Live (Almost) from the Rhapsody - Around Australia - Feb 24 through Mar 31

[BoyntonBeth]

SU0322 - day 10 - Hobart, Tasmaia

Yesterday's bus driver said he lived about 150km from Burnie and 220 from Hobart and he was scheduled to meet us again today. Well, he was my driver again.

Today's tour was Hobart Highlights. The morning was quite cloudy but you could see the top of Mt. Wellington from the pier. Our bus went directly to the mountain because the fog could have covered the top again. We got there in time to have a good view, but it was quite windy and chilly.

The road up there was narrow and winding, but there was almost no traffic from the opposite direction at that hour. On the way down, however, there were many tight squeezes. I don't know how long it took to get up the mountain, but I timed the descent and it was about 25

minutes getting down.

While we were at the peak, a group of bicyclists arrived by van from the ship. They were being dropped off to bike down the mountain. No thanks.

We spent some time at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Australians seem to love their flowers. The vast majority of homes we've passed on all the excursions have meticulous landscaping and gardens. Every city seems to have Botanical Gardens and they're very proud

of them. Frankly, I'm rather tired of the gardens. I won't say when you've seen one you've seen them all, but enough already!

Because we were leavng port late, there was a show consisting of a local Police band. First sitting dinner was earlier than usual and there was only one show, between sittings. We knew the show was being taped for TV and the band would also be on the pier as we left, so we went to dinner at the regular time and skipped the show.

[BoyntonBeth]

WE0325 - day 13 - NZ Sounds

The past 2 days, sea days in the Tasmanian Sea, were expected to have the roughest seas. It was bumpy at times, but not rough at all. The last TransAtlantic I took (Jewel OTS) last September was rougher than this and that wasn't rough either.

Today we have a "Sea Day" in the NZ sounds. We got up early and rushed up to the Viking Crown Lounge to get good seats - right above the swimming pool, facing forward, with a good view of both sides. Even though sunrise was not until after 8am, I was able to get a decent picture as early as 6:15.

People are funny. Some came into the lounge saying we were surrounded by cliffs and they claimed they didn't understand why the Captain wasn't entering the sound, why he was wasting time just sitting there. They didn't understand that the viewing would be spectacular, once

there was light to see by! What did they expect the sounds to be? Just a canyon?

There was a shore excursion leaving from the ship by tender about 7am, with an overnight on land to be sure to capture the full impact of the sounds. I don't know how many people were on it. They'll rejoin the ship tomorrow in Dunedin. The cost is $495 per person double, $595 single.

Narration began around 7am and continued intermittently until we left Milford Sound after 9. The landscape, on the port side, could have been anywhere there are volcanic islands, except so far (it is now almost 10:30) there are no signs of any settlements.

The commentator mentioned that we would go to 4 sounds - the itinerary only said 3. It turns out that the 4th, Thompson Sound, is only the entrance to Doubtful Sound. By the time we got to Doubtful, the weather had worsened. Glad we were in Viking Crown.

The weather continued to deteriorate - light rain, limited visibility both before and at Dusky Sound. Milford Sound is the best, and, fortunately, that's where the weather and

viewing were the best.

Despite the weather, I managed to take almost 150 pictures. Maybe I could do that because we kept our excellent seats for over 9 hours.

[BoyntonBeth]

It's been hard getting onto CC and I'm almost out of the current package. I'm still making my notes but I won't post until I have an inexpensive and reliable connection. Maybe from the hotel in Sydney on Tues, maybe from LAX on Thurs. Sorry to see it ending.

[Rancher Dave]

Fantastic job reporting on this cruise. Wish I had time to take it since I love Australia.

[Mrs. Cruise]

Hi there,

Glad to read your latest post as I've been following your blog and wondered why you hadn't posted for several days. Now I see why! Thanks for all the info - it's been fun reading it all even though we won't be taking that particular cruise. We'll be on the Rhapsody for the Honolulu to Vancouver portion at the end of April and are looking forward to some R&R aboard. If you have anything more to say about the ship, food, cabins, etc. I'd be especially interested. Have a safe trip home and thanks again for making us feel like we're with you on the trip.

Pat

[BoyntonBeth]

TH0326 - day 14 - Dunedin NZ

Today's tour was "Dunedin Highlights" for 4 1/2 hours.

The first stop, not specifically listed in the tour description, was at the Railroad station, and it was probably the best stop. Just an interesting building worth visiting.

The longest stop was at the Otago Museum, where we had a guided tour. Since our time was limited, many of us broke away from the group to concentrate on the areas we were most interested in.

The tour also included yet another Botanical Garden. I DID NOT GO THERE!!!

NZ security is actually stricter than Australia. Bags were inspected for the same quarantine items, but we also needed picture id's which were compared to our sea pass info.

[BoyntonBeth]

FR0327 - day 15 - Christchurch

I wasn't happy with the description of "Christchurch Highlights," but it was the best choice for me.

It listed a stop at the Arts Centre with 15 minutes for shopping. It also listed (groan!) another Botanical Garden. It turns out that the bus stopped at one place for both venues, so I was able to spend all the time at the Arts Centre.

This was the only time where I did not like the bus driver. He stopped at the edge of the property at Dean's Bush but another bus driver knew he could drive right up to the building. The extra walking represents a waste of time when time is so limited.

The driver missed several turns and had to double back. Many of us were just not happy with his driving. The tour itself was ok, but the driver made us uncomfortable.

[BoyntonBeth]

SA0328 - day 16 - Wellington

I took the 8 hour "Best of Wellington" tour. I was a little concerned about the walking because there would be 1.5 miles but I figured that it would be ok if spread out over the 8 hours. The tour was shown as "mild" and it was just that.

One stop was at the Wellington Cable Car. With 3 of our busses, the boarding was chaotic with much jostling for space. We all seem to have survived.

Another stop was at the Southward auto museum where we were allowed an hour and a half. That was too much time by far. Probably half that would have satisfied most people.

There was a stop at a working farm which is also quite a commercial operation. We saw a sheep shearing demonstration as well as cow milking. There was an informative talk about wool - the types, the animals and the procedures. All 3 busses had lunch, well organized at staggered times. And, of course, there was time for shopping.

The last stop was at a wonderful lookout point with 72 steps to get to the top. I went because I knew I could stop at any point - the steps were not all at once, there was plenty of room to stop or turn around, the goal was always in sight. Well worth the effort.

We returned to the ship a few minutes after the all-aboard time. When I went through the ship's security, I heard a radio transmission from the Captain asking Security for a count. At that time there were still over 80 passengers who had not returned as well as 5 crew members. Perhaps they are now former crew members.

[BoyntonBeth]

Starbucks is across the street from the Marriott Sydney Harbour and they charge $4.50USD for 24hours on their WiFi network!

[AuzzieCruiser]

Beth,

It was great to finally meet you after such a long time. It is interesting to see it through the eyes of another fellow cruiser.

Boy the time did fly by, especially on the second leg. I hardly saw you during the last few weeks.

I was in the City this evening to see the Rhapsody off on her one night charity cruise. Shame we were not on it.:( Back to work tomorrow for me.:rolleyes::mad:

Hope you have a safe journey home.:)

[BoyntonBeth]

On Friday I sent a 4 page email to Adam Goldstein outlining my disappointments with the back-to-back cruises I took around Australia and New Zealand. I did not have many details. Instead I kept it fairly general - they didn't know enough about the ports, some ports couldn't handle so many people, PNG was particularly poorly handled, etc.

 

I mentioned that details are in my blog (BoyntonBeth.blogspot.com).

 

The bottom line, literally, was that I know Royal Caribbean can do better and that's really why I was disappointed.

 

Well, I just got a call from Janelle in the Executive Office. She thanked me for my feedback.

 

That's it!

 

The disappointed just magnified!

 

Beth

 

Anyone else feel the same?