grand princess 20th December till 22nd of January

[yes!yes!yes!]

13 hours ago, arxcards said:

5 x Princess since restart for us. We had one Coral cruise where we scored one of those old totes, and another on Majestic we scored a nice mini toiletry pouch with a fair few emergency goodies inside. Nothing on the other three cruises. A pillow choc or two would be awesome.

the casino always sends mum some chocolate 

[yes!yes!yes!]

13 hours ago, arxcards said:

5 x Princess since restart for us. We had one Coral cruise where we scored one of those old totes, and another on Majestic we scored a nice mini toiletry pouch with a fair few emergency goodies inside. Nothing on the other three cruises. A pillow choc or two would be awesome.

the casino always sends mum some chocolate 

[yes!yes!yes!]

we have delayed going to Williamstown on the ferry till Friday due to the rain and thunderstorms.

went shopping for a bit this morning.

seams to be more homeless sleeping on the street. nothing like Sydney tho.

 

[Yaya_in_Oz]

Out here on the Promenade Deck in these upright chairs. Think I’ll bring a pool towel next time. Fog horn blazing away!

2476 Aus on board plus a couple of hundred others and 1600 of us got on yesterday.

Captain announced that there had been an increase in cases of respiratory illnesses at the Medical Centre so to wear masks if at greater risk etc. etc.

The Patter, but I have an eye on the cricket. 3 full port days follow.

Edited January 3 by Yaya_in_Oz

[yes!yes!yes!]

42 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

Out here on the Promenade Deck in these upright chairs. Think I’ll bring a pool towel next time. Fog horn blazing away!

2476 Aus on board plus a couple of hundred others and 1600 of us got on yesterday.

Captain announced that there had been an increase in cases of respiratory illnesses at the Medical Centre so to wear masks if at greater risk etc. etc.

The Patter, but I have an eye on the cricket. 3 full port days follow.

are you having a  go at the trivia or music trivia?

[yes!yes!yes!]

went for lunch at China red.

it was good and cheap.

[Tripmode33]

On 1/2/2024 at 3:10 PM, ceeceeDee said:

I'd probably go with the watermelon and fetta and the sweet and sour prawns. Acceptable, but not something I would salivate over. Some of the offerings earlier in the cruise looked pretty awesome, however.

Would recommend the prawn dish. A couple weeks ago ordered this and the blue prawns (which aren't blue once cooked) were very large and very plentiful.

[Yaya_in_Oz]

18 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

are you having a  go at the trivia or music trivia?

I don’t do trivia, bingo and the like. On a sea day I have cabin breakfast and read the newspapers. I go to port and enrichment lectures and will go to any stargazing, eclipses, blood moon etc. If a ship has a jigsaw on the go I put in a few pieces. I read my book and play computer games and walk around the Promenade deck a couple of times and go to the Theatre. The cricket has been a bonus.

Off into Adelaide now as about 800 debark. Better day as we sailed in fog all day yesterday.

[NSWP]

Being a Chinese food freak, might I say that food in the Melbourne Chinese looks excellent.

[lyndarra]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

Being a Chinese food freak, might I say that food in the Melbourne Chinese looks excellent.

In other words you're cibus amans Seres.😉

Edited January 4 by lyndarra
typo

[yes!yes!yes!]

went to the Victoria markets this morning. easy getting there on the free trams. had a spicy brat in a bun for breakfast. bought a v neck jumper.

just been out for more Chinese food. China red again.

bought 2 bottles of white wine  for the next cruise

[Yaya_in_Oz]

Princess Patter

[~*Lou*~]

Has anyone looked at the marine weather forecast for next week?  We board in Melbourne on Monday and I'm a bit anxious about a rough crossing (sea sick children and husband) and we might miss Fjordland and even Dunedin? Would love to be wrong! 

[arxcards]

4 minutes ago, ~*Lou*~ said:

Has anyone looked at the marine weather forecast for next week?  We board in Melbourne on Monday and I'm a bit anxious about a rough crossing (sea sick children and husband) and we might miss Fjordland and even Dunedin? Would love to be wrong! 

It looks rather typical. The fiords are always a day to day proposition, but I can't see it being bumpy enough to skip Dunedin.

http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/viewer/index.shtml?type=sigWaveHgt&tz=AEDT&area=SEAu&model=CGW&chartSubmit=Refresh+View

 

[Yaya_in_Oz]

Princess Patter.

[yes!yes!yes!]

On 1/5/2024 at 8:55 AM, ~*Lou*~ said:

Has anyone looked at the marine weather forecast for next week?  We board in Melbourne on Monday and I'm a bit anxious about a rough crossing (sea sick children and husband) and we might miss Fjordland and even Dunedin? Would love to be wrong! 

it was smooth last week. I'm on Mondays cruise. its hit and miss with new Zealand weather.

take some seasickness pills or wristbands with you just in case.

I have never been seasick. have heard green apples help. they are always available in the buffet 

[yes!yes!yes!]

went to tim ho wan for late lunch yesterday. it was good but not great. I think it might be a franchise or chain.

we went to Williamstown on the early ferry yesterday. its over an hour each way with some commentary.

nice gentle cruise mostly on the river. $48 return for me and $42 for mum. complimentary water, tea, coffee. pay for alcohol and snacks. toilets on board, smoking allowed outside at the back. 4 return times to choose from. cheap day trip.

also noticed a sign in Williamstown with ferry prices to and from Port Melbourne (where the cruise ships pull up) i think it was about $22.

[yes!yes!yes!]

we are both still coping with the motion of the ocean. we always get it bad on the nz cruises. I think its because there are so many sea days, plus we don't walk much when we get in port due to mums age. its so annoying. I didn't get it at all after my 15 nights on msc around Norway etc. but was traveling with my son and walked miles and miles. also only one sea day here and there.

[Jean C]

On 1/5/2024 at 10:55 AM, ~*Lou*~ said:

Has anyone looked at the marine weather forecast for next week?  We board in Melbourne on Monday and I'm a bit anxious about a rough crossing (sea sick children and husband) and we might miss Fjordland and even Dunedin? Would love to be wrong! 

Next week's weather in NZ looks good, a big fat high sitting in the Tasman and coming our way for next week. I use the official NZ Metservice weather forecast (sorry, not the marine forecast), you can put in specific NZ cities and towns for the days of your port stop, and see forecasts for the next 7 days. I also use weather.com for overseas travel, it does 10 day forecasts and interestingly, or strangely, is often more accurate for our local weather than Metservice ☀  Doesn't help specifically with Tasman crossing but conditions generally look good. I have a pack of seasickness pills that I got from the doctor just in case but have never needed to use them 🤮 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

went to tim ho wan for late lunch yesterday. it was good but not great. I think it might be a franchise or chain.

we went to Williamstown on the early ferry yesterday. its over an hour each way with some commentary.

nice gentle cruise mostly on the river. $48 return for me and $42 for mum. complimentary water, tea, coffee. pay for alcohol and snacks. toilets on board, smoking allowed outside at the back. 4 return times to choose from. cheap day trip.

also noticed a sign in Williamstown with ferry prices to and from Port Melbourne (where the cruise ships pull up) i think it was about $22.

Yes, Tim Ho Wan is a franchise. The original once won a Michelin Star I think and it got touted as the best in the world. One opened in Chatswood a year or so after Din Tai Fung opened there. We tried Tim Ho Wan once and it was terrible. It only lasted a year or two but Din Tai Fung is still going strong. 

[yes!yes!yes!]

went to charles dickens tavern for lunch.

was very good. huge meals

had a couple of $9 pints 

[yes!yes!yes!]

we went to Spencer st dfo outlet shopping yesterday. caught the tram there and back. got a couple of bargains 

[possum52]

15 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

went to charles dickens tavern for lunch.

was very good. huge meals

had a couple of $9 pints 

Love Charles Dickens Tavern. It's usually popular during winter for football fans. It's a while since we've been there. Usually good food.

[yes!yes!yes!]

28 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Love Charles Dickens Tavern. It's usually popular during winter for football fans. It's a while since we've been there. Usually good food.

there were many people there. we went between lunch and dinner. everyone's food looked great. bar girls were nice and friendly too

[yes!yes!yes!]

we have been using Google  for directions to most places. this  morning we went to  a breakfast place with excellent reviews and open at 7am. sadly it has been closed for a while  and we sat on a coffee  waiting for the  kitchen to open at 8am at one of the other cafes on that lane.

we  just wanted a plain breakfast today. just poached eggs on toast and fruit toast.