Tasmania Cruise - Day 4 - Port Arthur and then Hobart

Two ports in one day today.
Overnight we sailed to Port Arthur.  This is a tender port, and one we have visited before.  So, we decided to stay onboard and have a lazy quiet time.
Once everyone was back on board, we sailed for Hobart at about 5pm and docked there around 7pm.
After dinner we had a shore excursion - a ghost walk.  Interesting tour; we walked around some of the older streets near Salamanca Place, and the guide told us stories about various historical houses, obviously concentrating on ghost stories.  I thought that they were going to include some pretend ghosts - I was quite sure that there was someone in the top middle window of this old hotel moving the black fabric around - but no-one said anything so maybe it was a ghost after all ......

The tour didn't go as long as advertised, and a few times she talked about 'showing us photos later' which didn't actually happen.  However, it was an interesting walk and talk.

Tasmania cruise - day 3 - Burnie

We arranged a hire car with Hertz, picked it up with no real dramas.  The plan was to have no plan, just get in the car and drive, which we did.  We found a nice little town called Penguin and had a coffee there.  Then, we went further along the coast to Devonport and had a look around the town.
Then, we got into the car and drove back to Burnie.
Doesn't sound too exciting but there was some lovely scenery and the weather was simply glorious
Tasmania was already on our list of 'places to see when we don't feel up to cruising any more' and today simply confirmed that decision.
Today also confirmed that there is apparently a total lack of supply of Travacalm in Australia at the moment. The pharmacies around home were totally out of stock - I asked at one and he said that the supplier is having problems and "everyone is going on cruises".  And, for interest I checked out a pharmacy in Sydney and one here in Devonport with the same results - no Travacalm.  I had enough to get me through this cruise, but I'm going to have to stock up somehow for next year's cruise!

Tasmania Cruise - day 2 - sea day

Classic, totally restful sea day for us.  Biggest decision for the day was whether or not to risk trying to get into the dining room on 'formal night' in clothes that were 'business wear' at best.  No problems, but still on our own at the dining table.

Tasmania Cruise - Day 1 - boarding

The ship was at the White Bay Cruise Terminal which is an abomination.  You can only get there by car, taxi or ferry, no other public transport and you certainly can't walk onto the docks.  I have now decided that any time we cruise into or out of Sydney in future, it's going to be on a cruise ship that's too big to go under the Harbour Bridge, so it can't be docked at White Bay.
If you're cruising out of Sydney from the Overseas Passenger Terminal, you can drop off your suitcases quite early, and then wander around the city until boarding time. No such option at White Bay.  So, we went into the city first and dragged our suitcases around in the rain until we found a place to sit and have coffee, then annoyed another taxi driver - apparently a $24 fare from the city to White Bay was beneath his dignity or something. 
Got on board quite quickly and found our cabin.  The whole idea of the cruise is actually gone now - the main plan was to make sure that we'd be ok in an oceanview cabin for a 38 day cruise next year, but we have just recently cancelled that cruise anyway.  Possibly a good thing, because I don't think I'd have liked this setup for 38 days.
However, for 6 days it's perfectly acceptable although a little noisy, there are three separate crew work areas beside it.
Went to dinner and found ourselves to be the only people at a table for eight.  Quick and quiet meal!

Tasmania cruise - getting started - 4 November

Up at way before dawn to be ready for the taxi out to the train station.  The taxi arrived on time, but the driver was unpleased to discover that I had prepaid his taxi company a set amount for the fare - he said that the fare would normally be higher.  It seemed pretty much a normal amount to me, but the real surprise was that he didn't know that the company is offering set price, prepaid fares.  Presumably they're trying to compete with uber
No dramas on the train - it was the usual slow and creaky trip, but still much cheaper than flying and much more comfortable than the bus.
Raining when we got to Sydney, so we got a taxi to our hotel and fortunately the room was already done so they checked us in.  We then went off for a walk down Glebe Point Road - there's a really nice 'cafe' sort of vibe.  Had lunch at a nice cafe.  Got back to our room and discovered that what we had thought was an interesting way of setting up the TV (so you could watch it while lying in bed) was actually because the TV had pulled out from the wall.  Mentioned this at the front desk and they immediately moved us to a bigger, nicer room.
Went to sleep fairly early after such an early start, and was then woken at about 11:30 by a fire alarm - first the warning, then the 'get out of here' whoop whoop.  I was so confused being woken up that way; it took me what seemed like ages to find clothes that I could leave the room in.  Turns out it was a false alarm, although it took them a while to be certain.  Then over the next 2 hours, we had two more of them.  Not good.
Overall, it was a nice motel - fair price and in a nice location. Not sure if I'd book there again though, the memory of the fire alarms is a bit off-putting.

And another cruise

I don't always pick cruises because of the ship, but it definitely has happened at least once in the past, and I've done again.
Part of the reason for picking the "Asia Repositioning" cruise next October is that it's on the Ovation of the Seas - built in 2016, equal 5th biggest cruise ship in the world (with its sisters Quantum and Anthem of the Seas) and by far the biggest cruise ship to ever come to Australia. 
It has been on my list of "ships I want to cruise on" ever since I heard it was coming here, and this particular itinerary is a bonus because it goes to a few places that I have barely visited - Singapore, Perth and Adelaide.  And, the fact that it leaves from Singapore also makes it an easy start since we can fly direct from Canberra to Singapore these days. 
I'll definitely be trying out the North Star - a big viewing pod that swings out from the ship and gives you great views of the ship and the ocean.  The Ripcord and Flowrider are out of my comfort zone, I think, but I'm pretty sure to give the Arcade a go!
Another opportunity from cancelling our plans for the 38 day Southampton to Singapore cruise is that it left a Princess 'Future Cruise Credit' (FCC) unused.  Most cruise lines have something similar - for Princess you buy these onboard for $200, and then later you get to book a cruise with them using only the FCC for deposit.  And, as a bonus, they give you a small onboard credit on the next cruise - in this case $200.  So, effectively, $200 for free (although I don't kid myself here; they're not going to be making a loss on these things!)  We originally used the FCC for the 38 day cruise but you don't lose it when you cancel the cruise, so this time I took the opportunity to use the FCC to book another cruise.  And it's another ship that has been on my 'must do' list for a while - the Majestic Princess.  Smaller than the Ovation of the Seas, but newer.  And with enough mod cons that I really wanted to give it a try.
So, we're now also booked on a Sydney - New Zealand - Sydney cruise on the Majestic Princess in February 2019.  Plenty of time to see if the new kitchen bankrupts us or not  :-)