Live From the Diamond Princess – March 2, 2018 8 Day Tasmania

[ccrain]

March 06, 2018 – Port Arthur

 

Just breaking daylight headed in to Port Arthur. The wind is low, but the swell is noticeable. We left Hobart well before 0500 and probably did not deploy the stabilizers as a noticed a pretty good roll earlier this morning. Had to pry the eyelids open this morning to get some coffee and wake up. Very tiring, but oh so satisfying day at Hobart yesterday.

 

Hobart is a great cruise port. Easy off, lots of stuff in the near vicinity. Shopping, food, liquor, excursions. Everything you could want. We did the Hop On Hop Off bus. (We purchased a 7 event Australian Iventure card in Sydney when we arrived. This includes things to do in Hobart and Melbourne, as well as Sydney, at a discount.) One item of note – if you do use an Iventure card, you have to go to the HOHO office on the Brooke St Pier to get your HOHO tickets, then back to the Isite tourist info center to catch the bus. During cruise ship days, they run 3 busses, not two.

 

The first bus left at 0900 and gave us a pretty good overview of Hobart. Very interesting colonial architecture mixed with neo-modern, mixed with drab commercial, mixed with some weird stuff! Very well preserved colonial houses. And at least two McDonald’s! We did almost the entire circuit and got off at the Botanical Gardens. No entrance fee, just a donation box. Although we are in early fall, there was still a lot to see, but this garden would be gorgeous in the summer. Why botanical gardens? Well, how many of you out there have seen a Tasmanian Pumpkin in its native habitat – up close and personal? Well we have and we even survived the encounter! Seriously though, we saw some interesting native plants, transplanted plants and some HUGE bumblebees the size of hummingbirds. The truck gardens were of real interest to us as well.

 

We had forgotten to eat breakfast before we left the ship! So we hit the restaurant at the garden – Succulent. Their special was the stack, which I ordered, and Judy got an omelet. Holy large portions! The stack was a 4” square of pizza dough with sliced tomato, various lettuces, two eggs, bacon, ham in a stack at least 6” high! Judy’s omelet was at least 6 eggs. And absolutely perfectly cooked. BTW – order the latte, not the ‘long black’ – Judy had to cut her ‘long black’ with a knife before she drank it.

 

We spent several hours in the garden, talked with the staff – one an up and coming fantasy writer, the other a historical researcher – and really enjoyed the entire experience. Several Princess tour groups came and went in a rush during our visit and we were glad we could experience it on our own.

 

We caught the bus back to the visitor center and walked back into downtown to visit a Teddy Bear shop we had seen on the bus. Very interesting, and expensive, teddy bears. From collectibles to souvenirs, this shop had it all. Almost got a koala, but we just don’t have room for everything on this trip.

 

We had also seen the Lark distillery next to the visitor’s center and had to try Tasmanian whiskey, so we did a flight of whiskeys. Not bad. A little different than Scotch whiskeys, especially single malts, from Glengoyne, a little harsher, one though was really smooth and sweeter. We managed to leave on our own four feet, but was immediately struck by the need to have a pint and fish and chips. I asked a local construction worker where the best fish and chips and a pint was. We went to Mure on the wharf. Great choice. A schooner of the local cascade pale ale, an order of fish and chips, an order of marinated squid – mmmm, it was fantastic, as was the service. The nice thing about Mure is that the downstairs is a cafeteria style service, with an ice cream bar, while the upstairs is a full bar and table service. Same fresh food. Very fresh food. And the ice cream downstairs is ummy as well, trust me!

 

After that, it was time for a shower and to prep for the local show in the theater. The Tasmanian Police Pipe and Drum Corps with some Irish dancing. It was a great show. I really like the pipes. They have performed at the Edinburgh tattoo and the Swiss tattoo as well. Very nicely done and the Aussies almost brought the house down when they played Waltzing Matilda! Great show. A perfect cap to an almost perfect day.

 

Now off to Port Arthur!

 

Bye…

[GUT2407]

Glad you enjoyed Hobart so much.

 

Looking forward to your thoughts on Port Arthur.

 

If you get the time do the isle of the dead / Point Puer tour.

[easyboy]

Enjoying your live updates! Following along.

[Keith1010]

Continue to enjoy your updates.

Keith

[Host CJSKIDS]

Port Arthur sounds like an incredible day!!

[ccrain]

March 07, 2018 – At Sea to Melbourne

 

Talk about perfect weather. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous weather. Blue sky, cool breeze, warm sun, perfect hiking weather. Tours were available to various points in the harbor, but we opted for a foot tour of the area. Walking around the buildings and the shorelines. Smelling the fresh air filled with the scent of Eucalyptus.

 

It’s kind of amazing the troubles Britain went to to get rid of undesirables. I mean this is a LONG way from the UK for sure! I did not expect the Island to be as re-forested as it was. Tall stands of Eucalyptus with a scattering of pine type trees. Very rocky shores with an occasional hidden white sand beach. Once again a mix of geologies from uplifted shale cliffs to granite cobble glacier droppings and some vertical basaltic volcanic lava flows. Really a cool area to cruise into and out of.

 

The prison site itself are various buildings scattered over the several dozen acres of the site with a very modern visitor’s center, cafeteria, gift shop and a free 30 minute Tasmanian government wifi site. Paths along the shoreline can take you to the west and the east to other little communities. As you wander between structures there are several park guide personnel that will take you through the area and provide a little verbal insight into the structures, the convicts and the history. In addition there are lots of mailbox type boxes with laminated guide pages – also downloadable from on-line – for the area you are looking at. You can walk around with these guide pages, but please return them to the box from which you obtained them.

 

Various buildings are undergoing repair, restoration and some additional archeological investigation. The sandstone block and brick construction of the original buildings was very well done and impressive. This was not a ramshackle tent camp, but one that was put together to last and look good. Basic utilitarian, but still impressive for the time and the distance to the nearest ‘civilization’. One could easily spend hours or days wandering in the various structures and reading some of the convict stores on placards placed here and there, as well as various other historical tidbits of information.

 

The Brits apparently transplanted a lot of trees from England as the Prison area has a lot of English Oak trees and one large weeping willow tree near the cathedral. The area is more like a park-like than a historical prison site. Well worth visiting. In our case, we will definitely cruise back into this area if they opportunity presents itself.

 

Last night was also the 40 most traveled cocktail party. Cocktail parties, rather than luncheons, are more common on the shorter cruises, but this was an exceptional cocktail party. The food was not the standard hors devours, but a buffet of small plates with bite sized fingerfood ranging from lamp popsicles to nigiri sushi, from fried coconut shrimp to fresh tuna ceviche. At least 20+ different savory and dessert items in a spread that was beautiful and tasty. The Captain is a new captain, replacing the previous Diamond captain whom retired at the end of the last cruise. (These Captains and officers keep getting younger!) We chatted with several of the staff during the course of the evening, whilst consuming the delicious food and the free booze! Many of the staff had 5-15 years with Princess, but had started their careers with other lines. It appears Princess is a pretty good company to work for as they seem to retain personnel quite well.

 

You probably have noticed that I am not reporting on ship activities that much. This is more of an adventure/destination cruise to us so we are not doing much in the evening except catching up on sleep after very active days! In fact, since home is biologically about 6 hours ahead of us, its hard to sleep past 0500 or 0600 in the morning, but by the time 2100 rolls around, we are almost dead to the world! And next cruise we have a killer 5 ports in a row, which is going to make the 22 day repo cruise the more relaxing of the three.

 

As I mentioned before, we have sailed with the executive chef before, just last October on the Island, and I can see, and taste, his hand in the HC cold salads. Love them. Yesterday for lunch was an excellent seafood salad, a beef salad and a very interesting miso egg plant salad. The hot offerings were pretty standard, well seasoned and tasty, like the pork Milanese, the stewed cabbage and the hot ham and cheese sandwiches.

 

The grill has meat pies – something new we have not experienced before – but they are not made on the ship and are commercially packaged and heated/cooked on the ship. There is a rotating selection of beef and potato, pepper steak, bacon cheese and Shepard’s pie at the grill. We tried the pepper steak and it was different and good. Between the pizza and the burgers, Judy thinks it’s the best the grill has. While I am disappointed in the pizza, the crust lacks salt and flavor and for me the crust is the pizza, the burgers to me are not bad, the hot dogs though originate in Australia and have a completely different texture from the states. The meat filling in these dogs are pureed rather than ground, so the texture is more of a paste rather than ground sausage. Some of the breakfast sausages have that same texture whereas the pork sausage links are more of the ground meat texture.

 

We have not yet ventured into the MDR yet, so the butter controversy must still rage on! We missed Italian night as well. We still have a trip to the Sushi restaurant planned, but not scheduled. That’s what we like about cruising, going with the flow…

 

Later all!

[cruiseloverslinda]

Enjoying your Live from report as we are OCPD people too. Very helpful info for our upcoming trip

[CruzinNoony]

Hi again Charles. Have you tried the noodle stations yet? I am really looking forward to them next May.:cool:

[OzKiwiJJ]

Hi ccrain, would you have time to check and post the prices of bottles of chardonnay and sparkling wine in the MDR or Horizon Court, please. Someone on another forum wants to know for her mother, and the only price lists I've been able to find are wines by the glass.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your posts.

 

Keith

[Dobby_The_Ship_Elf]

I saw you drop lines and leave Station Pier as I was caught in the go home traffic grid lock.

 

I waved.

 

You did not.

 

*sad face*

[jlf1]

I'm late to the party but so glad to find this thread.

 

Sent from my HUAWEI SCL-L04 using Tapatalk

[ccrain]

March 09, 2018 – At Sea to Sydney

 

Another gorgeous day in Port Melbourne yesterday. Blue Sky, very warm, very crowded. The only bad thing was the short port day. All aboard was 1530 which put a damper on foodie stuff. But regardless, this port was very interesting. The tourist people had their stuff together at this port. They knew the key to courting the tourist dollar! Just through immigration and there was a counter with 4 tourist reps selling the Myki Card, preloaded with the explorer pass for $15 each. The Que was minimal. In addition to the tram, the local transport company put on busses from the port to the Art Center, round tripping every 10 to 15 minutes with at least 4 busses that I saw. They did not start up until 0800, so we caught the tram just a few minutes walk from the ship.

 

Now the tram system in Melbourne is actually a bit more complex than the Sydney to navigate. Multiple line trams stop at the same stop in the center of the roadways. They tram route number is the key and it is shown on the front and rear of the Tram, as well as on the screens at each stop. And the screens at each stop are not always right. At one stop the screen said the 109 Tram was there, but it was the 12 tram with the 109 just behind it. The trams are very frequent and it can get quite hectic.

 

We caught the 109 tram just in front of the pier and met some really nice and helpful Melbournians. The 109 tram travels along Collins street and the key was to get off at Elizabeth and then catch the next tram, any tram, north to the Victoria market. (Without ancient piles of rock to see, we go shopping and people visiting. The Victoria Market is an absolute do not miss and that’s where we headed first. I had promised Judy a Melbournian breakfast!) I also had a list of stuff we needed to get, shoe goo, my dance sneaks started falling apart, a new pair of New Balance shoes, and other misc stuff. Shopping in foreign countries, even if its window shopping, is an adventure for us.

 

So anyway, we got off the 109 tram and followed this really nice lady, and were followed by about 3 more couples headed to the market. Crossing the street, we caught the next tram going north on Elizabeth street to the market. This is a great market! Fresh fish display, fresh meat, vegetables, deli’s, a food court, general items and sundries – and probably the best selection of Australian souvenirs in one location. This is the place to get anything and everything including a hardware store for my glue, t-shirts, boomerangs, hats (the Crocodile Dundee kind), sweater (possum hair sweaters!), magnets, shoes, coats, luggage, jewelry of all kinds, you name it. Row after row, aisle after aisle, we wandered from the food court, after a large breakfast, to the fresh veggies, where we sampled various fruits and veggies, to the sundries, to the souvenirs to the delis. You could easily spend the entire day and blow the entire trip budget, as well as your luggage allowance, in one fell swoop.

 

BTW – needing more AUS$ - I did try an ATM and had no issues extracting cash. The ANZ bank ATMs in Sydney limit you to $100 AUS$ with a $3.50 ATM charge – refunded by your bank if you have one of the good cards. This ATM allowed $200AUS$ with a $3 charge. Much better.

 

But, as most married couples know, the man is not happy shopping unless he has a mission. After the shoe goo, my mission was a new pair of 624 New Balance cross trainers. No one at the market had any. It’s Google time. Sure enough, there was a New Balance store just a few blocks away, with an outlet store on the South Bank.

 

Now a lot of you might be thinking what a waste to go 8000 miles to buy a new pair of shoes, BUT in navigating to and from places in the city you get to see a lot of cool things, watch a whole new culture at work and experience a little slice of life from a distant foreign land – but you know what – it’s very similar to things at home. Business people walking and talking intensely on their cell phones, people catching 40 winks on the trams, 4 government supervisors watching 1 dig a hole, kids whining in any language sound like kids whining! People hurrying to get to work, or home, or wolfing down lunch. Except for the setting, which actually could be any major city in America.

 

Google, BTW, scores big time again. The tram schedules, the walking routes, the general store locations. The only place that Google falls down is in multi-story buildings – it shows you the 2D location, which could be anywhere in multiple stories. Melbourne has a lot of older buildings that were apparently gutted and turned into multi-level shopping malls. And they are everywhere! The one that contained the New Balance store was actually perched on top of a major train station and was about 5 levels high. After wandering through that building for a while, we discovered the touch screen information displays that told us how to get to the New Balance store – complete with turning around and going up a level instructions.

 

BTW – another side note. Walking on the left. This is very prevalent in Sydney. Being from a walk on the right society, it takes a little getting used to. BUT, walking on the left is not as prevalent in Melbourne. The tendency is there, but there are a lot of exceptions. On the ship its absolute confusion! With such a mix of societies, navigating the hallways is a game of dodge ball!

 

So anyway, back to the Great Shoe Hunt. The closest New Balance store did not have any thing approaching what I wanted. So we asked for the easiest way to get to the outlet store. The description sounded pretty straightforward, but it turned out to be difficult in practice. So out with Google again. Caught the tram southbound on Elizabeth street to Flinders station, caught a 75 line westbound. Now for the tricky part. We had to get across the river! Can’t cross on the major highway bridge. Luckily the stop Google had us get off on had a really cool pedestrian bridge to the south bank. Great views of the river, south bank, the CBD, a marina and parts of the harbor. Lots of new development on the south bank along with its great Promenade. Restaurants, bars, and shops are everywhere. The New Balance outlet store was pretty easy to find and they had a 625, the Australian version of the 624, in stock. Success! Score! Mission accomplished. But we still needed to do some touristy things, like see Federation Square! And I don’t like to retrace my steps.

 

So I winged it. We had plenty of time to get back to the ship. Time to wander aimlessly across a different pedestrian bridge, up to another tram stop, back to the CBD and Federation square, watching people hurry off to lunch. BTW – by this time, the weather was hot and the sun was especially strong – so we stuck to the shade as much as possible. There was a lot of work going on in Federation square, which detracted from the views – bright orange boom lifts in the center of the photo tend to do that – but watching the construction was kind of interesting – as was watching what people were having for lunch.

 

Now it was getting a bit later in the day and it was time to navigate back to the ship. Back to Flinders street station, walk up to Collins, catch the 109 tram back to the ship. We did not get a chance to see the zoo or the Botanical Gardens, but did get back to the ship with about an hour to spare. This is one city that they need to expand their port hours to later in the afternoon or early evening. An 1800 departure would have been much, much better and allowed us to have lunch and a few brews in the city. I would have loved to try some of the South Bank restaurants.

 

The did have the Love Boat Disco party in Fusion last night at 2200. Needless to say, we were flat on our backs after doing about 8 miles yesterday. Besides, I needed to give my dancing shoes time to cure with the shoe goo – and that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…

 

We did receive our turn around instructions last night as well. We can stay on the ship and meet in the Atrium at 1000 to zero the ship, or we can get off after 0730 with our in-transit card, our cruise card and our passport. This is what we will do. I plan to do the Maritime museum and the fish market in Sydney. Get off the ship, walk around to Circular Quay, catch a ferry to Darling Harbor, go to the fish market, see the museum when it opens, catch some lunch and then get back to the ship via ferry. We do not have to attend the drill.

 

I will do a final wrap up on this cruise tomorrow morning and then start a new Live From on the next cruise!

 

Hope you’ve enjoyed sailing along…

 

Cheers!

[jlf1]

This is wonderful as all your " Live From" are.

 

Eagerly waiting for more.

 

Judy

 

Sent from my HUAWEI SCL-L04 using Tapatalk

[carolmacey]

Having lots of fun reading you log. We will be on the DP for 2 weeks in May. Kobe to Kobe. It is great to see info on the ship. Thanks.

[riclop]

Enjoy it.

[ccrain]

March 10, 2018 – In Sydney – Turn Around Day

 

Time to wrap it up for the 8 Day Tasmania cruise. All in all, a great destination cruise. The weather could not have been better, the ports different, exciting and English speaking! Although we did not get to experience many activities on the ship, catching up on sleep was more important, the service on the ship was excellent. Especially in the Patisserie for morning coffee. The entire crew there was fantastic.

 

We did do the sushi restaurant last night. Quite frankly I was disappointed. Service was fantastic, but the fish choices were very limited. Salmon, tuna, crab claw, shrimp, mackerel – basically just the basics. The real treat was the chef preparing Tako (Octopus) for us after the meal. His own personal preparation, sort of like Omakasi – chef’s choice – and just another example of the excellent service provided. The green tea was ok, the soups ok, the green tea ice cream not so much, the rice was very well prepared as was the sashimi and nigiri, but again, the whole experience was just ok. I was expecting more from a sushi restaurant on a Princess ship. Like Crown Grill wow. They need to open up the fish menu a bit more, put a bit more miso and bonito flakes in the soups and offer an Omakasi option at $29 each. That would require a far more extensive fish supply that they might not want to budget for. At 1730 the only other people in the restaurant were two junior ACDs from Japan.

 

The other disappointing thing for Judy especially is the food in the HC. She has a hard time finding something for breakfast or lunch. Pretty bad when she resorts to fruit loops for breakfast. For me, its just been ok. Nothing like the HC on the Island last October, which was great. The lack of seasoning, spice, is for us the major issue. Even the Indian cuisine is muted a bit. The fresh vegetable soups, for example, all require more salt and pepper to liven them up a bit.

 

Now on the other hand, this is our view of the food. Other people might enjoy it. The food in Sydney and onshore at the various places we stopped was fantastic and very well seasoned. On the next cruise we will try the MDR and the Stirling Steakhouse. In fact the coupon book has a BOGO coupon for sailaway night at a specialty restaurant. We might just give it a try tonight.

 

The variety of activities during the sea days and the enthusiasm of the cruise staff is readily apparent and greatly appreciated. We enjoyed them a lot. There will be a change over for the 22 day repo cruise to Japan as Marcus, the current CD, will leave, and a new Japanese CD will take over for the repo and the subsequent Japan season cruises. Dancing, our favorite night time activity, is a bit of hit or miss. Some nights have canned music in Fusion for dancing, one of the best dance floors, but the Party band, Euphoria, is not a well rounded Party Band in the way we are used to them. Their repertoire is a narrow Rock and Roll selection. Lots of hustles and free styles, a few cha-chas and rhumbas, very few night clubs, but with a different beat, typically faster by just a little, than the original music. On this next cruise we will try the wheelhouse duo – although this next cruise has a killer port schedule right in the middle. Won’t be doing anything but sleeping for sure.

 

Glad we came? You betcha! We had to see this part of the world after skipping it for the last 5 years.

 

Now off to the next 12 days…on another thread!

[PescadoAmarillo]

I am really enjoying following along, especially as we were just in that area. Everything you are saying is quite familiar: Melbourne tram craziness, keeping to the left, Federation Square construction, that cool pedestrian bridge and the shoe repair. We don’t cruise without our Loctite Gel Super Glue. For two winters now we’ve needed it to repair shoes.

 

So excited to see where we’ll (I mean you’ll) be going next!

[GUT2407]

March 10, 2018 – In Sydney – Turn Around Day

 

Time to wrap it up for the 8 Day Tasmania cruise. All in all, a great destination cruise. The weather could not have been better, the ports different, exciting and English speaking! Although we did not get to experience many activities on the ship, catching up on sleep was more important, the service on the ship was excellent. Especially in the Patisserie for morning coffee. The entire crew there was fantastic.

 

We did do the sushi restaurant last night. Quite frankly I was disappointed. Service was fantastic, but the fish choices were very limited. Salmon, tuna, crab claw, shrimp, mackerel – basically just the basics. The real treat was the chef preparing Tako (Octopus) for us after the meal. His own personal preparation, sort of like Omakasi – chef’s choice – and just another example of the excellent service provided. The green tea was ok, the soups ok, the green tea ice cream not so much, the rice was very well prepared as was the sashimi and nigiri, but again, the whole experience was just ok. I was expecting more from a sushi restaurant on a Princess ship. Like Crown Grill wow. They need to open up the fish menu a bit more, put a bit more miso and bonito flakes in the soups and offer an Omakasi option at $29 each. That would require a far more extensive fish supply that they might not want to budget for. At 1730 the only other people in the restaurant were two junior ACDs from Japan.

 

The other disappointing thing for Judy especially is the food in the HC. She has a hard time finding something for breakfast or lunch. Pretty bad when she resorts to fruit loops for breakfast. For me, its just been ok. Nothing like the HC on the Island last October, which was great. The lack of seasoning, spice, is for us the major issue. Even the Indian cuisine is muted a bit. The fresh vegetable soups, for example, all require more salt and pepper to liven them up a bit.

 

Now on the other hand, this is our view of the food. Other people might enjoy it. The food in Sydney and onshore at the various places we stopped was fantastic and very well seasoned. On the next cruise we will try the MDR and the Stirling Steakhouse. In fact the coupon book has a BOGO coupon for sailaway night at a specialty restaurant. We might just give it a try tonight.

 

The variety of activities during the sea days and the enthusiasm of the cruise staff is readily apparent and greatly appreciated. We enjoyed them a lot. There will be a change over for the 22 day repo cruise to Japan as Marcus, the current CD, will leave, and a new Japanese CD will take over for the repo and the subsequent Japan season cruises. Dancing, our favorite night time activity, is a bit of hit or miss. Some nights have canned music in Fusion for dancing, one of the best dance floors, but the Party band, Euphoria, is not a well rounded Party Band in the way we are used to them. Their repertoire is a narrow Rock and Roll selection. Lots of hustles and free styles, a few cha-chas and rhumbas, very few night clubs, but with a different beat, typically faster by just a little, than the original music. On this next cruise we will try the wheelhouse duo – although this next cruise has a killer port schedule right in the middle. Won’t be doing anything but sleeping for sure.

 

Glad we came? You betcha! We had to see this part of the world after skipping it for the last 5 years.

 

Now off to the next 12 days…on another thread!

 

 

Well thanks for that.

 

You’ve just finished out “go to” cruise.

 

And about to start our next pick, enjoy.

[Thorpe]

I’m just off the cruise and whilst I added salt and pepper to some dishes my table mates didn’t feel the need. I always had a large variety of dishes to choose from at breakfast but as always can’t go past the ready made mueslix, and fresh fruit. Others ate oatmeal, eggs , bagels, fruit, ( not all at once) ! I thought the choices at HC for all meals were on par with other ships, it’s not the biggest buffet but it’s adequate. We ate dinner in dining room a couple of times at night at did Sterling Steakhouse one night. All very good.

Marcus, the CD was one of the best I have seen and I usually don’t take much notice of them but he was smiling , friendly and enthusiastic at all times.

It is sad to see the Diamond leaving Australia and she is a lovely ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[possum52]

We were on the Golden Princess heading to Melbourne on Friday when we passed the Diamond along the Victorian coast about lunchtime. we loved her too but also really enjoyed the Golden.

 

Leigh