We are getting between 25 and 50 visits to our blog each day. This must mean that some people in additional to friends and family are reading it. I assume some of these are future or current cruisers, so I’m going to share thoughts about booking shore excursion.
The cruise line offers several choices of shore excursion at most ports. This is a nice service, but it is a profit center for the cruise line, so they are taking a mark-up for setting these up.
The alternative is to book a private tour. Typically you can do this at a lower cost that the same tour provided through the cruise line.
We’ve had 8 ports so far where we have done organized excursions. Four of these were booked though Princess, and 4 were done privately.
In Cairns, we booked the tour to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) through Princess. The price was $229 per person. After the tour, we later met a person on the ship who had walked 10 minutes into town to the visitor’s center, and taken a similar tour for less than $100. It sounded like it was essentially the same as ours, except on a different “pod” center on the reef.
There was another group who had attempted to book a GBR trip through a supplier whose main business was scuba tours. The timing did not work out, because the dive schedules did not allow enough time to get back to the boat. Their solution was to book a helicopter ride back from the “pod” to the ship. The total cost of this approach was about the same as the ship’s cost, but they would get the helicopter ride of about 30 minutes. (A 5 minute helicopter ride on the ship’s tour was a $135 add-on.) However, because the weather situation was uncertain, this group was unable to take their tour. They spent the day in town, disappointed that they had missed the reef.
For the multi-day trip to Machu Picchu in Peru, some people booked a private version at a lower price than the ship’s. However, because of the mountains at Machu Picchu, the airplanes cannot fly unless there is a visual landing condition. The flights were delayed due to weather, but just made it back in time. If there had been an extra delay of a few hours, everyone would have missed the ship’s departure. Those who had the cruise through Princess would have been gotten back to the ship at Princess’ expense. Those on the private tour would be responsible to arrange their own return to the ship. Since the next port was Easter Island, this return would be expensive and difficult.
Our bottom line is that the cruise excursion offer the advantage that everything is arranged, you do not have to plan or to watch the schedule during the tour, you are assured of getting back to the ship some way, and you know you will not miss a tour. If you are willing to plan your own tour (either researched in advance or done that day at the visitor’s center or with a vendor that you find), then you can save 40% to 50% of the cost. You also get the advantage on the private tour of fine tuning the plan to fit added items that you want to see and to limit time at the places that are less interesting to you.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Excursion Lead for passengers on the Royal Princess
The Royal Princess follows our ship by 6 days, and I believe some of their passengers visit this blog. This is info for them concerning duplicating our excursion in Papua New Guinea.
The ship offers only 2 excursion choices, both costing $89/person and lasting 3 to 3-1/2 hours. We went on a private tour set up by another passenger, with a tour company he found on the internet. Our tour (for a group of 10) lasted 5 hours and only cost $43/person. We probably saw everything from both of Princess’ tours together.
The guide spoke good English and was knowledgeable. Her father owns the company and has been in business for 27 years. He has the “OBE” (order of the British Empire…an honor given by Britain) for his public service work. So far they only have a couple of Pacific Princess passengers booked, so they are available. Contact at: paivu@daltron.com.pg.
The ship offers only 2 excursion choices, both costing $89/person and lasting 3 to 3-1/2 hours. We went on a private tour set up by another passenger, with a tour company he found on the internet. Our tour (for a group of 10) lasted 5 hours and only cost $43/person. We probably saw everything from both of Princess’ tours together.
The guide spoke good English and was knowledgeable. Her father owns the company and has been in business for 27 years. He has the “OBE” (order of the British Empire…an honor given by Britain) for his public service work. So far they only have a couple of Pacific Princess passengers booked, so they are available. Contact at: paivu@daltron.com.pg.
Day 44 - 2/27 – Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
Rabaul has an active volcano. The last major eruption was in 1994, where it buried the city in ash. It has spewed ash continuously for over 14 years and is doing so today. We sailed past it at 6:00am this morning, and could see the ash. Last year the wind was blowing such that ash got into the ship’s ventilation system. This year we were fortunate to have the wind blowing away from the dock.
There is still ash everywhere. The main road out of town has sections that are buried under as much as 25 feet of ash and ash-mud slides. These sections of road are heavily pitted…with ruts as much as 3 feet deep and a foot wide snaking along the road edges. Cars just drive on the flattest part of the road. It makes no sense to scrape off the road so long as the volcano is spewing new ash.
New Guinea is one of 10 countries in the world that are considered to be “fourth world”…meaning they need to improve their economy in order to improve themselves into third-world status.
There are 715 distinct languages (not just dialects, but languages) spoken in Papua New Guinea. English is used in schools.
Many of the natives take “Betel-nut.” This is a fruit with a nut in it. You chew it along with a pepper dipped into ground up coral. You chew them together. This creates a chemical reaction (a strong acid with a strong base) that rots their teeth, makes the inside of their mouths and lips bright red, and gives a high. It is also addictive. You see them giving Betel-nut to children 2 to 6 years old. One person tried it and said within 30 seconds his arms were perspiring profusely and he had a major high that lasted 10 minutes. (He also said he thought he was going to die, so this is probably not a good idea to try.) Our guide said that she had just kicked the betel-nut habit, but that some people just do it repeatedly. In the summer season when betel-nut is not readily available, they suffer horrible withdrawal.
They have a local currency called the kina that is worth about 40 cents. However, they also use “shell money.” These are strings of shells cut into disks about 3/8” in diameter and 1/16” thick. These are not used in major stores, but are used as trade in local open-air market areas. Shell money is important to have for the ceremonial events. These are given away by the host in weddings. You may need it to pay off a fine if you are reported to have said something derogatory about another tribe. If a person has a regular job that pays in kina, he or she will buy some goods to trade for shell money because without any shell money they would not be able to participate in social events.
There were lots of war relics on the island. There are many caves built for the Japanese using forced labor by locals and POW’s that were used to shelter boats and supplies from allied bombing. We saw the bunker used by Admiral Yamamoto for his command center for the war. We also visited two war museums.
There is still ash everywhere. The main road out of town has sections that are buried under as much as 25 feet of ash and ash-mud slides. These sections of road are heavily pitted…with ruts as much as 3 feet deep and a foot wide snaking along the road edges. Cars just drive on the flattest part of the road. It makes no sense to scrape off the road so long as the volcano is spewing new ash.
New Guinea is one of 10 countries in the world that are considered to be “fourth world”…meaning they need to improve their economy in order to improve themselves into third-world status.
There are 715 distinct languages (not just dialects, but languages) spoken in Papua New Guinea. English is used in schools.
Many of the natives take “Betel-nut.” This is a fruit with a nut in it. You chew it along with a pepper dipped into ground up coral. You chew them together. This creates a chemical reaction (a strong acid with a strong base) that rots their teeth, makes the inside of their mouths and lips bright red, and gives a high. It is also addictive. You see them giving Betel-nut to children 2 to 6 years old. One person tried it and said within 30 seconds his arms were perspiring profusely and he had a major high that lasted 10 minutes. (He also said he thought he was going to die, so this is probably not a good idea to try.) Our guide said that she had just kicked the betel-nut habit, but that some people just do it repeatedly. In the summer season when betel-nut is not readily available, they suffer horrible withdrawal.
They have a local currency called the kina that is worth about 40 cents. However, they also use “shell money.” These are strings of shells cut into disks about 3/8” in diameter and 1/16” thick. These are not used in major stores, but are used as trade in local open-air market areas. Shell money is important to have for the ceremonial events. These are given away by the host in weddings. You may need it to pay off a fine if you are reported to have said something derogatory about another tribe. If a person has a regular job that pays in kina, he or she will buy some goods to trade for shell money because without any shell money they would not be able to participate in social events.
There were lots of war relics on the island. There are many caves built for the Japanese using forced labor by locals and POW’s that were used to shelter boats and supplies from allied bombing. We saw the bunker used by Admiral Yamamoto for his command center for the war. We also visited two war museums.
Japanese Cave from WWII
This is one of many caves built by the Japanese using locals and POW's. This cave held 7 boats end to end, with each about 50 feet long. Bats were on the ceiling!
Wally
We found some pictures of Wally...the interesting fish from the Great Barrier Reef. He is about 3 feet long. No, he is not photoshopped from a cartoon...this is a real fish. The bottom picture is taken with one of our table mates. Wally bumped into her and frightened her quite a bit!Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Albatross
[These photos were taken from the balcony of our ship's cabin.]Our ship is being followed by a group of about 10 big birds. They are white with a long black stripe, about the size of a large duck when their wings are folded. When wings are extended, they are about 4 feet from wing tip to wing tip. They glide on the wind without moving their wings. They float about 6 to 10 stories above the ocean, then, when they spot something they want to eat, they dive bomb…falling to the ocean like a stone.
I learned these are called wandering albatross. They like to follow the ship because it stirs up fish to come to the surface. The birds can float if they have to do so in order to rest. However, they seem to prefer to rest on the mast in front of our cabin balcony. Someone said that they wander the globe, taking up to two years to circumnavigate the globe.
I learned these are called wandering albatross. They like to follow the ship because it stirs up fish to come to the surface. The birds can float if they have to do so in order to rest. However, they seem to prefer to rest on the mast in front of our cabin balcony. Someone said that they wander the globe, taking up to two years to circumnavigate the globe.
Day 41 – Feb 24 – Cairns, Australia
This city is in northeastern Australia. It is pronounced as if spelled “cans.”
The main attraction at this port was a trip to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The GBR is over 1200 miles long. We took a tour that included a boat ride out to a large pontoon (about 40 feet wide by 100 feet long) located at the reef.
We started with a ride in a “semi-sub,” which was a boat that rode on the surface of the water, but had view ports just below sea level. They said there were over 130 types of coral and 900 different types of fish on the reef. A two-foot long fish followed our boat the whole 20 minute trip.
There was a area for snorkeling that we did next. There was a strange fish there named Wally that was about 2-feet long, mostly bright blue in color, had bulging eyeballs, and bushy eyebrows about one inch high and 2 inches wide. He looked like he escaped from a cartoon. They were feeding Wally while we were on the sub, so we missed out on getting an underwater photo with him.
We also did a guided snorkeling excursion at the pontoon on the outside of the reef. It was amazing how completely covered the reef was with different life. Some of the coral was “hard” and some “soft.” The soft coral would ripple with changes in the current, and would retract portions if disturbed by a fish.
We saw a giant clam. It must have been 18 inches in diameter. It had the sinusoidal edges on the top and bottom shells that must have been 7 inches in amplitude. The guide dove down to get near this one, and the jaws slowly shut. She claimed it is a myth about the slightly larger ones that would close and trap divers because the jaws close so slowly and it is a defensive move by the clam who really wants to eat only tiny plankton.
Helicopter rides were available to see the reef from the air. You could not see much from the water surface, but from the air it was visible as if an island.
We won’t have many photos to post, since all the action was under water.
I found it interesting that our ship has 3 water systems: potable, sewer, and “gray.” Gray water is mostly waste from sinks and showers. While the sewage system needs properly treated, the gray water is typically dumped at sea. However, ships are not allowed to dump gray water within the GBR. Because of the amount of time we will sail within the reef, the capacity of our gray water system is not adequate to make it the entire way, so at one point we have to divert outside of the reef just in order to dump the gray water system.
It was in the 80’s for our trip to the GBR. I have sunburn on my face that frames the white area where my snorkel mask was. It is supposed to get up to 100 degrees in Australia by the end of the week; however, we are now on the part of our trip where we travel north for 10 days as we go up towards Japan, so we’ll be seeing some drop in temperatures.
We had heard that the average rainfall in this area of Australia is 430 inches per year. This means we were lucky to have had a clear day at the reef. Last night we did get hit with a very hard rain that probably gave us our inch plus per day over a few hours.
The main attraction at this port was a trip to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The GBR is over 1200 miles long. We took a tour that included a boat ride out to a large pontoon (about 40 feet wide by 100 feet long) located at the reef.
We started with a ride in a “semi-sub,” which was a boat that rode on the surface of the water, but had view ports just below sea level. They said there were over 130 types of coral and 900 different types of fish on the reef. A two-foot long fish followed our boat the whole 20 minute trip.
There was a area for snorkeling that we did next. There was a strange fish there named Wally that was about 2-feet long, mostly bright blue in color, had bulging eyeballs, and bushy eyebrows about one inch high and 2 inches wide. He looked like he escaped from a cartoon. They were feeding Wally while we were on the sub, so we missed out on getting an underwater photo with him.
We also did a guided snorkeling excursion at the pontoon on the outside of the reef. It was amazing how completely covered the reef was with different life. Some of the coral was “hard” and some “soft.” The soft coral would ripple with changes in the current, and would retract portions if disturbed by a fish.
We saw a giant clam. It must have been 18 inches in diameter. It had the sinusoidal edges on the top and bottom shells that must have been 7 inches in amplitude. The guide dove down to get near this one, and the jaws slowly shut. She claimed it is a myth about the slightly larger ones that would close and trap divers because the jaws close so slowly and it is a defensive move by the clam who really wants to eat only tiny plankton.
Helicopter rides were available to see the reef from the air. You could not see much from the water surface, but from the air it was visible as if an island.
We won’t have many photos to post, since all the action was under water.
I found it interesting that our ship has 3 water systems: potable, sewer, and “gray.” Gray water is mostly waste from sinks and showers. While the sewage system needs properly treated, the gray water is typically dumped at sea. However, ships are not allowed to dump gray water within the GBR. Because of the amount of time we will sail within the reef, the capacity of our gray water system is not adequate to make it the entire way, so at one point we have to divert outside of the reef just in order to dump the gray water system.
It was in the 80’s for our trip to the GBR. I have sunburn on my face that frames the white area where my snorkel mask was. It is supposed to get up to 100 degrees in Australia by the end of the week; however, we are now on the part of our trip where we travel north for 10 days as we go up towards Japan, so we’ll be seeing some drop in temperatures.
We had heard that the average rainfall in this area of Australia is 430 inches per year. This means we were lucky to have had a clear day at the reef. Last night we did get hit with a very hard rain that probably gave us our inch plus per day over a few hours.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Day 38 – Feb 21 – Brisbane, Australia
Brisbane is the 3rd largest city in Australia. So it is a big city.
One excursion choice was to go to Steve Irwin’s crocodile farm. Steve is dead, but his farm is still there. We chose to go to the reserve where you could hold Koalas (rather than crocodiles). This is a bit of a repeat of Tasmania, but we have not really been this thorough in figuring things out. (I’ve not been…Kathleen kind of has been.)
Our booked tour was Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: the largest Koala sanctuary in the world. Their feature was a picture of you cuddling a koala. You buy their photo and you can take others yourself. We did this, and our “free” picture is on the blog below. The koalas really were cute and seemingly innocent. We heard about other passengers who held the koalas and had them pee or poo on their hands. So picture this on the bottom of our cute photo.
They also had an open area in this venue where lots of emus, kangaroos and other animals walked free. So that is where the “napping Dave” photo came from.
After the conservatory, we had an hour boat ride back to town. This was nice, but we have had quite enough boat rides.
Finally we had time in town. Kathleen bought a shirt with UV protection for use when we soon go to the Barrier Reef.
One excursion choice was to go to Steve Irwin’s crocodile farm. Steve is dead, but his farm is still there. We chose to go to the reserve where you could hold Koalas (rather than crocodiles). This is a bit of a repeat of Tasmania, but we have not really been this thorough in figuring things out. (I’ve not been…Kathleen kind of has been.)
Our booked tour was Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: the largest Koala sanctuary in the world. Their feature was a picture of you cuddling a koala. You buy their photo and you can take others yourself. We did this, and our “free” picture is on the blog below. The koalas really were cute and seemingly innocent. We heard about other passengers who held the koalas and had them pee or poo on their hands. So picture this on the bottom of our cute photo.
They also had an open area in this venue where lots of emus, kangaroos and other animals walked free. So that is where the “napping Dave” photo came from.
After the conservatory, we had an hour boat ride back to town. This was nice, but we have had quite enough boat rides.
Finally we had time in town. Kathleen bought a shirt with UV protection for use when we soon go to the Barrier Reef.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Day 36 – Feb 19 – Sydney, Australia
We have a full day here. We docked at 7:00am and leave at 10:00pm.
We went first to the Sydney Opera House for a tour. It was pretty impressive. They have 3 separate performance halls. The biggest holds 2700 people and has a huge pipe organ with 10,000 pipes. (It took over a year to tune it.) The second holds 1700 people and is more for plays and opera. Finally there is a 300 person area for small bistro-like events. All 3 can be open on a single evening.
The building was supposed to cost $10 million and take 3 years to build. It ended up taking 11+ years and $102 million. They are doing upgrades that will cost at least another $100 million (the architect has a full wish list that would be over $600 million).
The 8 spherical sections of roof are like umbrellas over the building. They are not part of the actual building , but just for dramatic effect.
We walked on the harbor bridge. We stuck to the free part that is only road level. It’s 2/3rds of the way up from the water as is the top of the bridge structure. For an extra $100 or so for each person and 3 hours of total time, you can climb up the bridge’s structural arches. We passed on this part.
We then went to the fish market. It is second in size to only Tokyo. It was amazing to see all of the fresh fish. We have lots of pictures of odd things. A friend told us we should try eating abalone. It was $50 (US) per pound for the big fresh ones, and they weighed it with the shell included. They gave us some small ones (one raw and one cooked) for free…probably because we seemed like such nice people.
I pooped out by 4:00. Kathleen and a lady friend went out again to ride the monorail and to shop. (I think this is part of a master strategy by Kathleen to obtain shopping time without me along.)
It seems like Sydney would be a good place to stay longer than one day. For any of you planning a future world cruise, here is an idea that one of our new passenger friends is doing. They booked the Tahitian Princess for the Florida to Sydney section. They got off in Sydney for 6 days. They then catch the Royal Princess for the rest of the world tour. The Royal Princess has the same ports as us for the first quarter part of the trip, but is 6 days behind us. It does have different ports in Europe. By booking this way, these folks will do the same total port as the Royal Princess done the whole way, but they can stay the extra 6 days in Sydney between the two ships arrivals. The only obvious negative is having to pack up and do the moving, but it is an interesting plan.
We went first to the Sydney Opera House for a tour. It was pretty impressive. They have 3 separate performance halls. The biggest holds 2700 people and has a huge pipe organ with 10,000 pipes. (It took over a year to tune it.) The second holds 1700 people and is more for plays and opera. Finally there is a 300 person area for small bistro-like events. All 3 can be open on a single evening.
The building was supposed to cost $10 million and take 3 years to build. It ended up taking 11+ years and $102 million. They are doing upgrades that will cost at least another $100 million (the architect has a full wish list that would be over $600 million).
The 8 spherical sections of roof are like umbrellas over the building. They are not part of the actual building , but just for dramatic effect.
We walked on the harbor bridge. We stuck to the free part that is only road level. It’s 2/3rds of the way up from the water as is the top of the bridge structure. For an extra $100 or so for each person and 3 hours of total time, you can climb up the bridge’s structural arches. We passed on this part.
We then went to the fish market. It is second in size to only Tokyo. It was amazing to see all of the fresh fish. We have lots of pictures of odd things. A friend told us we should try eating abalone. It was $50 (US) per pound for the big fresh ones, and they weighed it with the shell included. They gave us some small ones (one raw and one cooked) for free…probably because we seemed like such nice people.
I pooped out by 4:00. Kathleen and a lady friend went out again to ride the monorail and to shop. (I think this is part of a master strategy by Kathleen to obtain shopping time without me along.)
It seems like Sydney would be a good place to stay longer than one day. For any of you planning a future world cruise, here is an idea that one of our new passenger friends is doing. They booked the Tahitian Princess for the Florida to Sydney section. They got off in Sydney for 6 days. They then catch the Royal Princess for the rest of the world tour. The Royal Princess has the same ports as us for the first quarter part of the trip, but is 6 days behind us. It does have different ports in Europe. By booking this way, these folks will do the same total port as the Royal Princess done the whole way, but they can stay the extra 6 days in Sydney between the two ships arrivals. The only obvious negative is having to pack up and do the moving, but it is an interesting plan.
Who Is Luke?
We’ve had several people who must follow our blog ask “who is Luke?” Luke is our cat. He is represented by silk screens on an orange bag, a blue Kathleen t-shirt, and a brown David t-shirt. The theme is that Luke is seeing the world. (Have you ever heard of this theme for “flat Stanley?”)
A Poem
Our ship’s internet link is undergoing major software repair work today, so I was lucky to post the prior item early this morning. This one, the next one on Sydney, and the Sydney photos may be late tonight or early Friday.
My limerick below was inspired by sailing westward across the date line (where we went to bed on Tues and woke up on Thurs) close to Valentine’s day:
Our cruising has only begun,
And we are having so very much fun,
Be my valentine,
As we cross the date line,
And I’ll sleep with you two nights in one.
I had more to my entry into the valentine day poem contest. I should have won. I had incorporated a new term to my vocabulary that I had picked up from a British lecturer on the ship about espionage. The term had to do with a spy who was supposed to have been married and on a honeymoon, but whom the cabin attendant noted did not sleep in the same bed as the new spouse. The attendant said that there had been no “rumpy pumpy.” This broke open a major international spy case. I worked that new term into a very touching limerick, but I did not win the contest and the wonderful award that went with winning. The captain chose the winner, and he went for “sappy” vs “creative”…and he probably did not attend the rumpy pumpy lecture and therefore did not appreciate the literary reference. Life can be so cruel.
If anyone enters a comment for me to post these extra stanzas I will do so, but I need an excuse (for use with Kathleen) that “the public demanded it,” otherwise I need to restrain myself.
My limerick below was inspired by sailing westward across the date line (where we went to bed on Tues and woke up on Thurs) close to Valentine’s day:
Our cruising has only begun,
And we are having so very much fun,
Be my valentine,
As we cross the date line,
And I’ll sleep with you two nights in one.
I had more to my entry into the valentine day poem contest. I should have won. I had incorporated a new term to my vocabulary that I had picked up from a British lecturer on the ship about espionage. The term had to do with a spy who was supposed to have been married and on a honeymoon, but whom the cabin attendant noted did not sleep in the same bed as the new spouse. The attendant said that there had been no “rumpy pumpy.” This broke open a major international spy case. I worked that new term into a very touching limerick, but I did not win the contest and the wonderful award that went with winning. The captain chose the winner, and he went for “sappy” vs “creative”…and he probably did not attend the rumpy pumpy lecture and therefore did not appreciate the literary reference. Life can be so cruel.
If anyone enters a comment for me to post these extra stanzas I will do so, but I need an excuse (for use with Kathleen) that “the public demanded it,” otherwise I need to restrain myself.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Pitching and Rolling
We just landing in Sydney this morning (Thursday). We sailed within a few hundred yards of the front of the Sydney opera house at 5:30am. We were awake to see it because we could hear the activity of the crew.
Yesterday was the roughest seas we have had yet. We learned about various ship motions.
When the ship rotates back and forth from side to side, it is called rolling. This is the motion that usually causes seas sickness.
The ship can also move up in the front while down in the back, then reverse the two. This is called pitching. We had 35 mile per hour winds yesterday, and we pitched. The nose of the ship would rise up many feet (20 or so?), then slam back down onto the water, sometimes splashing onto our 6th deck balcony. Gentle pitching and rolling can be soothing during a night’s sleep, but pitching to a level that slams our section of the ship back down onto the seas is not relaxing.
This movement made it interesting to stand up from a chair. If you picked the wrong part of the cycle, you felt so heavy that your legs almost could not lift your body. When you picked the other extreme in the cycle, you almost felt like you were going to thrust your whole body into the air, lifting your feet from the ground.
There is a third motion possibility, where the nose of the ship also move right and left. This is called yawing. (sp?) It is normally associated with both rolling and pitching. As the front of the ship lifts upwards, the ship also rollings to the right. This causes the nose of the ship to thrust to the right when it then falls. That means that the next cycle when the front of the ship rises, the roll is to the left, so on the next drop of the nose, the nose also yaws to the left. If you try to make this combination of movements with your hand, it will look like a hula dancer. Fortunately, we have not experienced this one yet.
We have a tour of the opera house scheduled for this morning, then will tour the city.
Yesterday was the roughest seas we have had yet. We learned about various ship motions.
When the ship rotates back and forth from side to side, it is called rolling. This is the motion that usually causes seas sickness.
The ship can also move up in the front while down in the back, then reverse the two. This is called pitching. We had 35 mile per hour winds yesterday, and we pitched. The nose of the ship would rise up many feet (20 or so?), then slam back down onto the water, sometimes splashing onto our 6th deck balcony. Gentle pitching and rolling can be soothing during a night’s sleep, but pitching to a level that slams our section of the ship back down onto the seas is not relaxing.
This movement made it interesting to stand up from a chair. If you picked the wrong part of the cycle, you felt so heavy that your legs almost could not lift your body. When you picked the other extreme in the cycle, you almost felt like you were going to thrust your whole body into the air, lifting your feet from the ground.
There is a third motion possibility, where the nose of the ship also move right and left. This is called yawing. (sp?) It is normally associated with both rolling and pitching. As the front of the ship lifts upwards, the ship also rollings to the right. This causes the nose of the ship to thrust to the right when it then falls. That means that the next cycle when the front of the ship rises, the roll is to the left, so on the next drop of the nose, the nose also yaws to the left. If you try to make this combination of movements with your hand, it will look like a hula dancer. Fortunately, we have not experienced this one yet.
We have a tour of the opera house scheduled for this morning, then will tour the city.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Day 34 – Feb 17 – Tasmania
I posted so many pictures from Tasmania, it put this text onto the “prior listing” page immediately. Therefore, I’m adding some text and moving it to the top of the Tasmania items.
We spent today in Burnie, Tasmania. Our main trip was to a wildlife preserve. It was privately owned by a farmer, so we were able to get in with many of the animals (ie the ones that would not bite you).
We have lots of pictures, so we’ve posted more than the usual amount below. We got to pet wombats (including a baby), koalas, and kangaroos (including a baby). The baby kangaroo was only 4 month old, so the farmer had just pulled him out of the pouch for the first time. When he put the baby back down, it only took it a few seconds before it dove back into its mom’s pouch.
We drove past several opium fields. It is grown legally (under tight controls) for production of legal morphine for the medical profession.
Burnie is a small town of only 21,000 people. All of Tasmania has only half a million people.
As our ship was ready to leave port, the town had a bagpipe and drum core play for us to see us off.
We spent today in Burnie, Tasmania. Our main trip was to a wildlife preserve. It was privately owned by a farmer, so we were able to get in with many of the animals (ie the ones that would not bite you).
We have lots of pictures, so we’ve posted more than the usual amount below. We got to pet wombats (including a baby), koalas, and kangaroos (including a baby). The baby kangaroo was only 4 month old, so the farmer had just pulled him out of the pouch for the first time. When he put the baby back down, it only took it a few seconds before it dove back into its mom’s pouch.
We drove past several opium fields. It is grown legally (under tight controls) for production of legal morphine for the medical profession.
Burnie is a small town of only 21,000 people. All of Tasmania has only half a million people.
As our ship was ready to leave port, the town had a bagpipe and drum core play for us to see us off.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Gluttony and Rough Seas
On Friday night we ate dinner in the specialty Italian restaurant. They charge a $20/person fee for this.
It was quite indulgent. I counted 18 times that they visited our table with food: bread, 6 times with cold appetizers, 3 times with hot appetizers, 3 times with pasta, soup, salad, entrée, coffee, and desert. Our entre was lobster, scallops, shrimp, halibut, and prawns. Two and a half hours of gluttony. This should help us gain back some of the weight we have been losing in the buffet line.
The Tasmanian Sea is living up to its reputation of being rough. They said we are having 15 foot swells, but that is enough to lift the front of the ship so that it then slams back down on the sea with a thud that is easily noticed in our cabin in the front of the ship.
We have changed 7 time zones so far (another one tonight) plus the date line. It is strange for me to be checking the stock market early Sat morning.
It was quite indulgent. I counted 18 times that they visited our table with food: bread, 6 times with cold appetizers, 3 times with hot appetizers, 3 times with pasta, soup, salad, entrée, coffee, and desert. Our entre was lobster, scallops, shrimp, halibut, and prawns. Two and a half hours of gluttony. This should help us gain back some of the weight we have been losing in the buffet line.
The Tasmanian Sea is living up to its reputation of being rough. They said we are having 15 foot swells, but that is enough to lift the front of the ship so that it then slams back down on the sea with a thud that is easily noticed in our cabin in the front of the ship.
We have changed 7 time zones so far (another one tonight) plus the date line. It is strange for me to be checking the stock market early Sat morning.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
More Auckland Photos
1) Vineyard in Waiheke (island near Auckland).2) View of Auckland from Mt. Eden
[It's faster and fewer crashes if I load photos in the smaller size. You can still blow them up my double clicking them.]
Auckland Photos
1) Luke's Distant Relative from New Zealand.
2) David in Morai tribal center.
3) Kathleen happy with her roses.
Sky Needle Building Walk
Auckland has a space needle building. It has “entertainment” options available, such as walking around a narrow, suspended walkway at the top. One of our new friends on the cruise, Michelle, did this. We’ve posted the photos so you can see the view. (Kathleen and David did not choose this experience.)
Day 29 – Feb 12 – Auckland, New Zealand
Yesterday, Thursday for us, we docked in Auckland. Auckland is a city of about 1.5 million people. This is more than a third of all the people in New Zealand. We were in port from 8:00 am until 10:00 pm, so had a full day.
We started with a “hop on, hop on bus” that had 2 separate one-hour loops. We got off first at a rose garden. Since it is the ending of summer here, the roses were still in full bloom, but starting to lose some petals. They must have had 50 types, so Kathleen was happy.
We rode on to the war museum. (Not sure why the name, since it was more a natural history theme.) We saw lots of the Maoris (“original people”…we might call Polynesians) traditional items.
We went to Mt. Eden, the highest point in the city. This has the indentation of the original volcanic crater. While dormant, it could still erupt some time.
We did some shopping and lunch at an appropriate stop, then returned to the port.
We got adventuresome and hopped on a ferry boat for a 35 minute ride to a nearby island, Waiheke. May people who live here commute by ferry to Auckland each day for work. The sea was choppy, so Kathleen was doubting the wisdom of this idea.
The island has 25 wineries, so we thoughts we’d just have a tasting there. We had no realized that this would entail a bus ride, with no obvious indications of when we were to get off. When we thought we were in the right place, we got off, but learned we had to backtrack by foot about ¼ mile. Then the winery we selected was closed, but told us we could hike through the fields to one that was open. It was a 15 minute walk on hilly paths, so Kathleen gave back the happiness she had extracted from looking at the roses.
We only had 15 minutes left before this second winery closed, but still did tastings and bought a couple of bottles. We saw a cat who looked like he might be Luke’s distant cousin from New Zealand. The girl who worked the winery offered to drive us back to the ferry since she was getting off, so Kathleen was relieved that we did not have to walk back to the bus station.
Back at the ship, there was a show with Maori natives doing tribal songs, chants, and dances.
We now sail 4 days at sea across the Tasmanian Sea to Burney, Tasmania. This is supposed to be very rough water, so we are wondering how bad it will get.
Yes, there is such a thing as a Tasmanian devil. It looks different from the Warner brothers cartoon. It looks like a wolf with short back legs and an oversized head. It can be 3 feet long and up to 26 lbs. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial.
We started with a “hop on, hop on bus” that had 2 separate one-hour loops. We got off first at a rose garden. Since it is the ending of summer here, the roses were still in full bloom, but starting to lose some petals. They must have had 50 types, so Kathleen was happy.
We rode on to the war museum. (Not sure why the name, since it was more a natural history theme.) We saw lots of the Maoris (“original people”…we might call Polynesians) traditional items.
We went to Mt. Eden, the highest point in the city. This has the indentation of the original volcanic crater. While dormant, it could still erupt some time.
We did some shopping and lunch at an appropriate stop, then returned to the port.
We got adventuresome and hopped on a ferry boat for a 35 minute ride to a nearby island, Waiheke. May people who live here commute by ferry to Auckland each day for work. The sea was choppy, so Kathleen was doubting the wisdom of this idea.
The island has 25 wineries, so we thoughts we’d just have a tasting there. We had no realized that this would entail a bus ride, with no obvious indications of when we were to get off. When we thought we were in the right place, we got off, but learned we had to backtrack by foot about ¼ mile. Then the winery we selected was closed, but told us we could hike through the fields to one that was open. It was a 15 minute walk on hilly paths, so Kathleen gave back the happiness she had extracted from looking at the roses.
We only had 15 minutes left before this second winery closed, but still did tastings and bought a couple of bottles. We saw a cat who looked like he might be Luke’s distant cousin from New Zealand. The girl who worked the winery offered to drive us back to the ferry since she was getting off, so Kathleen was relieved that we did not have to walk back to the bus station.
Back at the ship, there was a show with Maori natives doing tribal songs, chants, and dances.
We now sail 4 days at sea across the Tasmanian Sea to Burney, Tasmania. This is supposed to be very rough water, so we are wondering how bad it will get.
Yes, there is such a thing as a Tasmanian devil. It looks different from the Warner brothers cartoon. It looks like a wolf with short back legs and an oversized head. It can be 3 feet long and up to 26 lbs. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Walk for the Cure
Kathleen did a 5K “walk for the cure” Monday, for breast cancer. They raise over $1,860.
No Tuesday, Feb 10
We went to bed Monday night (2/9) and woke up Wednesday (2/11). We had no Tuesday, 2/10. We sailed over the international date line. We went from being 6 hours behind eastern time to being 18 hours ahead of eastern time.
I’ve flown over the line before, but this is more strange.
(The blog site remains on Pacific time, or something strange, so you cannot tell my time from the posting dates.)
I’ve flown over the line before, but this is more strange.
(The blog site remains on Pacific time, or something strange, so you cannot tell my time from the posting dates.)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Activities on the Ship
Slightly over half of the total days we have are “sea days.” The ship has lots of activities, so these days are also okay.
I have been sitting in on the intermediate bridge lessons. There will be over 60 different hour-long lectures, so that could be just enough to get me confused. They offer duplicate play in the afternoon. I’ve not done that yet.
Kathleen has sat in on the beginning bridge lessons and has played some party bridge hands with her group.
They have some very interesting visiting lecturers. They currently have a British expert on the history of espionage. He has great stories and has an amazing ability to answer questions with remarkable detail about months and year of all the key events in whatever the espionage topic.
The ship has 3 possible dance areas…each about 30 feet by 25 feet. This is a nice size. On the main dance floor they have a group that typically does 3 sets of 45 minutes each, so Kathleen and I have been catching one set on each night. There are usually only 2 to 10 couples, so there is lots of space.
Kathleen has been going to line dance lessons periodically. I’ve not done that.
There is a special area in the front of the 9th deck that has a hot tub and deck chairs that is restricted access. We are allowed to use this because we have a suite. Others have to pay several hundred dollars if they want to use this, so it is nice and quiet. We’ve used it some, but our private deck is so nice, we don’t use this other one a lot.
The gym is nice, but there are folks that walk on the tread mills far past the requested 20 minute limit, so I have to time my visit so that I avoid saying something that I might regret. Kathleen and I have done a decent job in keeping up with exercise.
Lots of people also walk on the track area above the pool. It is not unusual to see 30 people walking at 7:00am. (It looks like zombies since most walk with their arms straight down by their sides.)
I have been sitting in on the intermediate bridge lessons. There will be over 60 different hour-long lectures, so that could be just enough to get me confused. They offer duplicate play in the afternoon. I’ve not done that yet.
Kathleen has sat in on the beginning bridge lessons and has played some party bridge hands with her group.
They have some very interesting visiting lecturers. They currently have a British expert on the history of espionage. He has great stories and has an amazing ability to answer questions with remarkable detail about months and year of all the key events in whatever the espionage topic.
The ship has 3 possible dance areas…each about 30 feet by 25 feet. This is a nice size. On the main dance floor they have a group that typically does 3 sets of 45 minutes each, so Kathleen and I have been catching one set on each night. There are usually only 2 to 10 couples, so there is lots of space.
Kathleen has been going to line dance lessons periodically. I’ve not done that.
There is a special area in the front of the 9th deck that has a hot tub and deck chairs that is restricted access. We are allowed to use this because we have a suite. Others have to pay several hundred dollars if they want to use this, so it is nice and quiet. We’ve used it some, but our private deck is so nice, we don’t use this other one a lot.
The gym is nice, but there are folks that walk on the tread mills far past the requested 20 minute limit, so I have to time my visit so that I avoid saying something that I might regret. Kathleen and I have done a decent job in keeping up with exercise.
Lots of people also walk on the track area above the pool. It is not unusual to see 30 people walking at 7:00am. (It looks like zombies since most walk with their arms straight down by their sides.)
New Map
Be sure to scroll down until you see the new map on the left side of the blog site. Our son, Scott, did this for us. It shows where we now are located and tracks where we have been. We'll attempt to keep it updated.
For best results, click on "view larger map" at the bottom left-side of the map. This expands the map to full screen. Also wait a few seconds for the "trip trace" to appear. You can move out to get the full scale of the map to show.
For best results, click on "view larger map" at the bottom left-side of the map. This expands the map to full screen. Also wait a few seconds for the "trip trace" to appear. You can move out to get the full scale of the map to show.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
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