luckybecky

Back on board just before noon. As “in transit” guests, we were given priority boarding. Tried to change our dining reservation at Cagney’s but they only have late dining times. And this is early on boarding day. Paul’s new key card didn’t work at the bar so had to spend a half hour in line at guest services. Then we got in the hot tub for awhile. Back to our cabin for a shower, it still has not been cleaned. I’m sure the steward’s primary goal is getting rooms cleaned for oncoming guests. But our room has almost never been cleaned until midafternoon. Watched sailaway from an excellent viewing spot on deck 13. The rainy weather from earlier today had cleared up and it was a beautiful sailaway. Went to Taste for dinner. Very good service again, much better than we ever had in Windows. The appetizers were excellent, but the chicken piccatta was weird. Crab and cream cheese wontons Cream of cauliflower soup Greek salad Spinach salad Chicken piccata Spent a little time in the casino and then went to the comedy show in the main theater at 8pm. The comedian, Steve Womack, was very funny. He’s not the same comedian as on the last cruise.

March 28 Thursday Turnaround day in Sydney Captain had announced that we would be entering the harbor around 4:30am. I made an effort to go see our passage by the Opera House and under the harbor bridge. Slept very poorly and dragged myself out of bed a little after 4am. Dressed and went to deck 12 where I discovered it was raining. Nothing was in view yet. A few people awake, in Spinnaker and the pool deck. Due to the poor weather and my lack of sleep, I gave up. Went back to bed. Oh well. I tried. A couple of days ago, NCL added an excursion in Sydney. We booked it because unfortunately we are at the White Bay cruise terminal which is very inconveniently located. There is a lot of construction and you can’t walk off the pier. It is not at all pedestrian friendly. So we decided to leave the planning up to NCL which as you know, we are generally very reluctant to do ship tours. Our tour got us off the ship quickly and easily at the appointed time. It was a large tour bus. The guide didn’t have much personality. Nice enough guy, but as I mentioned before, a really good guide can turn a ho-hum tour into a party. That did not happen here. He also said that they normally do a four hour two, but NCL had instructed them to shorten it to three hours. Not sure why, because there would have been plenty of time to do the full tour. To make things worse, the weather was dreary and damp. Between the rainy weather and the mediocre guide, the day could have been better spent. Still, we got a city tour and we were happy to see some of the city. It was just a taste. We are definitely going to have to come back to Sydney someday! Bondi Beach

Back on board, we lounged at Spice H2O and got in the hot tub. We had not had lunch, so we went to supper early at 5:30pm. Went to Taste, which was much less busy tonight than usual. Very quick service and a nice table by the window. O Paul says this roasted duck was outstanding. Best thing he had. Zucchini soup Grilled watermelon salad Cuban roasted chicken Rotisserie chicken from the every day menu There was no show in the theater tonight. Several music venues as always, but not much else happening. We hit the casino for awhile (I’m up a few hundred dollars!!) and then got some wine to take back to our room. This is the last night of the cruise. It is our second back to back cruise and I LOVE not having to pack and leave! 🙂

March 27 Wednesday Eden Australia We had a short port time, 11am-4pm. We had booked a 2 hour tour from 11:30-1:30. Very easy to find our tour operator. Eden is tiny. There was a shuttle that will take you from the ship to the center of town for $20 round trip. If you can manage an uphill walk into town it is not far and the shuttle is not essential, but the walk into town is fairly steep. There is one main street with cafes and shops. There is also a whale museum. Our tour was nice. Went to some scenic lookouts. Saw some pelicans and kangaroos. After the tour we wandered in a few shops and then back to the ship. It’s a pretty sleepy port. Eden is a one horse town

Tuesday March 26 Burnie, Tasmania We had booked a Cradle Mountain tour. I didn’t know much about this, just found a tour on Viator that looked good. It turns out it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was beautiful. We had a good guide with Tassie Tours. We saw several wallaby and a couple of wombats. It was cold! We have had colder weather than we expected in several ports and weren’t well prepared. Wallabys and wombats! This is another working port where you are not allowed to walk on the pier (we’ve had several of these on this trip). You have to take a shuttle bus to the town, which was a short drive. We were picked up by our tour provider exactly where the shuttle dropped us off. We returned just a few minutes before all aboard time of 3:30pm and were dropped inside the pier at the ship, no need to take the shuttle back. We met a lady on our tour whose flight booked with NCL was delayed. She did not make the ship departure in Auckland, but joined the ship in Tauranga. She said that NCL offered no assistance whatsoever in rescheduling or getting her to the ship. We ate supper in the buffet for the first time. We generally prefer the full service restaurants but after 10 or so days on board, we have sort of had our fill of that, and we just wanted a quick dinner. It was an Asian theme tonight in the buffet. Went to the production show Elements. Arrived about 6:25pm. Lots of people already lining up. Doors opened at 6:30 and we got a good seat but the theater filled up very fast and it was standing room only by showtime. The show was good, lots of flashy costumes, strobe lights, high energy dancing, magic tricks and more. Afterward, they did a crew appreciation with many of the crew and most of the senior officers coming on stage. I have occasionally noticed noise in our cabin that sounds like muffled music and could not figure out where it was coming from, but I think tonight I finally got it. It is from the theater 2 decks below. Other than this, our cabin is completely silent as I’ve mentioned before. In 10 days on board, I have never heard a voice from the hallway, never heard a door slam, and never heard noise from adjoining cabins or from above, due to our unique location. Best cabin I have ever had in terms of location and quiet. We went to the casino after the show but it was almost immediately announced that they would be closing in 5 minutes, and re-opening about an hour and a half later. I guess we were passing close to land?

Our tour lasted 3 hours and covered about 5K or 3 miles. We had a very good guide. It was an excellent tour, but I do wish they limited the number of participants. We had around 40 which was way too many. Some shots from the walking tour: The old jail The theater A mall Street art on Hosier Lane Views We tried to go to the art museum near where our walking tour ended, but our time was limited. It’s free and looked amazing. Our plan was to just choose one or two galleries to view because we knew we didn’t have time for the whole museum, but we just ran out of time. I definitely want to go back here. We walked back to the shuttle bus. Back on board around 3pm. We sent laundry out early Saturday morning (bag special at $34). This is 2 and a half days later and it’s not back. Went to guest services. Finally after much time on the computer and phone, the lady says it’s ready and she will have it sent to our room. If it’s ready, why hasn’t it already been sent? It finally arrived several hours after she told me it would be sent.

Monday March 25 Melbourne We were instructed to wait until our deck is called in order to be processed by Australian immigration authorities. It didn’t take long. Our group was called second. We got off the ship I think around 8:30am. We got through passport inspection quickly. Then easily bought bus tickets to get us to the central city. Very friendly and helpful Aussies willing to help. We took some pictures around the iconic train station, and made our way up to the Victoria library. It is beautiful, and free to enter and also has good clean bathrooms. So a good stop. We had a free walking tour that departed from here at 10:30am. Here are some photos on the way to the library, and the library itself which is beautiful. The train station The library

Sunday March 24 Sea Day Today there was a meeting in the theater for Back to Back cruisers. There are 283 people continuing on the next cruise from Sydney to Papeete. They gave us info about procedures for immigration, getting our new key card, etc. Then we went to a Q&A with the captain and two senior officers in the Spinnaker lounge. It was interesting. The seas continue to be very rough. This is the rockiest cruise I’ve ever been on. The captain says that the Tasman sea is typically quite rough and in fact, the seas are better than average. Wow. I’d hate to see what it’s like on a bad day. The navigation channel on TV was showing apparent wind speed at 53 knots (61mph) one time when I looked at it. Not sure how well my video shows it, but the sea was choppy. 20240324_162652.mp4 We went to a black glass wine tasting in Le Bistro. We had signed up for this a couple of days ago. It was fun and informative. Cost $22 per person. Lasts about an hour. The afternoon was slow. Not much happening. The casino opened at 3:30 so we went there before supper to try our luck. So far, we are both up! Yay for us! Spent some time in our favorite spot, Spinnaker. Went to dinner in Taste again. Service was again prompt and well paced. I forgot to take a picture of the menu. I had the NY Strip. It is just OK, definitely not steakhouse quality, but edible. There was a good brussels sprouts salad, and potato soup. Paul had some kind of fish. Dessert was a salted caramel chocolate torte – fantastic. Very rich and chocolaty. Paul had a no sugar added chocolate cake which was also good. I went to the Battle of the Sexes game show in Spinnaker while Paul slept off dinner. The game show was very fun and entertaining. Then, I met up with Paul in the theater for the 9pm show with Paul Suha, a violinist. He’s amazing.

Saturday March 23 Sea Day We turned the clocks back an hour last night so we gained an extra hour of sleep, which we needed! We are both tired after going strong for several days in a row. We slept well, then got up and went for a 30 minute brisk walk doing laps on the promenade on deck 7. The weather was chilly and damp. Then we had a light breakfast and kind of a lazy morning. We’ve had rocky seas! Captain says this is actually mild for the Tasman sea; it could be worse. It was rocking all night. The same in Wellington. This is probably the rockiest cruise I’ve ever been on. Thankfully neither of us is bothered by sea sickness. We had a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet at 1:30. Many people had signed up for this both from CC and another social media site. About 30 showed up. The cruise director and several department heads came and introduced themselves. Two couples at the Meet & Greet said they had been fined $400 for failing to declare prohibited items upon arriving in New Zealand. In their case it was half a sandwich, and some leftover pizza. Remember I mentioned the cute beagle sniffing bags at the Auckland airport? He’s adorable but he means business. Duck hunters, tell me AITA. So I’m walking through the Local and see a duck sitting on a table that had been abandoned (still with dirty dishes). I picked up the duck, thinking whoever had dined there had left it for wait staff or anyone to find. So I pick it up and keep walking. Then I see this old fat guy walking aggressively straight toward me, looking me right in the eye, with his hand out for the duck. Really? He insists I give him the duck. Said it is his wife’s. I guess I could have fought him for it but I’m not that kind of person. I handed it over. It happened fast and I was taken aback, so I just gave it. I made a comment about “finder’s keepers.” He didn’t care. Turned his back on me and walked away without even a please or thank you. Sorry, but I think he’s the ***hole in this situation. I would never do that to someone. I mean, it’s not like I found his wife’s wallet or something – which of course I would make every effort to return to its owner. It’s a freaking duck that wasn’t even hers in the first place. It soured me on the fun of duck hunting. We had dinner in Taste. Service much faster than in Windows. Well paced. I had gnocchi with Italian sausage, and creamy spinach soup. Both very good. Grilled pineapple chicken for my entree. I think this is my favorite dish so far. It was delicious. Paul had ravioli in lobster sauce, which is on the menu frequently. I wish they would offer it with some variation of the lobster sauce. Would not be that hard to change it up and offer it with a marinara sauce once in a while. Ravioli Gnocchi Seared swordfish carpaccio Grilled tilapia Grilled pineapple chicken We went to the Broadway Cabaret show in the main theater. It was disappointing. We thought it would be a big production show with the full cast. No. It was three people (and band) singing songs from various shows. Some songs were more recognizable than others. The singers were good. No dancers or anything else. We also participated in the Crowd Trivia game show which was a fun diversion. The sea continues rocking hard all day and night. People staggering around looking like they’ve had one too many glasses of wine.

I'm not sure what Vinson payment is, maybe a typo, I think they meant final payment. So we always book with just putting the deposit down. We don't pay the rest until just a couple of days before final payment is due. In the meantime, we keep checking the price periodically. If it goes down, we give them a call and they will adjust our booking to reflect the lower price. We have not been required to cancel and re-book. If final payment has been made, they generally don't give money back to you if they price goes down. Depends on the cruise line and I haven't had a lot of experience with NCL on this particular question. But if the price goes down after you have paid the full fare, they generally will offer you something, such as a cabin upgrade or an onboard credit. It never hurts to call and ask. And it is on you to monitor the price and request an adjustment. They don't notify you if it does down. I hope this helps. Happy sailing!

Friday March 22 Cruising the Fjords Today we did not have a port stop, but cruised three fjords at the southern tip of New Zealand. They were breathtaking. Everyone commented on how rare it is to have the fine weather that we did. It was cloudly in the morning, but not raining, and the sun came out as the day went on. Even our cruise director said that it was the best weather she has seen there, where apparently it is often rainy. The forward viewing areas were very crowded. You need to go early if you want to secure a good spot. We went to dinner early again. I forgot to take a picture of the menu. We had a blue cheese soup, chicken salad, turkey cutlet, and NY Strip. We finished in time to get to the theater and snag a good seat. The comedy juggler James Bustar was hilarious. Don’t miss his show if he’s on your ship. He had to modify some of his act because the ship is rocking so much. After the juggling show in the theater, we quickly ran up to Spinnaker for the Perfect Couple game show, which was a lot of fun. And then we finished off the evening with a spin in the casino as usual. We don’t gamble large sums of money, and if we are losing we stop. But tonight we did OK. New Zealand was lovely. Now we are headed to Australia. We had been discouraged by some people on this board from taking a NZ cruise. Almost not worth our time if we aren’t going to see the interior of the country, seemed to be the consensus. I could not disagree more. Of course we would have loved to see even more of the country but our ports were lovely and I would enthusiastically recommend a cruise here. The stunning fjords: Dusky Sound was first Next up, Doubtful Sound And finally, Milford Sound which may have been the most spectacular of all

Upon returning to the ship at Port Chalmers, which is about half an hour away from central Dunedin, we got back on board for lunch and then went back off again to check out the port. There is a pretty church, which unfortunately was closed so we couldn’t go inside, and several cute shops. There was a local artisan market with several vendors selling jewelry, souvenirs, knitted items, etc. We went to dinner a little before 6pm, I think at Windows. Dinner actually moved quickly for a change, and went even faster when we mentioned we were hoping to finish in time to make the 7pm show. Everything was good. Meatball appetizer Baked brie salad Braised lamb shank Turkey medallions with couscous Tonight’s show was acrobats. They were very good. Unfortunately they don’t allow photos at any of the shows. Next up, the Majority Rules game show which was fun. We had another short spin in the casino. I actually won a little. 🙂 Some pictures from sailaway

Thursday March 21 Dunedin We had a tour of town and the Otago peninsula. It was very pretty. We stopped at the train station which had some pretty stained glass. Scenic views of the harbor. Then went to a lovely beach which was almost completely deserted except for a half dozen or so sea lions napping here and there. Very cool to see them in their native habitat. The drive through the countryside was very scenic. The train station This humorous sign was along the roadside. Our guide said someone had bought oceanview property next door, and then immediately began complaining to the town council about the smells and sounds from the farm. The farmer replied with this. I'm not sure if this guy was waving at us, or telling us to bugger off as they were trying to nap. 😄

Back on board, spent some time in the hot tub. Dinner at Silk. Better than I remember. The last time we were on Spirit several years ago, everything about Silk was pretty disappointing as I recall. Better this time. Hot and sour soup and dumplings were very good. However the meat dish had literally 2 small bites of meat. That’s it. Tasted good but was almost all noodles and very little meat. Paul’s dish was the same. Very little shrimp. Go early. We got there at 515 before 530 opening. They started seating people early about 520. filled up very fast. Hot and sour soup Calamari and dumplings Spicy seafood udon noodles Beef Chow Fun, very light on the beef but tasted good Crispy chestnut and red bean triangles. I honestly can't remember how we liked these Panda salad was good 7pm Went to Boots country show. It was fun, high energy. Go early to get a good seat. It filled up quickly. The casino took forever to open. We lost a little money and went to bed early.

So when I left off we had finished our day in Wellington. Wednesday March 20 Christchurch/ Lyttelton We had a pre booked tour. You must take shuttle from ship to town. You cannot walk from the pier to town. The cruise shuttle let off exactly where our Viator tour picked up. We had a great tour guide who gave nonstop commentary on our city tour. It was really nice. Visited a pretty botanical garden. We had some free time in the city center. It was a good day. I think I said we had a meat pie yesterday. I was wrong; it was today. Apparently they love these and eat them all the time in NZ. It was affordable and delicious. A few more photos from around town