09 Bali Curry, Yum Yum

World cruises are all about visiting amazing places. Nothing gets you into the mood more than your own private Theme nights. Our first was a bit of Bali fun. Special thanks to Ros for picking up our hats on her recent trip, and thanks to our Head Waiter for arranging a very special Curry for dinner.

 
We asked for one of the crew chefs to prepare our dish to ensure its authenticity. Ayam Rica Rica, a very special spicy chicken curry, so aromatic that we had several waiters come from all over, searching for where the smell was coming from. Mauro, our Head Waiter promised to instruct the chef to increase the amount next time, so everyone can have a taste.

World cruises are all about visiting amazing places. Nothing gets you into the mood more than your own private Theme nights. Our first was a bit of Bali fun. Special thanks to Ros for picking up our hats on her recent trip, and thanks to our Head Waiter for arranging a very special Curry for dinner.

 
We asked for one of the crew chefs to prepare our dish to ensure its authenticity. Ayam Rica Rica, a very special spicy chicken curry, so aromatic that we had several waiters come from all over, searching for where the smell was coming from. Mauro, our Head Waiter promised to instruct the chef to increase the amount next time, so everyone can have a taste.

09 Random ship board pics

Sailing along the Australian Coast

Production Shows in full swing

Nothing like Sea Day Cards

Crudities with dinner

08 I like to be.. Upon the Sea!

It is always very easy to fall back into ship board life.. We haven't changed, but the things around us have.

The only thing noticeable about our check in process was that we had no health forms, and surprisingly they didn't even ask us the health questions.

 
The wine got pass security, straight to the desk where is was counted and corkage was charged for the excess bottles. This year instead of stamps they gave us stickers to put on the bottles we were taking to the dining room. Although the wine made it the power board didn't, we had to go and pick that bag up from the Naughty Corner. Others got their power boards through, we assumed ours was confiscated as it had a surge detector on it. Anyone who had wine packed in their luggage, it was also held back
downstairs. It was checked and corkage was paid for the excess bottles before it was released to it's owners. Not sure what happened to the pile of wine casks that were stacked next to the door.

We got our World Cruise gifts, backpack, beach bag, Pen Set, Lanyards and Pins.

 
The new beds are comfy and the pillows are so plush. The new night lights next to the bed have a USB port, I have my Phone Charging dock permanently plugged in. 

The blue outdoor carpet has been replaced with green astro turf.

I swear if I hear one more person ask about happy hour on the wake show I'll scream. It seems to be a fleet wide decision. Have Princess shot themselves in the foot for a cruise of this length .. Time will tell. It is not like they would lose money as the cost of drinks has increased. Interesting enough they have a drink of the day in patter, but it is advertised as the same price as it is on the drinks menu.

 
When it come to drinks, I don't complain too much as they are lenient with the fact that we can bring our wine on and pay corkage, and still a lot smuggle on their liquor without a problem.  To their credit they are trying to bring us up to speed with the rest of fleet.

On this cruise we have seen the introduction of the Elite Lounge.  With probably over 1500 Elite and platinum members, I think they are game.  It is held in the Vista Lounge on specific nights. We were going to go to the first one but the queues were a little long, so we went out to the Nauti Nomads Lounge on Deck 11.

By all reports it was very well received. There were those who were not quite sure what an Elite Lounge entailed and soon turned around and walk straight out when they realised that drinks still had to be paid for... I haven't seen the drinks list yet but I will report when I have. There was a large buffet of food set up on the stage area.. But we will wait and see, I think the next one is on tomorrow night.. Cudos to Princess for giving it a go.

 
Washy Washy Washy, there are now three sinks installed as you enter the Horizon Court. Tends to slow things down a little, but when it gets too crowded people generally revert back to just using the hand sanitizers.  

The big thing now is that you can buy your duty free alcohol and it will be delivered to your room at the end of the next sector. Now that would have boosted revenue on day that was found out.. This means we will get ours in Dubai . Need to look for Coke at our next port of call.. Well the one after, as I don't think Komodo Island will be able to cater for the demand!

Step Count : 116,754. killing 10,000 a day . might have to up the ante

Nothing better than a Dirty Banana with a view!

07 Commodore's Welcome Party.. A bit of Deja Vue

It was a little same ol same ol as the Commodore's speech was very similar to the one we got at our Meet & Greet.. We did put on our fancy clothes, and got our glass of free Champoo, oops I mean Champagne.. But where are the hors d'oeuvres?

Step Count : 91,691... Food vs Walking... The food is winning.

06 Nauti Nomads Meet & Greet

We waited till the day after Brisbane to have our first Meet & Greet. This allowed for everyone embarking on this world adventure to join in.  My deck angels did a wonderful job in delivering everyone's invitations, and I made up some special invitations for all the Senior Staff, including the
Commodore, Giuseppe Romano.

It was standing room only in the Legends bar as we had nearly 200 members turn up. What was even more exciting was that we had a nearly 100% turnout of staff attend as well.

Commodore Romano spoke and introduced each officer. We are very lucky to have the Commodore as this is his retirement cruise. For his last commission he chose to sail the Sea Princess. Apparently Australia was where he first started, the Fairstar and the original Dawn Princess. So this is where he wanted to end. Another to tick off his bucket list was to sail a World Cruise, in all his years this is his first. To me a sign of a successful meet and greet is when everyone lingers to chat and not run off straight after.

Step Count : 80,687... That's better, back on track..

04 The Victorious Blues storm into Brisbane.

Was it the rain, was it the fact we had done it before or was it the effect of all that champagne last night, that today’s sail in was observed from the comfort and warmth of our bed. There was no sense of urgency in getting up today as weren’t meeting Garry’s brother Doug and Beth till 11 am. 

We had to dig out the umbrellas because once again the rain was still with us.  Portside is a lovely little area which has changed over the years that we have visited..  Trendy apartment blocks now line the foreshore and still the construction goes on.  Passengers don’t have far to walk if they want to stock up on any last-minute necessities. IGA onsite, Woollies around the corner and Dan Murphy’s just a stone throw away.

We had a lovely lunch at the Hamilton Hotel and caught up with family news.  Our only hiccup for the day was we left all our money and credits cards back on the ship and unfortunately nobody on land takes our cruise cards.  Looking at the positive, we now know how to use a St George Atm in cardless mode!

Thankfully as the day progress, so did the weather and eventually we had blue skies and sunshine. Coming back on board we were excited as we were meeting back up with Ros and Arnold on a cruise ship…. Life is as it should be!!

With the weather improving, it made for a very pleasant sail away out the back of Deck 11

Step Count : 61,710  only 753,640 to go…..

03 Onwards and Upwards

With the hopes of chasing some sun, the beautiful Sea Princess was heading north for our call to Brisbane. Approx 300 passengers were disembarking after completing their 35 day Hawaii Cruise and another 300 passengers were joining us for the World cruise.

 
I spent my day running around delivering notes to my fellow Nauti Nomads in preparation for our first meet and greet which we have held back till after Brisbane. The cold weather was still plaguing us, so it looked like there was still another day before the short sleeves make an appearance.

The highlight of today was a Cocktail Party organised by our Travel Agency, Clean Cruising. Having agents on board for the Sydney - Brisbane leg, we had a lovely afternoon while they introduced themselves as we drank their champagne and nibbled on their canapes. It was a nice touch put on in
recognition to their onboard clients. Another little bonus was the Commodore and Staff Captain popping in and mingling with the Guests.

 
Tonight was State of Origin night, so in true Aussie fashion the Boys went to the game while we girls had a Sex in the City moment and went to dinner on our own .. Well, we were accompanied by a lovely bottle of Mumm Champagne.

Step Count : 41,569 + 8278 = 49,847.. starting to waiver

02 The Day

The plan was to wake up early and head down to the wharf at Dawes Point, just near the hotel and watch the ship sail in…Under the bridge and pass us on the way to White Bay. It was a good plan for a 7 am docking, but according to Sydney ports, she was now going to arrive at 5am.  Not this black duck… too cold,  and too early…. 

But you know, when you are excited and are awake at 4am… what else do you do, but get your phone out and check Ship Tracker.  It showed the Sea Princess just entering the heads. Will I, won't I… Oh Hang it, and up I get fumbling to dress in the dark and racing out to the wharf.

In she came in all her Glory. Arrangements had been made with our Auckland friends for a wave by, but it was too dark to see anyone on deck.  A little disappointed, I stood under a street lamp to at least give them a chance of seeing me….  

Just as I thought all was lost, a faint call echoed across the water:  “Morning Jo”…  well you never saw me jump wave so hard…. Yes, the holiday was beginning.

After a quick breaky with our Carly, it was time to get everything together and get on that ship!

Embark was to start at 1pm and then staggered for every deck on the half-hour. It was not long before noon that they started calling up the first group to check in.. There was a little longer wait until the ship was ready to start boarding, but by then nearly everyone in the terminal was checked in.

Dragging our wine through security worked a treat (no breakages yay!) and we paid our corkage for the extra bottles.

Settling nicely into our stateroom, we decided to grab a quick bite up in the Horizon Court.  There was the mandatory muster, which now, thank god, does not require you to take along your life jackets.

A nice little surprise that turned up in our stateroom were chocolates, champagne and flowers, commemorating our 500 days with Princess, a milestone we would pass during this cruise.

Sailaway was dampened (literally), by the constant rainfall that had plagued us all day. With good intentions, Princess were handing out coloured glow sticks to add to the festivities of Vivid, but there were no crowds to wave to as the streets were abandoned due to the torrential rain.

Step Count : 41,569…… a good start

01 The Day Before

It's not bad enough that you are always very busy getting ready for a world cruise, but we have this habit of cheating ourselves of an extra day by staying in the city the night before we leave.

Our Day started by taking our cat Ally to the cattery, this is a first... nothing like throwing her into the deep end, 3 months, poor baby, she won't know what hit her.

On this trip, we spent our pre-cruise night at the Sydney Pier One Hotel, nice and close for an OPT departure.  But alas, a bit further away from our rescheduled departure from White Bay. 

Once in the city, we spent the first part of our day catching up with our good friends, Ray and Paula who flew in from Auckland to wish us a Bon voyage. 

Marie and Mal arrived, and a lovely afternoon was spent in an igloo type structure which kept us out of the cold wind, but still with a lovely view of the water.

Later that evening we had organised a Pre-cruise get together at the All Hands Brewery at Kings St Wharf. It was great to catch up with a lot of our interstate friends... Even the bad weather didn't stop us from having a great time.

Now that the rain had eased, we decided to take a stroll around the waterfront and enjoy the lights of Vivid before heading back to the hotel.

Step Count : 26,017.. whoo hoo

My Mission, If I plan to accept it…

For the past few months, I have desperately been trying to lose the weight that I will gain on this cruise.  I thought that sounded better than “I better lose the weight from last years holiday before I start the next one..”

So the challenge to myself is to use my new Fitbit and walk a total of 1,000,000 steps over the course of this cruise. That is just under 10,000 steps a day ….  But we will strive to round it up..

At the end of each Blog entry I will update my running total… a bit like Garry's bread roll count from our 2011 cruise!!  Cheer me on Gang!!