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.