Yaya_in_Oz

Yes, what a difference a day makes!

I tend to think in probabilities, and if it doesn't normally happen, it probably won't. The Diamond was due in Sydney at 6am yesterday, so I booked a noon domestic flight. With on-line check in, the required time for bag drop before departure is 45 mins. Plenty of time. International, a totally different story. I also considered that Melb- Sydney has many flights, trains and buses, so I wouldn't be stuck there for long. What I didn't consider was Sydney Swans making the Grand Final! Long odds from a year out. Sydney Airport was fairly quiet in T3 but Melb was a bit chaotic. The flight was full and no coffee after midday now on short flights on QF, may as well fly Jetstar. I like to go home in daylight hours whenever possible. Having said that when I get off Dora in Perth in Feb. I will store my luggage and fly home on the red-eye special, as I don't go there often and other alternatives are few and far between. Now if I had been delayed yesterday, I would have just put in a travel claim, which I've done before. They take a while but do pay out. Those passengers who booked with EzAir would have their flights rebooked etc. shoreside at no cost to themselves. This is what I missed yesterday.

All good. We’re here but a dreary day.Certainly glad I took the shuttle bus to airport. Forgot to take off my medallion, easy to do, and the machine beeped and they had to do an explosives test on it 🥹.

Good to know. I’ll keep it in mind😕

We were down for a 6am arrival. The TV says we are travelling at 18 knots so I don't know if thats faster or slower than normal. Its still mild outside, no rain yet. I think Cpt made announcement as there would be those who would see we are in Sydney and try and get off in the middle of the night. Anyway time to pack and see the Show but I'll give the deck party a miss 😄

Well, the Cpt who is a man of a few words or no words has spoken. He says at present there are 30 knot winds and 2m swells and that will increase to 40 knots (hope I've got that right) so heading straight for Sydney arriving at 2.30 am but not allowed off the boat until 7 am. I'm pleased about that. Wouldn't want a delay. I'll be off the air until about 10 am tomorrow at the airport. Fingers crossed.

Next, I'll be on Dora on her penultimate journey before she is sold to a cruise line or goes to God. I haven't got anything booked after that. I think I'll got to Fiji with a friend and swim in the ocean, enjoy the mudpools etc. After last season with all the Sth Pacific cruises with cancelled ports or going somewhere else altogether like Tasmania, it would be a safer bet. Then there is all those wheat silos, being painted as I write, to visit. But who knows what my turn up in the cruising world. 😎

What else? I went to a number of talks. All good, excellent presenters. We had Dr. Peter Williams with his military stuff. We had Russell Twomey with his maritime stuff. I'd seen twice before and was able to tell him he'd motivated me to go see the Mary Rose and Victory when I was in the area and hopped off the HOHO to see the Vasa ship. Jessica Potter was the destination expert who also seemed to be running a book club on a couple of books related to the ports visited. If you missed anything, it was all on TV. I went to the most of the shows. They put on Born to be Wild, with the pink Cadillac. I hadn't seen that since prior to Covid. I'd also give a shout out to Adrien Soon on the harmonica. If it hadn't of been a sea day, I would of thought, 45 mins of harmonica, maybe? but he was just excellent. He belted out tunes like Rondo Alla Turca, Can-can on a variety of harmonicas. all shapes and sizes.

Brisbane BICT does have free wifi, souvenir shop etc. Its comfortable but miles from anywhere so its shuttle into the City or call a taxi if you're not going on an excursion. In this instance, as the first port of call into Aus, there were various ABF requirements and you would be sitting in the terminal until it was all over if you didn't go anywhere. Getting off the ship and through immigration took around half an hour but I was given priority by having a shuttle ticket for 9 am and when they were running late just waved me on ahead. The shuttle dropped us at King George Square in front of the Town Hall. I had hoped to go up the Clock Tower but I didn't realise it was school holidays and you should book online. The earliest they had was 4pm. I had a look around MoB which has art and photos of Brisbane's history. There were a number of childrens groups engaged in activities. Instead I went to the fairly new Skydeck of the new casino. Its only 23 floors up but gives a good view of Brisbane in particular Southbank. It was very busy as its free. No hope of getting a snack at the Cafe, people waiting to get a seat and they don't have that many. Maybe about 50. I'm absolutely in favour of it. Its great there are places people can take their kids for free and have a great day out. There is a section of glass you can walk on and see down to the street. This bloke was telling me about some glass walkways in the world where it appears to crack while you are walking on it. Well now, thats something to look out for! 😱 I then wandered down past my favourite building in Brisbane - The Mansions with the cats on the roof. They are renovating that at present. Then onto Parliament, QUT, City Botanic, wander round the shops then back to the shuttle.

Have a great cruise! its lovely out now. I've got the door of the balcony open (aircon off of course). My steward told me 14 of the 20 cabins he looks after will change hands tomorrow, so a busy day in Sydney.

Disembarkation for Sydney. I'm in Group Aqua 3. Perfect for a midday flight. I was pleased at the price for the Airport Transfer. It was only about $7 more than going on the train, so why bother when I don't wish to sightsee. I'll check in online later. I live in Melbourne but decided to get off in Sydney for a number of reasons. Firstly, when I booked it was $1100 more to go to Melbourne, to me not a good use of money for 2 sea days. I also had a flight credit to use. There was more choice of cabins for Sydney and I also did not want to be traipsing around Melbourne on Grand Final Day.

We got a certificate for crossing the Equator. It was half size (A5) and not personally addressed but still a momento of the cruise. There are also 2 Princess bags hanging in the closet for your use. I have no use for them but bought 2 colourful ones for shopping bags back home in Alotau supermarket.

Trident Menu. Swirls and Pizza are also available around the pool as arxcards has mentioned. I'm not sure where I'd look for sausage rolls. I never saw any in the buffet either. I was a bit naughty. I saw loaded fries on the menu. I've never had them so I tried the cheese and bacon ones. Yummy!

Last Patters.

Thankyou @OzKiwiJJ and @cruiser3775 for your replies. Swells on Conflict Islands could be disregarded as the call was made to abandon that port 5.30 the previous evening. Your replies offer valid reasons but I don't think passengers should be left speculating when it could all be explained without compromising patient confidentiality. Simple. Once we were underway, the CD chirped...'ladies and gentlemen, the Casino and shops will soon be open'. I love the positive spin 🤣. Now, that one job I could never do.

Not being a big drinker and some days I don't drink anything, particularly after a long day in port. The cruise I am on is 22 days, so after drinking my wine bought on I went to the bar and asked for a bottle. They didn't have a list, just a few by the glass but I was told a cheap one by the bottle was $65 and an expensive one was about $200 I think. I had a choice of Chile, Italy and California. I like Chilean wines so I opted for that one. It was a merlot. I'm no connoisseur so its fine. I've got about 2 glasses left for this evening. I also change my minbar to whisky and diet coke which I have for a change. A drink is nice while watching the sunset on the balcony. Shorter cruises extra purchases aren't usually necessary and half the minibar comes home. Of course that wine would be $10 in Dan's and bringing it on would be cheaper, but we are not anywhere near Dan's and I would never pack wine in my luggage that involved a flight unless it was a cask.

Totally agree with everything you said but it would be nice to be told. I always read the medical facilities on board are basic so its hard to imagine the hospital for the province being any less basic. Agreed, its just a stone's throw to the Conflict Islands and we could have gone. There are now two wharves making currents less of a problem on Conflict Islands. Either way we could have been told. I'm meant to be happy with $16.63 and an extra sea day 🙃

We never made it to the Conflict Islands. After we were all aboard, Capt Renzo Lembo announced we would have to remain in Alotau overnight due to a Medivac. He said it can't be done in a remote place and the CD backed him up saying a few bungalows, palm trees and a dog isn't a place for a Medivac. I agree with that but I hate been spoken to as if I'm an idiot. Most Captains explain things to passengers, not this one. He might be good for a photo op or sipping from coconuts with the locals but on saying something important he was sadly lacking. I'd like to know why the person could not have been transferred to Alotau Hospital and waited for the Medivac there while the 2615 of us left on the ship plus crew could have spent a lovely day in the Conflict islands. To add insult to injury we were told we had to stay on the ship, almost imprisoned would be a better word as we just had 6 sea days and now there was another. I have been there before but I had my bathers etc. ready to go. I saw the helicopter fly over just after 8 am and then around 9, the Captain says 'the evacuation has been completed, enjoy your day on the Diamond Princess'. Pfft and a bit more on said to the TV 🤐 Now we are heading direct to Brisbane, the weather is a bit cooler and sitting on the balcony is lovely.

Alotau After 6 days at sea we dock in Alotau, PNG. We are greeted by local dancers, that kept it up all day to around 4 pm. The terminal is just a shed with a sign on it and 'tents' are set up all the wharf. There are no maps. There is a tent for currency exchange. I don't know the rate they are giving but generally locals want $1 = 2K although its about $1 = $2.6K. I had about 200K left from last year as we didn't make it to Kiriwina where I intended to spend some Kina. Just out of the gate, there is a shuttle bus to town $5 - 10K one way, double return. There are also locals politely standing with their signs, selling tours. I took the shuttle to town and wandered the market viewing transactions, then into some of the shops. I felt like some lollies but they only hard ones, I guess because of the weather softer ones would just melt together. I have an upper denture so I don't do hard sweeties. Despite asking in a number of places, I couldn't find a fridge magnet, although one place said they had them but they were all sold out. What a surprise. I don't get one from everywhere but if I really want one then I can do my own at Officeworks. The post office did have a few postcards out back in a small box so I got a great one of Kokoda to send back home and a few overseas. So at around 10K a throw I spent a bit in there. I would have liked to have walked back to the ship (2.5km) but my clothes were saturated from the high humidity so I went back via pickup truck shuttle, changed and headed off to the museum about 300m from the gate. The museum, a local labour of love has old photos, books, carvings and so on telling the story of Milne Bay province. Entry is $5 or 10K. Some of the photos I'd seen in presentations on the ship. The delightful lady at the museum walked me about another 300m to the John French Memorial which I heard about in the talks. She took my hand when we crossed the road and asked if I wanted a taxi to drive me across the bridge (as the walking part, the metal did sag in spots when you stepped on it) or I could wade through the river (I don't think so). Back to the ship and another change of clothes.

I'm on the Diamond, the same as Tranquility Base. We had a muster last week. I was in Club Fusion which is quite large and comfortable. The scanners were down, so they couldn't be sure who was and wasn't there so it only took about half an hour, with the crew doing the demonstration. Folks were asked to turn off their mobiles before entering the muster station. I had a totally different experience on the Coral in June. I was in a smaller lounge with many people standing. They didn't start the demo until every last person on the ship was where they were supposed to be. They were calling for example, crew no. 10685 and 12764 etc. please go to your posts. and on it went. I can walk OK, but I simply cannot stand in one spot for long periods of time. I was about to sit on the floor when someone gave me their chair and sat on a table. Its totally inhumane to expect senior citizens to stand on the spot for what turned out to be an hour. Just because you don't need a stick doesn't mean you can stand still for an hour. Is it any wonder people arc up about it and don't want to go. Anyway, not only did the crew demonstrate, we had to practice putting on the life jacket. I don't mind going, safety is important, and some people don't read or listen to anything they are told so practice gets the message across. I simply can't stand for it.

Arrival Info and Airport transfers

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Yesterday, we had the "Crossing the Equator" ceremony. The Pollywogs (who had not sailed across the Equator before) had to appease King Neptune and the Pirate Queen so we could pass and not have to go back to Manila 😄. We were actually about 3 deg N at the time. The Captain opened the games and then the Pollywogs, in 4 teams took part in games like Neptunes Treasure where they threw all the cutlery in the pool and it had to be retrieved. The team with the least treasure were eliminated and had to "kiss the fish" and on it went. The second game I watched is where they had to throw 'ducks' into a hoop with their backs turned. It was quite hot out there so I left after that. I had seen a ceremony in June on the Coral so I understood the concept 🤣. The one on the Coral was a better ceremony but I liked the team arrangement as more people could see what was going on. I thought there were heaps of people outside so there would be no-one inside. Not true. As I wandered through the Conservatory and down to the Library there were lots of people just enjoying their sea day. Just as well as there was no more room outside really. Down in the Library there were about 6 jigsaws on the go. They only had about 2 full shelves of books and the one I'd donated the day before had gone. i always get a couple from the op shop and donate. I'd bought a couple of Michael Connelly's who is always popular. The CD said he'd gone out and bought a few more games of scrabble as it was popular. Of course, I took some selfies nearer to the Equator. 😎 So one more sea day tomorrow, then its onto Alotau and Conflict Islands. I was in those ports Jan '23 so I will just wander in Alotau and hopefully go for a swim in Conflict Islands. I rarely swim in the ocean these days but it looked so invitating last time. I'd been on an excursion, then walked around the island, so it was then time to go.

Other info....PNG entry, Brisbane shuttle.

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