Mike B Landlubber

We are late, but on our way from Melbourne!

This is my first cruise since 2018, so I am almost a newbie again! 🙂 As for the Noordam, the staff and service is fantastic. Wait staff is great, my stateroom attendant is almost supernatural in knowing when I leave, and keeps everything spotless while I am gone. I find eating in the Lido kind of a madhouse, and have been a fuddy duddy and eaten in the area with wait service or in a specialty restaurant when time isn’t of the essence. The voyage has been dogged by weather, we skipped one port entirely and for another (Kangaroo Island, big one for me) couldn’t tender till about Noon because of waves, and they cancelled half the excursions (including mine). Of course that isn’t at all the fault of HAL. As mentioned by Cunnorl, We were supposed to leave Melbourne over five hours ago, but there is a Gale Warning (and a sheep grazier’s warning, which was a new one on me) that I suspect is holding us in port. Hopefully it won’t mess with our port tomorrow! Incidentally, I thought our ship looked much better maintained than the P&O ship. Despite my kvetching about the weather, I have been pleased with everything in HAL’s control, and would recommend the ship and Australia. I will come back and post a few more shots from the cruise later.

Today I did an excursion called “Blue Dandenongs and Mountain Village”. I was too optimistic in reading the description and hoped for a chance to see some of the area’s wild birds, which didn’t happen (and wasn’t actually promised, to be fair). We did a photo stop at an overlook in the mountains that was merely okay but short, spent 40 minutes shopping or snack stop in a small town called Sassafras, and literally a drive through of central Melbourne before returning to the ship. Of course we drove through the country outside Melbourne, which I liked, but wasn’t amazing. If I had a do-over, I would pick another. We had overnighted here, and yesterday I took an excursion to Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary that was absolutely wonderful for a wildlife lover (me) and should be at least acceptable for anybody. If you go there, see the “Spirits of the Sky” bird show. I also got multiple clear views of a duck-tailed platypus feeding, which I didn’t think I would ever see in my life, even in captivity (they are shy and nocturnal). Yes, I am a nature nerd! LOL

After two nights in Melbourne, we are getting ready to leave. We have been tied up next to a P&O cruise lines ship. I think P&O decided their corporate image needed brushing up!

I boarded Noordam this afternoon and face this same issue. I assume the cabins are similar size. My stern verandah cabin has a USB port, but no plugs by the bed. But my CPAP machine has a long cord, and I have tested and found that I can make it from the plugs on my desk to the nightstand on that side of the bed. I will have to put the CPAP away each morning or the cable would be in the way. You might search the forums, I believe this issue has been discussed previously. I seem to remember some people saying they were able to get an extension cord from their cabin steward. By the way, my distilled water only cost a couple of bucks and was waiting on my desk when I boarded!

Sadly, I have to agree with Reova, I did NOT have any notice from HAL about a more stringent test being needed. It sounds like they may have different requirements for Sydney. I speculate that they may be in transition on the requirements now, but have no knowledge except my experience. one thing I had in mind when I presented myself for boarding was that my vaccination card showed several boosters, and I was wearing a good-quality N95 mask properly. I thought that might swing a decision my way if they had to make a judgement call. Kind of late for vaccinations, but a suggestion to consider. If I had received info from HAL that a higher level of test was required, I would sure try to have that test result in hand though.

I just boarded Noordam in Perth(Fremantle) and had a hitch that may be of interest to those boarding on Australia. I don’t think this will be an issue elsewhere. I understood from HA information on my cruise that I could meet Covid requirements by self-administering an antigen Covid test 24 hours before boarding. I did that, but when I went to enter my information in VeriFLY, I was asked for the name of the doctor ordering the test, and asked to verify that the test Certificate had my birthdate on it. I had none of this, and though I’d had no problems elsewhere in VeriFLY, I couldn’t complete the process there. I took a photo of my test results with my name and the date and time handwritten next to it and hoped for the best. At check in, my vaccination certificate was reviewed and they asked if I had test results. I Volunteered that I had taken a self test and had a photograph of the results. They perked up at the photograph mention and asked to see it. They did take a good look at my test on the photo (which I showed via my phone). If I hadn’t taken the photo I’d have had trouble I suspect, but this was no problem. If you’re boarding in Australia soon, you might take notice! Otherwise boarding in Perth was quick and stress-free! I’m excited to be cruising again!

For the folks wondering about crab…Alaska snow and king crab seasons are canceled this year because of population collapse. Someone else mentioned that Russian crab is considered verboten. There may be other suppliers, but distance and probably raised prices due to shortage could mean you won’t see a lot of crab legs anywhere on the ship in the coming year. 😞 https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/16/us/alaska-snow-crab-harvest-canceled-climate/index.html

As for your one actual day of touring, is there anything in Rome that appeals to you strongly? If there is, and it is suitable for spending most of day, forget about trying to see everything, and go see what interests you. If there is a class of lesser sites that appeal, find or arrange a tour that covers those sites. I am fascinated by cathedral interiors and have made a day of going between cathedrals/churches and appreciating the different surroundings in each one (and I’m not Catholic or even devoutly religious!). Pick one thing or category and see it well, rather than spread yourself thin and exhaust yourself moving around to all the “must sees.” If all else fails, consider going to The Vatican and losing yourself in the Museum.