February 28, 2013 Sea Day

Wow, the Tasman Sea is brutal today. High winds and rough seas. Cool & rainy! Open decks are closed. It’s been interesting trying to walk about the ship. Sitting at dinner or a show was a bit like riding a bucking bronco.

Pub lunch was offered again today so we opted to do that instead of the dining room or the buffet.

We went to see the performance of the Pop Choir. (passengers) It was very good, but we were disappointed not to see our table mate Carol. At dinner we asked what happened and she said she quit yesterday. Apparently there are a few ladies that are taking it a bit too seriously and singling out a few people and making them feel bad, so she said “who needs this” and quit. She is such a charming and sweet lady.

Dinner was Italian night and the show was a different show by Shelly White. Another great performance.

Forgot to mention Dennis got some great video of snorkeling in Moorea with the sharks and rays. If I can get the file small enough I will post it on the Picasa Web Albums. If not I will need to wait until we get back “home” with free internet at the hotel.

Tomorrow we arrive in Burnie Tasmania, Australia. It is supposed to be cool (about 64* for a high), but no rain. Hope to see a Tasmanian Devil!

Tonight we set the clocks back another hour!

February 27, 2013 Sea Day

I’m feeling better with my cold, but still rested most of the day. We opted for lunch at the buffet today as it looked really good. An interesting thing happened as we were eating lunch; a lady asked if she could join our table and we were talking about what we had done in Auckland. Then she started talking about the wonderful tour she had in Moorea snorkeling with sharks and rays. I smiled as it sounded just like my tour and asked if the tour was with Hiro. She said yes, were you on the same one? I said it was my tour! We had a good laugh. They had added on after we got on board and we hadn’t met prior to the tour. Her husband had come to the meeting when I presented the details of the tour.

After lunch we went to the passenger talent show. Those are always interesting…..

Then, we did a couple loads of laundry in between resting. Tonight was a formal night and the menu was very nice. We chose escargot for appetizers. For main dishes it was tough to choose. Beef Wellington, Pheasant, fish, Lobster Tail and Tiger Prawns and more…..We had the Lobster. YUM!

The show tonight wasn’t one of my favorites. Miranda McLean (Princess staff member) sang 3 songs and she was fine, but the same comedian with a different act, Jeff “Big Daddy” Wayne performed and wasn’t much better than the first one he did. Though it seemed the crowd enjoyed both.

I’ll take it easy yet tomorrow to help this cold get better.

We got paperwork tonight that says we will be later getting off the ship in Burnie since Australian immigration is coming on board for a face to face with each passenger. It would be nice if we could stay longer to make up the time we lose in the morning, but probably not…..

February 26, 2013 Sea Day

I hear it was a cool and sunny day out. This cold is kicking my butt, so I spent most all day in bed. My wonderful husband brought me some breakfast from the buffet. I got up to shower and go to lunch in the dining room. Normally we like to sit with others, but not feeling great it was better to have a table for just the two of us. Lunch was good and I did feel a bit better after I ate. (cold meds were making me jittery)

Then, I went back to bed and got up in time for the cocktail hour and dinner. The show tonight was Shelly White billed as Australia’s leading Piano and Vocal Entertainer. Loved her show, one of my favorites so far. Now back to bed to rest up so I feel better by the time we get to Australia.

It seems almost every port so far has required paperwork to be filled out. Some just to carry in port just in case someone asks to see it, some to be carried and then turned in afterwards. We had a passenger card to fill out for Australia tonight. We also set our clocks back another hour tonight for an extra hour of sleep.

We also got an interesting notice tonight in our cabin from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry about being on the lookout for Burnt Pine Longicorn beetles around the ship. They are found in New Zealand where we just came from and Australia doesn’t have them and doesn’t want them! So, if they are spotted passengers are asked to report them to a crew member.

Hopefully, I feel better tomorrow so I can work on the photos from our day in New Zealand. The cough is getting better, but sneezing and blowing my nose waaaaay too much! OK, that was TMI…….

February 25, 2013 Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand 7:00a to 5:00p

Auckland was a tough one to decide what to do. City and/or coastal or countryside tour with waterfalls, Mt Eden, seeing the largest colony of the Muriwai Takapu Gannets and more!

We opted for an all day tour to the Waitomo Valley to experience the Glow-Worm Caves. I booked with a company called Milestone Tours who provide our tour for the day and the cave portion is handled by Spellbound.  www.glowworm.co.nz/   www.milestonetours.co.nz/

Here is a description of our tour:

“If there is time we will stop first at Otorohanga Native Bird Sanctuary. On the drive to Waitomo we add a stop in the pretty village of Pirongia, which has an excellent bakery. We usually recommend that our guests pick-up a sandwiches, pies, wraps and or cakes etc. to eat during the morning tea stop during the Spellbound tour (between caves) – for which purpose we carry picnic blankets and chilly-bins. We also supply snacks on board, just to keep everyone going.

Here is a description of the Spellbound Tour:

Our glowworm display is spellbinding and incomparable!

Glide gently through this extraordinary cave and experience Waitomo's largest, brightest and most breathtaking glowworm display. Don't miss seeing the cave chosen for the BBC's 'Planet Earth' series, taking its place among exceptional caves of the world.

Our glowworm cave has 3 to 4 times more glowworms than any other glowworm cave option anywhere. We are the only company to offer extended glowworm viewing in darkness through most our 45 minutes in the cave.

It takes at least 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust completely to glowworm light, with such exceptional glowworms on display, it's worth taking some time.

Closer glowworms are brighter glowworms – ours are close enough to light up the whole cave.

The Cave of the Spirit, Te Ana o te Atua, complements our glowworm cave by showcasing speleothems, fossils and beautiful natural light effects. This thoughtfully designed cave presentation can make you forget you are actually in a tourist cave.

Our TWO CAVE TOUR includes the Spellbound Glowworm Cave and The Cave of the Spirit.

Tour time – 3 ¼ hours

We’re offering a creatively and thoughtfully arranged sequence of travel, caves, glowworms and walks which combine to make a fun and memorable whole 3 1/4 hour experience.”

Joining us today are Marianne, Jeff & Julie, Dennis & Bonnie, Rita & Frank and Jim.

We were up early and ready to get off, but the ship wasn’t cleared until about 30 minutes later than planned, so we weren’t able to stop at the Kiwi House to see the birds. Our guide thought our ship left later than 5:00 (all aboard at 4:30), so when we explained that we wanted to be back by around 4:00 Ewald of Milestone tours called Spellbound, the company doing our Glow-worm tour and they rearranged our trip for us so we could maximize our time. Our guide was Terry and he was fantastic. Very knowledgeable and during the 2½ hour drive to Waitomo Valley he pointed out things and told us all about New Zealand and as we neared the caves he explained more about the glow-worms.

We stopped on the way at a bakery to pick up sandwiches and desserts for a picnic later.

We started with the walk through Cave of the Spirit. Then we drove to a spot where we had a quick picnic lunch. Then we walked the short distance to the Glow-worm cave where we got in a Zodiac type boat and were amazed by the sheer number of the glow-worms and with no lighting in the cave it seemed illuminated by their glowing lights. Since they are hard to photograph and once in the cave in the dark you can’t take photos, they are sending us an email with some of their photos. Then, it was time to take the scenic ride back to Auckland. The countryside was full of dairy cattle, sheep, goats and geese. (or what we assumed were geese in the distance) Beautiful countryside with hills and mountains. It normally is a bit greener, but they haven’t had as much rain as usual and it was a bit dry. Still very beautiful. Some of our group wanted to stop for wine and other things in a store, so Terry found us a nice store to shop quickly for a few things.



 



We were back to the port by a bit after 4:00, so we had about 20 minutes to try and find a quick souvenir and use up the rest of our New Zealand dollars. Got some very nice chocolates.

To bookend our day, the sail in this morning was spectacular. Gorgeous sunrise and the city lights were beautiful. Sail away this evening was very scenic with tons of sailboats against the backdrop of the city. Auckland is known as the “City of Sails” and I can see why! It was hard to pull ourselves away from the beauty, but we needed to quickly change for dinner and the evening show which was a comedian named Big Daddy Jeff Wayne. While not bad, he really isn’t my type of comedy. (style of Jerry Lewis, Red Skelton etc.)

Now for 3 more sea days before we hit Burnie, Tasmania.

Greg is finally over his bronchitis/cold thing he had, now I have it. Many people on the ship have this croupy sounding cough. Today was my worst day so far. Before I just had the annoying cough, but today my nose is running like crazy. ARGH!
 

February 24, 2013 Sea Day

Happy Anniversary to my son Scott and his wife Sonya!

Today we have been on this voyage for 4 weeks. Where does the time go? We had our best Sunday Brunch yet, with lobster tails and claws, hummus, smoked Alaskan salmon and much - much more.

The seas last night and today are moderate to high with 35 MPH winds. The ship was rocking and rolling. Outside decks were closed off and there was no walking on the track today. So, we walked the inside decks and stairs. It appeared there were several places where carpets were cleaned perhaps due to someone getting sick.

One woman fell. I think it was the wife of an Aussie couple that did our Moorea tour with us. I sure hope she is OK.

After brunch we went to see a special afternoon show by Trevor Knight who did a John Denver tribute called Rocky Mountain Echoes. They were good friends and their styles are sort of similar. He told a lot of stories of their friendship between singing his songs. Very good show.

Then we watched a movie called Beasts of the Southern Wild before we were off to dinner and the evening show which was Peter Paki with an all new show.

Early to bed tonight as we are up at 5:00 tomorrow morning for our tour in Auckland.

February 23, 2013 Sea Day

Today was a little less gray than yesterday with some sun. Had a nice walk on deck (actually it was a bit cool & windy at first until the sun came out). We went to the morning Master Chef demonstration and then went on the galley tour. We have done the kitchen tours before, but it still boggles my mind with the amount of planning that must go into ordering, buying, storing and then preparing all of the meals on board ship.

Time for a quick shower and off to lunch. Had a nice salad with apples and walnuts and a Reuben sandwich. Oh, and a 4 cheese rigatoni appetizer. Then, it was off to the port lecture on Auckland.

After that the sun was still out so we changed to go sun out on deck 11. The sun didn’t last long and rain started. ARGH! Timing is everything… Hopefully, tomorrow will have sun for us. There have been these cute white and black birds fishing the past 2 days. Not sure what they are, but like a Shearwater or a Petral. (Not sure if I spelled that correctly)

Tonight’s entertainment is a production show titled Fiesta Latina.

February 21, 2013 Sea Day - Crossed International Dateline!

Well, today we woke up to drizzling rain. It remained overcast, but it stopped raining so we could get our walk in on deck. Lunch today was also good. Greg had clam chowder and fish taco made with Tilapia and I had fried mozzarella sticks, beef coppa and waldorf salad and potato latkes for the main course.

Still a bit soupy out, so not a good day to catch any rays so will catch up on the blog and pictures for the web albums site. (rained all day and the ship is rolling a bit tonight)

Today we crossed the international dateline which is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface that is internationally agreed upon as the place where each new calendar day begins. The line extends from the North to the South Pole through the Pacific Ocean, roughly along the 180th meridian. The calendar day to the east of the line is one day earlier than it is to the west of the line. The International Date Line was established at the International Meridian Conference in 1884 in order to standardize time, especially for the purpose of travel. 

 

 

There is a 4:00 performance by Trevor Knight doing an all Australian show. Then at 5:00, we meet Marianne and Frank & Rita and Jim in the Platinum & Elite lounge, since they are doing my tour in Auckland and we wanted to make sure we both know what each other looks like so we can find each other to meet for the tour. We have met the others going already, so no problem there. Enjoyed Trevor Knight’s show this afternoon.

Tonight the entertainment is another performance by the Mentalist Timothy Hyde. We just returned and it is a fun and amazing show. He reads micro expressions etc. to guess what card someone is holding or dice rolled or anything really. He asks them to say or do something and based on how they do it he guesses correctly every time. Guess you wouldn’t want to play poker with him…..

Dinner tonight had an emphasis on Indian food. All was very good. There are lots of choices for people that don’t want to eat what is featured each night. I liked Greg’s salad with sweet peanut dressing better than my curry lentil soup. I had a tasty shrimp dish for main course and we both had the chocolate ice cream cake for dessert.

Tomorrow gets quite confusing. You all will have a Friday February 22, but we will NOT. We go to bed tonight Thursday February 21, and wake up on Saturday February 23. Confused yet? Hmmmm…..

We have 2 more days at sea before Auckland. Hopefully, the sun will find its’ way back tomorrow.

February 20, 2013 Sea Day

Another lazy day at sea. It was bright and sunny for the morning walk and for laying out on the sun deck in the afternoon. In between there was time for reading and lunch. Very good lunch today. I had a great potato and leek soup, spicy beef chimichanga (was more like an empanada) and Nasi Goreng for the main course. Spicy & sweet chicken & rice dish with a tasty fried egg on top. Marianne ordered the Tortilla soup and they had put my croutons in her soup and her tortilla strips in my soup. Ah well, it’s all good!

There is a Happy Hour every night in one of the lounges upstairs for Platinum, Elite and Suite passengers. Reduced price cocktails and free munchies. Last night Marianne had invited Jeff & Julie, a very nice young Canadian couple to join us. They are doing the full world cruise, but Jeff has never cruised before and Julie had only done 1 Caribbean cruise prior to signing up to do the full world cruise. We exchanged some information on Burnie, Tasmania as they are thinking of renting a car there.

Dinner was good with a tasty creamy onion soup and apple pie for dessert. I had the pork entrée, but didn’t care for it. Greg had fish and salad.

The evening entertainment was Peter Paki billed as New Zealand’s most popular variety entertainer. I thought he was high energy and he played a wide variety of music. I described him as a lounge lizard on steroids….LOL. He did a lot of Tom Jones songs and I kept expecting someone to toss their granny panties up on stage. (no I didn’t toss mine)

There was a 70’s party in the Pacific Lounge that we watched for a while.

Tomorrow is another day at sea!

February 19, 2013 Sea Day

Well, it seems almost everyone on board has heard about our tour yesterday. (or at least it just seems that way….) I’m glad everyone enjoyed it.

At breakfast this morning we ran into Hugh and Nancy. Hugh is in good spirits and has been in contact with his doctor trying to get his knee issues worked out. If not, they will have to end their world cruise in Sydney. I hope not, but if he needs more surgery on his knee there may be no other choice.

 Another hot and sunny day today. I walked an hour and 15 minutes on the track. Nice cross breeze up there today.

We had lunch in the dining room and then Greg went to a lecture and I worked on the blog and the photos from yesterday. After all the sun yesterday, we opted for indoor activities today.

The time just flies by, soon it will be time for dinner and the show. Tonight the show is Trevor Knight billed as one of Australia’s Finest Country/Folk Entertainers. (but does music of the Beatles, Elton John, John Denver, Harry Chapin etc.) We just got back and while he was entertaining, it was kind of a repetitious style. (Like an Australian Garrison Keeler)

Dinner conversation was fun with everyone sharing their excursion stories from yesterday. Janie and Joan bought black pearls and were wearing them. We learned that 4 passengers have passed away on the cruise already. Rumor had it that we were rushing to Tahiti yesterday to get a very ill passenger to shore, but we actually weren’t cleared to get off the ship until past our regular time. We saw an ambulance driving away, but not in a hurry……

We set the clocks back another hour tonight. That will put us 6 hours earlier than EST. In 2 more days we will cross the International Dateline and lose an entire day!

February 18, 2013 Papeete, Tahiti (French Polynesia) 8:00a to 8:00p

Absolutely a PERFECT DAY!!!!

Tahiti is Polynesia's largest and most populated Tropical Island of the 118 islands and atolls and home to its unique capital city of Papeete. The name Papeete means "water from a basket".

Today I had planned a Motu on the island of Moorea. We will take a ferry from Papeete to the island of Moorea where we will meet for our Motu. A motu simply means islet/ private island.

Here is a description of our tour with Hiro Tours:

“Liki Tiki Motu Picnic

WWW.hirotour.com

We will tour the beautiful Cook’s and Opunohu Bays, swim and feed the rays on a shallow white sand bar. Sharks and dolphin stop. Then off to the motu where the bar opens and the BBQ is started for fish, steak and chicken and a variety of salads and fruits. After eating there is time to snorkel or swim or just hang out on the beach.

We will meet Hiro on the pier at 8:30 and will take the 9:15 ferry to Moorea. Then we will transfer to the Pearl Resort where Hiro operates the tours from. We will then transfer to the boat landing to take a boat for the tour.

Tour includes:

Shark show & Ray feeding plus dolphin stop and visit a motu.

Sightseeing the barrier reef

Snorkeling and shelling

Huge BBQ buffet with fish, chicken, salad bar, fruits

Open bar included (rum punch, beer, juice, bottled water)

2 bay cruise and photo stops 

Tour ends at 3:15 and we transfer back for the 4:40 ferry arriving back in Papeete at 5:15.” 

The tours don’t normally run on a Monday and as luck would have it that was our scheduled day there. Hiro agreed to run the tour if I could gather a minimum of 15 people. At first I was worried we couldn’t get the minimum, but we now have 33 of us. Many joined after we got on board and some just heard about it from others doing it and wanted to join, so the group grew. The boat holds 60 people, so should be not too crowded.  

We are joined today by:

Marianne, Steve & Karen, Lorraine & Charles, Lois & David, Dennis & Bonnie, Jeff & Julie, Frank & Rita, William & Christina, Ron & Philippa, Cheri, John & Nancy, Tim & Patty, Brigit & Sophia, Margot & Richard, Allen, Frank and some others that I don’t know their names.  

Hugh and Nancy were to join us, but Nancy knew that with her brace the sand and salt water would be an issue and Hugh is having a bit of trouble with his knee and needs to rest it. Another couple opted out as well feeling it might be too strenuous for them. Both couples let us know in advance they weren’t coming. We did have a few others confirmed to come, but they no showed or showed up wanting to join up later in the day…but that was not possible with this tour. Some joined right at the pier with no notice. Phew! Herding cats does not describe how this tour was working out! LOL  

Hiro met us on the pier and collected our money and bought our ferry tickets for us. We then walked the short distance to the ferry that took a scenic 30 minutes to arrive at the island of Moorea. There we met our guide for the day Roger and his young son. We gathered the group together and were boarded onto a comfortable bus that took us to the Pearl Resort. The drive there was breathtaking! Collectives gasps were heard on the bus as we passed one beautiful sight after another.  

 

We then transferred to a boat that holds 60 people, so we were quite comfortable with only 38 of us. The water was the most beautiful shade of aqua I have ever seen. The green and jagged hills were stunning. We passed many of the hotel huts over the water each with their own porch with ladder into the ocean for snorkeling.  

 our guide

 

We saw spinner dolphins along the way and we stopped to watch them play and had some photo stops at both bays. Then it was time to snorkel with the sting rays and the black tipped reef sharks. We have snorkeled with rays before (and it never gets old), but these were particularly friendly and unlike in the past once they were fed they swam away, these kept hanging around. The highlight for me was one really large one came up behind me and I could feel it on my legs, back and neck. I thought he was going to climb right over me! Then, I shrieked as with the suction of the most powerful Hoover vacuum, its’ mouth latched onto my butt! OUCH! Left a knot the size of a golf ball and it was bruised. Just left a giant hickey on my butt. Of course I had to show everyone on the boat. Today it is much better. The knot is pretty much gone and just a small bruise.  

 

 Black-tipped Reef Sharks

 Greg & Stingray

 

 



 

Then, we headed to our Motu for the picnic on the beach. We had time to snorkel while one guy cooked the meats on the grill and a lady prepared fresh salad. The boat captain was showing everyone how to husk a coconut and then asked for a couple volunteers to compete for who could do it the fastest. He then grated the fresh coconut and passed it around. There was a demonstration on how to tie a sarong in numerous ways. Rum punch and beer were flowing! We then watched while they cut up the raw tuna and “cook” it with lemon juice, lime juice, fresh squeezed coconut milk and spices and they tossed it into the salad the lady had been preparing.  

 

Along with some very tasty rice and a pasta salad and it was time to eat! Very good beef and chicken. Not sure what they were marinated in, but they were tender and flavorful.  

There was time left to snorkel or swim or hang out and of course too soon it was time to head back to the ferry to take us back to the island of Tahiti. Hiro met us at the ferry station and made sure we all had a great time. Roger and his crew made our day one we will never forget. If ever you are looking for a tour operator for Moorea definitely book with Hiro! 

 

 Hiro

 

We heard from other passengers that it had rained several times on Tahiti, but we had none on Moorea. It seemed everyone really enjoyed the tour. I’m glad the weather cooperated and the tour people were just super! Add to that the beautiful scenery and crystal clear waters of Moorea , and it was a success! Very nice group of CC friends as well! 

We arrived back in Tahiti around 5:30 and we quickly dropped our snorkel stuff on the ship and headed out to see a bit of the town of Papeete. The market was already closed except for a few ladies selling their beautiful flowers. I did find a couple souvenir stores open to pick up a couple trinkets. We walked around and looked at a craft market and the food trucks that smelled so good, but it was time to go back aboard and we grabbed pizza and salad and then came back and showered and went to the evening entertainment which was Timothy Hyde who is billed as Austrlia’s Magician of the Mind. He was interesting, but we both were kind of nodding off. We unfortunately missed the Tahiti Ora Folkloric Show that started at 5:00 on the ship. They record it so we were able to see it today on TV. We saw them packing up and leaving the ship as we boarding. 

 

 

There was an Island Night Deck party after that with music, dancing under the stars and Sweet Treats Buffet. They had picked up some fresh fruits in Tahiti and we had fresh strawberries, chocolate dipped strawberries and tons of fresh tropical fruits and other desserts as well. 

 

 

Now for 5 relaxing sea days before arrival in Auckland, New Zealand.