6th December sailing on Rhapsody

[pattle66]

Thanks Pattle66 for your fantastic posts. I'm going on my first cruise with my Mum this Saturday on the Rhapsody, and following your posts has been wonderful! Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

You will love it! I hope the weather is as good for you. I have heard it has been pretty rotten in Sydney.

[Cruzechick]

Thanks Pattle66. We're in Melbourne and it's been a bit cold and windy. Can't wait for the warmth of the south pacific :)

[leviathan8]

loving the blog, Cant wait for you do disembark, so I can join Cruizechick and the others on my first cruise as well.

[Ned49]

Great blog, we are going on Radiance top end in Feb. could you let me know how much the wine package is to buy on board, in usd$ for a 12 Package thanks

Norma

[robynwally]

Bringing back some great memories of our two cruises on Rhapsody......Thank you

http://www.box.com/shared/6l6qkxc0r4

 

 

http://www.box.com/shared/f16kgeutvh

 

Regards

 

Robyn

[pattle66]

Day 8

 

Today we are at Arlie Beach, a tender port. The tender process started at 7.15am for those that wanted an early start. We had room service breakfast on our balcony and waited until 8am to go down to get our tender ticket. We thought there would be a long wait but our tickets were for 8.30am. The ships tenders were not used and instead we had a very nice, air conditioned Ferry. It held 500 passengers so the process to get off the ship went very smoothly.

 

Once on land a shuttle was provided at a cost of $7 one way or walking. We put mum on the shuttle and the rest of us walked into town. It is mostly boardwalk into which would be pleasant if we were not sweating so much! By the time we walked to the market (where the shuttle drop off is) my poor English husband had sweat dripping off his forehead! After a quick look around the market we determined it was too hot for mum to be walking around and we put her back on the shuttle to go back to the ship. I am glad we did because we saw an elderly passenger feint in one of the shops. We continued to look around the shops and stopped into New Zealand Ice Cream for frozen yoghurt. Arlie Beach has a lagoon and we swam and then sat in the water to cool down before heading back to the ship.

 

 

When we arrived at the tender port it started to rain, then thunder and along came the lightening. It was a good 15 minutes before the Ferry arrived and then it didn’t allow the passengers off until the storm passed. It would be pretty unsafe walking along the Jetty in torrential rain and wind. Meanwhile the passengers queued up behind us were getting soaked. People started pushing and standing so close even though it was so hot and the queue wasn’t moving anywhere. It was very unpleasant. Thankfully the storm did not last very long, maybe 15 minutes and then the sun came out. By the time we were laoded onto the Ferry we were told the ship could no longer take the tenders because during the storm the wind changed 180 degrees. This meant the ship turned 180 degrees on its anchor. Finally we had the green light to head over and board. The tender process took us 2 hours from arrival at the port to stepping onto the boat! I guess you can’t help Mother Nature!

 

The boat had switched directions and we now had a beautiful view of the beach from our balcony. We missed lunch so we ordered room service at 4pm. It was very nice and I would recommend you do this at least once during your cruise. My husband had a Steak Sandwich and fries which he gave top marks. My sister and I shared a bowl of chips and a Seeded Baguette that was packed with salmon and brie. It was very enjoyable. Needless to say we didn’t have dinner that night.

 

I think I may have had a touch of sun stroke today so I went to bed early with a headache and the family went to the Illusionist show. My son is still talking about it – he loved it. My husband and sister then went on to Quest later in the evening. They both said it was hilarious and not to be missed.

 

No cocktails today, will have to make up for that tomorrow!!

[Lestel]

Enjoying your review very much. We did the same cruise in Dec 2009 on Rhapsody and just loved it. Thanks!

 

 

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[critterchick]

Thanks for posting your blog. We had a fabulous Down Under cruise on Rhapsody last year and another from Honolulu to Vancouver this spring.

 

If Lester's last name is Vaz, please tell him that Don and Jean from Los Angeles say hello. He'll at least pretend to remember us from the 2010 AU/NZ cruise. He was on vacation for the Hawaii one.

 

Keep having a good time!:)

[PH8]

So nice to read a review from somewhere different.......thanks!!