying dinners whilst listening to the beautiful sounds of the harp ( the photo is of the Britannia Room)
  
• Jazz Club or Caribbean Band VIBZ or Party DJ in G32.

Breakfasts, lunches and dinners are unbeatable, the cuisine outstanding, and the service is at all times very personal and attentive to the very last detail!"

Ahh - doesn't it sound wonderful!

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 arrives in Sydney on February 26 after visiting Honolulu, Oahu in Hawaii, Pago Pago in American Samoa and Auckland, New Zealand on the way. She departs on the same evening for Yokohama, Japan and on to Asian and Mediterranean ports before arriving in Southampton. (There's a slide show of the Queen Mary's last visit to Sydney Harbour on the side of this blog)
You can find out more by emailing me now - martin@travelchoice.com.au - and Biba will be pleased to tell you more when she returns.

In Sydney Harbour today 10 Feb - three big ships

I'll update this later... but have just realised that today is the day when Hapag Lloyd's Europa, Holland America's Rotterdam and Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas are all in port - until tomorrow 11th. The Rhapsody has moored off Athol Bay in Mosman because there is not the space for three large cruise ships. And we're supposed to be an international port? White Bay won't solve this problem - 2 out of 3 of these ships don't fit under the bridge!
I'm off to inspect the Rotterdam this evening so I'll have more to tell tomorrow! Watch this space for some pics and some news

Sail Australia's Eastern seabord in luxury

It's luxurious and everything is included on Regent Seven Seas Mariner - and it is sailing Australia's coastal waters from Sydney to Darwin in March. We loved every moment of our trip on this ship in November last year (there's a photo gallery of the Mariner on the side of the blog - and that's me on the promenade deck) - so I really recommend this trip. Especially if you've been looking for a cruise out of Sydney! And especially if you would like to get away in the next month or so!
But you will need to be quick. The ship boards on March 25 (and you overnight in Sydney) then sails for Newcastle the next day. It leaves Newcastle on 27 and cruises north through the Great Barrier Reef arriving at Cairns on March 30. Then it goes to Cooktown for a night before sailing up to Cape York, through the magical blue waters of the Torres Strait and arriving at Darwin on April 3.
You will be pampered the whole way. Every cabin is a balcony cabin and you will find:

• complimentary wines, spirits, soft drinks and bottled water in your fridge - as well as the complimentary champagne on your embarkation
• your refrigerator replenished daily
• complimentary 24 hour room service
• all onboard gratuities included

- in fact nothing to pay for, unless you fancy shopping or the casino.
Call me during office hours on 02 9968 1600 - or email me, martin@travelchoice.com.au and I'll send you some more information. Prices for this 10-night Australian Coastal Voyage start at $6270.

Comings and goings in Australian ports

We're into the peak of the cruise season, so there's plenty for the cruise 'spotter' to see. Our picture is the deck of the Sun Princess when she was in Sydney Harbour in 2007.
3rd February
Nautica and Celebrity Millenium sailed into Melbourne in the morning and Nautica sailed out again in the afternoon, Celebrity Millenium leaves on 4th.
Dawn Princess docked at Port Arthur in Tasmania and leaves on 4th.

4th February
Asuka 11 docks at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal for the day - then moves round to Wharf 8 Darling Harbour for another day before leaving on 5th February. Asuka 11 is a Japanese ship and was originally the Crystal Harmony. The cabins are luxurious and there are live fish tanks for A1 sushi!
Volendam will visit Melbourne for the day. While the Volendam was in Sydney on the 2nd February, Biba, our senior cruise consultant, did a tour. "The main restaurant was very impressive," she said " it takes 750 guests at a time but even so it felt very intimate and 'royal'. It was easy to talk to other people at our table of 6." And she rated the food highly. "The most outstanding feature of the cabins was the tiled heated chairs in the spa room - they had superb views. Overall,"she said "the ship had a warm homely feeling - and for a ship that carries about 1450 passengers... it feels smaller really."

5th February
Paul Gauguin arrives in Brisbane and stays for just 4 hours
Nautica sails into Sydney and leaves next day at 2200 hours
Volendam sails into Burnie in Tasmania, and departs same day
Athena arrives in Adelaide and sails the following day

6th February
Pacific Dawn will return to Sydney Harbour and depart again for the South Pacific
Sun Princess will arrive in Melbourne and depart again
Celebrity Millenium visits Hobart for the day
Dawn Princess will visit Burnie in Tasmania

7th February
Pacific Sun will sail into Brisbane leaving again same day
Dawn Princess arrives in Melbourne for the day

8th February
Nautica will visit Brisbane for the day.
Want to know more about the sailings of these ships - any others? Send me an email to martin@travelchoice.com.au

How long since you checked your passport?

Occasionally we take over a booking that a client has made online only to discover that they have forgotten something really important – to check the date their passport expires. Online travel sites don't ask this question - or any of the other important ones that can make or break a trip.

Passports don't need renewing every year – and no-one sends us a reminder when they are due for renewal – so it can be easy to overlook renewing them. The downside is pretty awful. If you arrive at a check-in desk with an out of date – or soon to be out of date passport – you will be refused travel. You will lose the money you have paid towards your holiday and of course you will be hugely disappointed.

Visas are another formality that can be overlooked. I will never forget arriving to check-in for a flight only to see the couple in front of me in tears. They had booked their holiday to Vietnam online and no-one had told them they needed a visa!

So here is a little plug for travel agents. We check these things! We ask you if you have an up to date passport – in fact we ask to see your passport. And we know when you need a visa.