Cyclone Yasi--A CC poster from Cairns posted very encouraging news about the aftermath of the cyclone:

"Cyclone facts from someone on the ground. This very serious and large cyclone has done no structural damage in Cairns. I repeat, no structural damage. There is tree damage with broken branches etc but that is already largely cleared away. A large number of houses are without power and this is being restored quickly. The wharf area, the central areas of the town and all tourist facilities that Voyager passengers are likely to visit are in perfect working order. Trips to the reef are resuming. In Townsville there is some damage along the foreshore but this is minor in the overall scheme of things. There are water and electricity problems too which will be resolved in the next few days.

In areas between the two ports, which are roughly 240 miles apart, there is considerable damage from this monster cyclone. Towns and farming areas are devastated. So we in Cairns dodged a bullet.

For those coming on Voyager you can get back to anticipating a great Australian leg to the cruise. (Unless there is another one of course )"

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Eugene

Love the pin (as always)! Gene, this is great news!

Eugene, put us down for 961; the upgrade fairy needed to have his palm greased. ;)

:lct:

Ngaire, YOU ARE THE BEST! :app: Thanks for working your magic!

:lct:

Nice Marc and Arlene. But Marc, just fyi, the upgrade fairy is a she! :D

She? The palm we had to grease was Mr. Joe DePasquale. Ngaire, did all the work but Regent took the money. ;)

:lct:

We moved too--to 915.

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Eugene

Oh well that kind of upgrade fairy, of course thats a guy!!!! I'm sure Ngaire did a great job negotiating that though.

If you had gotten a complimentary one, well then that would have been the "she" upgrade fairy who would have done it out of the goodness of her heart!!! LOL.

Hope you enjoy your PH, we love those on Voyager, even though they are only slightly larger than the standard suites, the layout makes them seem so much more so - so enjoy.

You too Eugene and Gail.

Good going, Eugene and Marc! I guess that locks out the possibilty of the rest of us in steerage getting any "real" upgrade! That's okay, you two can host all the cocktail parties ;)

Hold on--we'll have plenty of room for cocktail parties--we've been moved to 725 (Voyager Suite). So excited--all that room will be so nice on this long cruise with lots of sea days. We celebrate our anniversary on this trip, so we'll definitely have a party some night.

We're still showing as a guarantee....?? wish we'd get moved like you Peggy ! Congratulations !!

Whoa - VERY nice upgrade Peggy. That is a great place for a party. Wish we were going with you'all, will certainly be there in spirit. Have a most wonderful anniversary Peggy and Jerry.

All you upscale folks - remember your friends in all the wrong places (cabins) :) :) ;) ;)

Clearly, the party's in 725! Looks terrific. See everyone soon.

Glad it's supposed to warm up here next week. I hope that means everyone's flights (especially from the East Coast) will be less stressful for this time of year.

----------------

Eugene

Eugene, I was almost wishing to be able to leave in sub-freezing (tho' not snowy) weather, as I leave from IAD, and no puddle jumpers to get there, so I could kiss this winter weather goodbye for one more year!

Are you and Gail by any chance on the American/Quantas IAD-LAX-Sydney flight on the 18th? I think a long time ago you and Marc had some discussion about this, maybe about Delta.

Tony already stressing about change of flight in DFW via Jax to LAX - we will get bags in LAX and take to Qantas, ugh, but feel safer that way

We are on the Delta LAX - SYD flight on the 20th; anyone joining us?

we fly Qantas the 19th LAX to SYD

We're on the DFW-LAX-Sydney flight on AA/Quantas on the 19th. Looks like we can start the party on the flight :D

As you probably know we do not arrive until Brisbane on the 25th. Did that to save Ken a shift but now he is off work anyway. Kept trying to change the FF tickets but to no avail, you can all just get the ship warmed up for me.

Oh, and maybe you and Ken can have that "shift" of Ken's converted to some free time which both of you surely deserve, Ngaire! We will do just fine until you get there! You know you don't have to worry about this group! (at least the ones who are "public"! :D

Peggy we can start party on flight!!!!! - your seat #?? JK JK JK we are 24 E and F??? Not sure but too lazy to look now

For better or worse, we're committed to Delta. So we are flying DCA-ATL-LAX-SYD. I also wanted to try Delta's relatively new BE product on the LAX-SYD flight with the angled pods. It gets pretty good reviews. Unfortunately, since our original booking there have been a lot of changes--originally we were to be on that same plane from ATL-LAX, too. Now we have a connection in LAX that is tighter than I would have liked. That's one of the reasons that I was thankful for the long-range weather forecast. Hope I don't hex us.

Now all you "luxury" cruisers can tell us how to make effective use of a butler .

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Eugene

Eugene,
We had our first experience having a butler when we took advantage of an upgrade on our last cruise. He took the time to explain his position to me. He said to forget about any other service button on the phone except for butler. Your butler, or one of the other butlers depending upon the hours your butler works, come and take your order for room service and then deliver it to you. If something in the cabin is not working correctly, they contact the correct department and have it fixed. If you want a restaurant/spa reservation, or are hoping to have an extra reservation, the butler handles that for you. The butler unpacks/packs if you wish. The butler ensures that your laundry is picked up and returned to your suite. If you have bought too many packages to carry up to your suite, the butler will come and carry them up for you. The butler will bring you pre-dinner h'ordeuvres from the butler menu, located in your cabin, each day. If you plan a special event in your suite, the butler makes the arrangements and ensures everything goes smoothly.
We didn't use the unpacking/packing service, so I can't tell you first hand how it worked; nor did we use the carrying the shopping packages service. However, our butler did an excellent job helping plan and hold an anniversary party for friends in our suite.
I'll try and find my notes to see if I wrote down anything else.

Thanks for the info Carman.

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Eugene

We also took advantage of upgrade and are now in 1009. Hoping the bulter can score us some extra reservations in Prime 7.

If I'm missing any cabin numbers of those already assigned, let me know so that I can add them on the first post of this thread.

Thanks.

------------

Eugene

We're on same flight with Peggy & Jerry and Joanna & Tony....Quantas 10:25pm non-stop from LAX. Guess we'll all hook up in Admirals Club (or whatever Quantas uses).

This should be quite a flight on Qantas--Betty and Al and Steve and Kathy are also on this flight. Joanna, we're in 17A&B, I think, and 4 E&F on the AA flight from DFW. Are you on the one that leaves DFW at 6:30 pm? If so, we'll see you there. Not sure if the others are on the same AA flight or not. We have about a 3 hour layover in LA, so luggage transfer shouldn't be a problem.

NO we leave DFW at 3:30 going to be long day for us

Just checked and our flight to Sydney leaves out of Bradley International terminal (not Terminal 4 where most AA flights leave from and where you'll fly into from DFW. They're next door to each other or there's the complimentary shuttle that circles all the terminals).

Warning about LAX if you claim your bag and recheck again at LAX, be careful if bags have to be rescanned. This is how Tom's bag didn't make it to FLL for FUN2 even though it was domestic flight and we were there 2 1/2 hours before departure. It has been big problem at LAX, scanners are slow and the workers don't seem to give a care whether your bag makes it or not. Lots of write ups about how desperately they need to revamp and redesign the entire scanning process here.

If time allows, I'd suggest waiting at scanning area with your bag to make sure it makes it. Hopefully they do a better job in Bradley Int'l than they do in Terminal 1 (Southwest) which is a mad house.

Clothes all over the house.....trying to decide how to pack for both warm/hot and then chilly/cold weather! Steve and I are getting really excited now!
Love the KANGAROO pin!
We are still waiting for a cabin ourselves....but happy to know many of you have taken advantage of the upgrades!
Looks like 8 of us on the Qantas flight on the 19th...see you all in LAX at the Admirals Club!
Steve & Kathy

As Marcie said the Quantas flight leaves from the Bradley terminal , which is where many if not most international flights leave from. It is next to the American terminal. So you should not use the Admirals club but go and check in at the Quantas desk at Bradley. If going business there is a club that Quantas uses in the Bradley terminal that you all can meet at.

Last November I checked my luggage straight through from Houston to Sydney. Had 5 hour lay over at LAX. Bags still didn't make it. Qantas shares the BA and Cathay Pacific club at Bradley.

Last time we flew to Sydney we did get our bags in LAX and were fortunate to find man with big cart who took us across a parking lot, around a building, across another street etc where we loaded our bags right onto a United scanner - so guessing we went out of Brad Terminal.. if your bags are destined to get lost not much you can do..I do know after experiencing it in Athens it was painful for 2 days ... Tony remained semi postive but I kept saying... :b: :b: :b:

We get into LA on Thursday but don't leave until Sunday night. Does anyone know of a CHEAP and convenient way to store bags? Don't really fathom having to take them with us for those three days.

Lacking a storage facility, maybe I can get Delta to lose them for three days ONLY. :D

Kathy and Steve: Packing is a challenge - have not begun BUT determined not to leave it until next Friday - working on list right now - winter jacket, gloves etc for Beijing ugh! I love China so small price to pay - doubt we can do one suitcase each :( :(

I have always checked my bags straight through and not lost them going to Australia or New Zealand yet. Betty hit a bad time with the Qantas air bus issues that I believe had an impact on her lost luggage. A lot of luggage was lost. It is SUCH a hassle not to check them through but we all have to do it our own way.

Wishing i could be on this trip is one thing........i would happily settle for being in the admirals club with peggy and Jerry and the Mondaes and the Matassas........and everyone else!!!

You and David will be sorely missed....we have had so much fun with both of you - will ALWAYS miss our chats about the 2 GQ guys and their packing :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ;) ;)