KWofPerth

Is the passport concept more of a QR code thing that you have on your personal device? ie. phone

I'd be surprised if there was good news at this stage. There's an election looming, don't forget.

Pfizer shots are now available to the 30-49yo cohort here in WA, with 20,000 bookings made (myself and the missus included) since the announcement yesterday arvo. I believe nationally that Pfizer is now available for anyone 40+. This would seem to be the start of what will hopefully be an upwards spike in the rollout.

How very on brand

On the plus side, this seems to have triggered the population out of their vaccination apathy. Vaxx rates in Victoria have more than doubled this week. Also the Commonwealth government is copping a hammering over the rollout, so surely this will get their bum into gear on that front.

Pfizer and Moderna won't have widespread availability until October, if not later (supply issues, or something). And since they are now the recommended vaccines for the under/50 population, the rollout is progressing at a glacial pace.

The vaccine rollout has been super slow. Only now has the Govt secured some Moderna shots. You had one job ScoMo!

Early to mid-April is around school holidays time. Whatever else you do, don't miss the sounds (fjords). Particularly Milford Sound. This will be a jaw-dropping highlight. Having done land-based travel around NZ, my recommendation to anyone that has the means, would be to see more of the country pre or post-cruise. A cruise visit doesn't do the place justice. So maybe a Sydney to Auckland one-way cruise for those that can afford it.

Paging @twangster . Mr Twangster please....

Wouldn't they just bar X number of unvaccinated passengers from boarding, to ensure they reach the 95% quota? So if for example, they find that 92% of passengers are vaccinated prior to boarding, RC refuses boarding to whatever number enables them to reach 95%. Therefore, if you haven't had your jab and you book, you are taking on a massive risk of being denied boarding. Or, as suggested by Mike. S, this rule is effectively a mandate to ensure everyone is vaccinated, with possible exceptions of certain medical exemptions.

It'll definitely be No jab, No cruise. I have no problem with that.

How could I forget RipCord!!? Yes, book that one too.

Hi dream. My experience with the app pre-cruise was hit and miss (Jan. 2020, those were the days). Some things I could book, others stated 'add to calendar' as you say. I suggest checking every day or two, but basically, whatever you haven't booked by boarding time, you can find where on the ship they are taking bookings in person on embarkation day and at what time, and simply head there to do it manually (sorry, I can't remember exactly, but I suspect the information is in the Cruise Compass). So for example, on boarding day I had to go to the Music Hall to book North Star and a show in

Us cruise nerds all know this, but the general public...not so much. That is the problem and is why politicians (certainly here in Australia, anyway) are in no hurry to restart. We'll get there eventually.

The political fallout from restarting cruising now would be monumental. The Ruby Princess debacle is still fresh in everyone's minds. ScoMo (Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister) is having a disastrous time of things at the moment with other issues and as the archetypal political pragmatist, there's no way he'd sign off on re-opening cruising anytime soon.