Friday, 15 January, 2016
We flew to Sydney today via Brisbane and took a shuttle to the Mercure Sydney Hotel (downtown). It was close to the Cruise Terminal (White Bay). The woman at the front desk gave us an upgrade to a room with a view - she also gave us a coupon for two drinks from the bar. After we dropped our suitcases in the room, we walked to Pizza Hut and got a pizza for dinner. After dinner, we went to the bar to use our drinks coupons. We told the bartender we wanted non-alcoholic drinks and he said he would surprise us. He put in a variety of fruit juices and they were so yummy.
Saturday, 16 January, 2016
We arrived at the ship by taxi at about 1pm. Our
embarkation time was 2:30pm, but we decided to go earlier since we had
already checked out of the hotel we stayed in last night. There
were a number of people there at the White Bay Terminal, but we were able to
get through the lines really quickly and were on the ship in no time. Our
cabin is on deck 11 (Aloha) and is number A333. It's the first time
we have had a balcony cabin on a cruise, so we are looking forward to seeing how
much we like it and how much we use the balcony.
After unpacking our carry-on suitcases, we went upstairs and downstairs
to check out where everything was on the ship. It seems like the
main areas we will be going to on the ship are very similar to the two previous
Princess ships we have been on. We were supposed to sail away at
approximately 4pm, so we sat out on our balcony to watch the Sydney
skyline disappear. However, there was an issue with the ship and so
we ended up missing the sail away as we had to go to dinner. Our
dinner is an early one (5:30pm) each night (a set time - we prefer 'anytime
dining', but this ship doesn't have that option.
We prefer sitting at a dinner table of six passengers as the conversation seems to stay
within the whole group, whereas with eight people, the conversations seem to
fragment into smaller groups. Our table group consists of a couple
(Lyn and Michael) from Newcastle, another couple (Val and Ray) from Manly and a
mother and daughter (Mary and Jacinta) from Bendigo. We enjoyed our
dinner conversations with them tonight and think we are really going to enjoy their
company each evening.
After dinner, our steward, Tony (Antonino), had put our two large suitcases in the
room. After unpacking them and asking Tony to find us some more
hangars for all my tops, we went to see the first show of the trip. It
began with the Princess singers and dancers performing for us followed by a
comedian (Rikki Jay from England) which sometimes can be a bit iffy. However,
there are 430 children on the ship under the age of 16 and so maybe that's why
he kept things clean. We thought he was really funny and enjoyed the
show.
Sunday, 17 January, 2016
After breakfast, we started off our day with trivia. We
hooked up with Lyn and Michael from our dinner table and another couple (Susan
and Bob) who are from Port Macquarie. We were really pleased at how
well we did on this first trivia quiz. Our team scored 19/20, but we
still did not win. We had a lot of fun chatting and laughing, though. :-) After
trivia, we found two deck chairs and sat in them and read. We put on
sunscreen, but not all over ourselves and so we now have a bit of a sunburn
each. We will be sure to lather ourselves up next time or just stay
out of the sun.
After lunch, we headed off to line dancing. One of the crew
led the dancing - Ian from Delta, B.C. He taught us four songs and
we danced up a storm. Val from our dinner table was there and she
was amazing - she is 79 and didn't even break a sweat!
After line dancing, we came back to our cabin for a nap before heading
out for afternoon trivia. We didn't fare as well this second trivia
game, but we had a lot of fun laughing and chatting with our group.
After dinner, we went to the Princess Theatre to listen to Kaitlyn Carr
who is a Scottish lass - she plays a variety of flute-like instruments. She
did some singing, too, which wasn't really great, but her talent playing the
instruments made up for that. Her fingers moved so fast (like the
wind) on the flutes - it was amazing to watch.
Kaitlyn Carr
After her show, we hurried to the other end of the ship to take part in
the Rock N' Roll Trivia. Our regulars did not show up for this one,
so we joined another group. None of us knew that much about Rock and
Roll and so we didn't do very well.
Monday, 18 January, 2016
This day was pretty much like yesterday - trivia in the morning,
relaxing on the deck (in the shade this time), lunch time, relaxing on the
balcony while reading our books, line dancing, afternoon trivia (still not
winning) and tonight was a formal night at dinner, so Dad and I both dressed up
for that. We are really enjoying our table mates at dinner - it has
been nice getting to know everyone. Michael is the funny one and
keeps us laughing.
Me dressed up for our first formal night onboard
We went to two shows tonight: 'Piano Man' featuring the Princess singers
and dancers - the band played songs from Billy Joel, Barry Manilow and Elton
John. The main female singer has a fabulous voice and the main male
singer is okay. The choreography for the dancers was a bit lame, but
they did a good job of what they were given to do. After that show,
we headed off to the other end of the ship to see another show of Rikki Jay. He
is hilarious - he had us laughing so hard that tears were running down our
faces.
Tuesday, 19 January, 2016
Today was very much like the past days at sea - breakfast, trivia,
swimming (yes, we actually went in the water [pool] today and the hot tub as
well). Due to our sunburns from the first day (put some sunscreen
on, but not everywhere - lesson learned), we stayed in the shade today as well. Lunch
was next, followed by some time in the cabin, then line dancing, watching a chocolatier
make chocolate chunk cookies and truffles (had a taste test as well - yum),
more trivia and then dinner. By the time we were done with dinner,
we were quite tired and ready for a relaxing evening in the cabin. We
have our first shore day tomorrow - Port Vila (Vanuatu). According
to people we have talked with who have been there before, there's not much to
see there, so we will likely just go ashore, have a quick look around and then
come back to the ship and enjoy some quiet time at the pool.
The chocolatier making chocolate chunk cookies
Wednesday, 20 January, 2016
Today was our first port day - Port Vila, Vanuatu. We had
spoken to some people who had been there and they had told us that there wasn't
really anything to see in the city of Port Vila other than shops, especially duty
free shops. We decided to play things by ear. When we
first got off the ship, there were a number of men there all trying to get us
to take a taxi (van) or water taxi (small boat without life jackets) with them
to town. After we got through them, there were a number of huts set
up selling all kinds of souvenirs. Most of the stuff we weren't
interested in, but I did find some cute grass-like skirts with bracelets and a
necklace that we bought for Sienna, Kendall and Juliette. After
we looked at all the huts, we decided to take the skirts back to the cabin
before heading out to Port Vila. Once we got back on the ship, however,
we decided that it was just too hot to go into town when there really wasn't
anything that we would be interested in buying.
Port Vila, Vanuatu - it was such a funny sight to see all the vans lined up there - they were all the same kind of van, but in different colours
The stalls near the end of the dock - we bought some cute skirts for the granddaughters there
Our ship, the Dawn Princess, docked in Port Vila
So, we stayed aboard and had a wonderful, relaxing time. We
easily found lounge chairs by the pool and stayed there until late afternoon. Dipping
in the pool and laying on the chairs with the amazing view of the water was fabulous. It was so nice to just be lazy for the
afternoon without a lot of people around - nice and quiet. We did
the usual trivia in the afternoon and then, after dinner, watched the Country
and Western show 'Country Jam' put on by the Princess singers and dancers. We are really looking forward to
the kayak trip we have booked for tomorrow in Champagne Bay.
Thursday, 21 January, 2016
What a fabulous day we had today in Champagne Bay, Vanuatu. We
had to wake up early so that we could catch the first tender (lifeboat) into
shore as this is the one trip which we had booked ahead of time from home. We
actually went ashore earlier than planned which gave us some time to look
at the items for sale which the islander people set up in huts along the shore. We
didn't see anything we wanted to buy, but we did see a parrot, a kingfisher, a
number of lizards, a dog, three snakes, a few turtles and a pig. Most
of those animals were owned by the vendors and they charged a fee if you wanted
to have a picture taken with them.
Sailing into Champagne Bay, Vanuatu
Lifeboats (tenders) being lowered into the water for passengers to take them into the Bay
Amazing colour of the water - such a beautiful turquoise colour
View from where we anchored near Champagne Bay, Vanuatu
At 8:30am, we met up with Kim and Russell from Island Time Kayaks which is the company we had booked with for a kayak trip. We had arranged for them to meet us at the ship and drop us off there so that we didn't have to worry about finding our own transportation back and forth from/to the ship. We drove for about 20 minutes or so and then came to a "resort" (I put that in brackets because it was not what we would call a resort - they were huts with thatched roofs and no air con or fans - and it's very hot in Champagne Bay) called 'Reef Resort'. At the resort, we met Kim and Russell's employee, Thomas, who was our guide for the tour. He was fabulous - they are very lucky to have him!
At 8:30am, we met up with Kim and Russell from Island Time Kayaks which is the company we had booked with for a kayak trip. We had arranged for them to meet us at the ship and drop us off there so that we didn't have to worry about finding our own transportation back and forth from/to the ship. We drove for about 20 minutes or so and then came to a "resort" (I put that in brackets because it was not what we would call a resort - they were huts with thatched roofs and no air con or fans - and it's very hot in Champagne Bay) called 'Reef Resort'. At the resort, we met Kim and Russell's employee, Thomas, who was our guide for the tour. He was fabulous - they are very lucky to have him!
After a quick talk about how to steer, etc. the kayak (they have rudders
on them), we were off for what was supposed to be a one hour trip (one way)
which actually took us 1 1/2 hours due to our lack of muscles and staying power
paddling the kayaks. Fortunately, Thomas did not mind being able to
be 'lazy' on the way there - he just kept stopping and waiting for us to catch
up. :-) First, we had to cross a large inlet bay called 'Turtle Bay' which led to the mouth of the Matava River (that took us 45 minutes) and then we took another 45 minutes to get to
the Matevulu Blue Hole. The scenery was spectacular - green and
luscious - and it was so quiet and peaceful - we really enjoyed the trip.
Our launching point
Dad getting ready to start paddling
Me, Dad and Thomas (our guide) starting our kayaking tour
Pics of us paddling along the way
When we got to the Blue Hole, the fresh spring water was an amazing colour blue - kind of like a sky/royal blue colour - I have never seen water this colour before. The water was quite cool, but it felt lovely to swim in it. Dad stayed pretty close to the edge of the water as it got deep quite quickly. Thomas swam to the other side (maybe 25 metres) and got hold of a rope tied to a tree - he then climbed a ladder on the tree, swung on the rope and dropped into the water. I decided not to do that, but I did swim to the rope and hung on to it. :-) Thomas took some pictures along the way which Kim said she will email to us later. We only stayed at the Hole for about half an hour as we knew that we would take longer than an hour to get back to the ship and the last tender left at 2pm.
When we got to the Blue Hole, the fresh spring water was an amazing colour blue - kind of like a sky/royal blue colour - I have never seen water this colour before. The water was quite cool, but it felt lovely to swim in it. Dad stayed pretty close to the edge of the water as it got deep quite quickly. Thomas swam to the other side (maybe 25 metres) and got hold of a rope tied to a tree - he then climbed a ladder on the tree, swung on the rope and dropped into the water. I decided not to do that, but I did swim to the rope and hung on to it. :-) Thomas took some pictures along the way which Kim said she will email to us later. We only stayed at the Hole for about half an hour as we knew that we would take longer than an hour to get back to the ship and the last tender left at 2pm.
On the way back in the kayaks, we had to paddle against the wind and the
incoming tide. Dad said he couldn't stop paddling or he would find himself
going backwards. I held out as long as I could, but it eventually
became too difficult for me to paddle as fast as we needed to, to get back to
shore in time. So Thomas hooked me to his kayak and he paddled us both for
most of the rest of the way back. I told him to untether me before
we turned the corner where Kim and Russell were waiting, so I could paddle in
myself and make it look like I had paddled the whole way. :-)
Kim and Russell were waiting for us when we get back to the launch point. They then offered us refreshments (lemonade and fresh island fruit) which was delicious and very much appreciated. After a short rest, they drove us back to the tender point. Oh, and while we were on the tour and on the way back, Kim and Thomas took more photos of us and the scenery and Kim told us she would upload the pics onto the internet where we can download them once we get home. We are so happy that we did this tour - Kim, Russell and Thomas were wonderful hosts.
Our ship (taken on the way back to the ship after the kayak tour)
Paddling on the way back
Dad, me and Thomas at the end of our kayak tour (and we are all still smiling :-)
Kim and Russell were waiting for us when we get back to the launch point. They then offered us refreshments (lemonade and fresh island fruit) which was delicious and very much appreciated. After a short rest, they drove us back to the tender point. Oh, and while we were on the tour and on the way back, Kim and Thomas took more photos of us and the scenery and Kim told us she would upload the pics onto the internet where we can download them once we get home. We are so happy that we did this tour - Kim, Russell and Thomas were wonderful hosts.
This afternoon, we played trivia again (and we're still not in contention for any
prizes) and, after dinner, decided we were too tired from our kayaking
trip to take in any night time shows and fell asleep around 9pm.
Sailing away from Champagne Bay, Vanuatu
Beautiful sunset on the water - sailing between Champagne Bay and Mystery Island, Vanuatu
Friday, 22 January, 2016
Today's tender port was Mystery Island - we decided to get off and check
out what was there, although we had been told that it was mostly for swimming at
the beach. There were market stalls there, but nothing we were
interested in buying. I wasn't feeling too well - it turned out that
there had been big waves during the night and I guess they affected me while I
slept. So, although we did go swimming in the water at the island,
we decided not to stay in too long, but rather to return to the ship. Since
we live so close to the beach, going to a beach is not a special treat. The
water was a beautiful turquoise colour, but it was still just water and the
beach wasn't as nice as ours is in HB.
Mystery Island, Vanuatu
Tenders had to be taken in and this is where they docked - Mystery Island, Vanuatu
Beach at Mystery Island, Vanuatu
Once back on board, we had lunch and then spent the rest of the
afternoon laying on the lounge chairs on the deck in the shade. That
was heaven. When it's a port/tender day, there are plenty of deck
chairs available. We took our reading and puzzle books and that kept
us entertained along with a little nap for me. I took a sea sickness
pill just before we went to afternoon trivia and I felt much better.
We had a lovely time catching up with our dinner table mates about what
everyone had been doing during the day. We really like our table
mates and feel very fortunate that we get along with all six of them. Our
waiters, Smith and Dexter, are friendly and entertaining (and very efficient,
as well). So, we look forward to our dinner time each evening.
Right after dinner, Lyn and Michael (from our dinner table and our
trivia group) and us went to play the evening trivia game which was soundtracks
from tv shows. Dad and I knew many of the American shows from the
70's to the 90's, but when it came to the more recent shows or British
shows, we were lost. But, as usual, we had a lot of fun with our
group.
After trivia, it was off to the night time show in the Princess Theatre
- tonight's entertainment was a woman named Jo Little from the UK. She
was a singer/comedian and was pretty entertaining. We were a bit
worried about how her humour would be after having seen the previous comic who
was hilarious, but it turned out she had a good sense of humour and also had an
amazing voice.
Saturday, 23 January, 2016
Today's tender port was Isle of Pines, New Caledonia. Dad and
I decided not to get off the ship today. After doing a bit or research
online and talking to other passengers on the ship, it didn't seem like there was
much to do ashore other than more swimming and snorkelling. So, we
decided to make the morning a laundry time and then, after lunch, found two
deck chairs in the shade and enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing.
Isle of Pines, New Caledonia
Views from the ship when we were anchored near Isle of Pines, New Caledonia
After trivia (got 10/20 again) and dinner, we went to the Princess Theatre for the nightly entertainment - tonight it was Nik Page who is from the UK. He performs on London's West End - one of the plays he was starring in over there was 'Les Miserables'. He sang a variety of songs from the Lion King to Les Mis to Pavarotti. You could definitely tell he was a music theatre performer - they just sing differently from regular singers.
After trivia (got 10/20 again) and dinner, we went to the Princess Theatre for the nightly entertainment - tonight it was Nik Page who is from the UK. He performs on London's West End - one of the plays he was starring in over there was 'Les Miserables'. He sang a variety of songs from the Lion King to Les Mis to Pavarotti. You could definitely tell he was a music theatre performer - they just sing differently from regular singers.
Sunday, 24 January, 2016
Today's tender port was Lifou, New Caledonia. We decided to
get off and walk to a couple of churches which are on the island. We
didn't worry about swimming or shopping because we had heard that the water was
murky and the shopping was expensive. We first walked up to the
church on the hill and got some pics of the beautiful views from there. The
church was old and small and had very little inside it other than an altar and
a couple of benches.
Then, we walked back to where we started and continued on that road as
we wanted to look for a geocache which Dad had found out about. The
gps took us straight to a building, but we couldn't see where they could
possibly have hidden anything at that spot. So, Dad checked the
description of the cache and discovered that the gps led us to a building where
you had to pay to enter a cave beyond the house. Upon further
reading, Dad found out that this was an 'earth cache' which means it takes you
to a location which someone thought was interesting. We talked with
a couple who had already been to the caves and they said that it was difficult
to climb down to it and that it was pretty disappointing. So, we
decided to give it a miss.
The interesting thing about Lifou people is that they seem to live in
either grass huts or very basic makeshift houses (eg: shipping containers), but
they all seem to have cars as well. The temperature
was about 30C which usually isn't too bad for us, but the humidity was really
high. This meant that by the time we were done with our walking, we
were sweating so much that our shirts were quite wet along with my hair. It
started to rain just as we were setting back for the ship, although it was more
like a mist and very welcome after our hot walk.
house and car of one of the local villagers
Traditional hut we saw along the way to the Church of Easo - Lifou, New Caledonia
Community Centre near the Church of Easo - Lifou, New Caledonia
Inside the Church of Easo
Examples of stained glass windows in the Church of Easo
The Church of Easo
The cemetery of Easo with the Church of Easo in the background
Me showing how hot and humid it was in Lifou (notice the sweat on my top and the sweaty hair)
fruit on a tree we saw on our way back from the Church of Easo
Inside a traditional hut - fire pit where they cooked their meals
Inside a traditional hut - where they slept
Dad outside a traditional hut
Once we got back on the ship, we stripped off our wet clothes and
changed into our bathing suits. A dip in the pool was very much
needed (after lunch) and we were happy to spend the rest of the afternoon
sitting on loungers on the deck and back in our room.
After trivia (16/20) this time) and dinner, we went to see the nightly
entertainment which was the Princess singers and dancers putting on a show called
'Shimmy'. It was a show featuring songs from early rock and roll up
days (50s/60s). They did a good job of singing and dancing and I
would say that this one (choreography) had to be the best so far.
Monday, 25 January, 2016
Today's port was Noumea, New Caledonia - the ship was able to dock at a container port
so we didn't have to take a tender in. There was a band on the
dock to welcome us into the city. There were buses waiting for us on
the dock to take us to the cruise ship terminal. When we got there,
we were met by people selling tours. We decided to take the country
tour on an air conditioned bus - it was so hot and taking an open-air train
just wasn't very inviting.
Band playing for us on the pier in Noumea, New Caledonia
Views of Noumea from the ship
View of the Tchou Tchou train which does sightseeing tours around Noumea
We had to wait for about an hour to begin our tour, so we decided to do
some geocaching. Dad had found a few of them before we left HB. The
first one was near a supermarket behind the trolleys. At first, we
couldn't find it until Dad put his hand up under an overhanging metal bar. It
was a very narrow opening and the container was magnetic and small. The
second one was near the cruise terminal. It was underneath a piece
of metal artwork which looked like a sailboat. Inside that one was a
travel bug - we were excited to find it and look forward to taking it to HB and
putting it into a geocache there. By the time we were done, it was so hot that
we decided to go back to the terminal building and wait there for our tour.
Cute four-wheeled mopeds
Interesting looking tree
We found a geocache under this metal artwork
Noumea is a sister city to the Gold Coast which is just south of Brisbane
We were able to get the first seat in the bus behind the driver which
was the best view on the bus. A German man, Gunter, was our guide
and he was quite funny as well as being very informative. He shared
with us the history of Noumea as we drove through the city.
Gunter, our tour guide on the bus tour around Noumea
pictures of our bus trip around Noumea, New Caledonia
A male tree on one side of the entrance to the Centre (can you see why it is male? ;-)
A female tree on the other side of the entrance to the Centre (can you see why it is female :-)
At the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre
A Shell gas station in Noumea
On our way to our next stop
Our second stop on the tour was at the Church of Miracles. It is a Catholic church and is the oldest church in Noumea. It was built by french convicts around 1870 and is still in use today.
The Church of Miracles
stain glass windows in the Church of Miracles
woman preparing the altar at the church
stain glass window at the entrance to the church
More bus trip photos of Noumea
Small plane airport in Noumea
view from the top of Ouen Toro hill
open-air train at the lookout
view from Ouen Toro hill
Dad in front of a rock on Ouen Toro hill
more views from Ouen Toro hill
Dad beside one of the cannons on Ouen Toro hill
Cute little car we saw in Noumea
more photos from our bus trip - on our way back to the cruise terminal
Gunter said to keep an eye out for the 'American Embassy' on our right (can you see it?)
selfie on the bus
After driving for a bit, we stopped at the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre.
The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre celebrates the vernacular Kanak culture, the indigenous culture of New Caledonia, amidst much political controversy over the independent status sought by some Kanaks from French rule. It opened in June 1998 and was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and named after Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the leader of the independence movement who was assassinated in 1989 and who had a vision of establishing a cultural centre which blended the linguistic and artistic heritage of the Kanak people. (Wikipedia)
Gunter gave us a private tour of the Centre as it was closed to the public today. We enjoyed learning about the Kanak culture.
Our second stop on the tour was at the Church of Miracles. It is a Catholic church and is the oldest church in Noumea. It was built by french convicts around 1870 and is still in use today.
Our third stop was at a lookout point on Ouen Toro hill which is 128 metres high. At the lookout point, there are two large cannons which were installed by the Australian Army in 1940.
When we got back to the ship, we played our usual trivia game, had
dinner, watched the nightly entertainment show (Donna Campbell in the 'Dolly
Parton Story') and joined our trivia team for a special trivia game 'I'll take trivia for 100' - it was based on the tv game show 'Jeopardy'. We
didn't win, but we still had lots of fun.
Tuesday, 26 January, 2016
Today is 'Australia Day'. It was also a stop at the tiny
island of Mare, New Caledonia. We had talked to some people who had
been there before and there wasn't much to do other than to take a bus to a
beach ($18.50) and so we decided to give it a miss.
Australian Day cakes display in the Atrium
Koala cake
Australian flag cake
Kangaroo cake
Green and gold balloons put up for Australia Day
Views of Mare, New Caledonia from the ship
After our morning trivia game, we spent the rest of the day on lounge chairs on the deck. Every now and then we got in the pool to cool off
and then go back to our chairs and read or do puzzles or just relax.
After afternoon trivia and dinner, we went to an evening trivia game
with our team which was all about Australia. The funny thing was
that many of the questions at this trivia were the same as this afternoon's trivia. Our team managed to get 20/21 and we were so excited. It
turned out that we had tied with three other groups and the tie breaker was
decided by who the audience thought could do the chicken dance the best. Neither
Dad nor I wanted to do it and one of the other couples in our group didn't even
know what it was. So, we didn't win, but that was okay cuz the prize
was a bottle of champagne.
Wednesday, 27 January, 2016
Today was our first sea day after all our island stops and it was a very
relaxing day for us. After our morning trivia game, we staked out
our lounge chairs by the pool and spent the rest of the day there relaxing, reading
and doing puzzles. It has been so nice to have these easy days.
After our trivia game this morning, we went up on deck to check out the
ice carving demonstration. Dad took some pictures, but we still weren't
sure what it was even when it was done. We asked someone later what
they thought it was (most people thought it was some kind of bird) - turned out
it was a koala with tree leaves behind it.
Ice carver
It's hard to make out, but it's a koala on the left with a leafy tree to the right
The rest of the day was spent on the deck on
lounge chairs again - and what a restful day it was. After afternoon
trivia, we got ready for the formal night in the dining room for dinner.
Our dinner table group: back L to R: Dad, me, Jacinta and her mom, Mary
front L to R: Lyn, Michael, Val and Ray
Our fabulous waiters: L to R: Dexter (Junior Waiter) and Smith (Waiter)
front L to R: Lyn, Michael, Val and Ray
After dinner, we headed off to the nightly
entertainment show 'British Invasion' with the Princess singers and dancers. It
was a show full of songs made famous by British singers (eg: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Queen, etc.). After that, we decided to go and take part in
the 'Passenger Feud' game which was like 'Family Feud'. The crew
member asked the teams the questions and we were awarded points for correctly guessing the most popular answers (with more points being awarded for answering the question with
the number one answer, etc.). Dad and I
were by ourselves for this game and we scored 175. The winners
scored 195, so we were pretty pleased with our score.
Thursday, 28 January, 2016
Today was our second day at sea - hard to believe we are going to be back in Sydney tomorrow. There was no trivia this morning as there was a culinary demonstration and galley tour of the kitchen of the ship. The Executive Chef and the Maitre D' hosted the demonstration where they showed us how they cook a few of their signature dishes. Then, they took us on a single file tour of the kitchen where we saw sparkling clean stainless steel preparation and cooking areas as well as a few enthusiastic cooks.
After lunch, we went for afternoon tea in one of the dining rooms - we have been trying to get there before this, but we were either too busy, too lazy or too full to go. We ended up just getting one scone with jam and cream each - they didn't have any hot chocolate for us to drink with it, so we just got water - the scones were yummy, though. After that, it was time for our last afternoon trivia game - we did pretty bad on this one as it was titled 'Bizarre Trivia' and it sure was. The assistant cruise director, David, led the trivia and he even made it a multiple choice trivia - we still did very poorly achieving a score of only 8/20. But we had a great time with our trivia buddies.
Dad and me at afternoon tea
Our trivia group: L to R: Lyn, Michael, me, Dad, Susan and Bob
After our last dinner for this cruise, we went to the Princess Theatre for the Showtime show which tonight was David DiMuzio - he was a juggler/singer and was quite good in both talents.
Friday, 29 January, 2016
We arrived back in Sydney today and were already docked by the time we woke up. After saying good-bye to our fabulous stateroom attendant, Tony (Antonino), we had breakfast and then waited in one of the lounges until our disembarkation time. Since we had a late flight back to HB, our disembarkation time was listed as 10am. We were called earlier, though, as the process had been going faster than they expected. It was very easy and quick to find our luggage and to go through customs. We had booked a bus to the airport through Princess Cruises and so, after going through customs, we got on the bus. The weather was awful today - there were thunderstorms around the Sydney airport which caused a number of delays as they will not allow staff out on the ramp to arrive and depart the planes when lightning is in the area. So, many plane departure times were delayed for two hours. Since our flight was not until 5pm, we only had a half an hour delay. When we got to Brisbane, the storms were affecting the HB area and so our flight from there was late coming in to Brisbane. We finally got home around 9:15pm and our friend, Thea, who had been using our car while we were away, was there to pick us up.
View from our balcony of Sydney - gee, it looks the same as we left it two weeks ago :-)
Except that, when we left it two weeks ago, it was nice and sunny, not stormy
We have decided that since we love cruising so much, we are going to plan on going once a year from now on. We are looking at some cruises for next year, but we're not sure where we will be going to at this point.
Today was our second day at sea - hard to believe we are going to be back in Sydney tomorrow. There was no trivia this morning as there was a culinary demonstration and galley tour of the kitchen of the ship. The Executive Chef and the Maitre D' hosted the demonstration where they showed us how they cook a few of their signature dishes. Then, they took us on a single file tour of the kitchen where we saw sparkling clean stainless steel preparation and cooking areas as well as a few enthusiastic cooks.
After our last dinner for this cruise, we went to the Princess Theatre for the Showtime show which tonight was David DiMuzio - he was a juggler/singer and was quite good in both talents.
Friday, 29 January, 2016
We arrived back in Sydney today and were already docked by the time we woke up. After saying good-bye to our fabulous stateroom attendant, Tony (Antonino), we had breakfast and then waited in one of the lounges until our disembarkation time. Since we had a late flight back to HB, our disembarkation time was listed as 10am. We were called earlier, though, as the process had been going faster than they expected. It was very easy and quick to find our luggage and to go through customs. We had booked a bus to the airport through Princess Cruises and so, after going through customs, we got on the bus. The weather was awful today - there were thunderstorms around the Sydney airport which caused a number of delays as they will not allow staff out on the ramp to arrive and depart the planes when lightning is in the area. So, many plane departure times were delayed for two hours. Since our flight was not until 5pm, we only had a half an hour delay. When we got to Brisbane, the storms were affecting the HB area and so our flight from there was late coming in to Brisbane. We finally got home around 9:15pm and our friend, Thea, who had been using our car while we were away, was there to pick us up.
We have decided that since we love cruising so much, we are going to plan on going once a year from now on. We are looking at some cruises for next year, but we're not sure where we will be going to at this point.
