Can I BYO soy milk on a cruise ship?

Cruise ships are renowned for their varied culinary options and experiences, but what if you have a special dietary needs?

Cruise lines cater regularly for passengers on dairy-free diets.

Escape's Doc Holiday, Dilvin Yasa, answers your travel-related question.

We’re cruising early next year (departing Sydney) and one of our group has a few dietary issues. Can she bring her own soy milk on board?

Cruise lines cater regularly for passengers on dairy-free diets, not to mention those who are vegan, coeliac, diabetic, or have concerns related to specific religious requirements or allergies. What’s important is that you inform your booking partner, be it the cruise line itself, or your travel agent, of your group member’s dietary requirements well in advance of your departure (most cruise lines ask you to contact them anywhere between 45 and 90 days before your cruise).

Cruise lines tend to offer soy and other dairy-free milk substitutes on board, so your person needn’t worry, but I can certainly understand if they have a preference for – or aversion to – a particular brand. If that’s the case, they’ll be relieved to know that, in many cases, they will be able to bring a small quantity of sealed, unopened cartons ready for examination in their carry-on luggage.

Until recently, getting to Gallipoli was quite the lengthy adventure.

My husband and I would like to plan a daytrip from Istanbul to Gallipoli by coach, but which option should we choose? Please help.

Until recently, getting to Gallipoli (Gelibolu in Turkish) was quite the lengthy adventure, entailing a five-hour coach trip from one of Istanbul’s main bus depots to Çanakkale, followed by a 20-minute ferry across to Eceabat, and then a 30-minute taxi ride. The 2022 opening of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, which links Gallipoli with the Anatolian town of Lapseki, changed everything, allowing travellers to cross the Dardanelles strait swiftly, so that the journey can be undertaken with just the one coach ride.

Pamukkale is one of the country’s top coach operators and it has regular Istanbul to Gelibolu services, which depart the Esenler coach terminal and take 3.5 hours to get to Gallipoli. The service costs 400 Turkish lira one way, which is around $23. Tickets can be bought online well in advance, and for those who are travelling solo, I should point out you can even choose to sit next to a female or a male (the seats are colour-coded pink and blue to let you know who’s booked what).

If you’d prefer a guided tour and don’t mind being on a schedule, another option is to book a day tour departing and returning to Istanbul. Fez Travel, for example, has private full-day Gallipoli tours, as well as a two-day Gallipoli and Troy tour – with hotel pick-up and drop-off. Other tour operators you may wish to look into include Istanbul Day Tours and Farout Turkey. You can expect to pay between $80 and $150 a person for a day tour.

If you’d prefer to go with the travel insurance option, it’s likely you’ll need to opt for a comprehensive policy or one that offers car rental insurance as an add-on.

I’m travelling to Queensland and need car rental. Am I better off getting insurance through the rental company or taking out travel insurance that covers car rental? I’m on a budget.

We’ve all succumbed, I’m sure, to moments of weakness before the high-pressure sales tactics of car rental salespeople, but although they offer the most convenient option, they’re the most damaging to your back pocket.

Fortunately, you have a couple of options: you can either buy a standalone car hire excess insurance policy, or you can use the car hire excess cover in your travel insurance policy (and remember, we always recommend taking out travel insurance, even for domestic travel so that you’re covered should your bags, laptop or other personal items get lost or damaged, or cancellations play havoc with your plans).

Within the options presented, a standalone policy is not only the cheapest option, but you’ll find these policies also provide extra cover for items that go well beyond anything covered by your car hire contract. Check out Rental Cover and Prosura for details, but some extra items covered include the windscreen, underbody, tyres and key loss.

If you’d prefer to go with the travel insurance option, it’s likely you’ll need to opt for a comprehensive policy or one that offers car rental insurance as an add-on. Just note that this level of insurance only tends to cover things that are standard in the car-hire contract, so if you have an agreement with the rental company team to cover extras such as tyres, your travel insurance may not actually cover it. Have a careful read of each policy provider’s product and disclosure statement before you go with this option.

Now, I was talking about the convenience of buying through the car rental company and the advantages here cannot be denied. For a start, you’ll only ever have to deal with one company, and provided you’ve paid to waive the excess altogether, you’ll never have to spend your own money if something happens to the vehicle during your rental period. It’s certainly something to take into consideration before you make your decision.

Originally published as Can I BYO soy milk on a cruise ship?