Hobart Cruise

 Again, I haven't done a day-by-day report.

As usual we went to Sydney the day before the cruise.  Caught the train with no problems and arrived at the hotel only to discover that they're doing renovations.  Not a problem for our room, but getting around in the hotel was tricky - workmen everywhere and at least one lift closed most of the time.  Also their breakfast room was closed and room service wasn't operating - again not a huge problem but we would have liked to know these things as it does restrict the options for eating.  This is actually the last hotel I'd have expected to be getting renovations just now because it's only in the last few years that it was upgraded from a Travelodge to a Mercure.  Apparently this lot of renovations are because it's being changed again, in future it will be a Novotel - presumably that's another upgrade in their minds, but the internet is not at all clear on whether this is actually the case  :-)  

Best thing about the hotel is that it's close to Circular Quay so it was just a short walk to the ship.  The hotel kindly gave us a late check-out - only midday instead of 11am, but this was enough that we didn't have to wait very long to board.

Our room was a mini-suite on the Baja Deck (deck 11).  It was quite roomy compared with a normal balcony cabin, including a much larger desk and a sofa and coffee table.  Easy for us to compare as we have sailed on this ship before - our Mediterranean cruise in 2016 was on the same ship (Royal Princess),  and that time we were just in a normal balcony cabin .

We've sailed with Princess many times and we get some decent perks with them due to this, but some of the changes they've made over the last few years are a bit disappointing.  I'm not talking about monetary things - although a search of social media will find you quite a few people who are furious about things that used to be complementary and that aren't any more.  My main unhappiness is about the way they've removed the traditional dining option.  Paul and I aren't wildly sociable people, and over the years we found that the best way for us to dine is to opt for the traditional option which means you have the same table-mates and the same waiter at the same time every night (and of course, you can still eat elsewhere if you want).  Since the pandemic Princess doesn't do this any more and it's very disappointing.  

Food: not too bad overall.  We ate dinner twice in the Main Dining Room (in our case the Concerto dining room), once at their Italian specialty restaurant (Sabatini's) and once at their Pizza restaurant (Alfredo's).  Sabatini's was excellent; great food and great service.  Alfredo's was far less formal but still good service and nice pizza.  First night in the Concerto the food was good but the service was really slow. Second night the service was better but we were put at a table with three other ladies - who seemed to be really nice but we couldn't really tell because we were stuck between two tables of related people - 6 parents at one table and all of their children at a separate one.  And, they let those children run riot - they were shouting, screaming, knocking over chairs and not one parent one single time even tried to make them behave.  I have no problem with children being on a cruise and no problem with them eating near me, but I think I have a right to expect that I'll be able to hear myself think and hear other people talk, and that certainly wasn't the case that night.  Still, only an hour of so of annoyance out of a four day cruise so I guess the world won't come to an end.

Entertainment: again as usual we didn't bother with any of the comedians / shows.  However, we did go to the two "enrichment" talks that ran during the cruise.  Basically they find someone who has a particular sort of knowledge and give them a cabin (cheap or free) usually for the whole season, in return for that person doing lectures about their special knowledge.  You never quite know what you're going to get or how good (or bad) it will be, but this guy was clearly into ancient Rome and the aqueducts, and both of his talks were quite interesting.  If he's still onboard for our February cruise, I hope he has more / different ones, as it's a much longer cruise  :-) 

Coming home was a bit of a drama.  We got off the ship without any trouble - no need to go through Border Control etc. since we hadn't left Australia - and got a tram to Central Station for the trip home.  Boarded and departed on time, but then the train stopped at Macarthur station - just one further out from Campbelltown, so barely out of the greater Sydney area.  And, we ended up stopped there for two hours, because there was a fire by the tracks a little further on.  Finally got going again, but just before Goulburn they told us that the train would be stopping in Goulburn and that we'd have to collect our bags and do the rest of the trip on some coaches they had organised.  A bit concerning, because one of the reasons we've started avoiding doing the trip by coach - even though it's quicker - is because they're often uncomfortable and because I can't read anything on the bus without getting travel-sick.  Turns out however that it was a fairly comfortable ride and we finally got into Canberra, a bit over two hours late but with no further dramas.

Now looking forward to the next cruise which leaves from Melbourne.  And, I'm prepared to bet that if something goes wrong with one of our flights, Qantas will be nowhere near as helpful as the NSW Transport people were about the fire delaying our train - Qantas is just as likely to send a text to tell you that your flight is cancelled and then abandon you.