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April 15, 2018 – Touring Tokyo From the Hilton Odaiba

I know that technically we are no longer on the Diamond, but I had a couple of requests to continue logs of our travels beyond the ship, so here we are.

This morning dawned grey and stormy with blowing winds and rains, so it was a good day to take a break in extreme touring, which is what we did yesterday. Kahoke was a really good tour guide and I learned a lot about Tokyo, the transportation systems, the customs and the area. We did the Fish Market, then the Ginza, then the Akasuka area, back down to the Shibuya area. 8 hours on a Saturday in Tokyo that put about 7 miles on our shoes.

First off the Tokyo subway system is a complicated map and maze of lines and stations, but once you get on it and see how it works, it’s not that bad – and trust me, I was worried as all get out about it.

One tip, change lines at stations with only 2 lines. It makes it much easier to find the other tracks than major stations that have 4 or more lines joining. Changing at G19/A18 (two lines) is much easier than changing at E09/G15/H16 with three lines. For example, the Hilton is on the Yurikamome line, the light rail, and connects to the Oedo Line at the E19 station. Much simpler than connecting at Shimbashi with both the Ginza and Asakusa lines intersecting at the same point.

Second tip, minimize the number of switches by getting on one line that takes you most of the way, even if you have to backtrack a little bit. From Akasuka to the Rippongi area, we took the Ginza line all the way from G19 to G02, added a little walking, rather than the Akasuka line from Akasuka to Ayoma-Itchrome and switching to the Ginza line.

Third tip, the lines are for the most part linear with two tracks per line – one going up the line, one going down the line. They are not loops. So a train that goes from G01 to G19 just switches tracks at the end and goes backwards down the same line on the opposite track. And the stations are sequentially numbered with a single letter from beginning to end. G01 to G19 is on the Ginza line from Shibuya to Asakusa.

We got a PASMO card and got on the light rail in front of the Hilton – the card machine was in English and easy to understand. Easy access. Tap on at the entry gate, tap off at the exit gate. Your remaining balance is shown in the screen. There are no daily caps. Yesterday’s trips cost about 900 yen total each. We each have about 500+ yen remaining from the initial 1500, after the 500 yen deposit of the PASMO card.

Switching at simple stations helped. The LCDs screens in the cars tell you what the next station is and what lines are accessible from that station. Once off the train, it might take a while and a little googling to know what exit to use, but for the most part, the smaller stations limit the number of exits so it is less confusing to the first time user. The trains are bright, clean, modern, but with typical limited seating. Avoid the morning rush. They do pack them in. Take off your backpack. Prepare to be up close and personal. Exit quickly and quite frankly, don’t be overly polite – just insistently push your way off, squeezing out where you have to. The afternoon rush is a bit more spread out in time, but waiting until after 0900 will avoid the morning crush.

So about Tokyo on a Saturday. First the fish market.

We went into the bowels of the fish market, the producer’s area and were not greeted with open arms. And I understand completely. We are not buyers, we are intruders into an area that is busy and dangerous and we are simply in the way of progress. While you do see some interesting stuff, the majority of what you see is empty Styrofoam fish boxes piled everywhere as you dodge getting run over by those lift trucks, delivery trucks and delivery cycles going every which way. Quite frankly, I recommend skipping this area and going into the wholesale and retail areas early so as to avoid the crowds. In these areas you are welcomed and photographs are also encouraged. Vendors will demonstrate butchering large fish to large crowds in the aisles.

And let me say that crowds will dominate your entire day. It is crowded, very crowded and there is little respite anywhere. On this trip we have walked the streets of Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Saigon, Nha Trang, Kota Kinabalu, Auckland, Osaka, Nara and Shimizu. None of them hold a candle to the crowds of Tokyo. The shuffle step will be your friend. You will bump into people – all the time – and they will bump into you – all the time. There will be lines everywhere. Lines into elevators, lines on escalators, lines into restaurants, lines into bathrooms and the ubiquitous line to take a personal or group photo of an interesting sight, or statue or building or wedding party!

And just when you find a quiet street or alley, you turn a corner and there looks to be a human wave headed your way. Judy used me as a blocking back, holding on to the straps of my backpack and following in my wake. Center, right, left, it made no difference.

In the Ginza, they close the roads to traffic and make one of the major streets a walking mall. It took only a few blocks to fill the streets from sidewalk to sidewalk.

People watchers, like myself, quickly go into overload in Tokyo. Even with more people, it is nothing like the semi-organized chaos of Saigon – even the crowds in the Saigon market were a piece of cake compared to this. It is more like Rigidly Organized Chaos of the Structured Order. Is that even a description? I am at a loss for words.

Now that’s the bad news.

The good news is the variety of sights, sounds, architectures, styles, colors, and smells of a city and a vibe that is simply indescribable. Retail shops of all shapes, sizes and contents. Multi-story shopping malls with a maze of shops and food courts. Food outlets of all types – with the amazing plastic food displays outside – advertising their specials in bright signage or the ancient tradition of barking, as in carnival barker, to attract customers.

And yet amongst that chaos are little islands of tourist nirvana. The restaurant with the 9 course Japanese tasting meal with Asahi beer, on tap of course. The knife shop with the exquisite folded Damascus steel blade, acid etched, beautiful in every detail and a price tag to match, with a blade smith stroping a knife on a stone, carefully, almost caressingly, to hone the edge to razor sharpness. The bakers shop with the tantalizing odors of cinnamon and baking bread, the dressed statues of buddha, the little golden buddha statue that was found in a fisherman’s net. The pond of koi, of all shapes, sizes and colors – including the golden koi. The fan shop of intricately hand painted paper dance fans and silk hand fans. The Saki shop next to the wine shop next to the whiskey shop next to the little bar with 6 seats. Welcoming curtains outside when a shop is open, inside when the shop is closed.

And then there is the consummate politeness of the Japanese people in the shops, the bars, the taxis, the restaurants. Its almost as if they are over compensating for the inherent impoliteness forced upon them by the crowds. (Quite frankly if you apologized and bowed to everyone you touched in a crowd, you would never get anywhere.) Its quite extraordinary. This will take a while to process.

Until then – later all!

April 14, 2018 – At the Hilton Odaiba

Yesterday’s disembarkation went so well I thought it was too good to be true. (My Iphone is currently dead, so maybe it was…) We were in one of the first few groups off, prior to 0800. Barbara & Peter, Judy & I are all staying at the Hilton, so we agreed to share a cab, hopefully a large one, or the backup plan was a small taxi each. It was a breeze going out, no issues, lots of carts, lots of guides pointing you in the right direction. The terminal is rather small, but before you know it, you are outside at the taxi stand. Two lines, one for vans, one for small taxis. A Toyota Alphard was waiting for us. The driver folded down one seat and it was enough room for the 4 of us, Judy in the front, and 4 carry ons and 4 checked pieces.

We left the lounge at 0755 and arrived at the Hilton at 0900. The taxi fare, around 12,200 yen or 6100 each, was an absolute bargain for such a quick transfer.

The Hilton Odaiba is absolutely gorgeous. And as Diamond we get access to the lounge. No upgrades were available, but the king room is fantastic. More US sized than European. Lots of room to spread out. And the air conditioning works! Plenty of restaurants at the hotel and in the area and the food in the lounge is fantastic. The service, of course, is exemplary and polite, but friendly. I really love international Hiltons.

The local area has lots of shopping, the Statue of Liberty, a waterside park and the launch ramp for the DUKW tours of the bay, the Gundham Lightning full scale model, a really futuristic building next door. There are a ton of restaurants in the area. Hawaiian burgers anyone? Mexican-Japanese fusion? Or just plain old Yakatori? The walking paths and overpasses are really well done. No need to dodge traffic and escalators abound for the longer uphill climbs. The light rail station is right there outside the Hilton as well, so downtown Tokyo is only 20 minutes away. A very nice area.

Today we have a guided tour of Tokyo. Learn all we can today as Judy and I are on our own for the next few days in the area. Time to try out those Japanese phrases I’ve been butchering lately!

Later!

April 12, 2018 – Shimizu

Last day, and packing day. We have avoided it for the last two times, but not this one. Tomorrow we disembark and head for Tokyo for a few days before flying home. If yesterday’s introduction to Japan via Osaka was any indication, this is going to be an adventure.

Weather is still overcast, cool, not chilly. Rain showers appear to be in the area, but if it doesn’t break we won’t get to see Fuji from the port.

Yesterday’s immigration was very confused and confusing. Times for immigration were allocated on a sheet delivered to your stateroom, and Lynn made a plea to stick to your times to avoid congestion. So Barbara and I changed plans to go to Nara instead of Kyoto, leaving an hour and a half later with our taxi guide. When we arrived in the Atrium for coffee we met Bill and Annette, and they had a late time as well, but when pressed, the front desk told them to go out with the first group around 720.

I have not found out whether or not they fared any better, but Nara, the Giant Buddha and the deer made us very happy anyway. We used MK taxi and hired a Toyota Alphard and an English speaking guide/driver (Ria) for 8 hours. She was fantastic and the vehicle was incredibly comfortable and spotless. She was unaware of our change of plans. (We wanted to plan to get back to the port with an hour to spare, and leaving 2 hours later pretty much killed any chance to see Kyoto in any reasonable depth.) However, she grew up in Nara and knew the area well. We decided on the Giant Buddha temple and another temple close by, not realizing the deer were there until we actually walked into the area.

These are the deer that supposedly bow to you for treats. Well, yes, sort of, but they also bite, butt, kick and shove to get the goodies as well. We were surrounded by several aggressive types more than once and had to learn “NO” in Japanese quite quickly. They can be so delicate as well, and cute, especially the younger ones. Older ones, once they are full of crackers, will lay down and let you get very close for pictures.

The temple area was incredible. The ancient architecture, no nails, wooden though it is, has withstood earthquakes that have brought down modern buildings. The statuary of the gate guardians, in Japanese cedar, were fantastic, and of course the giant buddha itself, was awe inspiring. The area was crowded, but respectfully quieter than you would expect. And such a mix of cultures viewing the statues as well.

After the giant buddha area, we walked down to another, even older, Buddhist temple and pagoda that were hundreds of years old, yet essentially undamaged in all the earthquakes that have shaken the area over the past several hundred years. The strength, yet flexibility, of old growth dimensional lumber! Only modern engineered lumber could duplicate it today.

From Nara we went back to Osaka to visit Osaka castle. Definitely a major tourist trap, but still some very interesting sights to see. For me, the huge stone blocks that make up parts of the walls of the castle were the most fascinating. The largest - 102 tons. The castle area itself, within a double moat system, had several interesting shops and eateries. We had to try the green tea ice cream. In fact, the shop had everything green tea including beer, Kit Kats and other assorted sweets including every variation of green tea itself. Some trees were blossoming and traditionally dressed Japanese were out in force and willing to get their picture taken with us.

We did get back to the port around 1730. All aboard was 1830 and only one couple had to be called on the PA system. We did wander around the Tempozan shopping area. It’s a great little shopping mall with a food court that will blow you away. And fast, free wifi. There is a convenience store in the first level with an international ATM that spits out 10,000 YEN notes. No problems with our ATM card. Now we have a backup to 7-Eleven.

So some practical observations. Traffic in the port area was pretty congested. Once out into the eastern part of Osaka, traffic was better. Getting back into Osaka and Osaka castle was really painful. Several major intersections do not have turn arrows or lanes – so only a few cars or busses can turn on the yellow light. This really backs up traffic.

Traffic in Nara was light. Haven’t talked to anyone that went to Kyoto yet. If you are going to do Osaka proper, use the metro system and public transport. That was the best way to avoid street traffic congestion. Going to Kyoto requires a vehicle, or a series of metro and trains, from Osaka to Kyoto and back, then public transport or Taxi in Kyoto. I have not researched Osaka to Nara on trains, but I’m sure there are some.

Based on the time we spent in Nara at one temple, I am not sure we could have done more than one or two places in Kyoto. Dashing through them and taking a few photos, yes, but not taking in the experience and ‘smelling the roses’ as they say. Even the touristy Osaka castle requires at least a few hours. But the deer and the temples in Nara have to be on your must do list at least once. And actually, there are enough temples, and shrines (Shinto), in the area to make it a full day. Plenty of quaint shopping streets, parks, food and Japanese culture everywhere to make Nara a very worthwhile visit.

Needless to say, we did not get a chance to see downtown Osaka or experience the nightlife or food. Just not enough time. The Coral, in October, spends a lot more time in port (0700 to 2300) and should require much less immigration time since it would not be the initial Japanese port of entry. A different plan will definitely be required.

Well, time to enjoy my last coffee with the girls this morning. They will probably be moved to other areas next cruise. Time to say goodbye to a lot of special people with a lot of hugs and not a few tears. We’ve made some new friends, ate a lot of interesting foods, saw a lot of awesome sights – visited places that we never thought we’d ever see. Halfway around the world. Just sitting back and thinking about it you know – ITS PRETTY FREAKIN AWESOME!

Thanks for riding along!

April 11, 2018 – Osaka

Cool, cloudy, rainy type weather for Osaka today. We did have a full day taxi tour of Kyoto planned, but that went out the window yesterday. It appears that while Diamond docks at 0700, so we planned our meet at 0830, but Japanese immigration decided to Murphy us. We now meet at 0935 to begin the immigration process. Now planning a 1000 meet in the terminal. This throws Kyoto out the window for the day. So we have decided to do Nara, Osaka Castle and possibly another temple in the Osaka area.

The delay is really throwing off a lot of plans. I can see why. Being familiar with US immigration, I never plan an early departure from a US port that requires immigration inspections, but I am not familiar, nor were most people, about Japanese immigration – but Princess should have warned us that while the docking was at 0700, immigration may take a while – three hours is a big deal! Although I think even they are a bit perturbed since the ship’s tour’s were scheduled to meet much, much earlier, especially the tours to Kyoto.

This will also be important for the September Coral cruise (oh Pam!). First port into Japan will require similar inspections which will delay effective arrival time beyond the scheduled docking time.

Now I suspect, but am not counting on, the ship’s departure being delayed in order for the later Kyoto tours to get their full time in Kyoto. But no way to confirm that, nor should anyone count on it. Just another advantage ship’s tours have over DIYs.

I caught my cruise cold in Vietnam. I do this on every cruise. So we haven’t been doing that much during the sea days. But a couple of things of interest you all might be interested in hearing.

First, apparently the Captain caught heat, or a lot of complaints, about his missing crew announcement over the general PA the other night. Oh come on! There is a protocol to follow and the last, desperate, stages of the protocol require general PA announcements in all cabins just in case the crew member is visiting a passenger cabin. (They are allowed to sleep in unoccupied spare passenger cabins.) When a crew member doesn’t show up for shift, can’t be found using the normal means, extraordinary means are required. And in this case it worked. They found the crew member – after the 2nd general broadcast. Now I guarantee you that that crew member is in deep doo-doo, if for nothing else, getting the Captain up early in the morning, not to mention having to make him do broadcasts into passenger cabins at O dark thirty in the morning. BTW no one on the crew is talking about what happened. They are pretty tight lipped about it!

So the bottom line is – shut up, quit griping about it, here’s your free muffin from the Horizon Court.

Now, my turn to gripe a bit. My normal live froms, including the latest from last October on the Island, usually contain raves about dishes or meals on the ship. You’ve probably noticed not too much, if at all, on this series of cruises. Well, that’s because the food has been pretty blah on this series of cruises. DIY things like salad bars, or scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa or yogurt and granola, or my infamous vanilla sauce over chocolate chip cookies! (Far better than the vanilla sauce over what it was intended for like pudding or over cooked rice or half cooked cobbler.) But quite frankly the food has not been up to par and Judy and I are not that hard to please. Even the pizza, especially the crust, has been pretty bland.

So yesterday we went to lunch at the HC, expecting the standard blah, and it was good. Very good actually, both in selections and flavorings. Crispy fish and chips, nice cold potato salad, a very nice pasta salad, tasty BBQ chicken legs, what looked like an entire beef haunch being carved to order. (I ran up to the pizza place to try the pizza as well, and while not as good as some ships in the past, it was far better than it had been.) Last night the sushi rolls in the elite lounge were not fishy smelling, the rice held together well, the shrimp the night before was very nice, freshly thawed without any odor whatsoever. We sat down with Barbara and Peter yesterday to replan our Osaka day and Peter mentioned how fantastic his beef wellington was the night before. Unprompted. So that got me to thinking – always a dangerous event.

My conclusion to date – even with this limited data set - we got a new executive chef in Hong Kong. Paulo, whom we’ve sailed with before for 62 days on the Ruby in the Med. IMHO one of the best chefs in the fleet because of his leadership skills. On the Ruby, he and his executive sous would make the rounds of all the kitchens on a continual basis, tasting dishes, examining presentations – but more importantly he and his sous would pitch in and help if a particular kitchen was backed up and needed extra hands. Very personable as well. So I am hoping that the food issues have now been resolved and that cruisers coming on for the Japan season will be getting some good eats.

That’s it for the morning.

Off to Osaka!

April 08, 2018 – At Sea to Osaka

Finally COOLER weather. Stuffy in the cabin (76F), open the door and it drops to a nice 71F. Partly cloudy this morning with a slight chop. Had a missing crewmember last night. Apparently did not show up for work at the appointed time and they couldn’t find them. Had to resort to two all over the ship PA broadcasts by the CAPTAIN to find him or her. They did, thankfully, but I’m sure that person is in big trouble. So last night’s sleep was not the best.

However, yesterday in Hong Kong was incredible. While we have been to Hong Kong before, and participated in a Princess Excursion, it was nothing like the personal tour we had yesterday. Annette from our roll call engaged Mandy and Apple from Hong Kong Getaway Private Tours for an 8 hour Food and Cultural Tour. It was incredible. Cheaper than a corresponding Princess Tour and so much more involved. Yes, we did a few things where we saw some Princess tours (Victoria Peak) in line for the Tram, but we bypassed all of that for some far more interesting sights.

We met Mandy at the taxi stand just outside the terminal exit. Apple had a similar tour for another group.

We started with a taxi ride to the top of Victoria peak, all 5 of us stuffed in a taxi! Negotiating steep hills. It was fun! And only about $120HKD. At the peak we did a hiking trail around the peak for some incredible views of Hong Kong harbor. Great spots for photographs. Back at the peak we were going to take the tram down, but Mandy called an audible and we headed for Bus 15 to take us to Central. Riding on the top of the double decker down those winding roads was pretty intense with a lot more views than from the Tram – which we did the last time in Hong Kong. (We did the bus down the hill, the ferry across the harbor, the metro to Diamond Hill – so a variety of public transportation options are available – and very reasonably priced.) From Central we wandered through the alleys and streets to a market in Wan Chai. A real market for locals with no blue Princess bags in sight!

Mangosteen anyone? (The queen of Asian fruit. Durian is the king.) A cross between a pomegranate, an orange and a mango. Indescribable. Snake soup anyone? Tastes like chicken. (Not kidding!) Lots of collagen. BBQ pork with real pork flavor? Not factory farm raised tasteless pork, but BBQ pork that tastes porky! And the Asian BBQ sauce – OMG – so good. How about a fresh out of the oven egg custard pie? All the vendors knew Mandy and unlike Vietnam were more than happy to get their picture taken with their goods. The freshest of fish, out of the tank in onto the ice, lots of pork and chicken, very little beef, black chickens, black pork – the freshest of vegetables and Asian fruits of all kinds. Even Durian!

Souvenir vendors, clothing vendors, shoes, dresses, electronics, you name it, it was there in the 4 or 5 square blocks of little tiny shops and booths. So much fun!

After all of that walking, it was time for lunch at Crystal Jade. Dim Sum, soup Dim Sum, OMG, this was WOW food. Steamed dumplings with truffle and sea food (First Kiss), Wonton in Chili Vinaigrette (First Kick), Fried Rice with Ham and Chicken, Green Beans with minced pork, sliced beef in spicy soup. The bill? 320HKD or around $40 US for 5 people. Really cheap eats and this was a mid-scale restaurant.

From lunch we walked down to the Star Ferry and caught one across to Kowloon. Just a quick 8 minute ride. We got a treat at the Cultural Center with a Dragon Dance parade with a series of period costumed groups representing thousands of years of Chinese dynasties. I did miss the viral shot of the month. Three period costumed ladies taking a selfie with a SmartPhone. Darn.

From there we went to fanciest public toilets available in Kowloon, at the Peninsula Hotel. We even got a look at one of their Rolls Royces. And the bathrooms! Very nice and perfectly spotless!

From there we caught the metro train red line at Tiam Sha Taul to a green line transfer at Mong Kok (off of one, onto another very quick) and on to Diamond Hill where we entered the Nan Lian Garden. This was arguably the highlight of the trip. This garden, a Chinese style garden, is simply indescribably beautiful, serene, complex, yet calming. A different view, a different sight, a different photo from every angle. The landscaping is incredible with rocks, manicured lawns, shaped trees, petrified trees, waterfalls, pagodas, koi ponds, lotus flowers – just absolutely stunning – and best of all FREE entry. In addition, they had a display of Chinese wooden architecture in one building explaining how the Chinese buildings, including the forbidden palace, stay up with no nails, only mortise and tendon joints. Fascinating.

And the garden skyline is framed with the modern buildings of Kowloon around the perimeter. Sights of the old and the new, the hustle and bustle of the modern and the ancient, are highlighted in stunning contrast. Absolutely amazing and a Must Do For Anyone Visiting Hong Kong. Period.

After the gardens, our tour came to an end and we had to say goodbye to Mandy. She dropped us off, after a short walk, at the shuttle stop at Diamond Hill where we caught the shuttle back to the ship. Two shuttles ran that day. One to the Heritage Center at the waterfront in Kowloon, the second to Diamond Hill. Quite frankly though, I would recommend a combination of public transport and taxis to the Princess Shuttles. They are very full, infrequent and with long ques. You will spend valuable touring time waiting in line rather than seeing the sights. When a ship is in town, the normal tourist spots, The Peak, Stanley market, Heritage square, fill up quickly with blue Princess bags. However, we ran into no crowds of tourists on the hiking paths around the peak, none in the market and none in the Gardens. Yet these are prime, or at least should be, must sees. Much more so than what we saw on our first Princess tour.

So, for those of you going to Hong Kong for the first time. Consider seriously hiring Mandy or Apple for an 8 hour tour. You will get far more bang for your buck than any ship’s tour and you will not regret the personal interaction, stories and histories a local can provide. For those of you that have done Hong Kong before, the combination of public taxi, busses, metro lines and ferries are far more time efficient, and not that expensive, than free shuttles. Our total transport costs for the day were $15US each. Saving $30 per couple, but wasting 2 hours in lines and on ‘free’ shuttles is simply not worth it.

I cannot recommend Mandy and Apple enough. The tour was fantastic, personal and informative. The selection of sights just right, the pace about perfect, the food incredible. Want to tour a market like Josh Gates, or Andrew Zimmern, or Tony Bourdain? Taste everything in sight? Watch the vendors smile as you photograph their wares and Mandy translates? Order lunch in Chinese? Go where the locals go to shop? Stay away from the crowded tourist traps and see a part of Hong Kong you will not see from a ship’s tour? This is the one for sure…

Now Judy and I have some really aching sore muscles to deal with!

Later!

April 6, 2018 – At Sea to Hong Kong

Overcast, warm with just a slight swell this morning. A few bumps in the night. A really good nights sleep with the fan blowing air over us. We should start to cool down in the cabin soon as we head further north.

While we have been to Vung Tau before off of Phu My, we had not been to Saigon, so this was our first time. I will not ever drive in Saigon or ride a motorbike or bicycle and may not ever walk across a street there! It is an experience all in itself. But you have to see it once yourself – even if you see nothing else, you must see this city in action.

Saigon, Ho Chi Minh, is very hard to describe except as semi-organized chaos. From the traffic to the buildings, to the street wiring, to the motorbikes, to the cars, it’s just overwhelming to the senses. The wiring in the city is such a good analogy – there are rat’s nests of power, telephone and cable on every pole – almost as if someone tried, but failed to sort it out, and just ran another wire rather than untangle the mess. Functionality overlaid on chaos – that’s what I mean by semi-organized chaos! At the basic level, it works.

Barbara booked a tour for both ports in Vietnam via My Way Travel. It was great. Our guide, Lou, spoke excellent English, our driver, Duc, drove through stuff that made your hair stand on end. The van was a 12 seat Ford Sporter style for the 6 of us with great A/C. Very comfortable.

We did the central square in Saigon, saw the various new and old buildings, stopping at a small market on the way and trying out cured meats, Jade Emperor Pagoda, the Post Office, lunch (Pho) and the Ben Thanh market. By mutual agreement we skipped the war museum to spend more time at the market and start back to the ship earlier. Only in the central square were things less hectic. We actually had a nice stroll up the square looking at various historic buildings. Then we started crossing streets with Lou. Once we even used a blind person’s crossing up the street to stop all the traffic so we could negotiate across with less stress!

Ever seen an UBER motorbike? Complete with mounted smartphone? Saigon has them.

The architecture ranges from functional but non-descript Soviet style apartments, to restored French colonial, to modern high rise to re-purposed, but neglected, colonial apartment multi-story stores. All in one mile! The people remind me of Singapore. Driven. Always a serious look on their face as they dash about their daily lives. A weekend would have been interesting to see if they transition to a more care free state like Singapore. During lunch, they do seem to let up a bit. The street corner side walk restaurants are filled with people eating lunch, laughing, talking, watching us tourists watching them.

Lunch was good and authentic, although I do wish the table was a bit cleaner. The plates of additional herbs of basil, cilantro, bean sprouts and other greens was great. The chili sauces were hot and spicy. I had the beef Pho, Judy had the chicken Pho. The broth was well done. Italians have their red gravy, French have their sauces, but Asian have broth down pat.

The market was interesting, but in order to find things of better quality, you really need to spend the time there. Good thing we opted for a longer stay at the market. I was able to find the requisite magnets and tamarind candy, but the hand fans were of poor quality and we skipped those. In the market, the outer ring of stores are the government stores that do not bargain. Inside the market are the vendors that do bargain. But not that much. Some will come down as much as 25%, but their prices are inflated to begin with. And some become pretty irate when you try and lowball them too much. The government stores have a higher quality product, but even there, and with the vendors, you need to check seams of the clothing carefully, and that takes time. (Flaws are everywhere.) Our group stuck to candy, carved figures and fridge magnets. However, given time, and a fitting room, the Vietnamese style dresses are gorgeous. Very colorful.

All aboard on the ship was 1730 and we wanted to time it to arrive back by 1600. However, traffic and the possibility of an accident, which happened just a few days before and closed the main highway for hours, made us want to head back earlier before rush hour. So we left Saigon about 1400 and headed back to arrive around 1530. It was a really good day in Saigon.

A couple of practical notes. Upon arrival we had to shuttle out to the port gates, but coming back we walked to the ship since there was no shuttle. About 500 yards from the gate to the ship. Some tours will charge to pick up and drop off inside the gates – the government charges them a fee to enter. Some will not enter at all. For mobility challenged, you should get picked up as the ground is uneven for walkers, scooters and wheelchairs. It was hot and in full sun, so sunscreen is an absolute necessity in this port. As is LOTS of water.

Nha Trang was a tender port. I missed getting off the ship the last time we were here. This time we were determined to see the town. Nha Trang was a bit less chaos, a bit more organized, but just a bit, a really little bit, especially around lunch time. Same tour company, John was the guide this time, Duc, different guy, was the driver. This van was a 9 seat Ford Sporter van. Lots of room for the 6 of us, great A/C.

We did the oceanographic institute, next to the tender dock. It was very crowded, but John took us to the end and we did it backwards and missed the majority of the crowds. The aquarium displays of fish are interesting and varied. None of the huge tanks you would see at the larger aquariums, but still interesting. A large pool held sea turtles. The aquarium is right next to the tender dock and is an easy DIY, but limited.

After the aquarium we went to the Long Son Pagoda, home of the giant statue on the hill and the reclining buddha on the way up. As in most Buddhist temples, your knees and shoulders must be covered, your shoes and hat off before you can enter. Gorgeous architecture and statuary. From there its 154 steps to the top of the hill, which can also be reached via taxi, to see the gleaming white Buddha. The statue’s base has reliefs of the monks whom immolated themselves during the protest against the Diem government’s crack down on Buddism during the Vietnam War. The door to the back of the statue is guarded by the evil warrior god, angry face, and the good warrior god, smiling face. The grounds around the statue contain rows and rows of burial shelves for cremated remains. Like wall after wall of post office boxes. Very good views and photographs from the top of the hill.

From there we crossed the river to the Cham Towers. One of those very interesting historical mysteries. Lots of interesting stuff here. The Cham Towers are Hindu, built by Indian migrants as they settled the region over 700 years ago. Abandoned or pushed out by the Buddhist expansion, the towers, and the temples, were abandoned and fell into ruin until uncovered by the French in 1938. The design and architecture is fascinating as the towers and temples were built with red brick, placed while wet, but fired in-situ to create an incredibly strong and mortar free set of buildings. Restoration efforts have to resort to fired brick, thin set mortar and steel shims to achieve the same strengths. The temples are clearly Hindu, with Vishnu, Shiva and Elephants in base reliefs. The story of these towers, unfortunately, has been lost to history or destroyed by the successive kings of the area. If the Towers could talk though…

Crossing the river on the Xom Bong bridge and viewing the brightly blue colored fishing boats, painted in blue whale ‘blue’ for luck, was interesting. But sadly, the river and beach under the bridges were garbage dumps with all manner of trash covering the white sand and floating in the water. Remnants of Durian fruit were everywhere and the sickly sweet smell of Durian was in the air. Not exactly appetizing or appealing when walking through the fruit vendors under the bridge.

We did lunch at a ‘steak house’ – Mama Moo’s. We had Pho, spring rolls, rice and salad. Excellent meal and the place was very clean. Once again the broth in the Pho was great and the plates of herbs to add to the Pho was great. Topped off with a beer! The star though was the spring rolls. Could have eaten a dozen each of those tasty little snacks.

We did make it to the Dam market as well. Here there did not appear to be any government stores and the bargaining was heated and intense, as well as high sales pressure, although not pushy like the pressure in the Great Bazaar in Turkey. Bargaining extremes ranged from screaming in frustration to tears. Quite interesting. Once again the fans were very low quality and we passed, but did pick up the required fridge magnet.

We went back to the dock to tender back to the ship. Although the line was quite long, it only took about 15 minutes to get on the tender and head to the ship. Once again though, the sun was very hot and sunscreen was an absolute necessity.

A whirlwind couple of days in Vietnam. And an absolute bargain in terms of costs. For the 2 of us, both ports, was $70 each. $280 USD total. Half the price of comparable Princess excursions with 1/5 as many people in the group.

Now its time to recharge prior to Hong Kong!

Later!

In Phu My today and Nha Trang tomorrow with all day private tours. Might not get a chance to update in a couple of days. Probably day before Hong Kong. Very busy port schedule the rest of the cruise.

Later!

March 3, 2018 – At Sea to Phu My

An exciting April fools day. From the Great Easter Egg Hunt to the ‘move to the Port side of the ship’ to the all too real First Stage Response at 0330 prior to KK, it has been an interesting couple of days.

The Easter egg was a lot of fun. We came in third by missing the ‘blood, sweat and toil’ clue which we thought was the gym, then the chapel, forgetting about Churchhill’s bar! Who needed Zumba scouring the ship taking photographs of bunny prints from top to bottom. A really good time.

I tried to get Akane on an April Fool’s but she was already primed and ready to go. Oh well. So the Captain gets on the horn in the late afternoon talking about turning the ship into a certain strait and a certain current and could everyone please move to the port side of the ship! So we are listening to people scramble to our side of the ship in our hallway. We knew what it was from the get go, but it was still pretty funny to hear everyone’s reaction in the hallway when he April Fooled them.

Of course the 0330 in the morning First Stage response was no April Fools joke. Someone tripped a bell box near our cabin where there is a room service pantry. There was a fire, but either the assessment party or the First Stagers got it under control. There was a lot of running around outside our door for a while though and when they restarted the ventilation system, the smell of burning plastic was evident. Three separate announcements, one calling for the first stage and two from the captain. We did get a little dozing in after that, but not much.

So now to Kota Kinabalu, or KK. We booked the zoo and museum half day Princess tour. Not a good tour, partially because of circumstances outside Princess’ control and some because of poor planning on their part. Our guide was very good, with good English and an understanding of what tourists like to know about a country. Prices of housing, fuel, cars, income levels, political structure, etc.

The ride from the ship to the zoo took about an hour. The zoo was supposed to open early for us, but did not. We only got an hour at the zoo, which is far too short a time. In order to see all the animals and at least be able to photograph them, you need a minimum of 2 hours, 3 would be better. Also, while Princess limited the tour group sizes, they don’t limit the number of tour groups, so we had 5 bus loads show up at the same time, which overloaded the viewing platforms and slowed everything down. Interestingly enough, at 1000, everybody was well into the loop and as we headed back to the bus, there was almost no one at the major attraction areas.

The zoo itself is quite nice and interesting. (Although there was a severely injured deer that they really needed to isolate from the herd and treat. Not a pretty sight.) There are elephants (pygmy), monkeys, orangutans, birds, a tiger and several species of deer in large fenced pens, aviaries and limited cages. The wildlife displayed at the zoo changes as they do rescue and release some of the species.

It’s a very nice walk around the zoo, the trail is paved, but uneven. The area is heavily shaded which is very nice in the equatorial sun. Viewing platforms for the major exhibits do get a bit crowded when tour groups go through, but they provide a nice place to just sit and observe the animals if you have the time.

Bottom line – the zoo is highly recommended, but not on a Princess tour. Grab a cab at the port. There is a taxi stand at the zoo for the return.

From the zoo we went to the Museum. The replica houses of the natives were interesting, but very hot. The Museum itself was pretty much a mess. The power had been shut off – part of a brownout apparently. So you could not even see the exhibits in the darkened hallways. Only the emergency lights were on and those were running out of juice. Even the gift shop was in the dark. All in all, I don’t know enough to recommend the museum or not, but its pretty big and you should expect to spend at least 2-3 hours there. There is a taxi stand as well.

Our most fun, honestly, was after the excursion. We rode the shuttle into KK from the pier - $8 AUS each way each person. (We guzzled 6 bottles of water during the zoo and the museum, so no walking in that hot sun!) The shuttle dropped us off in front the major shopping mall. A 7 story monstrosity with shops, restaurants, fast food and our favorite excursion – a grocery store! We shopped for candy, some toiletries (running out of toothpaste and mouthwash) and looked at all the cool stuff. The store was well organized, clean, well signed and had a lot of Japanese products. A real Asian selection of fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses. But no Easter candy sales and very little chocolates and lollypops! A whole aisle of cookies (biscuits) and crackers. Soft drinks of all types of fruits and vegetables. This was really cool.

After shopping we found a Thai restaurant in the mall across from the grocery store. OMG it was so good. Simple, cheap, tasty, fresh. Had a noodle dish and a sweet and sour fish and rice dish. Not too spicy, but spicy enough to perk the taste buds. I almost ended up at McDonalds, just to try it out, but common sense prevailed and we just had to try Thai with a Malay influence.

Last night we did attend the ‘You Be The Judge’ gameshow. A lot of fun. At this point in time in this cruise, the cruise staff almost knows you by name, and we all know them and their quirks and pet peeves. Its almost like a family get together at these games. It was fun…

Lots to do to prepare for Vietnam. Later!

I am sorry if I missed this but who is the Captain? Is it Todd McBain by chance? We really liked him when we sailed on the Diamond.

 

Thanks,

Gennaro, otherwise known as 'Captain Speaking From the Bridge'!

April 1, 2018 – At Sea To Kota Kinabalu (Day 4)

Happy Easter and April Fool’s Day – all in one – from the seas around Malaysia. Partly cloudy, some blue sky, slight seas, warm, humid. They gave us a stand fan yesterday. Even though the room stays between 74 and 77, at least the fan provides a cooling breeze. We can now definitely make it to Hong Kong. Good thing the fan plugs into the new 220V outlet above the desk. Otherwise it would take up one of the two power plugs near the telephone.

I continue to be more impressed with this Captain as he is much more approachable and available and visible than any other Captain we’ve sailed with. Not only was he up on the deck during the entire Crossing the Line Ceremony, he was up yesterday observing the crew tug of war competition. And boy did the crew take this one seriously. It was not a half hearted, entertain the passengers and get back to work game, they came to win! The overall winner were the Spartans, the Galley crew, complete with togas, spears and helmets. They put down the Engine crew for the win. The crowd favorite were the girls from the shops – the Sharks, or Shoppies – who won against the Spa, then lost to the Engine – but the cutest was when they allowed all the shoppies on deck, about 20 of them, to grab the rope and walk all over the 8 burley guys from the engine room. This was a lot of fun for all of us. The 8 team members each got a day off and a meal at a specialty restaurant. No wonder they were all so enthusiastic!

With the hectic nature of the last couple of cruises, we did not attend a lot of specialty events, saving those for this cruise. Last night they actually had the Captains Circle party on a casual night – so we attended. Now everyone knows the drinks are a bit watered down, so the key is to zero in on the drink you want and then go looking for it during the mingling time and stock up! (They close the bar after the last speech!) I found a rather interesting drink that I still do not know what it was, but it was pretty good and I snagged three of them before they shut the bar down. The only thing of interest was that the 2019/2020 Australia/New Zealand season goes on sale around the 18th of April.

We then watched Dancing with the ST...AFF. It was a hoot and very well done. Its hard to describe. You don’t have to know how to dance, you just have to have fun, and the more fun you have, the more likely you are to win! 3 ladies and 3 gents are paired with staff, most are part of the dance troupe. Three staff members provide the judge’s critiques. All are part of the entertainment staff or dance troupe. There is then a group dance in a certain dance style – cha cha, waltz, etc. in3 rounds in which one couple is eliminated in each round, then interviewed backstage by cruise staff on the TV screen. When only three are left, the host announces a fusion type dance for each couple – salsa/irish, tango/jive, etc. One couple is then eliminated. The last two go head to head in a freestyle to a song chosen by the host – Time of Our Life, for example – and the winner is selected by audience acclaim. Great idea, great show.

Tomorrow – Land!

Later!

Just curious...

Did you need to get a visa for Kota Kinabalu before boarding in SYD or does Princess process any required visa's like they do for Vietnam onboard ?

 

 

 

Enjoying your reports

Srpilo

Nothing special that we've been notified of. There is a landing card we have to fill out for Hong Kong. We got an immigration information sheet so I will try and post some information from that later on.

March 31, 2018 – At Sea to Kota Kinabalu (Day 3)

Its mostly cloudy this morning. Seas are slight and its warm and humid. White chocolate latte, a smile from Anna and Joana and I’m set for some writing in corner of the atrium looking out over the foam from the bow wake. Yesterday morning we were treated with displays of flying fish darting out from the wake. This morning it’s probably a bit too choppy to see flying fish.

Yesterday was the crossing the line ceremony. Lynn ran 4 groups of a dozen each passengers through the ritual and one group of 14 crew including a cadet in her all white uniform that was brownish red by the time the ceremony was over. We got there early and snagged a shady spot under the MUTS screen. By the end of the ceremony, the shade was gone as both the ship and the sun moved, but on deck 15 that was the only shady spot available. The ritual was not all whipped cream, eggs and jello, but also had a gross smelly concoction that got poured over everyone.

I really like this captain. He came out for the ceremony and stayed, standing in the hot sun, for the whole ceremony. He didn’t have to, but he did anyway. Frenchie got a bit uppity with King Neptune and ended up in the pool, tossed by one of the enforcers, the male adagio dancer who could have probably tossed her across the pool! All in all it was a great ceremony and we now have our second crossing the line certificate.

Last night was the King Neptune deck party. And it rained, actually poured, before the party and showered during the party. It was great dancing in the rain! Nice and cool in the wind and rain. The flashmob was actually a surprise to some people! It was to a partial thriller soundtrack and we did the basic thriller dance - head shuffle, stomp, monster claws, forward step with head toss and mummy back step - three times. Lynn is in constant motion. She is one of those people who are doing 90mph at all times. Turn her loose on the dance floor and she’s a maniac! We danced for quite a while until the ankle alarm went off and I had to call it for the evening. Got a lot of walking to do in the upcoming ports and we don’t want to hobble through them.

I have to talk to the front desk again this morning. It was 78 in the cabin when we got back last night and only got down to 74 this morning. Its just too hot. We need a fan or something since they can’t seem to fix it the airflow in the cabin.

So interesting news, Hong Kong is going to be a major crew swap. Princess probably gets good rates on consolidator air tickets from Hong Kong. Our room steward is leaving, Frenchie and Andrew are leaving. Kelvin Joy is joining the ship as ED. Last time we sailed with him he was CD - and his chubble demonstration still stands as the best ever. A lot of the older CDs are shifting over to the ED position it appears with a lot of new talent moving up into the CD slots. By using 90 mph people in the CD slot, like Lynn, Princess can also save substantially on fuel bills by plugging them in over night to the ship’s power grid! Seriously though, I think the ED/CD split is working out rather well. The CD is much more visible during the cruise and actually has some time to talk instead of rushing to the next meeting or answering that incessant pager. Being able to talk to Frenchie during her morning desk hours is nice as well. She has taken all of our suggestions seriously and implemented those she could.

Nothing significant planned for the day…just staying out of trouble.

Later all!

March 30, 2018 – At Sea to Kota Kinabalu (Day 2)

Another basically flat calm day, overcast, warm, humid, daylight at 0530, which I haven’t seen for a while. We went another hour back last night. Yesterday was a pretty typical day at sea with jam packed stuff going on all the time. Frenchie and Lynn try to use all the venues all the time with something. The Captain was observing one in Explorer’s and Judy got a hug from the Captain.

David Barret, the soloist guitarist, was in fine fettle last night as we were able to dance to several of his numbers with a variety of dances – nightclub, rhumba, foxtrot, hustle and even a waltz. It was nice not having to remember the steps and try not to stumble when the ship moved. Basically you couldn’t tell you were on a ship it was that calm.

Liar’s club was last night and we won! It was a 4 way tie with 3 correct answers out of 4, and Judy got the tie breaker (the collective ages of the three panelists – 104) perfectly correct. I was guessing 98. One bottle of Shampoo! Although we do not normally do trivia, we sat through the 80’s trivia with Ian, but did not play, we did play the Travel Trivia. 40 questions, some with multiple answers, on airlines, destinations, flags and geography. The winner got 38. Judy and I got 29. It was one of the more enjoyable trivia as all of us were giving Andrew a hard time. After all, he was the stuckee demonstrating chubble for liar’s club – while Ian was demonstrating how frustrating a stuck zipper on a pair of trousers can be!

Still trying to get the cabin A/C sorted out. Gets up to 28C in the cabin in the afternoon so we have to go somewhere else cooler on the lower decks. Yesterday it was the library.

Today is the crossing the line ceremony and tonight is the crossing the line deck party. Big events. The one in which I participated, put together by Kelvin and Matais, was memorable. This is a once in a lifetime event for Pollywogs and I hope a lot ‘kiss the fish’!

The atrium is laid out in Easter decorations this morning. A whole bunch of large handcrafted chocolate easter eggs are on display in the atrium and there are pink, yellow, green and blue pastel balloons and ribbons everywhere. (Or at least I think they are chocolate and not plastic!) Maybe they will pass them out later.

One of the benefits of long cruises (or B2B’s) is getting to know the staff quite well, and they get to know you as well. It becomes an almost family situation. Heck we’ve already adopted Lynn – nice to be known as Mom and Dad instead of Grandma and Grandpa! Would love to take some of these guys and girls home to the states – they would be killer in the service industries and end up running hotels or restaurants. In just the first couple of days of this cruise Joana, the barista in the Atrium bar in the morning, already knew most of her regulars by name and what their preferences were. She greets almost everyone by name and asks if they want the usual. Anna is so perky – the minute Judy walks into the Atrium, Ana gets her coffee, hot water and lemon ready. And the really great thing is that in all the mornings we’ve had coffee, there has not been one grumpy passenger to spoil the mornings.

So off to prep the cameras for King Neptune’s arrival!

Later…

March 29, 2018 – At Sea to Kota Kinabalu

Gorgeous morning. Puffy clouds, blue sky, calm seas. The heat is on as we enter the tropics and probably won’t get relief until Hong Kong.

Yesterday was a great day in Darwin. It is a fantastic cruise port. With the new bridge access via the skywalk and elevators it’s a simple 10-15 minute walk into the CBD. Lots of people carrying cases of water and soda back on the ship from Coles. The immediate area around the cruise terminal has restaurants, free wifi, shops, including a convenience store, souvenir shops and a fantastic, and safe, lagoon to swim in. A beach, some grass, some shade, cool water. This would be a fantastic place for a picnic and a swim.

While it was hot and humid, it was not Bangkok hot. Noticeable, but not miserable. Modern day wicking fabrics, my fishing shirts especially, are great for this kind of heat. They dry quickly and coolly. Our Tilley hats are essential in this kind of sunshine. I used to have the solid kind, but it was way too hot. Now we have the ventilated kind and they are fantastic for keeping the sun off your ears and the top of your head, while not sweating you do death!

The CBD is compact, easy to get around, except for all the construction getting rid of the downed trees from Cyclone Marcus, nice parks and open spaces, gorgeous views out over the ocean. Someone needs to remind me why Melbourne is considered the most livable city in Australia? This place is fantastic!

One reason might be the price of housing. OMG! 3 bedroom house - $600 to $750k (AUD)! Wow! That is NOT cheap for sure! (So much for retiring to Darwin!)

But the highlight of the day was the Princess jumping crocodile cruise excursion which included a stop at the world famous Humpty Doo Hotel, Bar, (Tire Center and Hair Care Salon)…The cruise was fantastic. To see these animals in their native habitat, to hear the stories of Stumpy, Trevor and Candy, to watch them lift themselves out of the water with just a single sweep of their tail, to marvel in their coloring and actually go eye to eye with a hungry croc at 5 feet – just a once in a lifetime experience. This is an absolute must do, period, dot, exclamation point!

They have several different size boats, some single row, some double row, sit up on the front row to get real close, but you will be in the sun, so wear sunscreen and a hat. In the front rows you will not be able to stand. No need to. In the second rows there is shade, and the captain will let you stand to see the crocs, but you won’t be able to see the whites of their eyes! You get about 90 minutes on the river and will play with 2-3 crocs. The captain will entertain you about the history of the crocs in the area, they are all named, except for the new yearling we saw along the bank – soon to be a meal for Stumpy if she is not careful. You’ll hear a lot about the biology as well. A very well rounded presentation – and oh BTW, crocs love red and pink!

They did offer water and sodas at the boat dock. So we guzzled a couple of bottles on the boat and took a couple more back to the bus. The drive out and back was interesting as well. Lots of different mango orchards, bush, swampy areas, birds and a rather interesting RF listening post in middle of nowhere with every kind of LF and HF antenna known to mankind. There were several buffalo, the water kind, not the bison kind, surrounded by egrets as well. Very green as we were in the latter part of the wet season. Not to mention that Cyclone Marcus dumped a bunch of rain on the area. There were a lot of African Mahogany trees uprooted along the routes. The settlers planted them for shade, but they are shallow rooted and the Cyclone winds, only a CAT II, toppled them.

After the cruise we stopped at the Humpty Doo Hotel and Bar for a bag of chips (crisps) and a nice cold Northern Territory Original brew. Best beer on the trip so far. Not hoppy at all, which according to Chris, our guide, is typically of the northern territory beers in general. One could have ordered food at the bar, we had about 45 minutes, and they were quick if you ordered upon arrival. Several people ordered burgers. The locals were quite amused with all of us, but very friendly and open.

It was so good that when we went to lunch in the cruise terminal area, we had more – well Judy had another and I had a couple more! Fish and Chips, a burger, fries, topped off with some ice cream finished us on-shore. It was time to take a shower and try out another treat in the Atrium.

They have ‘hand-crafted’ iced tea infusions in the Atrium menu. Because it was so hot during the day we wanted to try them, but the decaf versions. So I had the Minty Apple Tea and Judy had the Citrus Spiced Tea. Both were very nice and decaf. Both would be great with a shot of booze as well! Spiced rum in the Citrus and Sour Apple Vodka in the Minty Apple! Got to try that one day.

So off to breakfast! Later…

March 28, 2018 – Darwin

Another smooth night last night. Barely rocking at all. I see the lights of Darwin up ahead as we round the point into the harbor. Today we see the crocodiles jump. We had chosen the early tour, but they switched us to the mid-day tour, which does screw up our afternoon plans in Darwin. But it is supposed to be 95F today. Hot, humid and a killer sun – so that means sweating and gooping up with that sunscreen – although the alternative is far less attractive. Hoping to get to a store and stock up on some more water and ‘stuff’, but might not.

We did the ½ hour back last night. Now our watches and phones are so screwed up!

The highlight of yesterday was the top 40 cocktail party. Don’t know the actual numbers, but our 550ish days got us on Table 5 out of 6. But with the South African Doctor. Turns out the medical response on the 12 day New Zealand that we watched during sailaway was a real call out. I told him how impressed I was – and his requirements from the company are impressive as well. First of all, the first EMT responder, with a backpack full of IVs, defib, first aid, etc. has to be on scene within 3 or 6 minutes – I forget which. The second EMT within 6 minutes and the rest of the staff within 10 minutes. The requirements, which they drill at and are tested every few weeks, are very impressive.

Another thing I was not aware of was that Princess, and now Holland America, are two of the only lines he knows of that have strict doctor certification requirements. He has 4, South Africa, US, UK and Canada. Princess requires him to be certified in at least US, UK and Canada. Other lines do not have that certification requirement. His nurses have to be RN’s and his EMT’s have to be certified as well. He stated quite frankly that Princess ships are the best place to have a heart attack – outside a hospital room – period. Very nice discussion with him. Enjoyed it immensely.

The food was fantastic. A seafood appetizer in the shape of a lobster with lobster meat, scallops, shrimp – followed by a champagne sorbet – followed by beef tenderloin or halibut or pasta – followed by a chocolate journeys dessert and bite size pettifors. The halibut was excellent. Judy, my pastaholic, did not care for the pasta. She should have stuck with the beef or fish.

Last night the Domino Duo started early at 1700 so we started dancing with them in wheelhouse. Ivor Richards had his final comedy show in Explorer’s. And it was great. We laughed until our cheeks hurt.

More dancing rounded out the night for us.

Now its coffee and getting ready for Darwin.

Later!

March 27, 2018 – At Sea to Darwin (Day 5)

Still too dark to see the weather this morning. A little bouncy, but not bad. Another fully day at sea before hitting Darwin. Big event for the day is the Top 40 luncheon in Sabatini’s. They always do a great job on the food for that event. Looking forward to it.

So as far as the great Candy controversy, for this crew, there is no controversy. They love chocolate most of all! We bought some assorted Cadbury chocolate eggs in Sydney (on sale at Woolworths) in a nice large plastic egg. We have been passing out assorted candies in little snack bags the entire cruise, but decided to treat the cruise staff by giving Frenchie the entire egg to pass out from her desk. We are going to try and find some Tamarind candy in Kota Kinabalu as it is a favorite of the Philipinos on board and while they do love their chocolate as well, we want to give them a little taste of home.

The passage through the many little islands and the reef system yesterday was pretty cool. At noon there was only 6 meters under the keel as we buzzed along at 19 or 20 knots. The wind was whipping the water up a bit, but you could see the distinct outlines of the lighter sand bottom vs the darker coral bottom with the occasional shark fin. The passage is heavily trafficked with shipping and there are a whole bunch of islands of all shapes and sizes on both sides – some as close as 1km. Had the wind not been whipping up the water, it would have been near perfect viewing conditions of a very interesting area.

It is lightening up a bit and it looks still a bit overcast with patches of blue. We have slowed significantly this morning so there is very little motion here on Deck 5.

Tonight is the ½ hour back for Darwin. Instead of the one button hour back or hour forward, it’s 30 of the minute button. Although my hiking watch might have a preset for Darwin. We’ll see.

There is a notice in the patter about the Vietnamese Visa. Apparently everyone will be charged the VISA fee unless you show them you have an existing valid VISA or are from a VISA free country. Passengers have until 4/1 to get that straightened around with the front desk.

The Diamond has the Wakeview bar, which is accessed via a stairwell at the back side of Fusion near the bandstand. (Most Fusions on a Fincanteri SuperGrand have a bandstand and a seating area. The Diamond has the bandstand where the seating area would be and the staircase where the bandstand would be.) However, it has been closed the entire trip so far and is not registered in the patter as an active bar. I wonder if they have just closed it off due to lack of interest.

Lots of sea days means lots of work for the staff. The passengers can’t wait for Darwin to get off the ship. The crew can’t wait for Darwin to catch up on a few hours of extra sleep. To give you an idea of the activities on board during the day, I’ll give you a quick rundown.

In the morning there is Zumba – Trivia - an event like carpet bowling, golf chipping, thong toss (flip flops for those of you from the US), bean bags, etc. – a destination lecture – a enrichment lecture – a couple of unhosted events put on by passengers like crafters or games like bridge or mahjong or bible study or a book clug – a MUTS movie – Tai Chi – seminars like photography, jewelry, weight loss, beauty tips, casino game tutorials – an art auction or two – hosted crafting classes by the cruise staff like fashion designer, drawings, watercoloring – future cruise presentations – and bingo.

In the afternoon there is dance classes – line and ballroom – an enrichment lecture – a couple of hosted arts and crafts classes – pool games – trivia – MUTS – bingo - seminars like photography, jewelry, weight loss, beauty tips, casino game tutorials – afternoon tea – and shuffleboard.

In the evening there is typically a major event in the theater like a production show or a guest entertainer, vocalist, comedian or variety act. There is always a secondary event in Explorer’s like a comedian or a gameshow mixed with a trivia in Explorer’s or Fusion. Fusion has a mix of recorded music dancing, transitioning to a event area in the case of a theme night like Rock and Roll, Country Western, Disco or a deck party that got moved down from the open decks. The resident party band will move between Fusion and Explorer’s filling in the time with live music and then settle in one for late night music. There is the major MUTS movie, which then becomes available on the TV VOD the next day. The Wheelhouse typically will have music the entire evening. A soloist guitar(or two) or piano player will mix with the ‘ballroom dance band’ for the evening’s entertainment. The dance band can be a duo, trio, or quartet. Sometimes the ship’s orchestra will do a themed set in the Wheelhouse or Explorer’s as well like Big Band era or Jazz. Skywalkers opens up for the Party Crowd at 2200 with DJ’ed music. Crooners will typically have the resident piano headliner start around 2000 and switch up with the other piano player on board during the evening. In the Atrium there will typically be a Strings duo or trio starting around 1700 switching off and on with the secondary piano player or one of the soloist guitar players.

For dancers, like us, there are three decent dance floors (wooden), wheelhouse, explorers and Fusion, with, on this cruise, four different music entertainment choices – the Party Band (rock and roll), the wheelhouse duo, trio or quartet, the soloist guitar player and recorded music. We have always been able to find something to dance to or enjoy. Last night, for example, we started in Fusion and sat down for a few minutes in Explorer’s (but the volume was cranked to an uncomfortable level to dance to), and then went to wheelhouse to listen to David, the soloist guitar player. Tonight Domino starts at 1700 in wheelhouse, so we get to start early. BTW, even though Princess advertises the Atrium, with its concrete flooring, and Skywalkers, with its glass floor, as dance venues, these, for us, are limited to free style type dancing. Twirling or turning on concrete or glass just doesn’t agree with older knees and ankles! Our dance sneaks work perfectly on wooden floors.

Because the Diamond, and Sapphire, has the 5 main dining rooms, their functions and times are a bit staggered. The International, Deck 6 aft, is for breakfast, lunch and traditional dining. Santa Fe is set aside for Club Class dining all day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – but also allows anytime dinner dining. Savoy and Pacific Moon are anytime dining all the time. Vivaldi is early first seating, transitioning to anytime dining after the first seating is complete.

Horizon Court shuts down at 2300 and does not open until 0500. That means a whole 6 hours without food on the ship! The grill and the Pizza joint are open from 1100 to 2200.

Anyway, I hope that gives you an idea of what happens during these sea days. There are plenty of things to do and there is always the number one favorite – the afternoon power nap!

Later!

March 26, 2018 – At Sea To Darwin – Day 4

A bit cloudy yesterday with breaks now and again. Going through the interior channels on the great barrier reef. Probably what is helping the sea state as it is near motionless now. Hot and humid as well. Just breaking daylight and it looks a bit cloudy today as well.

Judy has her ‘sushi’ massage this morning. The one with the seaweed wrap. We usually splurge on at least one per cruise sequence. With all the different and new ports on this cruise, she can’t do one on a port day, so we will have to pay full price on this one – ouch!

We saw Ivor Richards (comedian) last night. Very good. A one liner standup comedian in the old style. If this one doesn’t work, the next one will. Rapid fire and a heavy Liverpool accent. I had to dial in as did Judy and even a couple of Aussies behind us - so I didn’t feel too left out. Once again the 1930 show was packed by 1915 with only a few seats left. We got there early and sipped a couple of Fosters while doing some light reading. Electronics are the best way to pass time in the theater.

They scheduled the Domino Duo into Fusion last night. Fusion has the best dance floor in the fleet. Lots of room, but lots of dancers as well. Princess looks like they still have the most dance venues on their Grand and SuperGrand ships than any other ships – and they use them. (We do not like the Royal class because of the lack of dance venues with proper dance flooring. Dancing on concrete tiles in the Atrium – Royal, Regal, Majestic - does not make for happy ankles and knees!)

Had breakfast with couples from Australia and New Zealand (Napier) yesterday. I got a big laugh in the hallway later as we talked to Barbara (UK) about liking to dine with people from other countries. I think my comment was that we didn’t want to eat with boring Americans…I mean we live with them most of our lives! The great thing is that we talked over breakfast for over an hour about everything under the sun except for my two ‘do not go there’ topics on cruises – politics and religion – although talking about ABC’s, religious piles of rocks, temples, and stuff like that is just fine…I especially enjoyed talking about Napier and the Art Deco theme the entire town embraces.

Lunch buffet was actually really good yesterday. A really nicely fried catfish with a corn meal crust, a couple of really good cold salads, a great spaghetti carbonara and a tasty chili. I did solve the issue with the boring cheese rotation in the Elite Lounge. Last night was Sushi night, but very lacking compared to past lounges. Only 4 different types of rolls, no nigiri, no seaweed (red or green), so separate mixing bowls for the soy and wasabi, and basically the same cheeses as before, smoked gouda, a cheddar and a jack, only packaged crackers. So went to down to the HC and made up my own plate of cheeses and snacks from down there. Blue cheese, pepper jack, swiss, salami, gherkins, grapes, slices of rye bread, salami, etc. Bring back to the lounge and enjoy. Got several funny ‘hungry’ looks from others eyeing my blue cheese and salami…hey its just 4 floors down!

We are having a most traveled luncheon and we did make the cut. This time tomorrow in Sabatini’s. Looking forward to it. Love the luncheons! It will be interesting to see which table we get. The table order indicates your ranking in the top 40. On the Panama cruise last year we actually made the 3rd highest and got to sit with the Captain and the top 2. I would imagine we aren’t in the top 3 this time, not with top couples having over 1000 days as of late, but we are slowly climbing up the tables!

Learning our flashmob steps from Lyn as well. We will be doing the flashmob during the Crossing the Line Deck party.

Having a real issue with the A/C in the cabin. (Had a similar problem on the Island last year that they could not fix at all.) It would not cool down past 73F yesterday and gets up to 77F in the afternoon when the sun hits that side of the ship. They’ve been trying to fix it by adjusting the thermostat, but I think its more of an airflow issue as the bathroom air vent is barely pushing air and the central air vent is dropping cold air, but at not a lot of volume. Interesting enough there are corridors on the ship that are very cool, while ours is really hot almost all day. I wonder if there is a fan/coil unit out in our part of the ship that is limiting air flow into the corridors and the rooms. Usually you can hear the air in the hallways, but not in our section. In any event this is going to get even more miserable as we get higher heat loads in the tropics. No relief in sight until Hong Kong!

Not sure if I mentioned it or not, but because of Princess’s change in excursion policy, pre-pay, and their prices, we are venturing out into some CC member’s private tours on this cruise. Although Darwin and Kota Kinabalu will be Princess tours, we will be doing private tours in Vietnam (both ports), Hong Kong, Osaka and Tokyo. DIY is planned for Shimizu – a train ride to the temple area and a stroll around the shopping area and fish market. I already have over 20 Trip Advisor reviews written for our past travels, this will definitely add some more.

Internet is slllloooooooowwwwww. Especially after 0700 in the morning as more and more people log in. Even at 0500 this morning, it was painful, but having cut my teeth on 150 BAUD dial-up, I can at least appreciate the slow speed connecting to servers halfway around the world. Now if only we could get rid of all of this video and photo webpage garbage that clogs the system – remember the days when you could turn off all this junk and grey out the photo boxes and just read the text? That would help speed things immensely!

So later!

March 25, 2018 – At Sea To Darwin – Day 3

The sea has really calmed down a lot. Perfect sailing weather, just a little to rock you to sleep instead of toss you around in the shower. A bit cloudy, a lot more heat and humidity than the South Island for sure. Talking to one of the cleaning crew this morning he did not get an extra hours sleep last night. That must have sucked. Working at 2 in the morning and then suddenly its one and you get to work an extra hour! Anna and Joanna enjoyed their extra hours sleep, as did we. Now its coffee time. Caramel this morning I think. MMMM good!

We will be doing the escape room this morning and signed up for the flash mob as well. Seems we will have several deck parties over this cruise including the crossing the line deck party and probably the love boat disco deck party as well.

Lots more platinums and elites on this cruise. The Elite lounge is packed at night. They had to call in extra staff from the casino bar to handle the rush. No delays in laundry though, typically second day service in the evening but we have gotten some things back on the second day in the morning. Still putting those stickers on elastic seams! Lots of clothes will not being going home with us from this cruise – but it beats doing laundry for sure.

We had a chance to talk to Lyn, the CD. She has been a CD on the Pacific before, a dancer and is pretty fluent in Japanese. And she has enough energy to run ship. OMG! Keeping up with her must be a challenge to anyone.

We did have breakfast in the MDR again. Sat down and had a very nice discussion with some people from the UK. Food and service was good, with plenty of butter for all. Still have not gone to the MDR for dinner. Trying to avoid eating too much bread – but boy is it good!

TVs are still not working properly. If ours doesn’t come up, we unplug the main power cord and do a power on reset for the entire cabin system. That usually works. So we go another $50 credit each! Nice.

Off to breakfast! Later!

We are on this cruise as well as the previous one. The most striking positive so far has been the service. From dining room service to our room steward it has been exceptional. Room service has been the fastest and friendliest we have ever seen. Never taking more than 10 minutes from call to knock on the door. After all the Princess cruises we have sailed I finally realized I could call for things that aren’t on the card I put on the door. Been enjoying a veggie omelet and hash browns. Filled out the survey for the previous cruise with lots of 10s and positive comments. Also noted that we don’t miss BOGO at all. I did suggest BOGO might have been better if it had been available at all bars like Celebrity or if they replaced it with a 5 bottle wine package like NCL.

I have to agree. Service has been second to none on this cruise. All the bar staff, the wait staff, room steward - excellent!

March 24, 2018 – At Sea(2) To Darwin

Very good day at sea yesterday. The seas starting calming and by this morning, they are back to their usual slightness. No bumps in the road last night and if there were, we were pretty exhausted. Since no port for 5 days we enjoyed the ship board amenities. Already knew about David Barret in the wheelhouse, but he started at 1700 yesterday and we needed some dance time. Domino Duo took over at 1900. Good music, good company, great dancing, a whole lot of fun, but very exhausting…

The CC Meet and Greet was yesterday as well in Skywalkers. This group is very lively and we have several people that were on the last cruise as well. Our new cruise director Lyn Van Vorce showed up – she just got promoted to CD and this is her first ship as CD. She gets supplemented at Hong Kong by the new Japanese cruise director who will be with her during the Japanese season. Frenchy is still ED and a new Assistant Food and Beverage director was there also. Then the Captain showed up as well. The dashingly handsome Italian captain was asked if he was single – and apparently he gets asked that a lot – as he shared his wife’s instructions to hold the microphone in his left hand with his ring finger wrapped prominently around it!

There will be a crossing the line ceremony as Judy and I are already shellbacks and nearly Golden Shellbacks from the 28 day Tahiti cruise in which I participated in the Crossing the line ceremony with Kelvin Lee.

The International Dining Room (Deck 6 Aft) is open for breakfast as lunch and has become our dining venue of choice with the rough seas, but the food seems to be a little better seasoned and tastier, so we’ve been doing that a lot for breakfast instead of the HC. I tried one of the Pies at the Grill yesterday. Never again for that flavor. I had the meat, cheese and potato. But the cheese was that nasty canned nacho sauce concoction. Not even up to Velveeta standards. On the other hand the pizza was very well done and very tasty with the margherita pizza the best with just the right amount of salt in the crust and cooked perfectly with the right chew vs crunch. Princess pizza, when done right, is pretty darn tasty. I wish they took a page from the Island and made Sabatini’s Alfredo’s for lunch instead of crab shack. We liked being able to sit and enjoy a hand crafted pizza in comfortable surroundings with a glass of wine or a beer that didn’t get warm too fast!

Just breaking daylight and its cloudy out. Getting much warmer and more humid. Sea state is near perfect now with a light pitch and roll, just a hint of wind. Great cruising weather! Nice cup of white chocolate latte, Judy is up and functioning and we surprised Anna with an assortment of chocolate easter eggs from our Sydney shopping excursion.

Today is the first formal night and a time change back one hour. Looks like they will have an escape room this cruise. So we will definitely sign up for this one. They are a blast! And a flashmob as well. There goes the afternoon power nap!

Finally – wandering around Oceania – Later!

March 23, 2018 – At Sea To Darwin

Day 1 of 5 days at sea to Darwin and still the Tasman Sea will not let us sleep. Several times last night I woke up being tossed around the bed. More than I ever have before – and we have, now, over 550 days at sea. Looks like another Judy on Deck 5 or in bed day for sure.

But it was an exhausting day in Sydney. Fish market for breakfast – we found even better grilled baby octopus and fried calamari, plus nigiri. Used the last of our Iventure card at the Sydney Eye to see the city in noon day sun. Rode the light rail, the ferry, the train, shopped and talked to some very friendly people. In general had a blast! Sydney is a very tourist friendly city with lots to see and experience. And a lot of it very reasonably priced or even free. I can see why a lot of backpackers come to this city. We will be back to see more of the country – we hope.

They did take our passports upon boarding. We had that happen on the last Asia cruise as well. Still makes you feel a bit funny. We boarded a little after 1400 and had minor lines at the entrance and security.

The BOGO coupon book paid off again last night as we had dinner with Barbara and Peter, from the UK, our upcoming tour ‘buddies’ in Vietnam and Japan. Dinner at Sabatini’s was very good, although Judy did not care for her lobster (bug) that much. The braised short rib pasta was very good, as was my veal. The new menu at Sabatini’s at least doesn’t have them rolling you out after dinner – the smaller portions are greatly appreciated. It was a great dinner with very good conversation. We talked and ate for almost 3 hours, having only conversed via email over the past 9 months!

This morning (1100) is the formal CC meet and greet in Skywalkers. Judy will most likely not attend if the sea keeps kicking us around like this.

From the first patter – we have Scott Williams (Comedy Variety), Ivor Richards (Comedian), Beven Addinsail (Vocalist), Buddy Holly Tribute act, Adam Dean (Comedy/ Magic), Flamenco Express, Kikyo Brothers (Juggler), Daniel and Kimberly Craig (Comedy Variety). Theme nights include Rock and Roll, Country Western – probably the Love Boat Disco Deck Party. The Domino Duo is in the Wheelhouse, Euphoria is the party band, Jon Persson is the Atrium Pianist, Laurier Lachance is the Crooner’s Pianist, the Angelic Dreams Duo are the strings and David Barrett is the solo guitarist.

The strings Duo is phenomenal and David Barrett’s guitar work is pretty good as well. We’ve sat and listened to him a lot on the past cruise and the girls on the duo light up the atrium with their music.

Look like there will be a folkloric show in Hong Kong – masters of Harmonica with Cy Leo. Luca De Pasquale will be the destination expert, Jennipher Marshall-Jenkinson is one of the enrichment lecturers and Caroline and Christian Helm are the others.

Well, that’s a quick overview. Now having my coffee with Joana and Anna in the atrium. Sure nice to see their smiling faces again. Always cheery, happy and energetic!

Later!

March 22, 2018 – Turn Around Day – Sydney

And still this morning she is rocking and rolling. Calmed down a bit last night in time for Judy to get out a bit and see the show. The Tasman Sea is not friendly to cruise ships that’s for sure. It wasn’t the size of the swell, or the wind, it was the weird directionless nature of the swell. The ship would pitch up and down, then roll a bit, do the hokey pokey turn itself about, do a loop de loop, then shudder, then smooth out for 20 to 30 seconds, then do it all over again in random order. We’ve been around the horn, through the drake passage, to HI and back several times, a couple of transatlantics, back and forth across the med, up and down the CA coast, around the North Sea, and through the Caribbean countless times, but never experienced this kind of weird motion.

They had a variety show put on by the cruise staff and the dance troupe, plus the orchestra. Finally someone in corporate may be reading my pleadings! They turned the dancers and singers loose. We had a flamenco/tango couple, a vocal duet, a jazz dance quartet, a three way cha cha/vocal, complete with a wardrobe malfunction – when he caught her, her dress got tangled in his shirt or necklace – and a stunning exhibition of gymnastic type dance with incredible strength, grace and beauty – the lifts were simply astounding. This was interspersed with cruise staff skits and ended with If I Were Not Upon the Sea. On other ships this would probably have been the International Crew Show, but on this ship they decided on a different format and it was GREAT! The best show of the cruise, hands down, for me. The production shows can be really good, but it’s the talent and creativity of the staff that makes or breaks the show – and I bet this one didn’t cost them millions either!

Oh yeah, Marcus, the CD, announced at the show that the Diamond would remain in Japan till 2021. I have only seen her schedule to November 2019, so that means the new schedules are about to be released.

BTW – On the subject of the pats of butter controversy. We’ve had a couple of breakfasts and lunches in the MDR and there has been no lack of butter. 2 butter balls per cover was the normal number I saw on the tables and more was brought when asked. Still not sure about dinner as we have not done dinner in the MDR yet.

So let’s preview our 22 day cruise to Tokyo. Lots of sea days. Ports in Darwin, Kunta Kinabalu, Phu My, Nha Trang, Hong Kong, Osaka, Shimizu and Tokyo. We have a mix of private, princess tours and DIYs depending on the port.

Our new cruise director is Lynn Van Vorce.

So now, back to the ship. Here is some info from the first patter of the cruise. For those of you keeping track we have Gennaro Arma as Captain, Craig Dauphinee as Hotel General Manager, Caroline Desbuquois as Entertainment Director, Lynn Van Vorce as Cruise Director, Maarit AArtoaho as Customer Services Director, Steve Reynolds as Food and Beverage Manager, Dirk Daumichen as Executive Chef, Adrian Cristian as Maitre’d.

We have 4 formal nights, one tender port (Na Trang), 4 hours back (30 minutes for Darwin), then 2 hours forward.

Bravo, I Got The Music, Piano Man, Born to Be Wild are the production shows.

Lots more stuff that I will post later, but now we have to get ready to get off and go shopping and sightseeing for the last time in Sydney.

Later…

March 21, 2018 – At Sea to Sydney

Another hour back last night, so we are now back on Sydney time. Still no TV – having to rely on my video files on my Surface Pro – binge watching the 3rd season of JAG – back in the day when TV series were 20+ episodes a year, so we have lots of JAG and lots of House to watch.

Sea state is rather rough. Large swells, some wind. Last night was an intense electrical storm lighting up the cabin several times with huge strikes. Very bright considering they were 15-20 seconds away.

Not much happening on the days at sea with a significant sea state. Judy has been pretty much horizontal. I’ve just been wandering around. The HC had an interesting noodle bar for lunch yesterday with a pretty intense broth, noodles and a selection of biminibop items to add. (Red chili paste, fake crab, nori, sliced pork loin, bamboo shoots, green onions, sesame seeds). While not in the same league as some of the Asian-style broths we’ve had in the past, it was pretty good and a welcome change from the normal HC fare.

Its been a nice few days to recover from the ports in New Zealand. The ports were all interesting – I only wish we would have had more time in Auckland. But we’ll save that for another cruise, plus there are still more ports we want to visit. This may require a land cruise in the near future.

So we will catch up with everyone on the next cruise – 22 days to Tokyo from Sydney.

Later….

March 20, 2018 – At Sea Back To Sydney

That was some stormy weather yesterday. Looks a bit better today with some clouds, less wind and less swells. Judy might be able to get out of bed today! Early morning coffee with the girls. None better.

Yesterday was the Fjordland scenic cruise part of this cruise. We went in the middle of a storm with high winds, rain and rough seas. However the heavy rains contributed to one of the most spectacular waterfall display in Milford Sound I have every seen. Water was pouring off the cliffs of the fjord. The normal waterfalls were in full flood stage with tons of water just thundering off the cliffs. But the most incredible sights were the dozens of smaller waterfalls that would run down in parallel to a cornice and then get blown upwards by the winds, their water simply disappearing as it flowed upwards into the clouds.

WOW!

Pretty incredible sights. Yes, it was rainy and misty and hard to see, but that rain was what was causing the waterfall action. If the sky had cleared for just a few minutes, it would have been spectacular, but we had to settle for overcast, misty pouring rain. Still, a pretty fantastic sight to behold.

BTW – The TV system went out last night. Shipwide. Even in the crew quarters. And its still out this morning. Might make for a real boring ride back to Sydney. Justice League is/was on demand. I like the movie, even more so than Thor Ragnorak - Judy disagrees.

Anyway. Back to Sydney and Turn Around Day – Which promises to be rainy and windy according to the forecasts.

Later!

March 19, 2018 – Approaching the Fjords

Weather overnight was supposed to be very rough. This morning I can hear it and feel it, but not as bad as the first day back across the Tasman sea from Sydney. The new TV system doesn’t have the ship stats ‘channel’ to see wind speed and direction over the deck and sea state. The winds were supposed to be over 100km/hour this morning.

We did the Taleri Gorge train trip yesterday. Very expensive, but very nice. Princess did a good job, from the train sitting dockside to the meals and drinks on the ride, the timing and the delivery back dockside on the train. I debated between this trip and the Trans-Alpine train in the previous port. The details on the Trans-Alpine train showed that half the trip, or more, was by bus, but this trip was completely train, from beginning to end.

Much like the train up and down the hill in Flaam, Norway, this train goes from the dock in Port Chalmers up the Taleri gorge to the top, then backs down the same track to the train station in Dunedin, where people on subsequent tours like Larnach Castle get off, and then continues back to Port Chalmers. (The engines basically switch ends of the train, but the cars stay in the same orientation.) The scenery is fantastic, from the farms along the valley floor, to the deep, rocky gorges along the track, to the trestles over the rivers and tunnels the train goes through. It’s a great visually stunning trip.

This is not the same trip that the public can take to Taleri Gorge. The entire train is dedicated to Princess passengers. The cars, there are three main types as seen on the railway website, are arranged with tables in the center of each set of 4, in some cases 2 depending on the car, seats facing each other. So if you are seated looking forward, you will be riding backward on the way back.

The best viewing of the first half of the trip, the valley, the city, the farms, is on the left side on the way up. The best views of the second half of the trip, the gorge, the river, the bridges, is on the right side on the way up. The best option is to ride up on one side and make friends with the couples across the aisle on the opposite side and switch at the top for the ride back.

There are viewing platforms spaced along the train on the generator cars. Our closest was one car back. Getting there can be a challenge as the train ride is not the smoothest. Lots of lurching, rolling from side to side. The viewing platforms are open air, can be quite chilly and have no seating. They are also very crowded once you get into the gorge area. Using the viewing platforms is almost a necessity as the angle of the sun into the train car and the window structure made autofocusing on anything other than the window very difficult and the smaller windows of our car did not make for great photos.

Snacks, drinks, lunch and bottled water is provided on the train. We started with juice, tea and a gingerbread train shaped cookie, followed by cheese, crackers and wine (local cheese and local wine). Lunch at the top was a rolled sandwich, potato salad, quiche, carrot cake and grapes. All you could drink wine, beer, soft drinks, tea, coffee and bottled water. It was all very nice. Service was great. Almost all of the personnel were volunteers that have been doing this for years. Karen, our hostess, was great in pointing out interesting sights coming up, some history, in addition to the running main train commentary, and other, more personal, tidbits of information.

The train stops at the top for about 20 minutes while the engines switch ends. There was a little market at the top with some handcrafts and trinkets. There was also a souvenir cart on the train with lots of stuff on which to spend the last of your New Zealand dollars! Guess what the kids are getting for Christmas!?!

Princess will fill the cars for the most part, and you do not get a choice of cars. Depending on when you board a particular car, you have your choice of seats. Restrooms are in the front of each car, when functioning, but the location of the viewing cars varies. Just keep in mind that the seat you choose will be going backward on the way back unless you can swap with others. There are overhead netted racks that will hold all but the largest of backpacks, so storage of ‘stuff’ is not an issue.

All in all, an excellent excursion. Highly recommended for sure…

Last night was also the Most Traveled Party. As the previous party, this was a cross between a luncheon and a cocktail party with the foods not the standard hors devoures, but more elegant small plates, like coconut shrimp, scallop, ceviche, lots of fresh sashimi and sushi, and a tower of proscutto with selected cheeses. The captain stayed quite a while and talked to all the tables. It was very nicely done.

We actually went to Liar’s Club last night! It was fun, but they must be running out of words as 3 of them I’ve actually used in my lifetime. Petcock, Farding and Gestic, but alas, the 4th word mixed us up, so we did not end up with any Champoo…

I must mention once again the great service we are getting, especially in the Patisserie for our morning coffee. Anna and Joana almost have it ready for us when we arrive in the morning. Joana’s smile lights up our morning, and minutes after Judy sits down, Anna has her black coffee, in a to go cup, hot water and three lemons, plate and spoon, delivered to the table. These girls are a joy to be around in the morning.

Well, a few days rest before Sydney, then a nice bunch of sea days to Darwin. We have lots of excursions to new places scheduled on the next cruise, but at least there will be no 6 ports in a row!

Later!