Report on my first cruise, on Coral Princess

[cruiser3775]

My first venture travelling solo on a big cruise ship, though I have experience on other smaller ships.  I went to Papua New Guinea from Brisbane on Coral Princess in November. I quickly discovered that cruising involves a whole new language and there is so much to learn before you go.  I trawled scores of posts in Cruise Critic, looked at short videos on You Tube, discovered Cruise Deck Plans, read blogs etc.  I started a Word document called 'My Cruise Tips' and cut and pasted anything I saw as useful into it.  It ended up being 13 pages long by the time I embarked!   All of that research was very useful, though I still made some rookie mistakes.  CC was the most useful to me, and I appreciated being able to ask specific questions and then get considered answers from experienced cruisers.  This report is to say thank you to all who helped make my first cruise good, and maybe to offer some help to anyone taking a cruise for the first time.

 

Mistakes

Choosing a cabin/stateroom was the first.  I just took the first one offered, did no research.  Then I found out about good and bad ones (thanks, Gary Bembridge on 'Tips for Travellers'). Fortunately, it was a long time until my cruise and there were other cabins still available. After researching, I did a dummy booking, found a much better one and changed to it.  I was able to get a balcony cabin on the "bump out" aft section of the ship, with a curved corner balcony that gave me a beautiful view forward.

Not understanding the various perks of cruising was another mistake. Again fortunately, I had taken a deal with a very low ($25) deposit, and signed myself up to various cruise sites, so I was later able to find a much better deal for on board credit.  I was about to forgo the deposit and re-book. When I relayed this to my original TA, they matched it.

Third mistake was not understanding that, with Princess, anything you book in advance doesn't come off your on-board credit, but is charged directly to your credit card. I booked a couple of speciality restaurants and promptly discovered them appearing as charges on my card.  Now I know to wait until boarded on the ship before doing the bookings with Princess.

Planning an interstate flight into Brisbane on the morning of the cruise would have been a big mistake. Taking advice from CC, I changed my flight to the day before the cruise and booked a hotel for the night in an area suggested by CC regulars.

 

The Medallion

I read a lot about all the problems people were having with the Medallion and all the glitches it had, so I was a bit worried. But by the time I boarded in November, a lot of the basic problems seemed to have been fixed, and I had very little trouble with it, and found it very useful. I loved how it opened my door for me.  I had absolutely no problems with using it or the Medallion app on my phone to order room service or drinks anywhere on the ship or make dinner bookings. Having a drink brought to my comfortable chair while reclining in the library watching the waves was a real delight.  I actually lost my first medallion while on a shore excursion. It came off my lanyard somewhere and I didn't discover it was gone until I tried to reboard.  I was impressed with the security precautions they took for a passenger trying to return with no medallion. I was even more impressed when they made me a new one in five minutes.

 

Travelling solo

I am a very experienced world traveller, have been to 39 countries in more than 40 years of travel, but always with my partner.  I wanted to travel again after the loss of my partner two years ago, but was concerned about being a solo traveller. I quickly found that cruising is ideal for solo travellers. People are so friendly and you never have to dine alone if you ask for a shared table. I met many interesting people and got lots of advice.

 

So far, I haven't said anything about the actual cruise, but I will continue this another time.

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by cruiser3775

[Tripmode33]

Thanks for your report - enjoyed reading your views.  We too enjoyed our Coral Princess cruises, and certainly agree that this CC forum is a source of very useful information and helpful fellow cruisers.

[cruisermsoon]

Yours is a good news story, and I'm so pleased you took the plunge and have started travelling again.

Cruising may be the ideal for a solo traveller, as long as you are outgoing and take the trouble to mix with and meet others. Meal times are always a good opportunity. So are the Captain's welcome party and wine tastings. 

There will be "alone" times, but you can always retreat to your lovely balcony cabin and relax. 

Please continue your reports. You'll probably gain an attentive following.

Enjoy, enjoy, and keep planning those dream holidays and cruises. 

 

[Over from NZ]

How do you know choosing your cabin was a "mistake" if you've never cruised before? 

[hudval2]

Thanks for your post.  We are on the Coral Princess to PNG in January, so your insights are most appreciated.  

[joejoe 59]

1 hour ago, Over from NZ said:

How do you know choosing your cabin was a "mistake" if you've never cruised before? 

I would hazard a guess & say by doing lots of research on CC & elsewhere before their cruise they realised the cabin they had picked was not in a good position so got their TA  to change it.

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

How do you know choosing your cabin was a "mistake" if you've never cruised before? 

A bit like parental advice or tips from an experienced co-worker, you can always learn from the mistakes of others.

[cruiser3775]

Yes, the original one was one of the ones immediately under the fitness centre and right next to the youth centre on Aloha deck.  I think it would have been noisy. The one I got on Baja deck was very quiet and well located for many things.

[cruiser3775]

My first cruise part 2

Embarkation day

Took a taxi from Hamilton to the new Brisbane Cruise Ship Terminal. It's in the middle of nowhere, down near the mouth of the river, surrounded by mangrove swamps and port industrial buildings. There's no public transport at all.  I almost never take taxis, and I got ripped off by the driver.  It registered that I couldn't see the meter, but I thought I must just be looking in the wrong place. When I arrived, he charged me $62. It apparently should have been more like $40- $45. I have since read that this scam is happening a lot in Brisbane. The driver turns off the meter and just charges whatever they can get away with. It's been reported in local news.  Wish I had asked for a receipt, so I could have followed it up, but I hadn't.

Next, another rookie mistake. I didn't know you had to book a time for embarkation, and left it to the last minute. The earliest available time was 1.30 to 2pm by then. I was  a bit annoyed, because I had planned to have lunch on the ship. In hindsight, it probably wasn't a bad time, because the terminal was absolutely chaotic when I arrived, with hundreds of people in very long queues, who looked like they might have been there for hours. (the ship departed an hour late, so I guess the long waiting lines caused more delays). I was struggling with my luggage when I was helped by someone from Princess crew, who put me in with a group needing 'special assistance'. We got to bypass the main lines snaking back and forth around the huge terminal building, and went to a sort of express lane. I had made a big effort beforehand to do all the pre-cruise checks and get the Green Tick, so I got past the main queues, got my Medallion, had my picture taken, and on to the ship fairly quickly. Arrived 12.45 pm and in my cabin by 1.30 pm. The door sign greeted me and unlocked as I approached! The first of my bags arrived within half an hour.

The second one took three hours, and arrived with a polite note inside that basically said 'We x-rayed your bag; we know you have alcohol inside; we'll be discussing this with you".  I had taken four bottles of good quality Australian wine - more about this later.

My room

As a solo traveller, I had to pay a premium to be the sole occupant of a balcony cabin, so I was hoping it would suit me. I was quite impressed. Just inside the door was a big open wardrobe with plenty of hangers, plus a full length shelf above, a full height cupboard with many shelves and a safe. Opening off this was the bathroom - small but not so poky you bumped into things, with a small shower (excellent water pressure and temperature and it didn't overflow onto the floor), a basin with bench space on both sides, plus three small shelves, and a toilet. The main room had a huge bed (they call it a Queen, but it is a lot bigger than my standard Australia Queen at home), two bedside tables with lamps, a two metre long desk with a chair, a small bar fridge (completely empty), lots of cupboards and drawers, a big flat screen smart TV, full length sliding glass door out to the balcony which had two outdoor chairs and a coffee table.  Plenty of room for one person, and would be fine for two people, except there is only one chair. Maybe you can ask for a second one?

 The electrical points were interesting. On one side of the desk were three US sockets, all very close together, so it would be hard to fit in three appliances. On the other side, closest to the bed were an Australian socket plus two usb points.  I had taken a US to Aus converter plug, so I had two outlets altogether, plus the usbs, which was plenty for my needs.

My lovely cabin steward introduced himself. His name was Viqtor (with a q) from Portugal. He volunteered to find out what had happened to my missing bag.

On board credit

As a first time cruiser, I didn't at first realise the significance of having some onboard credit. I only had about $250, which doesn't go far if you like expensive cocktails. Fortunately, I don't.

I made a careful study of what was included in the basic price, and decided not to take the drinks package or the internet package.  So I set out to test what I could get for free (ie. included).

After unpacking, I set out to explore the ship and find something to eat.  I felt it was too late for lunch by then, but I got a free icecream at the bar near the pool and a free pastry from the International cafe.

In the end, after 11 days, I still had $5  left on my onboard credit, and I didn't feel I had missed out on much.

To be continued.......

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's best to take wine in your carry-on. There is usually a table just after the security scanning where you declare your wine,  if you have more than one bottle per person, and pay the corkage on the extra bottles.

[Ozwoody]

Hi cruiser3775

 

Thank you, very well written, looking forward to the next instalments.

 

Regards

John

[Fortunatefew]

I’m enjoying reading your experiences as a solo traveller on Coral.  We were on this ship September/October. Departing  from Sydney our first stop was Brisbane which didn’t go well.  As you correctly said the new cruise terminal is in the middle of nowhere.  There were no shuttle buses or transport of any kind and no ambassadors inside the terminal, apart from passengers it was completely empty.  Outside,  a lone terminal worker was inundated with questions and complaints from frustrated passengers told us that taxis don’t go to the terminal because of Ubers taking over but there were none of them either.  It was pretty disappointing and badly organised.

We all returned back to the ship.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Fortunatefew

[cruiser3775]

My first cruise, part 3

Drinks

I didn't buy the drinks package.  I am a wine drinker, and the wines offered by Princess are a disgrace. I think their wine buyer got taken for a ride by some canny Australian wine wholesaler. They have wines for $50 - $60 a bottle or $12 a glass that are cask quality you can buy retail for $5.99 a bottle.  They do have some better quality wines, but the prices are eye-watering.

I read the fine print. You can bring onboard one bottle of wine for no charge, and any other bottles you bring attract $15 corkage.  I have some two-bottle padded wine carriers, so I lugged them along, bought four good bottles of Australian wine I actually like, in Brisbane, and packed them in my small wheeled carry on.  The total cost was less than I would have paid for one bottle on Princess. When I arrived at the chaos at the terminal, someone from Princess helped me with my luggage, and both my bigger suitcase and the carry on were taken away, leaving me just with a carry bag to board.

As I said earlier, they found my bottles of wine, but that is the last I heard about paying for the excess. So far, 11 days since I got home, I haven't been charged the $45 corkage.

I drank the wine in my cabin during the trip, didn't take any of it to the dining rooms. Maybe if I had done that, I would have paid the corkage?

My experience with shared tables was that many people on board wouldn't know a good quality wine anyway.  And the waiters don't know much about wine.   People would order: "I will have a glass of red", and the waiter would ask which one. Most people chose randomly or on price, or told the waiter to choose.  Several people also ordered a glass of ice cubes, and added them to their red wine, which was probably appropriate for the cask quality wine.   Anyone who ordered from the more expensive end of the wine list caused some consternation with the waiters.  In my case, I used some of my OBC to order a $17 glass of red in Bayou Cafe (one of the speciality restaurants).  The waiter came back with a glass of red. I took one sniff and said "This is not what I ordered". He shuffled about a bit and said "We don't have any of that here".   He did not apologise for giving me something else.  After a bit of further conversation, he went away and came back after a while with another anonymous glass.  This one appeared to be what I had actually ordered.  Later, I noted that the charge on my account said I had bought it from Sabatini's (the other speciality restaurant).  I think the waiter had to get a bottle from them.   Yes, I do appreciate good wine, and I think Princess needs to do some serious work on their wine lists, their rip-off prices, and some proper training for their waiters.

FOOD

The food on Princess was generally very good.  I tried out all the restaurants in turn, starting with the two speciality restaurants, Bayou Cafe and Sabatinis.   These had more expensive choices, like top quality steaks and seafood (whole lobster tails), and I thought the extra charge was easily comparable to what you would pay in an Australian restaurant if you ordered those things.  But I didn't like the fact that you couldn't share a table, and I had to eat alone.

The two main dining rooms (almost identical menus) were a better fit for me. I asked to share a table and usually got put on a table for six, so I met a lot of interesting people.  The three course meals were always interesting and well presented, and used quality ingredients.

I only ate in the buffet a couple of times, and chose quiet times, early and late.  I found the food a bit bland, as though they were trying to please all tastes, but there was enough variety to suit me.

I used the free room service a lot, for every breakfast, for example. Loved breakfast in bed, or out on my balcony.   Also good for a mid afternoon snack when coming back from a shore visit. They do a killer chocolate layer cake.  I also used the medallion app on my phone to order coffee or a soft drink while out and about on the ship. Everything I ordered came quickly, usually within 10 - 15 minutes.

I liked the International Cafe, where you can order a coffee or tea, and help yourself to free pastries and cakes.

 

Enough about the ship - next time I'll start talking about the ports in PNG.

[Fortunatefew]

On 12/10/2022 at 12:53 PM, cruiser3775 said:

My first cruise, part 3

Drinks

I didn't buy the drinks package.  I am a wine drinker, and the wines offered by Princess are a disgrace. I think their wine buyer got taken for a ride by some canny Australian wine wholesaler. They have wines for $50 - $60 a bottle or $12 a glass that are cask quality you can buy retail for $5.99 a bottle.  They do have some better quality wines, but the prices are eye-watering.

I read the fine print. You can bring onboard one bottle of wine for no charge, and any other bottles you bring attract $15 corkage.  I have some two-bottle padded wine carriers, so I lugged them along, bought four good bottles of Australian wine I actually like, in Brisbane, and packed them in my small wheeled carry on.  The total cost was less than I would have paid for one bottle on Princess. When I arrived at the chaos at the terminal, someone from Princess helped me with my luggage, and both my bigger suitcase and the carry on were taken away, leaving me just with a carry bag to board.

As I said earlier, they found my bottles of wine, but that is the last I heard about paying for the excess. So far, 11 days since I got home, I haven't been charged the $45 corkage.

I drank the wine in my cabin during the trip, didn't take any of it to the dining rooms. Maybe if I had done that, I would have paid the corkage?

My experience with shared tables was that many people on board wouldn't know a good quality wine anyway.  And the waiters don't know much about wine.   People would order: "I will have a glass of red", and the waiter would ask which one. Most people chose randomly or on price, or told the waiter to choose.  Several people also ordered a glass of ice cubes, and added them to their red wine, which was probably appropriate for the cask quality wine.   Anyone who ordered from the more expensive end of the wine list caused some consternation with the waiters.  In my case, I used some of my OBC to order a $17 glass of red in Bayou Cafe (one of the speciality restaurants).  The waiter came back with a glass of red. I took one sniff and said "This is not what I ordered". He shuffled about a bit and said "We don't have any of that here".   He did not apologise for giving me something else.  After a bit of further conversation, he went away and came back after a while with another anonymous glass.  This one appeared to be what I had actually ordered.  Later, I noted that the charge on my account said I had bought it from Sabatini's (the other speciality restaurant).  I think the waiter had to get a bottle from them.   Yes, I do appreciate good wine, and I think Princess needs to do some serious work on their wine lists, their rip-off prices, and some proper training for their waiters.

FOOD

The food on Princess was generally very good.  I tried out all the restaurants in turn, starting with the two speciality restaurants, Bayou Cafe and Sabatinis.   These had more expensive choices, like top quality steaks and seafood (whole lobster tails), and I thought the extra charge was easily comparable to what you would pay in an Australian restaurant if you ordered those things.  But I didn't like the fact that you couldn't share a table, and I had to eat alone.

The two main dining rooms (almost identical menus) were a better fit for me. I asked to share a table and usually got put on a table for six, so I met a lot of interesting people.  The three course meals were always interesting and well presented, and used quality ingredients.

I only ate in the buffet a couple of times, and chose quiet times, early and late.  I found the food a bit bland, as though they were trying to please all tastes, but there was enough variety to suit me.

I used the free room service a lot, for every breakfast, for example. Loved breakfast in bed, or out on my balcony.   Also good for a mid afternoon snack when coming back from a shore visit. They do a killer chocolate layer cake.  I also used the medallion app on my phone to order coffee or a soft drink while out and about on the ship. Everything I ordered came quickly, usually within 10 - 15 minutes.

I liked the International Cafe, where you can order a coffee or tea, and help yourself to free pastries and cakes.

 

Enough about the ship - next time I'll start talking about the ports in PNG.

We’re waiting……its like a tv series and having to wait for the next episode

[cruiser3775]

My first cruise, part 4

 

Money

I found it very hard to get Kina (PNG currency) in Australia. I eventually got some through Travelex, at a bad rate of exchange and only in big notes.  Then we were informed, at the last minute as we arrived at the first port, that there would be a pop up currency exchange on board, but only for a couple of hours. Because I was on a booked morning excursion,  I could not have gone to it anyway.  There are banks in Alotau, but it was a Sunday.  Most of the locals don't want to take Australian notes, which are difficult for them to change.

 

Ports and Shore excursions

We called at Alotau (Milne Bay), Rabaul, Kiriwina and the Conflict islands.   Because I had very little onboard credit, I didn't want to pay for the very expensive ship excursions.  I joined the CC Roll Call for this cruise, and found other passengers who had organised half day shore excursions I could tag along with. Most of these were "pay in AUD cash on the day" arrangements, and mostly only half the price of the ship excursions. I sent emails to the local companies and booked myself on two like this, one in Alotau and one in Rabaul.  I also booked on one ship excursion in Alotau, and added another ship excursion at the last minute in Rabaul.

 

Alotau

The ship offered a morning shuttle service to the "Lik Lik Festival", in a private property around the bay, maybe 2 kms from the port.  Some people on CC asked if they could walk there, but the answer was that the ship had a monopoly on entry to the festival. You had to take the official shuttle bus to get in. I'm not sure if that was true, but it would have been a long walk in the heat and humidity. The cost of $A39.95 included the shuttle bus and entry to the festival grounds.  You were given a nominal time of two hours, but, in fact, you could stay as long as you liked, and just wait in the shade on chairs until the next shuttle bus arrived.

The festival grounds had some beautiful timber buildings,  shaded areas under palm tree fronds with chairs and bench seating, plus extensive grounds with many big shade trees. It bordered the harbour so you could see back across to the moored ship.

The festival dancing was performed by two troupes from different villages. The first one was mainly children, aged maybe 5 to 15 years, accompanied by drummers.  They all wore colourful costumes and had painted skin decorations.   The second troupe from another village were more mixed in age, from small children to older women, and different traditional costumes.   The dancing had been well rehearsed and was fascinating to watch and the hollow tree branch drum rhythms were quite mesmerising.   I got a front row seat and took many photographs. People were happy to be photographed everywhere.

Next there were some very talented women singers, with long plaintive notes and drum accompaniment.   

When this part had finished, I wandered around the stalls where locals were selling handicrafts and clothing, plus some fairly tacky souvenir kitsch.  There was absolutely no hard sell going on. Some of the wood carvings were beautifully done, but I was saving my purchases for the Kiriwina stop.  There were also men in traditional costume with long canoes drawn up, offering to take people on short rides in the bay.

I know that the "festival' is a commercial enterprise, but I thought it was colourful and interesting and a good introduction to PNG. I went back to the ship for lunch, on the next shuttle bus. The track leading into the port was lined with locals selling similar handicrafts, which would have been an easy walk from the ship.

 

In the afternoon, I had organised my second excursion, a private one.  There were supposed to be three people booked, but the other two never turned up. I thought the organiser would cancel after we waited half an hour, but they agreed to take me.  So I ended up by myself on an 11 seater minibus with my own driver and local guide for three hours for $A50.  This was great, because they tailored the tour to my interests and took me to places I wanted to see, like Gurney Airfield, which was some way out of town, and then to a high point that looked over the harbour, but had no other cruise tour buses at all, plus some very friendly local people. 

I was back on the ship in plenty of time. We were supposed to sail at 5pm, but we were still there an hour later.  Eventually, an announcement from the bridge said that there had been a medical emergency and we had to wait for an air evacuation.   I was told later that the passenger was refused admission to the local hospital because of the seriousness of her condition, so she was in the ship's hospital.   The air ambulance was delayed, so we stayed in Alotau port overnight, and the passenger was only transferred next morning. 

We left Alotau 16 hours late, and went very fast to make up time, but we still arrived in Rabaul more or less on time.

 

[Ozwoody]

8 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

My first cruise, part 4

 

Money

I found it very hard to get Kina (PNG currency) in Australia. I eventually got some through Travelex, at a bad rate of exchange and only in big notes.  Then we were informed, at the last minute as we arrived at the first port, that there would be a pop up currency exchange on board, but only for a couple of hours. Because I was on a booked morning excursion,  I could not have gone to it anyway.  There are banks in Alotau, but it was a Sunday.  Most of the locals don't want to take Australian notes, which are difficult for them to change.

 

Ports and Shore excursions

We called at Alotau (Milne Bay), Rabaul, Kiriwina and the Conflict islands.   Because I had very little onboard credit, I didn't want to pay for the very expensive ship excursions.  I joined the CC Roll Call for this cruise, and found other passengers who had organised half day shore excursions I could tag along with. Most of these were "pay in AUD cash on the day" arrangements, and mostly only half the price of the ship excursions. I sent emails to the local companies and booked myself on two like this, one in Alotau and one in Rabaul.  I also booked on one ship excursion in Alotau, and added another ship excursion at the last minute in Rabaul.

 

Alotau

The ship offered a morning shuttle service to the "Lik Lik Festival", in a private property around the bay, maybe 2 kms from the port.  Some people on CC asked if they could walk there, but the answer was that the ship had a monopoly on entry to the festival. You had to take the official shuttle bus to get in. I'm not sure if that was true, but it would have been a long walk in the heat and humidity. The cost of $A39.95 included the shuttle bus and entry to the festival grounds.  You were given a nominal time of two hours, but, in fact, you could stay as long as you liked, and just wait in the shade on chairs until the next shuttle bus arrived.

The festival grounds had some beautiful timber buildings,  shaded areas under palm tree fronds with chairs and bench seating, plus extensive grounds with many big shade trees. It bordered the harbour so you could see back across to the moored ship.

The festival dancing was performed by two troupes from different villages. The first one was mainly children, aged maybe 5 to 15 years, accompanied by drummers.  They all wore colourful costumes and had painted skin decorations.   The second troupe from another village were more mixed in age, from small children to older women, and different traditional costumes.   The dancing had been well rehearsed and was fascinating to watch and the hollow tree branch drum rhythms were quite mesmerising.   I got a front row seat and took many photographs. People were happy to be photographed everywhere.

Next there were some very talented women singers, with long plaintive notes and drum accompaniment.   

When this part had finished, I wandered around the stalls where locals were selling handicrafts and clothing, plus some fairly tacky souvenir kitsch.  There was absolutely no hard sell going on. Some of the wood carvings were beautifully done, but I was saving my purchases for the Kiriwina stop.  There were also men in traditional costume with long canoes drawn up, offering to take people on short rides in the bay.

I know that the "festival' is a commercial enterprise, but I thought it was colourful and interesting and a good introduction to PNG. I went back to the ship for lunch, on the next shuttle bus. The track leading into the port was lined with locals selling similar handicrafts, which would have been an easy walk from the ship.

 

In the afternoon, I had organised my second excursion, a private one.  There were supposed to be three people booked, but the other two never turned up. I thought the organiser would cancel after we waited half an hour, but they agreed to take me.  So I ended up by myself on an 11 seater minibus with my own driver and local guide for three hours for $A50.  This was great, because they tailored the tour to my interests and took me to places I wanted to see, like Gurney Airfield, which was some way out of town, and then to a high point that looked over the harbour, but had no other cruise tour buses at all, plus some very friendly local people. 

I was back on the ship in plenty of time. We were supposed to sail at 5pm, but we were still there an hour later.  Eventually, an announcement from the bridge said that there had been a medical emergency and we had to wait for an air evacuation.   I was told later that the passenger was refused admission to the local hospital because of the seriousness of her condition, so she was in the ship's hospital.   The air ambulance was delayed, so we stayed in Alotau port overnight, and the passenger was only transferred next morning. 

We left Alotau 16 hours late, and went very fast to make up time, but we still arrived in Rabaul more or less on time.

 

Wow what what day you had.

It does pay to be adventurist most times, it make for great memories of your travel.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Belmont Babe]

Reading with great interest as we are on the same itinerary 26 January.

[Fortunatefew]

19 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

My first cruise, part 4

 

Money

I found it very hard to get Kina (PNG currency) in Australia. I eventually got some through Travelex, at a bad rate of exchange and only in big notes.  Then we were informed, at the last minute as we arrived at the first port, that there would be a pop up currency exchange on board, but only for a couple of hours. Because I was on a booked morning excursion,  I could not have gone to it anyway.  There are banks in Alotau, but it was a Sunday.  Most of the locals don't want to take Australian notes, which are difficult for them to change.

 

Ports and Shore excursions

We called at Alotau (Milne Bay), Rabaul, Kiriwina and the Conflict islands.   Because I had very little onboard credit, I didn't want to pay for the very expensive ship excursions.  I joined the CC Roll Call for this cruise, and found other passengers who had organised half day shore excursions I could tag along with. Most of these were "pay in AUD cash on the day" arrangements, and mostly only half the price of the ship excursions. I sent emails to the local companies and booked myself on two like this, one in Alotau and one in Rabaul.  I also booked on one ship excursion in Alotau, and added another ship excursion at the last minute in Rabaul.

 

Alotau

The ship offered a morning shuttle service to the "Lik Lik Festival", in a private property around the bay, maybe 2 kms from the port.  Some people on CC asked if they could walk there, but the answer was that the ship had a monopoly on entry to the festival. You had to take the official shuttle bus to get in. I'm not sure if that was true, but it would have been a long walk in the heat and humidity. The cost of $A39.95 included the shuttle bus and entry to the festival grounds.  You were given a nominal time of two hours, but, in fact, you could stay as long as you liked, and just wait in the shade on chairs until the next shuttle bus arrived.

The festival grounds had some beautiful timber buildings,  shaded areas under palm tree fronds with chairs and bench seating, plus extensive grounds with many big shade trees. It bordered the harbour so you could see back across to the moored ship.

The festival dancing was performed by two troupes from different villages. The first one was mainly children, aged maybe 5 to 15 years, accompanied by drummers.  They all wore colourful costumes and had painted skin decorations.   The second troupe from another village were more mixed in age, from small children to older women, and different traditional costumes.   The dancing had been well rehearsed and was fascinating to watch and the hollow tree branch drum rhythms were quite mesmerising.   I got a front row seat and took many photographs. People were happy to be photographed everywhere.

Next there were some very talented women singers, with long plaintive notes and drum accompaniment.   

When this part had finished, I wandered around the stalls where locals were selling handicrafts and clothing, plus some fairly tacky souvenir kitsch.  There was absolutely no hard sell going on. Some of the wood carvings were beautifully done, but I was saving my purchases for the Kiriwina stop.  There were also men in traditional costume with long canoes drawn up, offering to take people on short rides in the bay.

I know that the "festival' is a commercial enterprise, but I thought it was colourful and interesting and a good introduction to PNG. I went back to the ship for lunch, on the next shuttle bus. The track leading into the port was lined with locals selling similar handicrafts, which would have been an easy walk from the ship.

 

In the afternoon, I had organised my second excursion, a private one.  There were supposed to be three people booked, but the other two never turned up. I thought the organiser would cancel after we waited half an hour, but they agreed to take me.  So I ended up by myself on an 11 seater minibus with my own driver and local guide for three hours for $A50.  This was great, because they tailored the tour to my interests and took me to places I wanted to see, like Gurney Airfield, which was some way out of town, and then to a high point that looked over the harbour, but had no other cruise tour buses at all, plus some very friendly local people. 

I was back on the ship in plenty of time. We were supposed to sail at 5pm, but we were still there an hour later.  Eventually, an announcement from the bridge said that there had been a medical emergency and we had to wait for an air evacuation.   I was told later that the passenger was refused admission to the local hospital because of the seriousness of her condition, so she was in the ship's hospital.   The air ambulance was delayed, so we stayed in Alotau port overnight, and the passenger was only transferred next morning. 

We left Alotau 16 hours late, and went very fast to make up time, but we still arrived in Rabaul more or less on time.

 

On our Sept/oct cruise on Coral there  were  2 medical emergencies over 2 days. In both cases helicopters arrived to airlift the passengers from the ship. It was explained in the theatre by an officer some days later  what is involved when the captain has to request the services of a helicopter - it was a real eye opener. 

[SinbadThePorter]

Just to update you all on the doings of the Coral Princess. 

 

We are in Wellington today and just like Dunedin and Christchurch we have warm sunny weather. The main problem is avoiding sunburn.

 

Yesterday the indoor pool was drained painted and refurbished.

It is currently empty but looking good.

 

The fjords were very cold and foggy. But we did get into Milford without problems.

[SinbadThePorter]

The captain has just told us that we have an elevated level of covid on board.

[LittleFish1976]

28 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

The captain has just told us that we have an elevated level of covid on board.

 

Did he request any changes in passenger behaviour as a result or give you any indication as to what % of passengers that might be?

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, Fortunatefew said:

On our Sept/oct cruise on Coral there  were  2 medical emergencies over 2 days. In both cases helicopters arrived to airlift the passengers from the ship. It was explained in the theatre by an officer some days later  what is involved when the captain has to request the services of a helicopter - it was a real eye opener. 

The captain wasn't impressed by the way some passengers behaved during the first helivac. Everyone had been told to stay off their balconies while the helicopter was operating around the ship but, of course, some people thought that didn't apply to them. When the captain announced the second helivac he gave those people a stern telling off and told them not to do it again!

[SinbadThePorter]

33 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Did he request any changes in passenger behaviour as a result or give you any indication as to what % of passengers that might be?

 

 

Only a reminder that masks are always to be on indoors except when exercising, eating or drinking.

 

Since this has been a moveable feast all cruise I can't see it making much difference.

 

We are heading out to Cook Strait now. It's flat as a tack.

[Ozwoody]

Ahh hi guys

Although I'm enjoying some of the comments.

Are we hi jacking someone else's thread??

cruiser3775 started it to record her experience on the cruise....

I for one, are looking forward to her updates...

Lets not spoil it for her.

 

 

[cruiser3775]

My first cruise, part 5

I would not be surprised if there was Covid on every cruise, just as there is Covid on land everywhere in Australia.  On my cruise, I did see some evidence of people being left meals on tables outside their rooms, but only two or three in the many corridors I walked along.

 Back to ports and excursions:

 

RABAUL

We were originally scheduled to go to Kitiva, but that was cancelled a few weeks before we sailed, and a second day in Rabaul was substituted. This suited a lot of people as there seemed to be a good choice of things to do. You could stay overnight on land if you wanted, but you had to get special permission. Don't know if anyone did that.

I wanted to do a volcanological tour, but the three hour ship tour cost $A180, so i looked for alternatives. On CC roll call another couple of passengers were asking for people to join them on a private tour they had arranged.  This was described as a 4.5 hour tour of Rabaul attractions, followed by a specially arranged trip to Matupit Island, where we would be entertained and fed by people from the village.  The cost was $120.  I booked on this private tour and I'm glad I did, but in some ways it was a disappointment, I think mainly caused by a lack of good communication between the passengers who arranged the tour, and the tour company itself.  

The tour company sent emails describing the things we would see, as well as the visit to Matupit Island, and told us to be there at 9am to 9.15 am. There were six other people who had signed up to go, and we all turned up on time. Then we stayed at the port in the heat and humidity, and waited for the couple who had organised the tour. After half an hour with no sign of them, the tour company representative was getting agitated and asking us all how to contact them, but none of us knew them personally.  At 10am, they gave us and started moving us to the mini bus.  At that point, as we were boarding, they turned up.  I later asked one of them what had happened, and got told in no uncertain terms that it was my fault for getting there early, when the starting time was 10 am.  Not a good start.

We headed off towards Matupit. The guide was obviously not one of the company's regular employees, and did not know much about what we were seeing, so we just drove through Old Rabaul with almost no commentary - another disappointment.

The part on Matupit Island itself was excellent. The local people had set up an area for us with palm frond shade shelters and a view of the harbour.  Our guidse introduced us to her mother and aunts and three of her five children. The women were cooking us a traditional meal, over an open fire and heated stones.   Each of us got a woven palm frond hat, decorated with pink and white frangipani flowers, made by one of the women.

Then a dance troupe of about 12 young boys came out, with body paint decorations and green grass skirts, accompanied by three men who played hollow log drums.  The dancing was lively and joyous. everyone laughed a lot, and a horde of smaller children and parents looked on. When the dancing finished, the boys took off for the water, flinging off their grass costumes and frolicking in the shallows to wash off the skin painting.

Then we were served lunch on fish shaped woven palm frond baskets with a banana leaf on top. We got greens (like silverbeet) cooked in coconut cream, a small piece of chicken, a piece of fish, a barbecued green banana, a piece of yellow yam, a slice of avocado, and a slice of papaya.  The men used large knives to cut the top off coconuts so we could drink the coconut water.

After a walk along the beach, we went back to the track to meet the minibus. We couldn't keep the palm hats because of bio-security on the ship. I gave mine to a small boy called Moses. Most of the people had biblical names.

On the way back on the very potholed, bumpy roads, the organiser of the trip told the driver to go to the market so he could change some Kina. So we all waited in the bus while he did that. Then he got the driver to take him to somewhere where he could buy beer.  We waited in the bus while he did that. Then he said we could go back to the ship, earlier than expected. At this point I was beginning to realise we were not going to see the places we had been promised, so I asked if we were going to a lookout over the town, and was told that the tour was finished an hour shorter than promised, and we were going back to the ship.

While I loved the meal and dancing on Matupit Island, I was quite disappointed that we didn't get the itinerary  the tour company had emailed us, and the tour was also shorter than promised. I will be very wary in future of joining in privately arranged tours without a clear understanding of exactly what I am getting.

I went on another excursion the following day in Rabaul, which made up for the things we missed.