Travel & Holidays

No, some rooms are “interior” and have no views or windows at all.

Even a few on lower decks have lifeboats in front of or near the window, so they have an obstructed view.

I see how much more are ocean views?

In my case, it was about an extra 30% (or $250 more), offset slightly by an extra $50 on board credit.

That’s with a balcony as well in my case.

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Part of the appeal with a balcony from a MS perspective is to take my radio with me and see just far out to sea I can get AM or FM radio.

I would have also considered taking my set top box and rabbit ears too and do the same with TV, except they are a bit strict about what you can take on board, :blush:

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If you can bring a tablet or smartphone onboard you can connect it to a micro USB TV tuner.

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True, you can take a tablet or phone, though I’d still need rabbit ears.

I doubt I’d get much anyway, radio would be a bit more interesting though.

TV wise, I think you’d be able to watch Australia Plus and other satellite channels that people at home may not be able to receive (at least without specialist equipment)?

As far as a more domestic-based service is concerned, it’s to my understanding that the Spirit Of Tasmania uses VAST channels for the benefit of their travellers.

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Yes, I imagine P&O would also have VAST too for the short cruise I am doing, which is just a long weekend one, Sydney out to sea and back again (no stopovers).

You’re right that the Spirit Of Tasmania does have VAST.

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Ocean view cost a fair bit more but are worth it IMO. With cruises if you book well in advanced everything is cheaper. We literally booked it a year in advance and have paid a $1 deposit, just need to make a payment by June and then the rest by September. But our prices are well below what they are already charging for the same Cruise and it’s not till December. We even got the drinks package for really cheap so it made it worthwhile. I think it’s around $2100 each all up for a 10 day cruise - that’s everything including unlimited drinks, ocean view room etc. Great deal IMO.

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TV dongle with a Windows Laptop. Works a treat :blush:

I think I even tried it on a plane once but got close to nothing.

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Thanks for the insight. That is a great price as well. If you think about it when meals and accommodation are virtually paid for its a very cheap overseas holiday. Have you been to New Zealand before?

I do have a Kaiser Bass USB dongle, but it doesn’t work very well.

There’s only an automatic tuning option on the included software, and doing a scan took very long - 10 to 15 minutes.

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I’m not quite sure about Australia Plus. Of course, P&O cruises may offer more television channels, but Australia Plus is not available on the Spirit of Tasmania television service and as you mentioned, it uses the VAST channels.

For anyone who is interested, here is a bandscan of what the Spirit of Tasmania television service is like. I recorded it a couple of weeks ago.

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Yep even on the port days if we eat up on the boat before heading our and then come back have a big dinner literally will barely be spending a thing the entire trip.
Nope havn’t been to NZ. First cruise and first trip to NZ.

Have a great time. I loved NZ. Great place and great people. The thing I love the most is the respect they have towards their indigenous and its culture.

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Speaking of which, I’ve just came back from a week-long trip to NZ (my first ever trip outside of Australia!), in which I was based in the Queenstown/Wanaka region. It also included a full-day trip to Milford Sound, which was so spectacular.
The Queenstown/Wanaka region has such a beautiful scenery with mountains all around & lakes in between, with Wanaka being a little more quieter than Queenstown.

It truly is a very beautiful part of the world, in which it’s only about 3 hours flight from Sydney. :slight_smile:

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Bogans gonna Bogue.

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Have flights to Europe gone up in price? I have never paid more than around $2000-$2200 for return flights to Europe and I’m pretty sure that’s what my family paid when they went last year, however I’m looking now at late June / early July this year and the same airlines (like Etihad and Qatar) that I’ve flown previously all seem to be around the $2700 mark. Is this because it’s peak season, have prices jumped or am I doing something wrong with my research? Seems very expensive.

That is expensive ive never paid that much.