Day 18: At Sea

We continue to be very fortunate with our weather this cruise. Though the winds from the south did pick up this afternoon, we continued to have a comfortable ride on a sunny but chilly day. I hope our crossings back and forth to New Zealand are half so nice. 

Probably because the ship was stable, I slept and slept last night, and didn’t awake until after 7am. G was already out and about, but I caught up with him in the the Horizon Court Buffet. Our standard meeting place is a table right above our cabin, and, sure enough, that’s where I found him, talking with a couple from Hong Kong. We lingered over breakfast (All Bran, fruit and soy milk) and returned to the cabin and had just enough time to sort through paperwork in preparation from this cruise in preparation for the onslaught of new paperwork we’ll receive on turnaround day tomorrow. I had to leave then for Thias’ meditation session (continuing to love these, though too often they conflict with the Destination Expert’s lectures). Once I was nice and relaxed, I went to the fitness center to work out for an hour or so. ;-) 

It was time to eat again, so we went to the Donatello Dining Room for lunch where I had a wonderful vegetarian curry.  G ordered Brunswick Chicken, which was served as a soup/stew with butter beans and corn, but that was pretty much as far as the resemblance to Virginia’s Brunswick Stew (aka Chicken Muddle) got.  And my man knows his muddle (it was the first recipe I learned from his mother). We rushed from there to Wendy Fuller’s lecture on Sydney (not too many people at that, since so many know the city well) and then back to the Piazza for the Egg Drop Contest, which is always great fun. 

We had a little rest then. I have a book that is gong to poof off my iPad tomorrow and wanted to get through that. I need to have time and internet speed to replenish my Overdrive books; the loan period for most of them has just expired or will soon. I don’t know when that’s going to happen though. We have plans for tomorrow, weather permitting, in Sydney, and the whole ‘can’t get off and back on the ship’ rule definitely cramps our style. That means that, if I want to find a coffee shop and download books or movies, I have to walk off the ship with my iPad and walk around with it during any sightseeing we do first. 

 I met Pat for coffee in the International Café (we sat in Vines, because, natch, there were no seats available anywhere else) and bid her farewell. While we were there, this cruise’s Princess Pop Choir, comprised of interested passengers, performed, and, for a cruise with only two sea days to practice, they were quite good. 

Then it was time for dinner (a seafood starter and grilled vegetable dinner salad) and we are currently sitting in the Princess Theater awaiting the 7:45pm performance of Canadian comedian Simon Cotter. His first show, earlier in the cruise, was very good. In fact, we have enjoyed nearly all of the guest entertainers on both cruises. 

Today on Deck 5 in the Piazza, there were 10-12 large placards set up on easels that covered the history of Australia and they were fascinating. I think the National Museum of Australia developed them, but the Princess logo also appeared on them. We took the time throughout the day to read every word on them. If they were there last cruise, we missed them, probably because our dining room was on Deck 6 then. 

We have already received our in transit letters outlining what is required from us tomorrow in terms of checking off the ship and the immigration requirements. Weather dependent, we have plans to leave the ship fairly early to go exploring, and hope, at some time, to find some high speed WiFi near the ship. Cruise #2 is in the bag, and we have a warm weather cruise to look forward to coming up next. We are feeling so comfortable on the Golden Princess, with its super friendly crew and excellent food and great entertainment. If I have any concerns at all, it’s that it’s going by too quickly. When a vacation is this good, I want time to creep along. 

Life is good. :-)

Day 17: Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia

We enjoyed another perfect day in what has turned out to be a fantastic cruise. Who knew Tasmania could have this kind of weather?  However, it is 6:15pm and we are in the Princess Theater awaiting the start of impressionist Keith Scott’s 6:45pm show. I am really worn out tonight, and predict I’ll be in bed early, despite the ship’s celebration of Halloween tonight (more on that later). 

The alarm went off at 5:30am and we were in the Horizon Court Buffet drinking hot beverages (rooibos tea in my case) at 6am when the Golden Princess let go her lines and left the port of Hobart, where it had been berthed overnight. And let me go back for a second and mention that, when it was windy yesterday evening, the thrusters were running just to keep the ship against the pier. I mentioned to G that we might have a loud night, because the thrusters really rattle the back of the ship where our cabin is located. However, by the time we returned to our cabin last night, we no longer heard the thrusters and had a wonderful (and stable) night’s sleep. 

The sun had not yet risen when we first sailed. At least, I don’t think it had. It was another overcast and miserable looking start to the day, but the scenery on both sides of the ship did its best to look spectacular. It was a lot like cruising in Alaska for a few hours this morning, and, just before we arrived in Port Arthur at 9am, the views became even more dramatic, with steep sea cliffs on one side of the ship and mountains on the other. We ate breakfast while we watched, and, by the time the Golden Princess was at anchor, we were ready to go ashore. 

There was a delay in getting the ship cleared (I think the local authorities forgot we were coming today), but, fortunately, the tender was short and 10 minutes after we boarded the boat we were delivered right to Port Arthur. I was a little confused about what to expect today. There is an entrance fee to get into the Port Arthur Historic Site (something like $39 AUD) but other passengers who had been there via ship in the past told me that we would disembark the tender right in the site and the ticket price was already paid. That turned out to be correct. Our admission was free of charge to us (I suspect it was included in our port fees) but we were not able to have access to all of the special tours and boat rides the normal admission provided unless we booked extra cost excursions either on the ship or once we arrived. 

So…what is the Port Arthur Historic Site?  Port Arthur was used as a penal station from 1840 to 1877, but it was more than just that. It was an entire community, also home to military personnel and free settlers.  The convicts worked at farming and industries, producing a wide range of resources and materials. The whole ‘Australia as a penal colony’ history is not one that we were very familiar with, but it is really the story of the settlement of Australia. Frankly, mostly Aussies we’ve talked with think they got by far the better end of that stick. 

Port Arthur Historic Site as seen from the tender boat

The Port Arthur Historic Site contains 30 historic buildings, numerous ruins, and beautiful grounds and gardens. This is early in the season, so there were just a few flowering trees, but the peaceful site belies its past, and there are many who believe the former penal colony, especially the cemetery on the Isle or the Dead, is haunted. 

The most imposing building at Port Arthur is the Penitentiary. This was originally the flour mill and granary for the community, and the convicts were housed in rough timber huts. But as the convict population grew, this building housed them on four floors, with the most dangerous kept on the two lower floors and those with less security on the two upper floors. 

The Penitentiary

 

The back of the Penitentiary

Inside the Penitentiary 

The Guard Tower

The Guard Tower

We spent several hours walking the grounds and reading the signs. It reminded us a bit of a smaller Jamestown or Williamsburg.  But the best part of the day was the ease with which we were able to access the site. We were just a short tender ride away, and it was much easier than doing a tour by bus from Hobart. 

Though the day started out cloudy and threatening, the rain held off and we even saw the sun periodically. It would feel comfortable one minute and cold the next, depending on the wind and the sun, but all in all the weather really held for us. Eventually we started to get hungry and tendered back to the ship, where we arrived in time for the British Pub Lunch held in the Donatello Dining Room. I ordered a salad and vegetable soup and then, while everyone else enjoyed their bread pudding for dessert, had a fruit plate. It helps that the fruit has been so delicious on these cruises. 

We debated going back over to the site but it was after 2pm by then and I needed to get some emails sent while we still had cellular service. We have been very miserly in using our internet minutes on the ship, carrying over 100 minutes from last cruise to this one, and making them last until tomorrow, when we’ll sign up for the 150 minutes we get for this 7-night cruise. We will not have any local cellular service during our next 14-night cruise to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji and so will rely more heavily on WiFi from the ship. There will be a noticeable decrease in the number of photos I upload, but I will eventually catch up. 

The afternoon was sunnier than the morning. G went to a hot tub while I worked, and then we went to dinner in the Donatello Dining Room about the time the last tenders were recovered and the ship sailed. The view of the sea cliffs right outside our dining room window was incredible, and we kept getting up to take one photo, then another and another. We’ve had wind, and occasional rain, but overall we have been so lucky with weather this cruise. I guess it’s payback for the rainy days in Brisbane and Port Douglas. 

Halloween was celebrated on the ship tonight, and all the waiters were dressed up in really fantastic  costumes and the ship was also decorated for the holiday. I suspect the reason it was early is that tomorrow night is the final night of this cruise, and the crew wouldn’t have time to celebrate on their own and passengers will be busy packing up and Halloween activities and parties might not be well attended. We aren’t going to make it tonight, either. We did attend Keith Scott’s show; though some of his references were beyond us, he did a great Donald Trump and Prince Charles and several American singers and cartoon voices. He was really very good.  We could see it was still light out when we were walking back to our cabin, and stepped out on the Terrace Deck just long enough to take a couple of photos of the sunset. It was beautiful but, darn, that air temp was cold!

Headwaiter Gabriel from Romania

Waiter Armando from the Philippines

Junior Waiter Bude from Indonesia

I will have this post published especially early tonight, by 9pm. And then I will sleep the sleep of someone who has a sea day tomorrow and nothing I have to do (including packing up or changing cabins), and that is the best sleep of all. 

Day 16: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

I’ve mentioned before that, on our first visit to Hobart, in April 2006, we had an absolutely dismal day. Foggy, cold, and we arrived several hours late due to the extremely rough seas we’d encountered on our sail down from Sydney. It wasn’t the best first impression, and when we strung together this series of cruises...well, let’s just say the Tasmania cruises were not the reason we are in Australia this season. How very wrong we were, and we feel so fortunate that we’ve had a chance for a do over. 

The Golden Princess arrived in Hobart this morning before we’d even left the cabin, so we missed our arrival, but when we went up to the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast, we were quite happy to see it was a gorgeous day. It was sunny and pleasant, though a little windy. Captain D had told us that the winds were expected to increase considerably after noon (he was oh so right), but this morning was calmer. G, naturally, immediately noticed the snow cat and two red blade-less helicopters parked in the port between the Golden Princess and the Aurora Australius.  G surmised it was a ship bound for Antarctica, and Googling it proved him right. Hobart is the launching point for a lot of the boats carrying supplies for Antarctica. We also saw stacks and stacks of timber, sorted by length and girth. 

I promise you, Hobart (and Ushuaia, Argentina) will NOT be as close as I get!

An expedition cruise to Antarctica still tops my bucket list.

We dawdled a little over breakfast, texting and checking in on things at home using Vodafone internet we were getting from shore. We really felt no time pressure; the ship doesn’t sail until 6am tomorrow morning and sunset is getting later each day. It was close to 9:30am when we finally walked off the ship. We dressed for our intended destination, the top of Mount Wellington, the 4000+ foot mountain overlooking the city of Hobart, but felt overdressed walking through town to get to the tourist information (TI) center. 

An important point about Hobart: at least this Sunday morning, there were no tours for offer near the port terminal. This is quite different than what we’ve come to expect, but, now that I think about it, it was that way in Melbourne also. We were kindly pointed in the direction of the TI, which was a 10 or so minute walk from the ship. We arrived there to discover it was packed, and I waited in line at least 30 minutes to find a way to get to the top of Mount Wellington. It was hot in there, and I was re-thinking the wool hat and lightweight scarf I was wearing. We were told that the usual shuttles to the top of Mount Wellington were full, but then the clerk made a phone call and said that, if we could be ready in 30 minutes, we could get a ride with Paul’s Tassie Tours. We didn’t know then how lucky we were. 

Paul showed up with his 11-passenger van right on time. He had already started a tour for two other passengers, Veronica and Jerry, but was coming by the TI on his way up to the top of Mount Wellington. We were joined by four other passengers and the van started the climb. Hobart is a pretty little town with Victorian architecture, and the spring blooming trees were beautiful. We were soon out of the city and on the heavily forested road to the top of the mountain. Paul said it had been dry in Hobart, and things did look a bit brown, but there was still a lot of greenery. On our way to the top of Mount Wellington we passed a couple of waterfalls and several runners and cyclists getting a workout by going to the top. That they are starting at nearly sea level makes this feat even more remarkable. G has done this sort of thing for years, and was quite impressed.

I wish I could recall exactly how long it took to reach the top, but I’m guessing it was 30-45 minutes, with our ears popping the entire way. Once we reached the summit, Paul dropped us off near a viewing center.  He opened the van door and warned us about the wind, but nothing could have prepared us for what we encountered. It was so windy that, every time I lifted a foot to take a step, the wind nearly blew me over. I felt like Jim Cantore from TheWeather Channel reporting from a hurricane. After seeing the expansive views of the harbor and surrounding hills from the enclosed viewing center, we braved the wind to walk out to the end of two platforms via wooden walkways built over the large boulders at the top. Honestly, we had to keep a solid hold on the handrail to keep from being blown over. 

The Tasman Bridge.  Notice the spacing of the pillars on the right side. The Lake Illawarra still lies on the bottom between them. 

The Golden Princess in Hobart

The  views made it all worthwhile though. It was mostly sunny though a bit hazy, and, from a visibility perspective it was a good day to do this. We could see the long expanse of the Tasman Bridge, which had been constructed in the 1960s to connect the two sides of Hobart. In January 1975, a bulk-ore carrying ship called the Lake Illawarra struck the bridge, collapsing two pillars and 400 feet of the bridge and killing seven of the ship’s crew and five occupants of cars that dropped into the river below. To this day, the uneven spacing of the pillars on one side of the bridge serve as a constant reminder of the accident. 

We are well familiar with the beautiful rocky areas on top of tall mountains, but not with those sea views in the distance. 

These rocks reminded me of the American Southwest. 

G took things a bit further and went the to very tip top of the mountain, called The Pinnacle, which requires climbing on all fours over large rocks until he reached the highest one, holding onto a metal framework at the top to keep from blowing over. Because of course he did. ;-)

He scrsmbled up those rocks; that’s my guy. 

We climbed back into Paul’s van and made the drive back into Hobart. Four of the other passengers had bought tickets for the double decker red Hop On Hop Off bus but couldn’t even board it until 2pm (book it ahead of time!), so they left us at that point to do that. We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon with Paul and his first two passengers Veronica and Jerry. They were on the way through the historic Coal Valley to a town called Richmond, and though we didn’t know a thing about it, it sounded fun. Paul has lived in Richmond most of this life, and filled us in on the area as we drove about 10-15 miles to his town. The terrain became beautifully hilly and we saw many agricultural fields and vineyards.

Paul suggested we stop to sample hard cider at Coal Valley Cider, and this place was right out of a storybook. I had just apple juice, but G got a sample of four different ciders- Berry, Mixed Berry, Black Currant and Apple- served on a board and we all sat down in a tasting shed that had been decoratedjust perfectly with rustic lanterns and wooden vases and tables and seats made from barrels.

A cider sampler board

We continued on, then, to Richmond, where we had two hours to explore on our own after Paul had driven us around the small town and given us the lay of the land. Richmond is home to Australia’s oldest bridge, dating from 1823 and built using convict labor. It is still the longest arched stone bridge in Australia. Also in Richmond is St. John the Evangelist’s Church, built in 1859, the oldest Catholic Church in Australia. 

The Richmond Bridge with the steeple of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in the background. 

(I had to lie on the ground for this one.)

Now that I know the bird in Sydney was a Rainbow Lorakeet, can someone help me with this one? It looks like a chicken but it’s not like any we’ve ever seen. 

This was a holiday weekend in Hobart, and several families and tourists wandered the streets and browsed the many shops. It reminded us a great deal of some historic towns, like Waterville and Grand Rapids, along the Maumee River in Ohio.  It was so peaceful and beautiful there, and I referred to it as the ‘anti-Rome’ and ‘anti-Athens’. It was much more our speed. We went to a tiny grocery store and bought potato chips (crisps here in Australia) for G and popcorn for me and duck food and walked on paths along the Coal River and fed the ducks, and then toured the Richmond Gaol and stopped into a lolly (candy) store that was just like an old time candy store with row of jars of every kind of candy imaginable, and ice cream too. 

Our view as we walked along the Coal River. 

What a perfect day. 


A blue tongue lizard sunning on the path. This one was about a foot long. 

We all met up about 4pm and were driven back to the ship. It had been a totally unplanned but perfect day, and I strongly recommend anyone cruising to Hobart to contact Paul Stephenson of Paul’s Tassie Tours by emailing him at paulstephenson5@bigpond.com or call him using Vonage (For 2.2 cents per minute from the US! Get the app!!) at +6 0428 866 314. Remember the time difference before you call. A nicer guy doesn’t exist, and Paul has a comfortable new van and will customize a tour for you for any length of time and for up to 11 people. 

We arrived back at the port about 4:45pm and rushed back on the ship, changed into clothes for dinner and then went to the Bernini Dining Room. We hadn’t been at dinner last night and didn’t want to miss being at our wonderful table again tonight (for fear we might lose it). We were starving. I had had just cereal and fruit and a few handfuls of popcorn all day. I hadn’t pre-ordered anything for dinner tonight, but was able to have a delicious smoked Tasmanian salmon starter, salad and then the vegetarian option made vegan for me, which was an assortment of vegetables. Oh, and sorbet for dessert. :-)

The entertainment tonight was a folkloric show with the Tasmanian Police Pipe Band and three Irish dancers. They were all fantastic and played a variety of Scottish songs and even Yankee Doodle (it occurred to me that I was in Australia listening to Yankee Doodle being played on bagpipes. Talk about international entertainment!), but, of course, finished up with Waltzing Matilda. The audience sang along and even G and I now know the chorus and the first verse (we’ve been practicing!). It had been a perfect day, start to finish. 

But it had also been a busy and active day, start to finish. We were wiped out and immediately returned to the cabin. We have an alarm set for 5:30am to be up for sailaway from Hobart, but I’m not counting on it. It is 10:30am as I finish this post, and I suspect the snooze button will get a workout in the morning. 

Day 15: At Sea / Scenic cruising Wineglass & Oyster Bays

We had just the best day today. Things came together in a sort of positive perfect storm and, really, couldn’t have been much better than they were. It always helps when we have a morning with no (or nearly no) schedule, and that’s what we had today. G was up and at ‘em early, but he left the cabin quietly and allowed me to sleep awhile longer. He does get at least an hour more sleep than I do every night, first because he falls asleep easily in about 16 seconds, but also because he doesn’t have to write blog posts. ;-) 

Still, we met up in the back of the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast before 8am. I was so disappointed when I looked through the glass in the door from Aloha Deck out to the Terrace Deck and saw rain falling. Not today!  Please not today!  The Golden Princess was scheduled to be cruising through some scenic areas all afternoon, and I really had been looking forward to it. Breakfast was light (just cereal for me), and I headed to the fitness center for a workout until it was time to get ready for this cruise’s Most Traveled Guests luncheon. G had already gotten ready and was at the Grapevine Wine Tasting (excuse me for a minute while I shed a tear or two), but returned by noon. The luncheon was starting at 12:05pm so that Captain D could make the noon navigational update announcement. 

Except it wasn’t him making the announcement. When we arrived at the Crown Grill, we discovered he was a little under the weather. Instead we sat with Hotel General Manager Martin May, whom, it seemed, everyone other passenger on the Golden knew but we had never met. We were seated with two couples, one of whom, Christopher and Sandra, were celebrating their 50th anniversary today, and that was really very special.  

Lunch was fantastic, as it always is. I had a veggie starter like the one I had last cruise with grilled vegetables (and wondered, like I had last cruise, why nothing I do with vegetables at home makes them taste half as good). I was able to have one of the usual entrees, orange roughy with large prawns and a tomato sauce and, it was delicious. When dessert was served, something white and creamy was set in front of me and I was absolutely certain that this decadent looking dessert couldn’t possibly be for me, but was assured that it was strawberries with a vegan cream that the pastry chef had prepared especially for me. Seriously, could my life get any better?  As I’ve said, I am getting fruit plated-out at dessert time and even my beloved Princess sorbets are starting to feel a tad repetitive. 

I am so spoiled 

I discovered, when Martin shook G’s hand and said, “This must be G” that someone from Princess DOES read this blog. I once said that no one did, at least not that I knew, but then discovered one senior officer (or at least his wife) does, and now find out that a Hotel General Manager has it bookmarked. It’s a little unsettling. First, I’m always a little shy when I meet a reader in person. After all, I feel comfortable divulging a lot of personal secrets on my blog (it’s just my diary…that thousands of people read), things about hair color and root canals and bedtime ablutions and living for months in an inside cabin, and I’m totally comfortable with that because it’s anonymous.  Except when it isn’t any longer.  And today I racked my brain trying to remember exactly what I’ve said about the Golden Princess, most of which, I think, has been justifiably very complimentary. But don’t worry…you’ll still get me, totally unfiltered. I can’t be anything but forthright and honest in my comments. 

But Martin did ask, and I should probably explain again here, because I haven’t for awhile, where the name Yellow Fish comes from. I started diving in 1997 and took to it like…well, a fish. I adored it, and went on to get my advanced diving certification. Of course, scuba diving is an equipment intensive (and expensive) sport, and when I bought my gear (mask, goggles, fins, BCD, wetsuit, even a tank for dives in our area), I bought bright yellow or yellow and black everything. We were staying at an all-inclusive resort on the southern end of Cozumel and doing three dives a day and I got very good at managing my breathing to extend my time underwater. It would be middle-aged me and a bunch of 20-something athletic guys who would be the last to come up from a dive. One of the Mexican divemasters started calling me Pescado Amarillo, or Yellow Fish. When it came time to start this blog, I needed to remain anonymous, for obvious reasons, but thought that Pescado Amarillo was a bit of a mouthful and so stuck with its English translation. 

Or it could simply mean I like the color yellow and live in Amarillo, Texas. ;-)

But, I digress (it was, after all, a sea day). 

We finished the luncheon around 2pm, just as the first views of Wineglass Bay were appearing off the starboard side. Here I had a decision to make. I was all cleaned up for the Most Traveled Guest party, being held this evening, and so could have just sat up in Skywalkers and watched the view. However, the day, which had started out so dismally, had turned gorgeous and I just had to be on the open decks, regardless of what it would do to hair and makeup. (Lucky are men who don’t have to worry about such things.  G could be on a run and then be ready to go to the party 15 minutes later.)

We changed into shorts and T-shirts (really!  In Tasmania!  After we froze in Queensland!) and sat on loungers on the Terrace Deck and enjoyed Destination Expert Wendy Fuller’s narrative over the PA about the history of this area and how Wineglass Bay got its name (it’s very sad. It has nothing to do with its shape or wine at all. It’s because so many whales became trapped in this area and were killed and their carcasses dragged up on the beaches that the water was red from the blood). Happy thoughts!  Happy thoughts! 

That water color!

We loved watching the beautiful blue wake. 

The aft view from Deck 16. We were sitting in those loungers near the railing on Deck 14. 

The ship slowly curved its way through this passage. 

Source:  Maps.me app

Our location at 3:15pm

Source:  Maps.me app

The beaches were miles long with the whitest sand we’ve seen. 

Such blue water (and look at that sky!)

Colorful rocks and cliffs

But, truthfully, it was easy to put that newly acquired knowledge behind us because the scenery, which by then was on both sides of the ship, was so beautiful. The sky was bright blue with only a few hints of clouds, and the water was the most spectacular shades of blue, too. Wineglass and Oyster Bays are part of Tasmania’s Freycinet National Park, and the beautiful areas we were enjoying are not even reachable by road. Long beaches with bright white sand lined the shoreline in several places (but I bet that water is COLD!), and the rock formations were so colorful. We stayed out there for hours, until the weather changed in.a.heartbeat. and became suddenly windy and cold and spit rain and we ran to the comfort of our cabin. 

We had been invited to go the early Captains Circle Party tonight, at 4:45pm, but I asked instead to attend the later one at 7pm because of the scenic viewing that was scheduled. We gave up our table for dinner and opted to just have something in the Horizon Court Buffet if we were hungry later in the evening. We were joined at the party by Pat, whom we met last cruise (and who reads this blog too. Oh my.) and were honored to be this cruise’s second most traveled passengers (the numbers, because people ALWAYS email me to ask, were about 1120, 960 and 940 days with Princess).

Sunset about 8:15pm. 

Love spending our winter in the Southern Hemisphere!

We did go to the Buffet after the party, and had a light dinner, and then chose to skip production show British Invasion to go to the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to So Cool Quartet and their easy listening music. 

The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be clear and cool (low 60s) with a strong wind developing after noon, which was the motivation for Captain D to reschedule our port order. Low 60s sounds about 30 degrees warmer than our last visit to Hobart, and for that I am grateful. 

Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention that I’ve added some more pics from our first cruise to this blog, if you’d like to go back and look at them.

Day 14: Melbourne, Australia

I’ve said in the past that I need to stop falling in love with places further and further from home. After today, Melbourne would fall into that category. It all came together for us today, beautiful weather, welcoming people and all the attractions that a city of 4.5 million people can offer. Our time in Melbourne felt short today, but that’s ok. We’ll be back a few more times and now have an understanding of the Public Transport system and the general layout of the city center. 

Our day was even shorter because we were a little slow getting moving this morning. The day didn’t look all that promising at 7am when the ship was docked and cleared; it was grey and foggy and chilly. We lingered over breakfast in the Horizon Court Buffet, texting and using internet and I even placed a call to Mom using Vonage (For 1 cent per minute!  Get the app!!).  Boy, we are loving that free T-Mobile international plan. It’s perfect for texting and calling; downloads and uploads are very slow. Case in point:  I downloaded a 158Mb audiobook today. It took the entire day, and finally finished while we were in the dining room for dinner. Using home WiFi, that’s a 90 second exercise

But I’m getting off track. We did finally dress in slacks and pullovers and walked off the ship around 9:30am, and, from that point on the day got warmer and brighter and turned out to be beautiful. We bought the Myki card in the terminal to use a Public Transport (and could use a credit card though we had been told on the ship that we couldn’t) and the two $15 AUD cards ended up costing just over $23 USD. Our rate of exchange has been improving a little every day (and I immediately got an email from Chase notifying me of the charge). We boarded Bus 109, which operates only when a ship is in port, and took it to the Melbourne Arts Center, where we walked across a bridge over the Tarra River to the Flinders Street Railway Station (thanks Leigh!). 

Bike path along the Yarra River

River cruises on the Yarra

Flinder Street tram station

We caught Tram 35, a free city circle team that loops continuously around many of the city’s sights.  There was a narration on the bus, so it’s kind of like a free Hop On Hop Off bus. We first did the loop (it took about 90 minutes) and then disembarked at the Docklands stop near Etihad Stadium. We have made a reservation in this area for later this cruise season, and it’s a bit scary to do that from 10000 miles away over the internet. G wondered if an area called the Docklands was safe and nice or was it freight port-y. Well, it’s a beautiful area right on a marina with yachts and restaurants and is not far from the Melbourne Aquarium. 

We were impressed by all the food trucks and tiny restaurants offering every nationality of cuisine. Melbourne is a big city, and it’s a busy city, with lots of traffic, but everyone was super friendly and helpful and it’s definitely a tourist-friendly city. I’m glad we’ll be back several more times. 

But we were getting warm by then. The weather just kept getting better and better, and we decided to take a tram to the bus to get back to the ship and change into shorts. We thought we might leave the ship again and walk along the boardwalk that fronts the long, sandy beach that is adjacent to the port terminal. We were getting hungry, though, and took a few minutes to have some lunch. We took our plates back to the Terrace Deck with its expansive views of the skyscrapers in downtown Melbourne. It was funny; we had been in the topical north of Queensland and couldn’t eat outside. It took going to southern Australia to find that kind of weather. 

Finally!  A day warm and sunny enough to have lunch on the Terrace Deck. 

Vegan lunch options in the Horizon Court Buffet 
Steamed veggies and Asian veggie stir fry with tofu...

...followed by a big salad. 

In the end, it was so beautiful out there that G slept in a lounger and I, after being promised by other passengers that the Terrace Pool water temp was comfortable, changed into a swimsuit and did a bit of a water workout (I had packed my aqua gloves) for the first time. All onboard time was 3:30pm for a 4pm sail away, and we were up in Skywalkers to watch as the view of Melbourne started to fade. Melbourne is at the end of a large bay, and for the next three hours we enjoyed beautiful views on all sides. Our dinner table in the Bernini Dining Room on Deck 5 offered the best vantage point, and we enjoyed seeing all the pleasure boats, especially a sailing class of about 20 sailboats weaving in and out in circles not far from the ship. 

Sail away from Melbourne viewed from Skywalkers

It was still light when we finished dinner (love spending our winters in the Southern Hemisphere!) and we strolled on the Promenade Deck, watching as the port pilot boat pulled along side the Golden Princess to pick up the harbor pilot. 

The Golden Princess exited the large bay on which Melbourne is located three hours after sail away. 

We listened to the So Cool Quartet in the Wheelhouse Bar for a short time and then went to the Princess Theater where we sat in the just in casiest of the just in case seats. Tonight’s entertainment was comedian Simon Cotter and we assumed he was a Brit or an Aussie and that we might not get his humor but he was, in fact, a Canadian and incredibly funny. We laughed ourselves silly, and then went directly to the Explorers Lounge to listen to the Golden Princess orchestra play Big Band and swing music. When they wrapped up their set, we decided our day was done. 

Tomorrow is a quasi-sea day, with scenic cruising in Oyster and Wineglass Bays from 2pm to 6pm. This is a short cruise, and both the MTG luncheon and the Captains Circle party are on the schedule (as well as the Grapevine Wine Tasting).  It will be a busy day, and I’ve actually talked Mr. Dining Room into eating dinner in the Horizon Court Buffet. Did you feel the earth shift a little on its axis?

Day 13: At Sea

This will be another sea day catch-up post, so buckle up for a GPS-worthy reading experience. I can’t help it; I spend all day thinking of things I need to mention and then, in the rush to get a blog post written and published every night (each and every night, God help me!) I forget to include most of those things. 

So, first I’ll talk about our day, but since this post will be prepared throughout the day whenever I have a break in the action (the ability to do that is the one thing I love about sea days), I’ll be adding to the bottom of it as I recall things, that, for whatever reason, I feel you must know. Or at least that I’ll want to remember myself several years from now when I look back at these posts. 

We slept soundly until 7am this morning. I was wiped out last night, and was asleep before G returned from the Welcome Aboard show. He said the singers and dancers performed the song “One Night Only” as they usually do in those shows, followed by impressionist Keith Scott doing a full show. G said he was really good, but that many of his references were things only Aussies would understand. No matter; I’ll get a chance to see him perform later this cruise. 

We met up in the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast and were highly entertained by waiter Thameragong (I think that’s how to spell his name) from the Philippines who kept that whole back corner seating area in stitches trying to pass out Vegamite to everyone and singing its praises. BTW, they do have Vegamite in little packets (like jelly packets). I tried it since we’ve been here and didn’t like it any better than I did when we were in Australia in 2006. 

I had dressed in shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt, and was freezing. The day started grey and chilly (but improved considerably by afternoon), and every time that sliding door at the back of the Buffet opened onto the Terrace Deck a gust of wind blew in. That’s why, when we went to a lecture on Melbourne in the Princess Theater at 10am, I wore my Goretex jacket. The theater is ALWAYS cold, and I didn’t want to suffer for 45 minutes. I packed only three things that can be considered warm:  one fleece pullover, one travel vest and the Goretex jacket, and I have already worn the fleece too many days to count since we’ve been on the ship. It was time to branch out. 

Wendy Fuller is our Destination Expert this cruise, and she was a teacher in a previous life and so sounds like she is talking to 8 year olds, but still shares good information. She is from New Zealand, which makes me wonder if she’ll be staying on for a few cruises as we’ll get to New Zealand next month. But she showed us exactly where the ship will dock in Melbourne and told us how to get to the city center and where to buy Myki cards, like the Opal cards in Sydney, to be able to ride the buses and trams and trains. And then she pointed out where the major city highlights are, and most of them are located in the city center along a circular tram route that runs for free. I hope the weather is good tomorrow, because we’ve never been to Melbourne and it looks to be a wonderful city for tourists. 

I left the Princess Theater and went directly to the Essence Boutique on board to take advantage of 10% off if one spends $100 AUD the first two days of the cruise. I was so excited to see that, like the Emerald Princess, this ship carries Smashbox cosmetics, and I bought a few things and got 10% off and another 10% off for  being Elite in the Captains Circle and when it is all converted to US $ it was an amazing deal on products that are never discounted at home. Sometimes the fact that the spending on this ship is in AUD works against us (like with OBC) but this is one time when it works in our favor. I had already warned G that he didn’t have to worry about any extra OBC; I could happily spend it in Essence. 

I met up with G for this cruise’s BIG!!!!!! $1000 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win), and, naturally, we won NOTHING. What is it they say about insanity, that’s it’s doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Sounds a lot like us and that darn BIG!!!!!! $1000 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win).

The good thing is that it is held in the Piazza and when it was over that put us right outside the Donatello Dining Room and we went for lunch (it was 12:30pm by then) and sat with the nicest couple from Brisbane, who apologized profusely for the rotten weather we had last week in their city, and told us what we’ve heard over and over again, that that wasn’t usual weather for them. I had the same wonderful broccoli and cauliflower entrée served with tomato sauce and pine nuts that I had last cruise, too, but also had a seafood salad that was delish. And only felt a little sorry for myself when everyone dug into their peach cobblers and crème caramels for dessert as I nursed my…water. I am fruit-plated out right now. 

G took off for this cruise’s Cruise Critic Meet and Greet.  While I have largely stopped attending them (or participating in roll calls), he still really enjoys them. Afterward he attended the military and veterans get together (he is far more social than I am), which allowed me the time to get ready for yet another formal night. Oh yay. ;-) But I did get to try out my new Smashbox eye shadow palette. That part was fun. 

We skipped the PES Lounge tonight and went directly to dinner at our table in the Bernini Dining Room at 5pm. As we were eating, we were shocked when, suddenly, a tiny island with a single rocky mountain on it appeared outside our window. What the heck?  Luckily, Maps.me came to the rescue.  We were sailing past Rodondo Island Nature Reserve.  It looked to be a haven for sea birds. 

This cruise’s Captain’s Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall began in the Piazza at 6:30pm, so we swung by there and G enjoyed two of the beers they also serve.  And from there we went directly to the Princess Theater for tonight’s production show, Born to Dance. We arrived so early that it allowed me to finish this blog post and get it uploaded. The only thing we have left after this is a Blues Brothers Tribute Act that performs in the Vista Lounge at 9pm. I am quite excited about that as I love that music. 

So, on to the laundry list of topics that I’ve worked on throughout the day…

Several hours before we sailed from Sydney yesterday afternoon, we received a letter from Captain D with an itinerary change that he has made to accommodate an approaching storm (always something to look forward to! ;-)). We will be in Melbourne tomorrow, as planned, and then will do some scenic cruising in Oyster and Wineglass Bays the next day (essentially a pretty day at sea), but we will be in Hobart from Sunday at 7am through Monday at 6am, and then set sail for Port Arthur, arriving Monday at 9am. So Hobart and Port Arthur have been switched. 

See, sometimes our almost total lack of planning works to our advantage in that we have fewer excursions to move around when plans change. 

I was excited to have phone service again this morning from mainland Australia as we are sailing down its southeastern coast. Texting works perfectly even with a weak signal; internet activity is quite a bit slower. Still, it is far and away better than any communication access we’ve had in all our years of cruising and we remain pretty happy with our T-Mobile service. 

We are so darn happy with our new cabin, which we will pretty much have for the remainder of our time on the Golden Princess (with a move just to the cabin next door on our last cruise). What’s funny is that blog reader Cheryl who has provided an encyclopedia of information of things to do and see on our New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji cruises was in this same cabin three cruises ago and emailed me about their great cabin steward Karin. Cheryl, everything you said was true. For years, Cristian from Romania has retained the title of our greatest, cabin steward ever, with Awesome Ambrish nearly in a tie, but Karin is right up there, too. It adds so much to our cruise to have a really good steward. 

Our cabin location is in that same part of the ship we love so much on these Grand Class ships. Except that today we didn’t use the outside steps to the Terrace Deck and the Horizon Court Buffet because it was too chilly. There is quite a bit more movement here than in our last cabin (Dolphin 123 and avoid it like the plague because of the noise from the Princess Theater) but so far that hasn’t been an issue. Plus, this cabin feels so much roomier. The biggest reason is that it’s a cabin for just two people. All of our luggage fits under the beds, there are no bunks extending from the walls, and that shelf in the closet seems huge without the third and fourth person life jackets. It’s nice to be settled. 

I keep meaning to talk about the PES Lounge (Platinum, Elites and Suites)…those same funky new drinks are being offered (here they cost $8.50 AUD with no additional charge for a tip, which is cheaper than the $6.50 USD plus tip they are in the rest of the world. For this particular cruise, these are the drinks and hors doerves pairings:

Day 1:  Freshly made guacamole and tortilla chips and a Mayan Mule

Day 2:  Beef steak tartar and a Boulevardier

Day 3:  Smoked salmon with toast points and a Tito’s Fresh Mint Lemondrop

Day 4:  Mexican salsa and tortilla chips and a Barcardi Limón Mojito

Day 5:  Stilton and a Port Lemonade

Day 6:  Herbed Goat Cheese and a Floradora

Day 7:  Sushi and a Cherry Blossom Garden

I have no idea what any of those drinks are except the mojito. In addition to the featured hors doerve, there are the usual veggies and dips and cheeses and crackers and nuts. Skywalkers on the Golden is far more broken up than on the Emerald Princess, with lots of step ups and step downs so that I’m always watching where I walk, but once I get seated the views from up there are unsurpassed. 

There is no BOGO for $1 Happy Hour on this ship. I don’t know why or for how long it’s been that way. 

We are still getting the Princess tote bags, one per cruise (so far), unlike when we were told that back to back passengers would no longer get them on subsequent cruises on the Emerald Princess. We used ours to haul our purchases from the Sydney supermarkets back to the ship, and they will be invaluable in Hawaii for the same purpose. 

I am back to typing most of these blog posts on my iPhone. I can’t believe that myself, but, after three seasons spent mostly on the Pacific Princess where we never had to arrive early for anything, we once again need to arrive at the Princess Theater 30 minutes before showtime to get good seats for the performances. I never have my iPad with me, but always have my iPhone, so it’s the perfect way to spend the time. But we are happy; most nights, in addition to a performance in the Princess Theater and movies on MUTS (but it’s been too cold most nights for us to be out there), there is often a second show in the Vista Lounge and trivia or games in the Explorers Lounge and, of course, good music all throughout the ship. There is no shortage of entertainment on the Golden Princess!

I think that’s it for tonight. No doubt I’ll think of three more things after I upload this post, but they will have to wait for another sea day. We will be asleep soon after the next show, resting up for a 7am arrival tomorrow in Melbourne. 

Cruise #2: Tasmania

We've been to Hobart once, on a transpacific cruise, and I am 100% certain of one thing. It will be warmer there on this visit than it was on our last, when we each wore one of the pair of gloves I'd packed and shoved the other hand in a pocket. It was freezing. 

Day 12: Sydney

We needed the alarm today to get us up at 5am. It would have been soooo easy to hit the snooze button, but we had busy morning plans and there was no time to dawdle. I left the cabin first, by 5:15am or so, and it was easy to believe, walking down a deserted corridor, that there was no one else awake on the ship. Which, actually, is laughable. At 5:15am on a turnaround day, half the crew had been up for hours. 

By the time I arrived at our designated meeting place, on Deck 17 midship (by the radar golf balls) there were at least ten people there already. We had just sailed past the North and South Heads at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, and the first light of day could be seen behind them. 

The first hint of sunrise as the Golden Princess entered Sydney Harbour

G wasn’t long behind me, and the number of passengers at that vantage point grew. We walked almost in circles, taking photos first one direction, then another, to the front, then to the aft. The weather was perfection, not too cool, nor windy, and I doubt we’ll have a prettier arrival in Sydney Harbour while we’re here. 

Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour

Click here for information on Fort Denison

The Royal Botanic Gardens and the CBD with the Sydney Tower Eye on the left. 

Looking back towards the entrance to the harbor 

It took nearly 25 minutes from the time the Golden Princess entered the harbor to get the first glimpse of the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and another few minutes more to see the Opera House. I will never, ever, ever tire of that view. 

 

The Sydney Harbour Bridge at dawn. 

This view alone was worth the price of admission. ;-)

Credit to G for this one

As soon as the Golden Princess was at its berth at the Overseas Passenger Terminal (about 6am), we went directly to the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast. It’s always busy on turnaround days, even that early. We ate quickly, and then returned to our cabin to get packed up. We carried most of our toiletries in our cloth beach cooler and my clothes were mostly on hangers so it really wasn’t a lot of work to pull everything together. G started wheeling the large suitcases up to our new cabin even before it was vacated by the prior passenger, because there was a storage area just down the hall from it. Our new cabin steward, Karin from the Philippines, had the new room ready shortly after 8:30am.  Accommodations supervisor Angelo appeared with a cart and took all the hanging clothes as well as the over the door shoe rack to our new cabin. By the time I got there with our roll aboard suitcases, everything else was already there. We unpacked and by10am were settled and walking off the ship

We were not surprised that, for Sydney turnarounds, the Golden Princess must achieve a ‘zero count’, meaning every passenger and guest entertainer must be logged off the ship before anyone is allowed to board (or re-board). We are well familiar with this practice from our numerous turnarounds in Fort Lauderdale. But what caught us completely unaware is that in transit passengers (those doing back to back cruises) cannot leave the ship again after they re-board. This is extremely limiting, especially on days like today when we wanted to get to a store and bring our purchases back to the ship and then go exploring. Darn it. 

Since we had already lost a few hours to our cabin move, we decided to just make today a shopping day and then return to the ship for lunch and stay there. We checked for the location of the nearest Cole’s and Woolworth’s supermarkets (luckily, they were right around the corner from each other about a mile from the ship in the CBD). Sydney’s CBD near Circular Quay is quite torn up with the construction of a new light rail system but we managed to pick our way around barriers and jackhammers and found the Coles in the basement of the Wynard train station. That’s not where we find our supermarkets at home!  Several pounds heavier (shampoo, mouthwash, soda for G, laundry detergent) we backtracked to the Woolworths (in the basement of the Met Center) where we added a couple of items (like the South African Rooibas tea I love). We returned to the ship with our shopping bags, dropped them in our cabin and went to lunch in the Donatello Dining Room. 

Our view at embarkation day lunch in the Donatello Dining Room. Life is good. :-)

After lunch I went out on the shade of the Terrace Deck (which is now just up the back stairs from our cabin. We are so happy to be up on the back of Aloha Deck!) and uploaded the photos in this post. This was a painfully slow process, but at least it was free and, after all, we were kind of stuck on the ship. When the muster drill started at 3:15pm, that was my cue to shower and get cleaned up for sail away and the evening. We watched the first part of sail away from the Terrace Deck, and when it got too windy moved up to the PES Lounge in Skywalkers until we sailed past the Heads and into the open sea. 

A cloudy but still spectacular sail away from Sydney

We went to the Bernini Dining Room on Deck 5 for our new table, which is right next to a window in a quiet corner of the dining room. It was still light for the first part of our dinner, and dining is a different sport when the view is as wonderful as that. I had a salad and then the pasta with tomato sauce but without the chicken and cheese on it, and had it served over broccoli. Head waiter Gabriel has been moved down to our section of the Bernini Dining Room and picked right up where he left off, making sure my meals comply with my restrictions. 

The Welcome Aboard show was not scheduled until 9pm, so we went to the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to the Cool Quartet play light music, and that just about put me to sleep. G has gone to see the Welcome Aboard show in the Princess Theater, but I am tucked into bed watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 on TV. And typing a blog post. Because some things never change. 

G said tonight he finally feels truly settled on board, and I feel the same way. We are in a cabin in our favorite location, there are no imminent moves in our future, we have a wonderful table by a window and we are finally over the jet lag. Now we’re REALLY cruising. 

Life is good. :-)