Dave’s Trip To, Around and Into Australia, Sept. 26 – Nov. 23, 2016

[kazu]

Interesting on the Cellar Master dinner Dave. It really does depend upon the Cellar Master and how good he (or she) is. Cellar Master usually does the wines and the Chef works around the wines for the menus.

 

Just in case you decide to try it again, if certain wines put you off (I have to be very careful with reds - unless I know that they will not bother me) they will substitute. They give me some whites for the reds I am unsure of.

[RetiredMustang]

Nov. 16, Melbourne (Cont.)

 

 

Our excursion left on time, and we drove west out of Melbourne about 50 minutes to the Serendip Sanctuary, which is a large area of grassy fields fringed with trees – transition zones that the deer I am familiar with prefer in North America. It seems kangaroos are similar, for much the same reason – good browse near to safety and shade for lying up during the day. But, it had been foggy as we left, and although the weather was breaking up, it was still cool and mostly overcast, which our guide Brettsaid he hoped would mean we would have better chances to see kangaroos.

 

Brett told us to look for kangaroos in the fields as we drove into the parking area off the main road, and I though he was being a bit teasing with us, as I did not expect to see any so close to the highway. But, sure enough, in the field to the right we could see kangaroo heads popping up over the grass.

 

After a restroom break, we drove a short way down the road, and our guide led us to a gate that said “staff only” and into the field. He briefed us to key our voices low, move slowly, and most importantly, stayed bunched together. He said the kangaroos interpret a single bunch, no matter how large, as one predator, and may not get spooked as quickly as if we were in a lot of smaller clumps. The grasses mostly had large grain heads and were about knee-high. The guide said they had gotten a lot of rain over the winter, and the kangaroos were enjoying the food bonus. The guide used binoculars to spot likely bunches of kangaroos to approach. These were western gray kangaroos, among the largest, and could be easily seen as they popped up their heads to alert, although when they were browsing, they were hard to see until we got close.

 

I actually didn’t think we would get all that close, since these were wild animals, not zoos ones. But Brett led us on angling approaches, with stops when the animals alerted, and slow approaches as they went back to browsing. At some point, we would get close enough that the kangaroos would have had enough, and would take off, not pell-mell, but a few hops to get further away. So, to my delight, we got within 10 meters of a lot of them, and one pair let us get even a bit closer. It was an amazing setting and great experience.

 

I took only about 13 dozen photos in 30 minutes, but have chosen three to show the process. The first photo is of our guide talking to us in the field, to show the conditions and how we moved. The next two are of alert kangaroos with the tree fringe, and hills in the background, and that pair that let us get close:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, we had a snack of coffee, tea, water and petit fours and biscuits (cookies). Then we drove about 10 minutes or so to the You Yangs Regional Park, where we were met by Mel, a koala researcher at the park, and who had been out in the morning looking for koalas in the wild. She told us she had found a mother and joey high in a tree not that far away, and would lead us to it. But, again, we had to bunch together and not alarm the animals. She explained that the eucalyptus leaves they eat don’t have that much nutrition, and if they have to expend extra energy climbing down a tree and moving away from us, that would cause an energy deficit that would be hard on them.

 

She led us along trails through a eucalyptus forest that also had other trees such as wattles, one of which you can see in yellow bloom below:

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps a quarter mile from the parking area, we encountered the tree containing the mother and joey. Mel, with Brett’s assistance, had us form a group at a spot with about the best view we were going to get. Here is a photo I took of the koalas in the trees; these being animals in the wild, I was not able to get as close a shot as I had been able in wildlife parks/zoos:

 

 

 

 

We then drove back to the ship in about 45 minutes, arriving on time. This is a good excursion, not too tiring, although you need to be able to walk in fields and fairly open forest trails. It is a different experience to see the animals in the wild rather than in enclosures, and I am glad I got the opportunity.

 

 

More later,

Dave

Edited November 16, 2016 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

Can you advise what the house vodka is. Someone on another thread mentioned some weird named one. Hope it isn't so. Also, what are the prices of a mixed drink, i.e. vodka and sprite?? We are going on K in the near future. Is Happy Hour any drink or just from a special selection???

 

Have a great trip...following along as we will probably never get there.

 

Alma

 

Alma,

 

I didn't forget your question, but I did forget the answer. I asked the bartender the name of the house vodka, and he showed me the bottle ... and then I went to cellar master dinner. So, last night, I took paper and pen to the bar. The house vodka is Crown Czar.

 

A mixed drink of a spirit and mixer is basically the cost of the spirit, I believe. So, a house vodka and sprite should be, I think, $5.95. Stolitchnaya would be $6.25, etc.

 

Happy hour now is for any drink. It used to be only the lower priced ones, but has now been extended to any drink, at least on Maasdam. And, I'm told it is going fleet-wide.

 

Dave

[PhoenixCruiser]

Fantastic pictures!

[JMAUST]

Really enjoying your posts. It is bringing back great memories as we did the same 2 cruises 2 years ago.

Is the guitar player still playing in the sports bar each afternoon?

Glad your enjoying our great country.

[RetiredMustang]

Nov. 16, Melbourne (Cont.)

 

 

We had a quiet afternoon, and went to dinner. Attached are the MDR dinner and dessert menus:

 

 

 

 

I was happy to see a favorite – Dutch green pea soup, and chose that for starter. DW had the miso soup instead. For main, we both had the chicken cassoulet, which came with a rich vegetable/tomato stew. For dessert, she had the chocolate delight again, which I went lighter with the pineapple sorbet.

 

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Nov. 17, at sea

 

 

Today we are sailing back to Sydney, where we will debark tomorrow. So, today will be spent with trying to remember where we put things two months ago, packing our things, checking out our on-board account, etc.

 

Here are the first four pages of today’s On Location:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

Edited November 16, 2016 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

Nov. 17, at sea (Cont.)

 

 

Here are the other two pages of the On Location:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Really enjoying your posts. It is bringing back great memories as we did the same 2 cruises 2 years ago.

Is the guitar player still playing in the sports bar each afternoon?

Glad your enjoying our great country.

 

 

Sorry, no, there has not been a guitar man on board these two cruises.

 

Dave

Edited November 16, 2016 by RetiredMustang

[KirkNC]

I saw a couple On Locations ago that HAL now has online access to your account where you can review it, make dinner reservations etc. Have you tried to use it yet?

[ChaCr]

Dave,

 

Thanks so much for your informative posts. I've enjoyed each one. And I too love your pictures.

 

Charles

[Aussie Cruise Nuts]

Dave, I have faithfully followed your reports since you departed. It was a must read each day and I am happy you enjoyed your time in our wonderful country.

 

Whilst we have done lots of cruising over many years, we are yet to sail Holland America. That omission will be rectified when we cruise Sydney to Vancouver on Noordam on 8 April next year (23 days). Your reports when crossing the Pacific took on extra signifance as I wanted to learn more about a Pacific crossing cruise and Holland America generally. The port reports, daily menus and list of activities have really helped my cruise planning.

 

Your detailed reports and great photos have greatly added to our excitement for our Pacific crossing. I feel we will be very happy on Noordam.

 

Thanks again and best wishes for safe travel back home.

 

Rod

[RetiredMustang]

I saw a couple On Locations ago that HAL now has online access to your account where you can review it, make dinner reservations etc. Have you tried to use it yet?

 

Kirk,

 

Yes, Maasdam has an on-board WAN, which you must access to get to paid internet, and from which you can access your on-board account, and in theory make dining and shore excursion reservations. You log on via the Maasdam guest account and establish an account based on your name and cabin number. Then you set a PIN, which allows you access from public computers; but even from my personal notebook in my cabin I need the PIN to access the account.

 

Here is a shot of the navigation page that launches as soon as you log onto the WAN:

 

 

 

 

 

I haven’t written about it, because frankly there is nothing much writing home about. It has about mastered waving bye-bye, but not quite conquered pat-a-cake yet, compared to what I encountered on QM2 … TEN years ago. As a conduit to paid internet, it is adequate. As a source of checking my account, it is convenient, but not totally accurate at times. As a way to book reservations or shore excursions, I have found it pretty much a bust – I always get the same message: “failed to retrieve data from the server.” So, I visit the desk or call, just as before.

 

Maybe I'm being too harsh. This is a step in the right direction, but there is a long way to go here, in my opinion.

 

 

Dave

Edited November 17, 2016 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

Nov. 17, at sea (Cont.)

 

 

We spent the day packing, tagging our luggage, and getting ready to debark. We spent the day going round, thanking staff who had helped us specially, and enjoying our last day on board.

 

Here is the final MDR combined dinner/dessert menu:

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed the mushroom soup, and DW had the potato and kale soup. We both had the prime rib, and thanks to Ayep, we had vanilla ice cream for dessert instead of the uninspired offerings.

 

I realize this is our first very long cruise, but we have not been impressed with the variety of offerings. Sometimes we think the HAL chef’s council engage in a “you’ll never guess what weird stuff I’ll convince them to eat” competition instead of offering us things we really want. DW and I agree that the always-available menu needs to be modified so that we could always get a shrimp cocktail or a simple green salad; that prime rib or rib-eye steak always be available; and that some kind of chocolate cake or other such confection be on the menu.

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Nov. 17, at sea (Cont.)

 

 

We are in the first group to go tomorrow morning, scheduled for 7:30. The ship also provided us tour stickers in addition to luggage tags. All of the first group are on the post-cruise Discover Australia tour.

 

We also received the cruise log tonight. Here are the two pages:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through the good graces of our PCC, we received the normal letter from the tour operator, which informed us that:

 

- A tour rep would meet us just past customs and immigration and show us what to do.

- We could, and in fact are encouraged, to leave as much luggage behind in secure storage in Sydney; we would be re-united on the last evening in our Sydney hotel.

- We would be taken right away to the airport for a 9:40 a.m. flight to Alice Springs to start the tour.

- Have fun, mate!

 

To repeat what I posted at the beginning, all these weeks ago, here is our post-cruise itinerary:

 

Nov. 18: fly to Alice Springs, stay night

Nov. 19: drive to Ayers Rock, stay night

Nov. 20-21: fly to Cairns, stay 2 nights

Nov. 22: fly to Sydney, stay night

Nov. 23: fly to Seattle via Honolulu

 

I assume our hotels will have wifi and I will be able to post now and then, but the tempo of a land tour will be much different than the tempo of a cruise, and I may get behind. I will at least complete the blog after returning home.

 

More later,

Dave

[trub]

Dave,

 

thanks again for taking us along with you, and glad you had a great cruise and very much hope you enjoy the last leg of your trip and a safe journey home .

[kazu]

Ahh Dave, hate to see that your cruise is coming to an end. Have so enjoyed your reports.

 

Happy to see you have some interesting land tours planned and if you get a chance, I would be very interested to hear about it.

 

You are so smart to take advantage of where you are and enjoy even more of that beautiful country.

 

Safe travels to you on land and safe travels home.

 

Thank you again for a fabulous thread :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have enjoyed your reports and pictures over the last few weeks.

We did the Cellar Master's dinner a couple of times. Weren't impressed with it.

Have a great land trip.

[RuthC]

I realize this is our first very long cruise, but we have not been impressed with the variety of offerings. Sometimes we think the HAL chef’s council engage in a “you’ll never guess what weird stuff I’ll convince them to eat” competition instead of offering us things we really want. DW and I agree that the always-available menu needs to be modified so that we could always get a shrimp cocktail or a simple green salad; that prime rib or rib-eye steak always be available; and that some kind of chocolate cake or other such confection be on the menu.

I couldn't agree with you more. Had I been on your cruise, I know I would have lost weight (or resorted to the children's menu often).

 

I've clicked on every link you provided to dinner/dessert menus, and can't get over how many times I've wondered "Where DO they come up with these concoctions?" Can't the chefs just put a decent meal on the table?

I also notice how different your offerings have been when compared to the menus on the Amsterdam---also doing a long cruise in the Pacific.

 

Thanks again for the always interesting commentary. Enjoy the interior.

Edited November 17, 2016 by RuthC

[scluvsrain]

Thank you Dave for an inspiring read. I'm cruising in and around Australia in early 2018 so your thread and descriptions of the tours have been especially interesting to me.

 

Safe travels!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kazu]

Nov. 17, at sea (Cont.)

 

I enjoyed the mushroom soup, and DW had the potato and kale soup. We both had the prime rib, and thanks to Ayep, we had vanilla ice cream for dessert instead of the uninspired offerings.

 

I realize this is our first very long cruise, but we have not been impressed with the variety of offerings. Sometimes we think the HAL chef’s council engage in a “you’ll never guess what weird stuff I’ll convince them to eat” competition instead of offering us things we really want. DW and I agree that the always-available menu needs to be modified so that we could always get a shrimp cocktail or a simple green salad; that prime rib or rib-eye steak always be available; and that some kind of chocolate cake or other such confection be on the menu.

 

More later,

Dave

 

Agree Dave, your menus did not seem inspiring to me on more than a few occasions. It seems to me that our 33 day Westerdam South Pacific cruise had more appealing choices on the dinner menu. I don't believe I ever resorted to the always-available menu on that cruise.

[dmg1956]

Hey Big Bad Dave:

Thank you so very, very much for taking us along on your journey. Wonderful information, and your photos are amazing. I always look forward to finding out you are on another cruise. Your postings are the best on Cruise Critic. My best wishes to you and Mrs. Dave for the rest of your journey and for the holidays.

Cheers,

Paul in St. Paul

[Ineke]

Thank you for sharing your cruise! I've looked forward to 'tuning in' every evening and catching up. I've really enjoyed your photographs, and thank you for scanning and posting all those daily documents. I agree that the menus have left me wondering at times what I would have chosen. But now I understand other ships/itineraries may have different choices - guess I'll find out next week. Thanks again!

[daisybertie]

Dave, thanks so much for the wonderful description and photos of your cruise. We were on the Maasdam from Seattle to Sydney at the same time, but unfortunately had to get off! We plan to cruise on the Maasdam next year from Fremantle to Sydney so have been very interested in that part of your cruise. Hope you enjoy the land part of your holiday.

[cccole]

This has been such a great adventure to follow, and I look forward to reading reports of the remaining days of your adventure.

 

A couple questions...do you ever consider non HAL excursions? I know getting back to the ship on time is a main concern.

 

And, if you wanted to have dinner on your balcony were you able to order from the MD or Pinnacle? A friend on their first cruise ever was on a HAL Med cruise this fall. They went to the Pinnacle one night for $35 per person, they ordered Pinnacle room service one night for $15 per person. I ask because I think enjoying a relaxing dinner on the balcony would be fabulous after an exhaustive but enjoyable excursion day.

 

Thank you again for your daily reports. It has been wonderful cruising with you. Cherie