Text yet to be posted for Ireland

Monday 17th August – Saturday 22nd August
This was a sea day and I must admit, after three busy port days it’s nice to get back to cruising normality. We received an invitation to the Captains cocktail party on the 19th. It’s at 5pm so it will mean a free sundowners that afternoon. We’ve seen some great entertainers the past few evenings. A female pianist/singer, played everything from classical to rock and roll, Jerry Lee Lewis style. There was a young violinist equally professional and a impersonator/comedian who had us in fits of laughter. Tonight (the 21st ) is a formal night at dinner – a chance to dress up a bit. The weather across the Atlantic has been damp and miserable, with the forecast for the same or worse all the way to Ireland

Sunday 16th August
Boston: A great city, probably not much busier or bigger than Brisbane. It was another hot day, 31c degrees. We shared a cab with another couple and headed for Quincy Markets. The centre avenue of the building is about 150 meters at least and full of boutique eating stalls with food styles from just about everywhere in the world. Then there was the basement with all sorts of clothes, jewelry, gifts etc., and again outside along either side of the building. We had hot dogs for lunch, Jorgen had the traditional style, which he said was one of the best and I tried the Italian version, which was also pretty good. Then we wandered part of the Freedom train, which covers many of the historic sites and building in Boston. From my school days, I remember learning about the Boston Tea Party. Many of the sites relate to that historic event. I think of Boston as the city of Parks and Statues. They are everywhere there is a little bit of undeveloped space, along with a couple of much larger parks, all within reasonable walking distance. The heat got to us and of course, our advancing senior years so we returned to the ship at about 2pm for a nana nap and to catch up on the ironing while most people were on shore. There’s almost always a cue for the washers, dryers and iron. Having been to Boston on an earlier visit and seeing it again, I still think it is one of my favourite cities in the world. The GD confers that it is one of the nicer cities in the USA. We won’t see land now until we arrive at Ireland on the 23rd August. Time to catch up on my Bridge lessons and any activities the GD takes part in, like cooking demos etc..

Newport Rhode Island - Saturday: A much slower pace than NY to be sure. It’s a place where the rich and famous live or spend their summer holidays. I’ve never seen so many luxurious yachts and sailing boats – it’s a mecca for those with nautical interests. Getting off the ship today was pretty fast by any standard, thank goodness. We went ashore by tender – with all the vessels in the area, I don’t think it would be feasible to berth a huge cruise liner at a shore dock. We didn’t see too many taxis around to take us on any extensive adventure and after yesterday, it was nice just to stroll around the pretty town area right at the wharf. For lunch, we sampled a delicious fillet steak and mushrooms, with chips and slaw, at a local restaurant and thank goodness, not the enormous feed that we’ve come to expect in the US. We bought a couple a paintings at a gallery on shore. Hopefully they will fit in a suitcase. Alternatively, we may send them home by post from Darwin. It’s about 3pm and the GD is having his nana nap. We sail again at 4pm then it’s all stops out until we reach Boston tomorrow morning about 8am.

New York - Friday: Busy, Busy, Busy. We’re not to happy with the dis-embarkment procedures at New York, This was partly due to the organization by the Princess Line and the excessive procedures required by US, even though we had already passed immigration laws in San Francisco. It took around 2 hours queuing to get off the ship and through customs, before getting on with our plans for our day ashore. Since the hop on hop off bus had been suggested as a good way of seeing NY the first time, then that’s what we did. We viewed most the city from the top of the open level of the bus. We got off at only two of the stops, Ground Zero and Battery Point. We had lunch at an interesting café near Ground Zero and tried Chicken Adana (hadn’t heard of it before). It was spicy chicken rissoles with rice and salad and a creamy, lemony sauce. We shared one meal between the two of us and then still couldn’t eat it all. But it was tasty. It’s hard to appreciate the huge area of destruction on 9/11 until you see it. It’s now a hive of construction so even having seen the site you get feel the real impact it must have had soon after the event. From Battery Park you can see the little lady (Statue of Liberty) in the distance. I say little because she’s not nearly as big as one imagines. You nearly have to lie down to see the top of the Empire State building. Saw the Brooklyn Bridge and drove past Central Park but we were hot and tired (our 3 hour bus ride had become about 5 hours in total) so didn’t get off the bus. The smell of horse poo was rather strong as they have dozens of horse and carriages taking people around the Park. Too busy for us, and too many people. Very few people who live in the city own a car, so nearly every second vehicle was a yellow cab or a commercial vehicle. An interesting place but I wouldn’t want to live there – Neither Sydney or Melbourne come anywhere near the hustle and bustle. I would like to have got into Macy’s the biggest department store in the world but just ran out of time and energy. After setting sail at about 7.30 and watching NY fade into the distance from the top deck, we had an early night.

Wednesday 12th August
Another island in the sun – Bermuda. Not a lot here but it just breaths wealth. We didn’t visit any of the beaches which I believe have pink sand. The day is just too short. We bought a day pass for the bus and ferry, then took the Ferry up to the St George tip of the island, about 45 minutes ferry ride. All buildings both old and new have an old world appearance. You can have any colour roofing you like, so long as it’s white. All the buildings, both private residential and commercial, are painted in pastel colours – all very clean and well maintained. Most of the houses are surrounded by large, well maintained gardens. We had a walk around St George and then took the bus back inland to the city of Hamilton with lots of up market shops. We then took another ferry back to the ship and had lunch. The GD needed his afternoon nap, so I headed for the local market in an old stone storage shed. It was also a most fashionable market catering for the tourist trade, all air conditioned, but still rather expensive by comparison to home. There is another big ship in port along from us and there was another one up at St George. The waters are pristine and the people quite friendly. It has just turned 5pm and our ship is due to depart about now. They have been working on the faulty engine on the ship all day and the barge that has been pulled up at the aft end all day working on the ship has left so we hope we’ll have no more delays. We will now have a day at sea before arriving in New York about 7am on Friday.

sunraise at sea 12 August

we will be be birthing at Bermuda in about 1/2 hour, 8am local time Wednesday 12 August.

Sunday 9th – 11th August
All sea days with a variety of ship board activities. GD has been to a cooking class, I have been to my bridge playing and we have joined our friends at trivial pursuits. We’ve seen a show or two and a movie. I’ve actually played with some bridge players who know less than me, so I must be learning some of the finer points. The GD bought himself a big cookbook at his lesson and since he is the cook (sorry, chef) at our place, I can now expect some even more spectacular dinners than usual when we get home. Our ship is on go slow as the engine problem has only be partly rectified. This means we will not be docking at Bermuda at 6pm this evening as planed. The laws do not allow big vessels to navigate their channels into port during hours of darkness and we are about 4 hours behind schedule. We will now dock about 8am tomorrow morning. This has no effect on us personally but some people had tours to a huge market out of town this evening, so they will now miss out. Apparently whatever they need to repair the engine problem is waiting at Bermuda, thus a tender will go ashore this evening and pick up the necessary parts and work on the engine overnight. GD has gone off for a hair cut and then another cooking lesson and I’m off to my morning bridge lesson. Have a great day.

Saturday 8th August
Enjoyed an afternoon in Aruba (a Dutch holding until recently) in the Dutch Antillies. It’s a small very dry island with virtual cactus desert inland and beaches around the outskirts. Thus, we chose not to take a tour but just wandered around the city. It was a mecca for anyone wanting up market brands in cloths, accessories, jewelry, perfume etc.. Since we don’t want to have to pay excess on our return flight from Sydney to Brisbane, as we had to on the way down, we have kept our shopping to the bare minimum and basically only buying essentials, or consumables. We are allowed to bring two bottles of wine on board from each port to drink in our cabin. Back to Aruba – most of the older buildings are typically Dutch in appearance. It was very hot once you left the foreshore so we cooled down with a couple of ice cold Heinekens at the Renaissance pier after tramping around town, before returning to the ship. We were meant to sail at 7pm but one of the sideways thrust engines had an electrical problem so we were delayed. We finally left port around 10.30

Friday 7th August
Cartagena was quite a surprise. We hired a taxi for two hours, with another couple to see the highlights. The old city has a wall around it and a substantial number of the population still live there. A lot of the buildings are around 500 years old with lots of history and beautifully maintained. It has the distinctive Spanish look about it. Many old churches and other building such as the town hall and the local council building and would you believe it the original Hard Rock Café. The modern city (outside the walls) has lots of tall apartment blocks along the beaches. It’s rather a clean city with lots of little parks and gardens. There are armed guards everywhere but one doesn’t feel intimidated at all. The port area where we were docked was the usual greasy, busy trade port and probably deterred a lot of people on the ship from venturing further. There were also warnings of pick pockets etc. Those who didn’t go ashore and explore a little missed out on one of the most interesting places we have been so far.

Thursday 6th August
Our ship arrived at Panama city at about 4.45 this morning. We surfaced about 5.15 awakened by the flashing lights from the pilot. We then stood out on our balcony, as did many others watching daylight arrive before we were escorted into the first lock soon after 7 am. We went and had some breakfast just after we went through the last of the entrance locks. After breaky we went back to bed to catch up on a bit of lost sleep. It truly is quite and experience and an amazing piece of engineering. We sailed through the central big man made lake where the ships traveling from east to west wait to travel on. We have seen one or two crocks, considered a workplace hazard, along the way. They are widening the canal to allow big modern ships to pass each other. At the present time the only places they can pass is in the lakes. We also then waited our turn before being guided into the next set of locks about lunchtime to complete our journey through the canal. There are a couple of large bridges that we go under, across the canal. We are now in the Caribbean Sea heading north to our next port of call, Cartagena, Columbia, which we should reach about 8am in the morning. The weather had been very mild, nowhere near as hot as it usually is or as forecast. It’s usually stifling hot at almost any time of the year. It took approximately 9 hours from when we were joined by the pilot on the Pacific side till when we exited the canal on the Eastern seaboard


After dinner, we went to see the documentary on the building of the Panama Canal. It was commenced by the French in the late 1800’s and abandoned due to deaths from yellow fever, before they knew that mosquitoes were the cause, lack of finance and the difficult terrain. The Americans later took on the project and it was completed on Jan 7th 1914.

Tuesday 4^th August

A bit of excitement late in the afternoon at dinner time. We had just started dinner when the ship slowed down dramatically. Soon after the captain announced that a fishing boat was missing and had been adrift for 48 hours and that we were on the lookout for it off the coast of Costa Rica. About 5 minutes later it’s flare was sighted. It’s motor had broken down and their radio was not working. Our ship came to a stop and sent out the rescue boat. We spent about two hours there, supplied the floundering boat with necessary radio, battery etc so that it could regain contact with it’s fleet which was about 100 miles away. We left when that contact had been made and one of their own fleet was on its way to tow them or repair their engine. They were offered passage on board the Princess but they chose to stay with their vessel. The earlier part of the day was as usual, cards, trivia, etc.

Wednesday 5^th August

It would appear that the delay yesterday has altered our place in the cue for the Panama Canal on Thursday. The time keeps changing and we are not really sure what time we will be navigating through the Canal. Last night we went through a storm and today it’s wet, miserable and hot outside. We are about 100 miles off the coast and moving closer as we travel in a south easterly direction. A few large sea birds are keeping pace with us, probably gliding on the slip stream from the boat.

Tuesday 4^th August

A bit of excitement late in the afternoon at dinner time. We had just started dinner when the ship slowed down dramatically. Soon after the captain announced that a fishing boat was missing and had been adrift for 48 hours and that we were on the lookout for it off the coast of Costa Rica. About 5 minutes later it’s flare was sighted. It’s motor had broken down and their radio was not working. Our ship came to a stop and sent out the rescue boat. We spent about two hours there, supplied the floundering boat with necessary radio, battery etc so that it could regain contact with it’s fleet which was about 100 miles away. We left when that contact had been made and one of their own fleet was on its way to tow them or repair their engine. They were offered passage on board the Princess but they chose to stay with their vessel. The earlier part of the day was as usual, cards, trivia, etc.

Wednesday 5^th August

It would appear that the delay yesterday has altered our place in the cue for the Panama Canal on Thursday. The time keeps changing and we are not really sure what time we will be navigating through the Canal. Last night we went through a storm and today it’s wet, miserable and hot outside. We are about 100 miles off the coast and moving closer as we travel in a south easterly direction. A few large sea birds are keeping pace with us, probably gliding on the slip stream from the boat.

POSTED
Monday 3rd August
Woke up this morning, another port, another part of Mexico – Huatulco, perhaps better know to us as Santa Cruiz (spelling?). Took a taxi into the main town centre – only a small place. Checked out a church that was suggested to see, did the rounds of the shops – all much the same as the last port. The church was quite interesting, with lots of frescos painted on the walls and ceiling. Went back to the square near the port and had couple of XX Mexican beers to cool off, right near the beach. Did a little shopping then had a couple more beers and a pizza for lunch at the same place we had a couple of drinks earlier. Set sail at 3.00pm. It will be another two sea day before we reach the Panama Canal on Thursday 6th.

Saturday 1st August
What’s the world coming to? We refrained from going to a show last night – checked out the movies under the stars – not our style, then visited one of the lounges to wait for the next lot of musicians but decided to go home (the cabin) instead. The washing machines were free so I did a little laundry instead. Late in the evening is the best time to go to the laundry as there is usually a queue during the day. There was a bit of a punch up in there one day but it’s pretty safe at night. I’m told that those in the scuffle we put off on an earlier port. We’ve spotted a few flying fish, a turtle and there has been a few whales and dolphins seen by other passengers. The pelicans are dark grey or brown – quite different to the ones we see on the east coast of OZ. We’ve been through a bit of a storm today but the weather is now fine and sunny and about 33 degrees and humid with flat seas. We can see the coast and mountains at a distance as we sail south along the Mexican coast.


Sunday 2nd August
Arrived at Acapulco at sunrise today. It’s already very hot outside on the balcony. Had a leisurely breakfast on Lido deck (the top deck No.14) taking in the view, then a few snaps from the outside deck. Went ashore around 10.00am.
A 9 seater tour bus took us and two other couples on a tour. We watched the young men and boys jumping from the cliff top in the bay. They really do take their lives in their hands when they dive into a very small area of deep water. The driver,Jose, a nice fellow, then drove us to the former home of Johnny Weismuller and John Wayne. I n his broken English, I think he told us that a Mexican boy adopted by one of those two now owns the place and runs it as an hotel. The boy now in his senior years was actually there and was pointed out to us. Quite a lot of other stars have visited and of course there photographs adorn the walls. It’s in a beautiful location, lots of stairs though to get around the grounds. Then we went on to a place made famous by the film “Casa Blanca” which is falling into a state of repair. You can almost feel the buzz that would have been part of it’s life many years ago. It’s now just hired out for weddings etc and a few of the room are apparently still used. It has magnificent views of the city, the bay and the port where the ship is berthed. We were dropped off in the Market square a short walk from the pier. We stopped for a short while just inside the Cathedral in the square, where a service was in progress. The speed limit in this part of the city is 15 miles per hour which is not surprising as there is not a straight level road in the area except for along the foreshore. It’s really quite a pretty place if you don’t look too closely. We didn’t see too many beggars and most people seem to have very modern cars and look pretty fit and healthy. Though we didn’t visit it, they have built what the call the new city a little further along the coast, apparently in the old style. Back to the ship, lunch and a nap before exploring the shops in the terminal building. This city has 3.5 million tourist per year. Time to dress for dinner.

Wed 29th July – Thurs30th July
Yesterday was another sea day, all much the same as the other sea days except we see a different show almost every night. I was upgraded from beginners to intermediate Bridge yesterday. Boy it’s a complicated game when learning from the professionals. I hope they use the same system back home where I hope to play Bridge.
Today, Thursday, at sea, which we don’t mind, sort of a day of rest, as tomorrow we arrive in Carbo San Lucas and the forecast is 39 degrees c.

Friday 31st JulyWent to bed last night and it was quite cool but woke up this morning to 26 degrees and rising. Saw a very clever magician last night at the show. The shows last for about an hour and then there is other entertainment if you want to carry on till late. I’m writing this after getting off the boat via tender and going ashore for a couple of hours. Lots of upgrading going on in the town, which is rather pretty and what you might expect a Mexican town to look like. Lots of jewelry shops etc. I was tempted and bought a nice silver ring. Since we hadn’t taken water ashore with us and it was b….. hot, we had a Mexican beer at a waterfront café and it was pretty good and cold. A lot of luxury cruisers in the boat harbour – a real play ground for water sports. There is also another big cruise ship in port as well as ours. The terrain is extremely dry – would probably be a nice place to holiday in the Winter.

Saturday 24th July – Thursday 28th July
Can’t believe it’s been 5 days since doing a posting. Eating, drinking, sleeping, playing, being entertained just seems to roll on from one day to the next. The seas and weather have been pretty kind so far. Wednesday – we decided to have afternoon tea because the freshly baked scones with cream and jam are rather special. Yum! Trying hard not to overdo the diet and for a few days that seems to work but all the food on offering is really hard to resist. Had a small farewell yesterday afternoon at bridge for those leaving in San Francisco. Jorgen went to the last astronomy lecture but I’m sure there will be something else to take it’s place. Most of the shows have been top class with a very few exceptions. Arrived in San Francisco around 5.30 this morning - sailed under the Golden Gate shrouded in fog but quite visible close up. The day’s weather has been quite changeable, with a bitterly cold damp morning to bright sunshine and warm in the middle of the day then foggy and windy and cold again this evening. We like the city but wouldn’t want to live here. We had a huge lunch, clam chowder and fish and chips, at a seafood restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf overlooking the bay.
We rode the cable car up to the top this morning and then back down another route. Later in the day we did a little shopping, then back to the ship in time for sundowners and dinner. A Lot of Americans have boarded the ship here.

Thursday 23rd July
Lahaima, Maui is one of the Hawaiian Islands. It has a huge dormant volcano, I think the last time it was active was about 15 years ago. It’s a pretty place, lots of surfers. The buildings along the seaside of the village look as if they have not changed for many years and have an old world look. Of course as one would expect they are shops selling souvenirs, jewellery and clothing along with a number of galleries. They are all aimed at the tourist dollar. The locals would shop at the shops in the next street, which are more modern and cater for everyday needs. We had lunch at a pub called the “Pioneer Hotel”, and had a New York Steak and a couple of Heinekens as it was such a hot and steamy day. The steak was just the best and cooked perfectly to our liking. Early to bed after dinner, comparing the days events with our fellow diners – exhausted

Friday 23rd July
Another sea day with nothing new happening so for those who like a little bit of history:-
PACIFIC OCEAN – The Pacific was named by Portuguese Navigator, Fernando do Magalhaes, better know to the world as Magellan, on his voyage to the New World in 1520. During his time in the Atlantic he had to deal with extremes of weather, not to mention hunger and mutiny. Upon entering the new ocean he found this great body of water was placid for many days of sailing and so named El Pacifico, the peaceful one. Unknown to him at the time it covered one third of the earth’s surface and was capable of giving birth to terrible storms and waves unequaled in any other body of water.

Sunday 19th July – Wed 22nd July
I don’t know where the past few days have gone, but I don’t seem to have had time to update the Blog daily. We have been at sea most of that time doing the usual at sea things.

We sailed past Christmas Island – a long chain of uninhabited islands except for the wild life and probably park rangers or scientists (GD spotted a couple of people walking on the beach through the binoculars). Evening entertainment has been excellent as usual. We had a nice day on land yesterday at Honolulu. We took a shuttle bus to Waikiki beach, did a bit of shopping at the supermarket and at the International Market then had lunch at Moana Surfrider resort. It’s an historical colonial building, reminiscent of Raffles in Singapore. We both had the most delicious seafood crepe with hollandaise sauce. We then took a taxi back to the ship, napped and then did the market at the port. We were not terribly impressed with Honolulu on our first visit a few years ago but we both agree that our opinion is now changed and we actually enjoyed our visit this time.

Sunrise at Equator


King Neptune ritual

. Friday 17th July
A day at sea, much the same as every other day at sea. Didn’t think the show was up to scratch this night – a female entertainer whose singing was OK but her fill in persona left a lot to be desired

Saturday 18th JulyWe crossed the Equator this morning and the usual Neptune ritual was held later in the day. A full day at sea doing all the usual things we have been doing on sea days, like catching up on the ironing, playing cards, eating, sleeping, reading, other games and shows etc.. Too late – house full at the show we wanted to go to and the other show was a continuation of the previous night which hadn’t impressed us so we just had to slum it at a 50/60’s music bar. Before you know it it’s bed time again

Thursday 16th July
Woke up this morning as we arrived at Bora Bora. The weather is fine and not too hot. After those with booked tours went ashore on the tender, we went across to the island. The tenders were going back and forth all day. We did the rounds of some of the stores – mostly selling sarongs and black pearls and charging the earth. Everything is expensive. They use island francs, which cannot be used anywhere else and based on the euro. The do take American dollars. We went back to the ship for lunch. Since barter had failed to get us on a tour around the island in the morning, I decided to go back with the right money and try again while the GD had his afternoon nap. I am so glad that I did. I did not do the whole island but took the shuttle bus to a public swimming beach which was absolutely beautiful, just like they are shown in the brochures, had a swim in water just to my liking and then took the shuttle back to the pier. Back in time to rest for a few minutes and then get dressed for sundowners and dinner. After dinner we went to one of the shows – a comedian, Mike Harris – he was great – lots of laughs.


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Papete Tahiti

Tuesday 14th
Another fine day at sea – finished the washing, always a queue, – tidied the rather small cabin – dinner and another show.

Wednesday 15 July
Well, something different today. Up early and had an early breakfast before the ship docked at Papeete, Tahiti. We had a tour booked to see a taste of Tahiti which was a little late getting away – island time!!! Papeete – forget it – it’s rather untidy – thank goodness the bus we did our tour on was air conditioned as it’s really hot and muggy. I must admit once out of town the scenery is rather idyllic if you don’t look to closely. We had a good tour guide who spoke good English and saw some really pretty beach spots and a very high water fall, along with some of the historical sites on the island. The traffic here is incredible, particularly at lunch time as everyone goes home for lunch and a siesta at midday and return at 2.00pm. There is actually as many cars as people on the island to give you some idea of the traffic jams, very few lights and many round-a-bouts. Pedestrians step onto the road to cross and stop the traffic, which is the rule. The people we spoke to are generally polite. I don’t think we have any wish to return but enjoyed the experience.

Monday 13th July
Much the same today as yesterday except I had a Nana Nap today instead of trivial pursuits and bridge. Had dinner and then a show with Donna Campbell the singer. She was very good. Just took some washing up to Laundromat. The next cruise we do with Princess Line will entitle us to a Black Card and that will entitle us to free laundry. We are still trying to sort out visas for India but managed to get our US visas via the internet today. They are the only two countries we need visas for. Well, back to the laundry to do the mundane chores. Tomorrow is another sea day.

We have Internet problems on the ship it works from the Satellite that is when the Satellite is there. There for the posting order is not always in the correct order!!??
E-mail services is working well!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lost Wednesday’s diary info for NZ

Thursday 9th and Thursday 9th

Yesterday was Thursday – a sea day. Spent eating, sleeping, walking, playing cards etc. Tonight night was a formal. In the lift a lady took a fancy to the GD’s bottom – every man in a black suite she must have thought she had hold of her husband but I was observing her hand and GD thought it was me. Amazing things can happen in lifts. The GD has also been stuck in one of the lifts a couple of times too. We’ll give that one a miss in future. Went to a show after dinner and then to the Wheelhouse Bar for a couple of drinks and a dance, then to the Upper lounge for a cuppa and a chat with a couple from our dining table before bed.
The second Thursday 9th spent much the same as the first one. We crossed the international date line last night, which is why we have had two Thursdays. Need to do the washing soon – running out of underwear. Went to trivial pursuits yesterday and today – lots of laughs. Doesn’t this all sound boring?
After dinner we couldn’t get into the show we wanted to as it was full so we decided it was time to do our washing. 1.5 hours later and it was all dry. Have to change our clocks again by one hour.

Friday 10th

Passed a few islands off Tonga this morning and then up to breakfast. Just had lunch and still lots of islands to portside. Just the usual bridge for me, computer for Jorgen and trivia before lunch. Had our Nana nap then went to the wine tasting. Some very nice wines presented including one of our favorites from WA, Brookland Valley Verse 1 Shiraz.

For those of you that is new to our “Block Spot”
Marcella is known as Gemini, and she refers to me as GD ie.,. her Great Dane

Sunday 12th July
We’ve been to a couple of top shows the past couple of nights, one of them a Polish piano player and the other one a variety show. Yesterday we were in Samoa we took a taxi into town and had him drive us to the places we needed to get stuff, like to the chemist and the post office etc., and then to Aggie Grey’s for lunch. After lunch we walked back to the ship. There was a bit of delay disembarking at Samoa as they don’t have any swine flu cases yet. We had to fill in a declaration that we had no symptoms and even with none of the symptoms mentioned on the form we still all had to have our temp taken. Of course we both passed and as far as I know there was no one who didn’t pass. It is very hot 30 degrees and humid, after our last port in NZ. Played trivia before dressing for dinner, then the show and then dancing under the stars on the top deck. It’s a lifestyle we could well get used to.

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Passed a few islands off Tonga this morning

Wednesday 8th,

Lost Wednesday’s diary info for NZ

Thursday 9th and Thursday 9th

Yesterday was Thursday – a sea day. Spent eating, sleeping, walking, playing cards etc. Tonight night was a formal. In the lift a lady took a fancy to the GD’s bottom – every man in a black suite she must have thought she had hold of her husband but I was observing her hand and GD thought it was me. Amazing things can happen in lifts. The GD has also been stuck in one of the lifts a couple of times too. We’ll give that one a miss in future. Went to a show after dinner and then to the Wheelhouse Bar for a couple of drinks and a dance, then to the Upper lounge for a cuppa and a chat with a couple from our dining table before bed.
The second Thursday 9th spent much the same as the first one. We crossed the international date line last night, which is why we have had two Thursdays. Need to do the washing soon – running out of underwear. Went to trivial pursuits yesterday and today – lots of laughs. Doesn’t this all sound boring?
After dinner we couldn’t get into the show we wanted to as it was full so we decided it was time to do our washing. 1.5 hours later and it was all dry. Have to change our clocks again by one hour.

Tuesday 7th July
The rolly polly seas have settled down and some people who looked rather green yesterday seem to have recovered. From a management point of view not everything is running as smoothly as it should. Even though we cancelled having $10 per person per day deducted from our account for tips, on getting a print out we found that it was being charged so Jorgen has had a couple of trips to the desk to try and get that sorted out. Some people have had up to 3 key cards before they had one which worked. I got some details on a shore trip to Paris, we plan to do and find that it is 50% more than the advertised price I checked on the internet a few months ago. Before we left we checked with the representative of the cruise line to see if we needed any visas. We were told no. Now on the ship we find out that we do need one for India and some other passengers have been given information suggesting they need them for US and Egypt. Soooo we are trying to sort that hic-up out too. I joined a group and I’m learning to play bridge. Played yesterday morning and afternoon. We are enjoying the food, the wine, the company, the entertainment and the relaxation. Jorgen is doing morning deck walks while I sleep in.

Tuesday 7th July
The rolly polly seas have settled down and some people who looked rather green yesterday seem to have recovered. From a management point of view not everything is running as smoothly as it should. Even though we cancelled having $10 per person per day deducted from our account for tips, on getting a print out we found that it was being charged so Jorgen has had a couple of trips to the desk to try and get that sorted out. Some people have had up to 3 key cards before they had one which worked. I got some details on a shore trip to Paris, we plan to do and find that it is 50% more than the advertised price I checked on the internet a few months ago. Before we left we checked with the representative of the cruise line to see if we needed any visas. We were told no. Now on the ship we find out that we do need one for India and some other passengers have been given information suggesting they need them for US and Egypt. Soooo we are trying to sort that hic-up out too. I joined a group and I’m learning to play bridge. Played yesterday morning and afternoon. We are enjoying the food, the wine, the company, the entertainment and the relaxation. Jorgen is doing morning deck walks while I sleep in.

Monday 6th July
Well it’s day 2 of our cruise and we are just getting our sea legs. Our first hic-up was at the airport.After checking to see how much luggage we could carry and being told we could have 30kg, Qantas had other ideas. We had 12 kg over a 23 kg per person allowance and that cost us $120 excess. If we had been told that then as frequent flyers we should have been able to take 30kg but we did not have the number and if she had looked on our luggage which had already been put through on the conveyor there was a take on the luggage which had it on. Qantas and Princess will know about it you can be sure. It was a good flight with a bit of a holding pattern over Sydney. Things went smoothly to the ship on boarding. We had a little lunch on deck and a lay down then a look around. One of Jorgen bags were at the cabin before we set sail but mine didn’t arrive till after dinner, so needless to say I didn’t dress for dinner. The group at our dinner table were great company and I will be playing bridge with a couple of them. Jorgen just about knows every detail of the boat and has done his exercise often (walking around the deck). Monday – A quiet day at sea, eating and resting. Off to have sundowners and then dinner

The next post will be when we have boarded the ship next Sunday the 5th July.
Our Friend and House sitter arrived today and will take care of our Dog and Cat
and the general running of the house hold.
We are looking forward to posting some pictures from the trip and daily reports.