“the Big One”! World Cruise on Sojourn

[shark b8]

Next up was a 20 minute helicopter ride, which circled the island.  Got a top view of the wrecks from earlier in the day, obviously now they have become artificial reefs, hosting all sorts of marine life.  Small 4-seater copters, really fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by shark b8

[goaliedad30]

Our visit to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary today was fabulous!

[goaliedad30]

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Edited March 4, 2023 by goaliedad30
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[shark b8]

Beat me to it, goaliedad!

[shark b8]

To finish off the fun yesterday in Moreton Island, we did the wild dolphin feeding thing.  Just after sunset, one wades into the shallows and hand-feeds a fish to one of the waiting dolphin family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shark b8]

I’ll add a couple of more Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary pix to those of goaliedad:

 

 

 

 

[shark b8]

 

 

[shark b8]

The little ones were enthralled, of course:

 

[shark b8]

The sheepdog show was great fun.  We’re dog-people and as such I betcha this dog (her name was “Flirt”) is thinking “I’m so lucky, I have the best job in the known universe!  They let me do this twice a day……for free!!”    (Bit of a traffic jam there in the 2nd one)

 

   

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by shark b8

[tv24]

Shark:  I am also following your thread with great interest.  Love your pictures and your positive attitude!

[phil09]

On 3/3/2023 at 3:55 AM, BasandSyb said:

Mauzac - Last blast of 30s+ summer here and we will be chasing it when we embark Odyssey in 17days in Sydney, so have been following the recent world and grand voyages with interest to whet the appetite. Can’t wait. Would be nice to know who our CD is.

 

We will be boarding Odyssey also in a couple of weeks.  Have seen a couple reports which indicate Robert Brendan will be the CD.

 

Shark b8 - apologies for the slight detour on the thread.  Thoroughly enjoying your reporting and all the great photos.  Looking forward to the "watching" the remainder of your world cruise.

[shark b8]

Galley lunch today, always a hoot.  Hand washing & masking still required, although masks only in the galley itself.

 

[Mr Luxury]

6 hours ago, shark b8 said:

Galley lunch today, always a hoot.  Hand washing & masking still required, although masks only in the galley itself.

 

Whatever next.

Social distancing?

[pyffii]

no masks for us so no galley lunch in May !

[shark b8]

New champagne onboard tonight.  The missus said she didn’t like it quite as much as the usual Montaudon, and I think I agree (with a largely ambivalent shrug), although…..to me, nowhere near a deal-breaker.

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, shark b8 said:

New champagne onboard tonight.  The missus said she didn’t like it quite as much as the usual Montaudon, and I think I agree (with a largely ambivalent shrug), although…..to me, nowhere near a deal-breaker.

That'll take the enamel off your teeth.

Another reason to buy wine from the list.

[diebroke]

I plugged this wine into Wine-Searcher.com  & got some interesting results.

It is available from a store in Atlanta, GA, for $180; from a store in Singapore for $58, and from an auction site in Amsterdam for $2.13. That’s quite a range. Since it’s a NV (non-vintage) wine, it’s hard to know how old it is. I suspect Seabourn paid closer to $2.13 than $180 per bottle.

In 2020, Wine Enthusiast Magazine rated it 88 points & said the price was $60.

It is a blend including half Pinot Meunier & is not made for aging. Perhaps Seabourn got a deal on old bottles. Perhaps they spend more on included wines than I thought.

[Mr Luxury]

10 minutes ago, diebroke said:

I plugged this wine into Wine-Searcher.com  & got some interesting results.

It is available from a store in Atlanta, GA, for $180; from a store in Singapore for $58, and from an auction site in Amsterdam for $2.13. That’s quite a range. Since it’s a NV (non-vintage) wine, it’s hard to know how old it is. I suspect Seabourn paid closer to $2.13 than $180 per bottle.

In 2020, Wine Enthusiast Magazine rated it 88 points & said the price was $60.

It is a blend including half Pinot Meunier & is not made for aging. Perhaps Seabourn got a deal on old bottles. Perhaps they spend more on included wines than I thought.

This is the houses standard cuvee

They do make some much better Champagne.

Good with canapés and chicken apparently😄

Many guests will like it,many guests will not.

It's hard to please all,me I'm easily pleased

Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill is perfect.I'm drinking the 2013 at the moment.😁

Edited March 5, 2023 by Mr Luxury

[topkatz]

Sydney Harbor arrival. Clear skies at sunrise.

What a way to get introduced to this beautiful city.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by topkatz
Intro text

[shark b8]

So, since we’re speaking about adult beverages…..riddle me this, Batman.   I’m not remotely a serious beer-enthusiast, I have maybe one a month or so, usually with Indian food.  So for you diehard beer-ers:    It strikes me as odd, that when you ask for a beer onboard, they bring you….a glass of beer.  I mean, no bottle, just the glass of beer.  I would equally wrinkle my brow if you asked for a specific wine label/varietal and they just brought a glass of wine…..obvs with wine they pour it from the requested bottle, at the table.  Now, I’m not remotely suggesting Seabourn has devised a diabolical scheme to substitute cheap beer and save $0.14 per bottle, just seems like it would be proper (and easy) to bring the bottle & glass, and pour/serve at the table.  Yes?  No?

[galeforce9]

On 3/5/2023 at 12:47 AM, phil09 said:

 

We will be boarding Odyssey also in a couple of weeks.  Have seen a couple reports which indicate Robert Brendan will be the CD.

 

Shark b8 - apologies for the slight detour on the thread.  Thoroughly enjoying your reporting and all the great photos.  Looking forward to the "watching" the remainder of your world cruise.

He’s on odyssey at the moment 

[shark b8]

7 hours ago, topkatz said:

What a way to get introduced to this beautiful city.

 

Thanks for that topkatz, great stuff.  We’re looking forward to tomorrow night, I’m thinking if there’s anything more impressive than sailing into Sydney, it’s the sailAWAY - the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House all lit up and drop-dead gorgeous.  We did it 4 years ago and it zoomed to the upper part of my “sailaway ratings chart.”  What other sailaways do CC-ers rate near the top, any takers?  I’d put Sydney, Malta, Dover up there.  And certainly Venice, although our sailaway there was marred by a Rolex billboard the size of Rhode Island, as we sailed by the San Marco area.

[goaliedad30]

Today's sunrise, and sailing under the bridge into Sydney harbor!

 

[shark b8]

25 minutes ago, shark b8 said:

What other sailaways do CC-ers rate near the top

 

At the risk of responding to my own question……I remember our second-ever Seabourn, from Singapore to Athens, in 2015.  I wrote a blog for friends and family and going into that trip, I had already written a post in my head about how exotic and romantic this would be:  “what could be better than sailing out of Singapore, in search of adventure?”.  Well.  I suspect I don't have to tell folks on this board that the sailaway from Singapore is mostly notable for the huge commercial shipping infrastructure everywhere as well as the marine graveyard, loads of rusted-out hulks everywhere, on all sides, from vessels from another time.  Ah well. 

Edited March 6, 2023 by shark b8

[goaliedad30]

We also got two great treats today: during our Opera House tour, we got to listen to the symphony orchestra rehearsing "pictures at an Exhibition" for about 15 minutes. Such great acoustics, we could hear the single out of tune flute which caused the conductor to stop, make a comment, and restart! Then, we Ubered out to Costco ... A 60 foot aisle of nothing but well-priced Penfolds reds, and Caymus reds! The whites were plebeian, but we came back with 20 bottle of red that should tide us over for a bit!