Nothing much to report today. Spent some money at the shops, lost some money on the pokies (which were open for the first time since we came onboard), had free hors d'oeuvres before dinner - Adam was keen to try even though I know they're seriously ordinary, then dinner at the Crown Grill.
Later: I have to apologise for my comments about the hors d'oeuvres - for the first time ever, they were really fresh and tasted really good. Dinner at the Crown Grill was also delicious, but that's expected!
Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Monday, 27 January 2020
Monday 27 January - Port Lincoln
Beautiful day in Port Lincoln today.
First stop on our shore excursion was the Axel Stenross Maritime Museum, where we could have spent hours reading all the information on all the displays, but even the short stop we made was interesting.
Next stop was at the Fresh Fish Place where they gave us a lot of information about fish and fishing, and showed us a number of different fish they buy and sell. We also saw a demonstration of shucking oysters - apparently if you work there you need to be able to do 40 dozen per hour! - and filleting fish. Then we got the most delicious fish and chips for lunch.
Finally we drove around other parts of Port Lincoln - all through the tour the lady running it had been explaining various bits of history and current information about (mostly) the fishing industry and this continued for the last part of the tour - we saw all different sorts of boats and businesses before being returned to the ship.
Had a restful afternoon on board followed by dinner.
On the tour, they suggested that we should keep an eye out when we're sailing out of port for the holding pens where they fatten up the tuna. What they do is go out to see and gather a whole lot of appropriate tuna, then they gradually bring them back to these holding pens - it takes a week or two at no more than 2 knots to get back to the pens. Then they carefully move the tuna into these pens and spend the next 6 months feeding them pilchards every day, all the time monitoring their health and growth. Then, when they're big enough, they're harvested and pretty much all end up in the Japanese market. And we did see them - photos to be added later
First stop on our shore excursion was the Axel Stenross Maritime Museum, where we could have spent hours reading all the information on all the displays, but even the short stop we made was interesting.
Next stop was at the Fresh Fish Place where they gave us a lot of information about fish and fishing, and showed us a number of different fish they buy and sell. We also saw a demonstration of shucking oysters - apparently if you work there you need to be able to do 40 dozen per hour! - and filleting fish. Then we got the most delicious fish and chips for lunch.
Finally we drove around other parts of Port Lincoln - all through the tour the lady running it had been explaining various bits of history and current information about (mostly) the fishing industry and this continued for the last part of the tour - we saw all different sorts of boats and businesses before being returned to the ship.
Had a restful afternoon on board followed by dinner.
On the tour, they suggested that we should keep an eye out when we're sailing out of port for the holding pens where they fatten up the tuna. What they do is go out to see and gather a whole lot of appropriate tuna, then they gradually bring them back to these holding pens - it takes a week or two at no more than 2 knots to get back to the pens. Then they carefully move the tuna into these pens and spend the next 6 months feeding them pilchards every day, all the time monitoring their health and growth. Then, when they're big enough, they're harvested and pretty much all end up in the Japanese market. And we did see them - photos to be added later
Sunday 26 January - Kangaroo Island
This is a tender port, and we didn't have any excursions booked. Then after the disastrous fires, we thought that the best thing we could do is go there and support local businesses, as the SA government is asking.
So, once we were dropped off at Penneshaw, we went up to the markets that they were running and spent more than I normally would have on various bits of jewellery and other things.
Then we went to a local cafe and had lunch - delicious meal of fish & chips. We topped this up with a walk on the beach and then went to catch a tender back to the ship. It took quite a long time because lots of people decided to go back to the ship at the same time. A couple of ship's crew were very unhappy because they apparently didn't consider the risk of long queues and needed to get back to the ship quickly to start work, but the Princess officer waiting near us in the queue refused to give them a break and told them to go to the back of the line.
After we returned had a wander around the ship to do stuff like checking out tonight's dinner menu. We then tried a cocktail each - Adam had raspberry baileys which he enjoyed (I didn't really like it) while I had something called Dusk which if I remember correctly contained coconut rum, Midori and banana liqueur topped up with pineapple juice. It was delicious!
Later in the afternoon:
Last tender from Penneshaw was meant to leave at 4:00. It's 4:30 right now, and there are still two tenders out there, presumably waiting for missing tour groups.
4:45: Another tender is just heading out from the ship to Penneshaw. Hopefully they're just picking up the last of the Princess staff and gear (e.g. their big umbrella, iced water buckets etc) from the dock.
Finally left port an hour or so late, but it isn't a long sail to Port Lincoln. This was the first time we have sailed in anything remotely like open sea since we left Adelaide and unfortunately Adam got seasick. He didn't throw up, just felt miserable and couldn't sleep. He finally said something about midnight and I gave him a couple of Kwells so eventually he managed some sleep.
So, once we were dropped off at Penneshaw, we went up to the markets that they were running and spent more than I normally would have on various bits of jewellery and other things.
Then we went to a local cafe and had lunch - delicious meal of fish & chips. We topped this up with a walk on the beach and then went to catch a tender back to the ship. It took quite a long time because lots of people decided to go back to the ship at the same time. A couple of ship's crew were very unhappy because they apparently didn't consider the risk of long queues and needed to get back to the ship quickly to start work, but the Princess officer waiting near us in the queue refused to give them a break and told them to go to the back of the line.
After we returned had a wander around the ship to do stuff like checking out tonight's dinner menu. We then tried a cocktail each - Adam had raspberry baileys which he enjoyed (I didn't really like it) while I had something called Dusk which if I remember correctly contained coconut rum, Midori and banana liqueur topped up with pineapple juice. It was delicious!
Later in the afternoon:
Last tender from Penneshaw was meant to leave at 4:00. It's 4:30 right now, and there are still two tenders out there, presumably waiting for missing tour groups.
4:45: Another tender is just heading out from the ship to Penneshaw. Hopefully they're just picking up the last of the Princess staff and gear (e.g. their big umbrella, iced water buckets etc) from the dock.
Finally left port an hour or so late, but it isn't a long sail to Port Lincoln. This was the first time we have sailed in anything remotely like open sea since we left Adelaide and unfortunately Adam got seasick. He didn't throw up, just felt miserable and couldn't sleep. He finally said something about midnight and I gave him a couple of Kwells so eventually he managed some sleep.
Sunday, 26 January 2020
Saturday 25 January - all aboard
Had a nice lazy start to the day. We went out for breakfast early, then later we went shopping again - Adam wanted to go to a couple of stores that sell second-hand cameras and lenses, but nothing caught his eye. Meanwhile I had decided that I wanted to buy a new pair of shoes, and was gravely disappointed when I absolutely fell in love with a pair, only to discover that she didn't have any left in my size. Found some different ones though - all I have to do now is work out how to get them into my suitcase!
Our hotel was quite close to Adelaide station, so the trip to the cruise port was simple as there's a a train that goes all the way from that station to Outer Harbour where the ships dock.
The lady checking us in had trouble with the booking so it took a little while for us to get all checked in, but no real drama. By the time we got to our cabin Adam's suitcase was already there, but mine wasn't. Needless to say after our recent "Qantas suitcase problems" I immediately started worrying that mine had somehow been left on the street outside the cruise port, but it did eventually arrive.
This cruise is just from Adelaide to Melbourne, but it was also sold as a longer cruise that started in Melbourne and returns there. Just the same, when we had the muster drill - which was only for people joining in Adelaide - in the Princess Theatre, it was packed. The theatre holds around 1000 people, so I'd guess more than half of the passengers are just doing the Adelaide to Melbourne leg, as we are.
I was a bit annoyed that they scheduled the muster drill at a time that made it impossible to get to our dinner restaurant on time - we've got traditional dining on this cruise - but I thought I'd see if they'd let us in although we were late. And lots of other people had the same idea, so they did let us in.
They've put us at a table for 8 which is annoying because those tables are too big unless everyone has the hearing capabilities of a 30 year old. Only two other ladies showed up, so we'll see if anyone else appears later in the cruise. The food was good, and between us, Adam and I demolished a bottle of wine.
Adam and I decided not to bring formal gear, so we've already got a specialty restaurant booking for that night (since it's only the main dining room where they insist you should dress formally)
Our hotel was quite close to Adelaide station, so the trip to the cruise port was simple as there's a a train that goes all the way from that station to Outer Harbour where the ships dock.
The lady checking us in had trouble with the booking so it took a little while for us to get all checked in, but no real drama. By the time we got to our cabin Adam's suitcase was already there, but mine wasn't. Needless to say after our recent "Qantas suitcase problems" I immediately started worrying that mine had somehow been left on the street outside the cruise port, but it did eventually arrive.
This cruise is just from Adelaide to Melbourne, but it was also sold as a longer cruise that started in Melbourne and returns there. Just the same, when we had the muster drill - which was only for people joining in Adelaide - in the Princess Theatre, it was packed. The theatre holds around 1000 people, so I'd guess more than half of the passengers are just doing the Adelaide to Melbourne leg, as we are.
I was a bit annoyed that they scheduled the muster drill at a time that made it impossible to get to our dinner restaurant on time - we've got traditional dining on this cruise - but I thought I'd see if they'd let us in although we were late. And lots of other people had the same idea, so they did let us in.
They've put us at a table for 8 which is annoying because those tables are too big unless everyone has the hearing capabilities of a 30 year old. Only two other ladies showed up, so we'll see if anyone else appears later in the cruise. The food was good, and between us, Adam and I demolished a bottle of wine.
Adam and I decided not to bring formal gear, so we've already got a specialty restaurant booking for that night (since it's only the main dining room where they insist you should dress formally)
Saturday, 25 January 2020
Friday 24 January - flying to Adelaide
As usual we planned to be in the cruise departure city a day early just in case of travel problems.
There was a bushfire near Canberra airport on Thursday afternoon and the airport was actually closed for a while. But, it was open again later that night so we thought all would be okay.
Turns out, not so much.
Qantas was still trying to catch up with planes not being where they needed to be after that closure, then on Friday morning storms closed Sydney airport.
So, Adam and I got to Canberra airport in plenty of time on Friday morning, our flights were reported as being on time, all good.
But then we started hearing about delays. After quite a bit of confusion it turned out that even though the aircraft for our flight was sitting just outside, the flight crew were coming in from Sydney, so of course weren't in Canberra. At this point, the flights scheduled from Sydney to Canberra were running up to four hours later than scheduled.
We finally ended up leaving Canberra a couple of hours late. By this time, we were already going to miss our connecting flight in Melbourne, and Qantas had already rebooked us (and a stack of other people) on later flights.
We were due to arrive in Melbourne about 15 minutes before boarding was due to start for the new flight, but we were delayed out on the tarmac and in the end were getting off the plane basically as we were meant to be getting on the flight to Adelaide.
However, that flight was also delayed. Adam asked at the counter and they assured him that our luggage would make it onto the flight to Adelaide, so, all good. But, we arrived in Adelaide only to discover that although most luggage - including my suitcase - had made it, four people's bags, including Adam's, were still in Melbourne.
As with our flight back from Brisbane in December, they promised to deliver the luggage to us, and to be fair it did arrive by about 7pm. I'm so glad because I really wasn't looking forward to trying to buy replacement clothes for Adam; it's always such a trial because he's just a little fussy (in other words - incredibly difficult) about clothes.
Anyway, all is good. Our room is in the Holiday Inn Express just down from Rundle Mall, so plenty of shops and restaurants nearby. And, it's only a couple of minutes walk to the railway station so we can easily get a train out to the port to catch the cruise.
Dinner was an absolutely delicious Katsudon at a nearby Japanese restaurant. Then we just basically crashed after such an exciting (!!) day.
There was a bushfire near Canberra airport on Thursday afternoon and the airport was actually closed for a while. But, it was open again later that night so we thought all would be okay.
Turns out, not so much.
Qantas was still trying to catch up with planes not being where they needed to be after that closure, then on Friday morning storms closed Sydney airport.
So, Adam and I got to Canberra airport in plenty of time on Friday morning, our flights were reported as being on time, all good.
But then we started hearing about delays. After quite a bit of confusion it turned out that even though the aircraft for our flight was sitting just outside, the flight crew were coming in from Sydney, so of course weren't in Canberra. At this point, the flights scheduled from Sydney to Canberra were running up to four hours later than scheduled.
We finally ended up leaving Canberra a couple of hours late. By this time, we were already going to miss our connecting flight in Melbourne, and Qantas had already rebooked us (and a stack of other people) on later flights.
We were due to arrive in Melbourne about 15 minutes before boarding was due to start for the new flight, but we were delayed out on the tarmac and in the end were getting off the plane basically as we were meant to be getting on the flight to Adelaide.
However, that flight was also delayed. Adam asked at the counter and they assured him that our luggage would make it onto the flight to Adelaide, so, all good. But, we arrived in Adelaide only to discover that although most luggage - including my suitcase - had made it, four people's bags, including Adam's, were still in Melbourne.
As with our flight back from Brisbane in December, they promised to deliver the luggage to us, and to be fair it did arrive by about 7pm. I'm so glad because I really wasn't looking forward to trying to buy replacement clothes for Adam; it's always such a trial because he's just a little fussy (in other words - incredibly difficult) about clothes.
Anyway, all is good. Our room is in the Holiday Inn Express just down from Rundle Mall, so plenty of shops and restaurants nearby. And, it's only a couple of minutes walk to the railway station so we can easily get a train out to the port to catch the cruise.
Dinner was an absolutely delicious Katsudon at a nearby Japanese restaurant. Then we just basically crashed after such an exciting (!!) day.
Thursday, 28 November 2019
End of the cruise - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the long trip home
The sea days after our unexpected stop at Jeddah were uneventful, although sailing through the "High Risk Area" did have visible effects on the cruise. In particular, no-one was allowed on the Promenade Deck (deck 7 which goes all the way around the ship) after 10pm - basically to allow the security staff out there to maintain night vision.
Anyway, we eventually got through that area and also the Strait of Hormuz - which isn't exactly a peaceful area of the world either - and then on to Abu Dhabi as scheduled.
I was originally going to do a shore excursion that goes to the Sheik Zayed Mosque and then on to the Emirates Palace Hotel where a coffee with gold flakes was part of the afternoon tea. I knew that the dress code for the mosque was quite strict (particularly for women) and I thought I had sorted it out - including a head scarf which I bought for the purpose as I never wear them. However, after a further number of mixed messages from the ship's shore excursions department I reached the conclusion that I didn't have clothes that both covered me adequately for the mosque (i.e. only part of the body that's allowed to show is the face and hands) but that was also suitable to wear in the fancy hotel. So, I cancelled the excursion and Paul and I decided just to get a shuttle to the Marina Mall (which was the only shuttle on offer). This may have been a mistake.
First, the shuttle driver dropped us off at a really unlikely looking spot - in the middle of a car park with no markings about it being a drop-off or pick-up point. But, a few of us asked him and he insisted this was the pick-up spot. We then started wandering towards the mall, and some guy who didn't introduce himself went running around to a few of the groups who still hadn't gone inside and said that the pick-up spot is "on the other side of the mall under the tower". Now, this is one of the biggest malls in Abu Dhabi, certainly nowhere near the biggest in the world or anything (my research indicates that it would only just come into the top 20 of Australian shopping malls) but still pretty big. So, "the other side of the mall" wasn't all that helpful, and you can't see the tower from immediately outside so that wasn't any sort of help either. Paul and I wandered off inside and started looking at the shops while also aiming to find all the exits to see if we could find the proper place for the shuttle. And, eventually we did - still no signs or anything, but we were lucky enough to walk out that exit just as another shuttle arrived. So, that was good, and we even managed to back-track and find another passenger from our shuttle and tell her where to go - we had seen her earlier and she was quite distressed about how she and her husband would get back to the ship.
During this time, we picked up a brochure about the mall so we could use the map, and in it discovered that the public decency laws in Abu Dhabi are more strict than I had understood. In particular, they said that holding hands in public - which Paul and I do almost as a matter of course - is an unacceptable public display of affection. I found it really troublesome to try to remember not to hold hands. I've since done some more research and found that we probably wouldn't have been jailed if someone had taken offense - because we're married and so holding hands in public would be "tolerated".
They also make a deal about providing 'free Wifi' in the mall, but in fact you can only get free wifi if you have a UAE phone number, which means that it's useless for the vast majority of tourists.
On the bright side though, in amongst all the chain type stores in the mall (Zara, Marks & Spencer, Tim Hortons, Tony Romas and Starbucks just to name a few) we came across a gem of a cafe where we bought the best coffee we've had since leaving Australia!
By this stage the cough I'd had over the previous few days had developed to include full-blown laryngitis and I was feeling fairly miserable, which put a hole in some of our plans. Dubai airport is NOT the sort of place that you want to spend 8 or 10 hours waiting for a plane, so we had booked a day room at a hotel in the city. The idea was to get a place that had a shuttle to the Dubai Mall and to see if I/we could get a ticket up to the top of the Burj Khalifa. But, in the end I didn't really feel up to this at all - so the closest we got was a view of the Burj Khalifa from the hotel room (they actually charge more for rooms with that view - I didn't book one of those rooms but we ended up in one anyway). We paid about $125 for the day room which was worth every cent as the bathroom unexpectedly included a lovely big bath!
We left the hotel a bit before 4pm as planned (they only have day bookings from 10am to 4pm) and went to the airport, still almost an hour too early to check in. As usual at DXB there was nowhere to sit, although eventually we found a Costa coffee store with seats available and sat there while I drank the biggest latte I've ever been given - seriously it was a proper hot latte in a milkshake container!
No actual dramas with the flights apart from the fact that they're too long and I'm getting too old to tolerate economy class seats for long flights. If we can't afford business class next year, we're not going.
Anyway, we eventually got through that area and also the Strait of Hormuz - which isn't exactly a peaceful area of the world either - and then on to Abu Dhabi as scheduled.
Abu Dhabi
Had a few issues here.I was originally going to do a shore excursion that goes to the Sheik Zayed Mosque and then on to the Emirates Palace Hotel where a coffee with gold flakes was part of the afternoon tea. I knew that the dress code for the mosque was quite strict (particularly for women) and I thought I had sorted it out - including a head scarf which I bought for the purpose as I never wear them. However, after a further number of mixed messages from the ship's shore excursions department I reached the conclusion that I didn't have clothes that both covered me adequately for the mosque (i.e. only part of the body that's allowed to show is the face and hands) but that was also suitable to wear in the fancy hotel. So, I cancelled the excursion and Paul and I decided just to get a shuttle to the Marina Mall (which was the only shuttle on offer). This may have been a mistake.
First, the shuttle driver dropped us off at a really unlikely looking spot - in the middle of a car park with no markings about it being a drop-off or pick-up point. But, a few of us asked him and he insisted this was the pick-up spot. We then started wandering towards the mall, and some guy who didn't introduce himself went running around to a few of the groups who still hadn't gone inside and said that the pick-up spot is "on the other side of the mall under the tower". Now, this is one of the biggest malls in Abu Dhabi, certainly nowhere near the biggest in the world or anything (my research indicates that it would only just come into the top 20 of Australian shopping malls) but still pretty big. So, "the other side of the mall" wasn't all that helpful, and you can't see the tower from immediately outside so that wasn't any sort of help either. Paul and I wandered off inside and started looking at the shops while also aiming to find all the exits to see if we could find the proper place for the shuttle. And, eventually we did - still no signs or anything, but we were lucky enough to walk out that exit just as another shuttle arrived. So, that was good, and we even managed to back-track and find another passenger from our shuttle and tell her where to go - we had seen her earlier and she was quite distressed about how she and her husband would get back to the ship.
During this time, we picked up a brochure about the mall so we could use the map, and in it discovered that the public decency laws in Abu Dhabi are more strict than I had understood. In particular, they said that holding hands in public - which Paul and I do almost as a matter of course - is an unacceptable public display of affection. I found it really troublesome to try to remember not to hold hands. I've since done some more research and found that we probably wouldn't have been jailed if someone had taken offense - because we're married and so holding hands in public would be "tolerated".
They also make a deal about providing 'free Wifi' in the mall, but in fact you can only get free wifi if you have a UAE phone number, which means that it's useless for the vast majority of tourists.
On the bright side though, in amongst all the chain type stores in the mall (Zara, Marks & Spencer, Tim Hortons, Tony Romas and Starbucks just to name a few) we came across a gem of a cafe where we bought the best coffee we've had since leaving Australia!
Dubai
Got to Dubai the next day and kicked off the ship as usual.By this stage the cough I'd had over the previous few days had developed to include full-blown laryngitis and I was feeling fairly miserable, which put a hole in some of our plans. Dubai airport is NOT the sort of place that you want to spend 8 or 10 hours waiting for a plane, so we had booked a day room at a hotel in the city. The idea was to get a place that had a shuttle to the Dubai Mall and to see if I/we could get a ticket up to the top of the Burj Khalifa. But, in the end I didn't really feel up to this at all - so the closest we got was a view of the Burj Khalifa from the hotel room (they actually charge more for rooms with that view - I didn't book one of those rooms but we ended up in one anyway). We paid about $125 for the day room which was worth every cent as the bathroom unexpectedly included a lovely big bath!
We left the hotel a bit before 4pm as planned (they only have day bookings from 10am to 4pm) and went to the airport, still almost an hour too early to check in. As usual at DXB there was nowhere to sit, although eventually we found a Costa coffee store with seats available and sat there while I drank the biggest latte I've ever been given - seriously it was a proper hot latte in a milkshake container!
No actual dramas with the flights apart from the fact that they're too long and I'm getting too old to tolerate economy class seats for long flights. If we can't afford business class next year, we're not going.
Thursday, 21 November 2019
20 November - sea day, but with an unexpected stop
I woke up around 4am and it looked like this was going to happen - we were sailing slowly quite close to a large city and clearly waiting (as we changed direction a few times).
Large city building complete with advertising:
However, we were then really surprised to see that the ship started sailing in to port and eventually we docked. The captain said later that the port authorities had insisted on this. There was an ambulance and a couple of official cars all with flashing lights, and we docked quite quickly - by around 7am.
Photos of the port and of the city:
Two people got off the ship, one in a wheelchair, but we were really surprised to see that she then got up and started walking around. I know that you can be quite sick and still able to walk, but it was a bit surprising, and she kept walking around and was obviously involved in discussions with various people for some time. Some luggage was also brought off the ship. And then we waited, and waited. An hour or so later the ambulance was still there and over time a whole bunch of different official looking persons had arrived in official looking cars, and then left.
By around 9:30 the captain said we'd be leaving in about 5 or 10 minutes "as soon as the last bureaucratic things had been sorted" - it's possible that a third person was taken off the ship and put into the ambulance; we couldn't see and of course they don't share any information about these things. Anyway, all of this took about 4 hours, but we did finally get underway and the captain said that we will still be able to make it to Abu Dhabi, which is a good thing; in our experience a delay this long would often cause us to miss the next port.
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