Day 98: Port Chalmers

Our primary goal today was to not wear ourselves out so much that we wouldn’t be able to stay up until midnight tonight. Two secondary goals (yes, we really do talk this way with each other) were to find high speed WiFi so that we could update a financial app that would allow us to pay a credit card bill, and to find some treats for crew members. 

Check, check and check. Mission accomplished. I think. It’s not yet midnight, but we’re both feeling great. 

There is WiFi in the cruise terminal at Port Otago, we knew that, but we weren’t familiar with its speed...because we hadn’t needed it on the Ruby Princess with its MedallionNet. (One day I am going to count the number of times G mentions every day how much he misses it.) Well, the terminal WiFi is slow. Very slow. Even slower than the Majestic Princess WiFi, especially when there are 50 people trying to simultaneously use it. 

Instead of frustrating ourselves, we went to the library directly across the street once it opened. Success!  Two different WiFi networks, both with download speeds upwards of 80Mbps (compared to 500Kbps on the ship). I downloaded more videos for each of us, certainly enough to get us through the next three days until we get to Hobart, where we’ll have super fast but time-limited (30 minutes) WiFi in the terminal. 

When I had said that MedallionNet had transformed cruising for us, I sincerely meant it. It was so nice to not have to spend a single minute in port searching out WiFi. The Majestic Princess will be getting it during its drydock in Singapore in March, which doesn’t do much for us, but future cruisers will certainly enjoy it. 

We then went to the Four Square grocery store for gum (me), hair conditioner (G) and TimTams for our cabin steward and the only other steward on our side of our short corridor. 

You readers are quite clever, and I’ve received some emails asking about (or guessing) our cabin location. We are in an inside cabin on Lido Deck very close to the front of the ship. We are actually under the Hollywood Conservatory, and our cabin is totally quiet. We love the location, and I love that we can be outside on the Lido Deck in just a minute or two. There are so few cabins where we are that, as I said, there are only two cabin stewards on our side. They both got TimTams for New Year’s Eve. :-)

We walked up and down George Street looking for the Pegasus Car Rental that we knew was there somewhere, but we never found them. We wanted to reserve a car for our next visit to Port Chalmers. I think I’m up for the challenge of driving on the left. 

And that was our day. We were back on the Majestic Princess by 3:30pm, giving us plenty of time to get ready for the Elite Lounge in Vista-less Lounge, and then go to dinner at 5:15pm. It was lobster for me tonight, and G had veal (poor little baby cow). Tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment was production show Sweet Soul Music. Fantastic!  We do love those soul, R&B and Motown classics. 

We are currently sitting in the Crown Grill Lounge listening to acoustic guitarist Jay O’Sullivan. There are five New Year’s Eve parties on the ship tonight, all starting at either 10pm or 10:30pm. We think we’re going to make this lounge our base, as the Black and White party will take place here, with musical accompaniment by the Majestic Princess Orchestra, and the strings duo. If this is too tame, we’ll head to either the Piazza for the party with party band Evolution, or Crooners for the 18 and over DJ dance party. 

I’m going to end this here and publish it. I’ll finish reporting on the evening in tomorrow’s post. Meanwhile, Happy New Year’s Eve everyone. Be safe!  

Day 97: Akaroa with a trip to Christchurch

This may have been our fifth or sixth visit to Akaroa over the years, but today we did something we’d not yet done, (and we still haven’t run out of ways to spend our days in the pretty little (fewer than 750 residents) town.

Because I didn’t set an alarm last night, when I finally awoke, G was already out of the cabin (he gets at least 90 minutes more sleep than I do every night because he doesn’t write a blog post, and his nighttime ablutions take five minutes, while mine require at least 20). I took a chance and went down to the Concerto Dining Room, and the greeter and headwaiter Francesco pointed me in his direction. 

The Majestic Princess may have a buffet that is twice the size of the buffet on the Ruby Princess, but it hasn’t turned us into buffet people... yet. I haven’t given up hope, though.

I’m still hooked on my fruit plate and smoked salmon for breakfast, and I’m adding a piece of Christmas stollen as long as it is offered.  Oh, and coffee. OMG the coffee is good on this ship. Soooooo good. I was rarely drinking it on the Ruby Princess but I don’t miss it on the Majestic. 

It didn’t take me long to eat, and we gathered up our coats and went to the Harmony Restaurant to get priority tender tickets (for Elites and Suite guests) and we were immediately ushered down to the tender platform on Deck 3. I had forgotten how easy that is on this class of ship. A double wide stairway down to the tender platform, no gap between the tender boot and the pontoon, and the boats are huge, fast and comfortable. We were ashore in no time. 

Once there, we weren’t sure what to do but a tour to the city of Christchurch sold on the pier appealed to us today. We had not yet been, and, frankly, Akaroa is billed as the port town for Christchurch, though there is much to do right there. Actually, prior to the horrible earthquake in February 2011, most cruise ships used Lyttleton as the gateway to Christchurch. However, Lyttleton was also badly damaged in that earthquake, and the harbor became shallower as a result of it. Rebuilding and dredging that harbor is almost complete, and cruise ships are scheduled to return to Lyttleton next season. Although Akaroa’s cruise ship visits will drop as a result, there are still nearly 70 cruise ships scheduled to stop there next year, too. 

Our comfortable mini bus first followed the same road we had taken on our morning tour with Paul and Marlene in October, up to the hilltop views overlooking Akaroa Harbour. Thankfully, the weather today was better than we had experienced then, but it was still largely overcast, especially this morning. 

The beautiful Akaroa Harbour

The Majestic Princess is in the far right

Hillsides covered with sheep

The road to Christchurch from Akaroa is twisty turny, especially for the first hour or so (so plan ahead if you get carsick).  We stopped in the tiny village of Little River for a bathroom break, and I bought some mints at a small shop there, and  they helped. The scenery was stunning during the first part of the 90 minute drive, reminding me a lot of the Shenandoah valley. For the last part of the trip, the terrain reminded me more of North and South Dakota as we drove through the Canterbury plains. Two hours after we left Akaroa, we arrived in Christchurch. 

As we drove to the city center, our tour guide, Ron, told us about the five earthquakes that struck Christchurch and the entire South Island from September 2010 to the end of 2011. Though the first one was the highest magnitude (7.1), the earthquake that occurred on February 22, 2011 (magnitude 6.2) caused far more damage. It occurred only 3 miles below the surface (half the depth of the earlier quake), its epicenter was closer to the center of Christchurch, and buildings were already weakened by the earlier quake. Of Christchurch’s 18 high-rise buildings at the time of the quake, only two survive today. 

I have never been in a serious earthquake, and the thought of one terrifies claustrophobic me. Rob dropped us off for a couple of hours to explore the city on our own with a final warning:  if we started to feel an earthquake, we should run away from any tall objects that might fall on us. Ooooookay. 

Even now, nearly nine years after that quake, Christchurch reminded me a great deal of when I visited East Berlin before the Berlin Wall came down. Forty years after WW2, bombing damage was still evident everywhere. Despite the significant rebuilding that has taken place, Christchurch still resembles a war zone. Many buildings are fenced or walled off, and huge steel beams have been erected on their exteriors to prevent further collapse. Ron told us that insurance issues have severely slowed the tear down and rebuilding efforts. 95% of the city’s buildings, including residences, required repairs.  Electricity was out from a few weeks to several months. Water and sewage were disrupted for months.  Still, despite a population decrease as a result of the earthquake, Christchurch remains the third largest city in New Zealand. 

Christchurch tram

It’s not all gloom and doom. The city center is still home to parks and pedestrian streets full of restaurants and bars and markets. Much of the city has been rebuilt, especially housing. We walked on a path along the river and had lunch at an outdoor cafe (chilly, but we were dressed for it). 

Christchurch Cathedral is still in ruins

Its future was tied up in court cases for years, but the building will be restored 

The walls fencing off unsafe buildings are covered with artwork. 

The Post and Telegraph Office 

There are lots of gravel parking lots like this over all around the city where buildings used to be. 

Canterbury Provincial Council building

Ron picked us up about 2pm, and drove us to some other sites around the city. One of our stops was at a memorial designed by a Japanese artist (after New Zealand, Japan had the greatest number of casualties, as the Canterbury TV Building, housing an English language school, completely collapsed. 115 people in the building died). Each white chair represents a person who died in the quake. 

Each chair represents one of the 185 people killed in the earthquake of 2011. Seeing the car seat choked me up. 

The Catholic Cathedral

On the drive back to Akaroa, Ron talked about where he had been when the quake hit. He ran a tour company at that time, too, and his entire business, including all his vehicles, was located in the city’s Red Zone. Nothing but emergency services was allowed in that zone for months. Even now, he pointed out red and yellow signs posted on many buildings, indicating the building was unsafe and had to be razed, or unsafe but could be saved. Unsurprisingly (because G has told me this forever), the most valuable thing to have after the quake was not water, nor food, but cash. Credit cards were useless, and ATM machines didn’t work because there was no power.

In the end, we were glad we had spent the day in Christchurch. It’s a very popular destination for cruise ship passengers. Some people we’ve talked with were familiar with the city before the quake and can’t get over the damage it suffered. I found it heartening to see the city’s fighting spirit. The damage the earthquake caused is so much worse than that caused by a tornado or hurricane because the city’s underground infrastructure was devastated and roads were left buckled (Ron drive us down an unrepaired road to show us how bumpy it was). 

We were returned to the tender pier at 4:30pm. Luckily, with those large tender boats, despite the fact that the last tender was scheduled for 5pm, we waited only a few minutes to be on a boat back to the ship. We returned to the cabin just to drop off our jackets and plug in our exhausted iPhones, and went directly to dinner in the Concerto Dining Room. The stellar service continues, though G misses the menus being trialed on the Ruby Princess that featured good beef entrees nearly every day. 

Tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment was Elton John tribute artist Greg Andrew back for a different show. As he said, he could play just Elton’s greatest hits and the show would have to last hours. I didn’t have the energy to get to his late show...but I sure wanted to. 

Cruise Director Andrew told us in the show’s outro that the Majestic Princess will offer five different New Year’s Eve parties tomorrow night. New Year’s Eve?  How did that get here so quickly?  We are going to pace ourselves tomorrow in Port Chalmers to increase our odds of lasting until midnight at one of them. 

Day 96: At Sea

Before I get started with anything else, I forgot to mention last night that the laundry I sent in the first night of the cruise was returned to me on the second. I almost fell over when we opened our cabin door and saw the clothing hanging there (on a hook on the wall...very nice, because on the other ships we’ve been on, it gets hung in the closet and when the closet is already nearly full, it’s easily overlooked). I haven’t had one day turnaround on laundry since those halcyon days on the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia where there were fewer than 50 Elite passengers on board. It’s shockingly nice. 

Back to today... 

For some reason, despite the fact that I had been up late last night partying with Elton and then preparing a blog post, I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 7am today. Maybe it was because I knew I could nap if I needed to (which I never did, but it’s nice to have options). Also for some reason, also despite the fact that I had made G promise me repeatedly (no blood was exchanged, but pinkies were involved) that we were not going to have a schedule on the Majestic Princess except for our fixed dinner time, there we were, before 7:30am, sitting in the Concerto Dining Room at a table for two by a window, having a lovely breakfast with waiters Maks and Ronald. We are such creatures of habit.

I hate that about us. ;-)

We went to the Princess Theater at 9am for the destination lecture on Akaroa and Port Chalmers/ Dunedin. Sure, we already know quite a bit about all of these ports, but, between you and me, we were not impressed with the recent Destination Expert on the Ruby Princess. I think we were interested to see what a different lecturer could do with the same ports. 

Well, we were impressed before Joel Te Whare (a New Zealand name if ever I’ve heard one) said even one word. As we were waiting for his presentation to begin, a handful of slides covering exchange rates, times in port and key highlights was shown repeatedly. It was quite helpful, and a nice thing to keep us interested until the actual lecture began. And when it did, I loved Joel’s slide format; they were extremely easy to follow, with additional, smaller photos dropped on each slide as he talked. I took several photos...to be posted much, much later, obviously. 

From there I went to a Maori history and culture presentation in Princess Live. This one started with the Maori belief system on how the world was formed (kind of the equivalent of the Christian Genesis), and went into the Polynesian migration and how the Maori originally came to New Zealand from the Cook Islands.

About the same time, G went to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet, held in Crooners, and when I met him for lunch, he had a fun couple from Sydney he had just met with him. The four of us had an enjoyable lunch, again in the Concerto Dining Room. (Are you seeing a trend here?)

It was time for a break then. It was pretty chilly on the open decks, so I walked through the covered Hollywood Conservatory to see what the seating situation was up there, and there were a couple of chairs available, but it looked like the people on the loungers and sun beds were settled in for the long run. I returned to the cabin for my mid-afternoon respite, and watched another episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on my iPad. These are being watched slowly and deliberately to make them last until we get to the fast WiFi in the Hobart port terminal and I can download new videos. 

G returned from the Military and Veterans get together and we started getting ready for formal night #824 of the season. I wanted to listen to the Majestic Princess orchestra/ show band playing Dixieland Jazz in the Piazza at 4:45pm, and went down first while G was still showering and was so happy to find seats (yes, plural) available to sit on while I enjoyed the music. There is much to like on the Majestic Princess.

The most humorous part of the day was watching the construction of the champagne waterfall for tonight’s Captain’s Welcome Aboard Champagne Waterfall in the Piazza while I was listening to the Dixieland music. Two bar stewards were attempting to assemble the base on which the hundreds of champagne glasses are placed in a pyramid.  There are two square pieces of wood with slots at either the top or bottom that are slipped together to form the “legs” in an X shape, then a small wood table top with a framework on the bottom that fits on top of the X goes on the legs, and, finally, a larger wood circle with a mirrored top is set on top of that, and then the champagne glasses are stacked on that mirror.

Well, these guys were struggling to get that first table top with the framework on the bottom to fit on top the X shape. Tried as they did, it wouldn’t sit flat on the legs. They took the legs apart and re-assembled them several times, to no avail. They flipped the legs over with the same result.  Finally, they got more bar stewards and tried pushing down on all sides simultaneously. They placed the mirrored piece on top and it tipped over. Things were not going well. 

A male passenger came over and offered his advice, and they tried that and it still wouldn’t all fit together. This had gone on for at least 20 minutes, and we were all fascinated by their attempts. Finally, a woman came over and told them something. They then placed the middle table top upside down on the ground, fit the legs into it, flipped it over and...voila!  When G finally arrived, I started to tell him what had happened and before I got two sentences into the story, he said, “They should have turned the top over and assembled it upside down”. Yeah, okay Mr. Smartpants. Where were you when they needed you? No, actually, it was best played out the way it did, with a woman saving the day. 

Dinner in the Concerto Dining Room seems to be better each night. Our waiters, another Jorge (this one from Peru) and Daniel from Serbia do not have a full section when we dine at 5:15pm, and between them and headwaiter Antonio, it’s like living a fantasy to get this kind of service. While I still had cellular data yesterday in Tauranga, I searched my blog for a post where I had mentioned headwaiter Francesco on the Emerald Princess and, in fact, had included his photo. (December 13, 2011, if you’re interested). I did a screen capture and showed it to him this morning. He was very touched, and now greets me with a two-cheek air kiss and embrace when I enter the dining room. 

It’s feeling more and more familiar here. Every time I think the service can never be as good as what we've enjoyed in the past, somehow it is. 

We had to divide and conquer after dinner, with G grabbing a quick glass of champagne at the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Champagne Waterfall in the Piazza and me going directly to the Princess Theater to get seats for tonight’s production show, Fantastic Journey. We had heard truly great things about this one, and even Cruise Director Andrew Kadillac had suggested to the audience at last night’s show that we might want to eat in an alternative dining venue tonight to allow us to see Fantastic Journey. Translation: there are only enough seats in the Princess Theater for fewer than 50% of the passengers on this ship to see this wildly popular show, and despite the fact that it is being simulcast into Princess Live, that still only provides enough additional seats for fewer than 60% of the passengers to see this show live or on a screen, so grab a slice of pizza on the run if that’s what it takes to get a seat for this show. Oh, and enjoy your relaxing, rejuvenating retreat at sea. ;-)

Well, Andrew was right. It was SRO, but not until about 20 minutes before the show, so it wasn’t that different than what we have encountered on most Princess ships (my fav Pacific Princess excepted). 

And everyone else was right about Fantastic Journey. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen a Princess ship. The stage and large video screens wrap around the front corners of the theater, there are pyrotechnics, the costumes are edgy and amazing, the dance moves are the same, the songs are pretty recent (some MJ and Mariah Carey are the oldest, I think), there are lighted drones that look like fireflies, there are lighted drones that look like fireflies, there are lighted drones that look like fire flies. Wow!

This show alone made packing up our cabin of three months on the Ruby Princess and hauling six suitcases through construction across Quay Street and then back again to reach the Majestic Princess followed by unpacking in our new cabin worthwhile.  Does Fantastic Journey appear on any other Princess ships?  No, don’t email me to answer that. It would be easier to communicate using smoke signals or two tin cans and a string than to frustrate myself trying to open an email using Majestic Princess WiFi. 

The Piazza during the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Champagne Waterfall 


It overcame its shaky start to hold up for the pouring of the champagne


G and a fellow guest from Japan

We thought this photo was really beautiful

We next went back to the Vista Gaming Lounge, which we are now calling the Vista-less Lounge to hear comedian Jim Short do a second set at 9:30pm. He’s pretty good; as tired as I was, there was plenty to laugh at. 

G wants to be on an early tender to Akaroa tomorrow, but doesn’t want me to set an alarm. I’m not sure how this is going to work out, but the no alarm part sounds darn good right now. 

Day 95: Tauranga (but really more of a sea day)

You know, we’ve had a slightly unsettled start to our stay on the Majestic Princess.  After being cocooned in the friendly and familiar world that is the Ruby Princess for more than three months, we are in foreign territory now. More accurately, it’s foreign territory with occasional glimpses of something that feels a bit closer to home. Welcome to Royal Class cruising on the Majestic Princess. 

I could point out the  areas that we find problematic, but I’m willing to wait a few days to see how the ship feels after people settle down a little. But things that we love:  chairs...everywhere. I actually bought a specialty coffee package today because I was so excited to get a seat at the International Cafe to have a place to sit and drink a specialty coffee. There are little conversation seating areas everywhere around the ship. The Hollywood Conservatory, the covered pool area above our cabin, includes an expanded adults-only seating area at the very front of the ship that would be the extra cost Sanctuary on other ships. 

So far the food has disappointed a little (or maybe it’s just that the food on the Ruby Princess was so good). The menus on the Majestic Princess are very different than those in the Ruby, but we had heard that the Ruby menus were being trialed. I can tell you which my husband likes better so far (the Ruby had a nice beef option nearly every night). Our wait service in the Concerto Dining Room has been wonderful, and headwaiter Antonio from Portugal is taking good care of my special dietary needs. 

And the entertainment so far, especially tonight, has been spectacular. If we had higher expectations for anything on the Majestic Princess, it would be  for the entertainment and the buffet, called the World Fresh Marketplace (wait a minute...I need another shortcut).  As of right now, we have one hit and a miss. 

And then there’s the WiFi situation. It’s abysmal; it would have to improve to be just bad. G spoke with the internet manager today. He said that it’s been this bad since the Majestic Princess was in Hobart last cruise, and there’s nothing he can do about it. OK, If I had purchased these 250 Internet minutes instead of getting them for free as a loyalty park, I’d be seriously irritated. Download speed has yet to hit 2 Mbps (and was around 500 Kbps this morning). Upload speed won’t even register. The photos I added to this post were done using cellular data in port today. Mom texted me yesterday that she needed a pair of shoes ordered from Zappos. I couldn’t even get logged in to my  Zappos account using the ship’s WiFi. Luckily, I was able to place the order using cellular data today. We’ve heard the ship is going into drydock next year in Singapore. I hope MedallionNet is on the list of upgrades to be completed. 

I know I’ve been rambling here, but there is much to say about the Majestic Princess, and nothing to say about our day today. We never even got off the ship, despite the fact that it was a spectacularly beautiful day today. We had decided long ago that these cruises were going to be more about the ship than the ports, and we had a lot of exploring to do while most people were off the ship in Tauranga. 

Mount Maunganui and Pilot Bay Beach from the ship’s webcam

Have I mentioned that this ship big?  I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?  And I don’t mean that it’s “empty gymnasium” big, but more like “McMansion having an overcrowded house party” big.  It’s gorgeous, every bit of it is just beautiful, but this ship is currently home to just over 4000 passengers, 500 more than its lower berths can hold. I bet nearly every upper berth is full. 

The Majestic Princess Piazza

The Majestic Princess Piazza Christmas tree with a Maori Matakari banner hanging behind it. 

Gingerbread village in the Piazza

Hanukkah display in the Piazza

G had breakfast in the Concerto Dining Room, but I didn’t make it up in time. Instead, he joined me for coffee in the International Cafe. We explored the entire ship,  bow to stern, top to bottom, and that took until early afternoon. We had a light lunch in the World Fresh Marketplace and then used a hot tub with a view on Deck 17 midship until it was time to get ready for the Elite Lounge, held in the ironically named Vista Gaming Lounge that has absolutely no view. 

Our table in the Concerto Dining Room is not next to a window (G would consider this fact and the internet to be the only two issues we’re having), but it is a large table for two with no other tables within earshot and that’s not a bad thing in our fourth straight month of cruising. 

But, without a doubt, the highlight of the day (maybe the cruise) was tonight’s Princess Theater entertainment, an Elton John tribute act by guest entertainer Greg Andrew. Have I mentioned I love Elton John’s music?  I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?  It’s a bit of a mixed blessing to finally be getting old enough that the entertainment on Princess ships is geared toward my age group.  Queen tribute act Mercury Rising from two years ago on the Golden Princess), Elton John, Billy Joel...this is the music of my teenage years. I love it all. 

We went from the Princess Theater back to the Vista Gaming Lounge for a Maori folkloric show by local entertainers (the ship didn’t sail until nearly 10pm tonight), then up to Deck 16 for a fountain show at 9:15pm and then I returned to the Princess Theater for Greg Andrew’s late show at 9:45pm. He was just that good. G, who had been up since 5am, didn’t make it there with me but warned me to “be careful driving home and watch for black ice on the road “. Haha. It is so nice to not have to worry about those things when I choose to go solo after dark.

Tomorrow is the first sea day of the cruise. I think we’ll get a good idea how crowded this ship feels then.  Tomorrow’s Patter is full of activities to keep everyone occupied, and if the weather continues to be sunny, that should help spread the passengers out a bit around the outside decks. 

Day 94: Embarkation on the Majestic Princess

Whether one travels a few hundred feet or a few thousand miles to board a cruise ship, embarkation day is one long day. We were determined to be off the Ruby Princess early, before the major crowd of passengers disembarked. We had so much luggage to deal with, we knew it would be markedly more difficult to be dealing with it in a crush of people.  We walked off the Ruby at 8am, were through customs and the terminal by 8:30am, at were checking our large suitcases at the Majestic Princess terminal at 9am. 

It didn’t help that the Majestic Princess was at Princes Wharf on one side of the Auckland Ferry Terminal, and the Ruby Princess was at Queens Wharf on the other side, and the construction of the new light rail system had the sidewalk in between the two closed off. We had to cross Quay Street and then cross back to go around the construction, a real joy with four large suitcases, two small suitcases, a backpack and our four Most Traveled Guest tote bags chock-full of everything from our nightstand drawers and bathroom. But we, as well as the parade of other Ruby Princess passengers moving to the Majestic Princess today, survived. 

We were being seated in the Concerto Dining Room (excuse me a minute while I set up a shortcut for that) by 12:30pm by none other than headwaiter Francesco who we knew from years on the Emerald Princess. It was much fun to see a familiar face, especially since not much else today felt familiar. 

I will refrain from making public judgements about the Majestic Princess until we’ve spent more than 10 hours in the ship, but first impressions are that it’s big. Really big. And crowded. Extremely crowded, at least on Decks 5 to 7. On the other hand, there are so many places to be on the upper decks, so many seats and sofas and loungers, especially in the covered Hollywood Conservatory right above our cabin, that we really can avoid Deck 7 and the Piazza area most of the time. That’s going to save us. 

Our suitcases were waiting for us in our cabin when we finished lunch, and we spent the next couple of hours unpacking and settling in. Then it was time for muster drill and dinner in the Concerto Dining Room, followed by the Princess Theater show, with aerialists Toby J and Susie Q (wow) and comedian Jim Short. His best joke:  he’s at the age where his main job in life is providing technical support to his parents. They do well on laptops and iPads until something goes wrong. Their answer to that is to shut down the device, lock it in a spare room, pile furniture up against the door and hope it resolves itself. Ummmm...who does that sound like, Mom? ;-)

We spent some time after the show watching from the Hollywood Conservatory as the Majestic Princess wound its way through Auckland Harbour (sail away wasn’t until nearly 8pm), and watching a dancing fountain show set to Big Band music on the Lido Deck. Yes, I predict we’ll spend a lot of time on the ship’s upper decks. 

The most glaring drawback we’ve encountered so far? OMG this WiFi is pathetic. 250 minutes have to last us 12 days with a download speed of 1.6Mbps and a negligible upload speed. This is connectivity culture shock after what we enjoyed on the Ruby Princess. I can already predict we’ll be spending time in ports searching out free WiFi. 

Darn. 

Cruise #8: New Zealand and Australia on the Majestic Princess

A nearly identical itinerary, in reverse, but on a totally different ship. The opportunity to “cross-ship” was too good to pass up!

Majestic Princess

Source:  iCruise.com

Day 93: Change is on the way

We had a very Opposite Day today, and for good reason. Today was our final day on the Ruby Princess this season. 

Weep!

Actually, it’s a very good thing, and we are beyond excited, not to leave the Ruby, of course (so many hugs today...we will miss this crew so much), but because we will be moving to the Majestic Princess tomorrow in Auckland. And, to ratchet up our excitement even more, we were berthed just in front of the Majestic Princess today in Tauranga. What were the odds?

Actually, pretty high. Since the Majestic Princess will be in Auckland tomorrow, it either would have been on its last day crossing the Tasman today, or it would have been in the Bay of Islands, or it would have been in Tauranga. So, two ships in Tauranga today really wasn’t a miracle. But we still thought it was kind of cool. 

I have been lobbying hard to stay on the ship today. I really wanted to do at least one load of laundry (it worked out to be two) and pack up our home of three months with some semblance of order. I did not want to have an active day off the ship, return just in time for dinner and then start packing dirty clothes about 8:30pm. No, I didn’t want that at all. Apparently, my efforts to influence G worked. For the first time in recent memory, we stayed on the ship today despite the fact that we were both perfectly healthy, the weather was beautiful, and there is much to do in Tauranga. Opposite, I say!

And we spent the day exactly as I had imagined it. We watched our arrival in Tauranga (our scheduled arrival time was 9:30am), I did laundry until about 1pm, we finalized packing before dinner, and skipped tonight’s entertainment, instead choosing to have a bottle of wine we brought on board in Honolulu on the Terrace Deck while we watched first the Majestic and then the Ruby sail past Mount Maunganui en route to their rendezvous less than 12 hours later in Auckland. 

For the first time today, we noticed this small statue on a channel marker in Storm Bay

Mount Maunganui looking beautiful in the early morning sun

Boxing Day busy-ness

Look at all the boats moored in Storm Bay.

Our next home. Exciting!

Taken from Deck 19 on the Ruby Princess

Our cabin will be two decks above the bridge on the Majestic, under the covered pool area at the front of the ship (the glass-roofed area). 

Glad zipper bags leftover from Dubai

I still come across one every so often. 

Glad I caught this pic; our actual sunset was behind the clouds 

Barefoot Sangria purchased in Honolulu... and we needed help to finish this tonight.

We are not heavy drinkers.  We had to share minibar items with whoever could use them today. 

The Majestic Princess sails from Tauranga, New Zealand 

That horn...hmm. I’m old school, doncha know?

 But everyone else on the Terrace Deck seemed to love it. 

And we heard it over and over...and over again as the Ruby and Majestic Princess

had quite the prolonged exchange of horn-blowing goodbyes when the Majestic sailed. 

Looking to the east is sometimes more beautiful than the sunset. 

Day 14 dinner menu, page 1

Day 14 dinner menu, page 2

Day 14 dessert menu

Moving to the Majestic Princess was not in our original plan for the season. I booked the Ruby Princess from September to February the day these cruises opened for booking in 2018. It wasn’t until a year later that I just happened to notice that the Ruby Princess and the Majestic Princess were both doing turnarounds in Auckland tomorrow. Once again, we are slow learners. It seems half of this ship, including the first- and second-most traveled couples, are moving to the Majestic Princess tomorrow. And they all booked these cruises that way from the get-go. It was only me who didn’t immediately realize what a golden opportunity this is. Better late than never, I guess. 

If this had been even as complicated as requiring a single night in a hotel, I doubt we would be making the move. If we couldn’t have booked the same cabin for all of our Majestic cruises, we also would have declined.  We wanted this year to be easy, remember?  And I knew months ago that we would be semi-remorseful about leaving the Ruby. We are always sad to leave whatever ship we’re on. But the lure of a new ship, and especially new shows, was too great. In May we canceled the Ruby cruises after the current one, booked the Majestic cruises and there was no turning back. 

But this means a big change for us...and for you. The Majestic Princess does not yet have MedallionNet high speed WiFi. We’ll be back to slow WiFi, and a budget of about 15-20 minutes of online access a day. I debated ending the blog today, or continuing to write, but not publishing what I’ve written until we return home. But the few friends I talked with said I had to keep publishing...and uploading what few photos I can using cellular data, and wait until I am home to upload the rest. So that is what I will do. 

I will no longer be scanning menus and port guides and Patters. I can’t say I’ll miss doing that; though uploading them was certainly easy, the scanning part seemed to take several attempts every night. This blog will simply return to the way it was in prior years... and how we handle our withdrawal from high speed WiFi availability on a cruise may have a significant impact on how we spend next year. I’m already getting the shakes. 

And, finally, huge shout out to neighbors Steve and Linda, who walked over to our house Christmas morning back home, stood in front of our security camera on the driveway and wished us a Merry Christmas. We loved it!  What they couldn’t have known is that we had been visited by reindeer just hours before. We had a lot of fun scrolling through our security notifications this morning!

Have I mentioned we have the world’s best neighbors?  I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?

Neighborly wishes, driveway deer, AND I’m going on a cruise. 

Life is good. :-)

Tauranga Port Guide, page 1

Tauranga Port Guide, page 2

Tauranga Port Guide, page 3

Tauranga Port Guide, page 4

Day 14 Princess Patter, page 1

Day 14 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 14 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 14 Princess Patter, page 4

Day 92: Christmas Day at sea

We had a wonderful day, complete with good food (too much), good friends, good fun and even a couple of classic Christmas movies, too. In other words, it was just like being home for the holiday. I love it when Christmas falls on a sea day!

We had breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room and then went to the Christmas service in Club Fusion, followed by a simple walk through the Piazza when Santa arrived. Mayhem, but so cute. 

Over a week ago, six of us (Nan and Anthony and Maryellen and Ron) decided to have Christmas lunch together in the DaVinci Dining Room. What a special way to celebrate the day. We talked for more than two hours. Mehai told us tonight that they served over 50% more lunches in the dining room today than they do on an average sea day. I’m not surprised.

Day 13 lunch menu, page 1

Day 13 lunch menu, page 2

That left just enough time for National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation before we cleaned up (and dressed formally) for the evening. We couldn’t even pretend to be hungry when we went to the Elite Lounge followed by dinner, but that didn’t stop us from eating. G had the pineapple glazed ham for his entree; I enjoyed the orange roughy. We both loved the lighted candles on each table.  And no crowded supermarket parking lots or long check out lines, no cooking and no clean up. Christmas on a ship... it’s a very good thing. 

Christmas dinner menu, page 1

Christmas dinner menu, page 2

Christmas dessert menu

We returned to the cabin and are watching the 1947 Miracle on 34 Street, and will likely follow it up with It’s a Wonderful Life. We know that these movies we’re enjoying so much today will not hold much appeal tomorrow. 

And, finally, I thought I’d take a minute on Christmas Day to give an update on Mom. We are in touch daily, and we chatted this afternoon (love this speedy unlimited WiFi!). Many people have emailed Christmas greetings and several have asked how she is. Well, I thought I’d share a text I received from her a couple of days ago to give you some idea how she’s doing. 

Hi, Missy.  Hope you are doing well.  We are fine here at ES.  Always something to do.  This afternoon, Joyce and I are practicing the music for our Christmas sing-a-long which is scheduled for Monday.  We try to put it in right key.  Yesterday Kelly asked me if I had a NewYear poem for the newsletter.  She needed a short one to fill a small space.  Well, we had trivia with Gary then the Residents’ Council meeting.  I told her I could do something, but not until evening.  So I wrote it and took it to her this morning.  It is very short and she loved it!  You will see it in the JanuaryNewsletter.  Please take care of yourself and enjoy where you are planted.  Love you bunches!  Sending hugs.

Honestly, I’m tired just reading about her day. I think it’s safe to say life is very much back to normal for her. 

We are blessed.  Life is good. :-)

Day 13 Princess Patter, page 1

Day 13 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 13 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 13 Princess Patter, page 4