Our First Holiday at SEA
I'm not a sailor, but 17 days Cruising with the Dawn Princess has changed my mind.
So the story begins ...
I was not going cruising, there is just
too much water and I have a thing about water. But I was told by
Helen that we were going and going with Anne and Tony. My mind was
racing. For a start we had to get to Perth and that meant flying to
Brisbane, staying a night with Anne and an early morning trip to
catch the plane to Perth.
I hate being rushed. There is nothing
better than forward planning and dotting the Is (eyes) and crossing
the Ts and when I'm not organising it I have no control on the
outcome. Anne booked all flights with Angela's assistance (she works
in Travel), the only thing I booked was Rockhampton to Brisbane and
back on the 14th.
From experience of other trips Helen
was able to rationalise on the packing and in the long run there were
only a few things we didn't use, she is very good. An over night
bag was packed for Annes and I had my CPAP gear in it too, along with
all the camera and phone chargers, and a multi power plug outlet and
an extension cord. I had read that there was only one Australian General Power Outlet in a
cabin.
Going away for 17 days at sea means you
can't duck down to the chemist to get a repeat, so we both planned
carefully the number of pills we would both need.
21 June 2013
I always make a check list of the last
things one needs to do before locking up and going. Windows, doors,
TV power off, phone Nielsens, computers off, ADSL off, shed locked,
refrigerator on holiday mode, taps off and not dripping, kitchen
mains off, garage doors off auto, car windows open a bit, tell the
neighbours you'll be away, lock the big ports, check all the tickets,
passports, medical insurance and wait for either a taxi or a friend
like Christa to take you to the airport.
Booking in at Virgin, both our big bags were 16
kilos which is good because it leaves room for Duty Free and general
buying up. Our hand luggage was only 4.5 kilos, you are allowed 7
kgs.
The 40 minute flight to Brisbane was
bumpy and cloud and rain all the way.
Tony picked us up and on the way home
we stopped at the Calamvale Hotel for lunch. Anne was still working.
22 June 2013
Early start this morning with Jak
picking us up at 0515 and heading to Brisbane Domestic. Jak has a large station wagon and all the 4 big ports and 4 little ones just fitted in. For some reason we all had breakfast at the airport, then lined
up at Gate 40 to board a Virgin 737-800 for a 5 hour and 25 minute
flight to Perth. Air born at 0905 and breakfast was served. I had
scrambled eggs, snags and tomato and a cup of tea. The others didn't
eat.
We were over Mt Hope at 1145 and landed
at 1422 EST or 1222 West Australia Time. Anne had packed a little
bag of almonds and apricots for a transit snack, which was very nice.
The dog didn't pick it up at Perth so we kept it and finished them
off later.
Taxi to the Mantra on Hay was $29 and
our driver came from Afghanistan.
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| Perth City |
We stopped at a cafe to have a bowl of
soup a bit of a warm me up. As I sat down in one of the plastic
chairs the plastic broke and splintered and I slumped down onto the
ground. My right shoulder took most of the weight in the fall.
People in the Mall ran forward to help and make sure I was OK. The
owner rushed out with a glass of water and took the chair away.
We caught the bus back to Mantra and I
walked down to the city park and the inlet for some photos. While
there two tandem parachutes landed on the lawn.
Shoulder was a bit sore so I walked
back up the hill to the hotel and later we all headed to the Bluerock
restaurant for dinner. My eyes were very red and watering. You are probably wondering what eyes have to do with travel. I have had an eye condition for 3 years; I've had every test possible and have seen the top Optomologist in Sydney, Professor Peter McCluskey.
23 June Sunday 2013
You only need to mention the word
Markets and the women start dancing from foot to foot eager to go.
So we took a Redcat bus to the city and got off at the Railway Station.
We picked up a Transport day pass for $11 a couple and this would
cover any trains, buses or boats for the day. Trains to Fremantle 32 7S 115 47E ran every 15 minutes and we were soon heading to the market.
Quite a big market, both in big tin
sheds and under tents in the street. People jostling about all
rugged up, it was cool and rained most of the time. The markets had
everything, and I had to remind Helen that we had limited packing
space and we still had at least another 20 days to go.
 |
| Helen, Anne & Tony |
Our hotel had Internet, but the company
Azure providing it couldn't handle Apple or iPads. The information
sheet said 2 hours/ 360 days and 200Mb for $15, sign on – sign off.
I had to see the desk and found that I could only get one 2 hour
session sign on once and use it all. Cindy at the desk was very
apologetic and very helpful.
My neck and shoulder are still a bit
tight but better than last night.
24 June 2013
Very early start today at 0515 for
breakfast at 0600 and a bus coming to pick us up at 0720.
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| Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse |
The light house is located at Latitude 33° 22'S, Longitude 115° 08' E bitterly cold, driving rain just felt like needles pricking your face and the wind nearly blew you off your feet. But I can say that I have been there now.
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| Busselton Jetty |
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| Bootleg Brewery |
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| Mammoth Caves |
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| Karri tree and Tony |
On
our way back to Perth, John explained the well designed transport
system. Trains and cars use the same corridor, running side by side
and meet at hubs where you can catch a bus to your destination.
How the free buses are paid for I don't know, but it is a wonderful system and well
patronised by the Perthanians. Perth was not a busy city crammed
with cars, there was no hustle and bustle, there was no rubbish lying
about. It is a very clean city.
25 June 2013
It
is somewhat gross the amount of food you eat, because it is there.
The Mantra provided a sumptuous breakfast, enough to keep the mind
active all day. Bacon, scrambled eggs, tomato, baked beans,
mushrooms, many varieties of toast, fruit and fruit juice, yoghurt
and tea and coffee.
We
walked up to the Perth Mint and watched as a $250,000 gold bar was
poured before our eyes. No samples given out. This gold bar had been
melted and re-poured 1000s of times, demonstrating to visitors. On
show was a $52,000,000 Gold Coin. Impressive to look at, too heavy
to put in your pocket, anyhow what would you do with it?
We
each stamped out a couple of Mint tokens; Just put the blank
in, followed by $2 and push the button.
From
the mint we dodged showers and walked down to the Quay where we
hopped on a ferry and followed the Swan River down to Fremantle. It
was a lovely slow trip and we saw Gina Rineharts opulent house and
many others all along the river bank. Our ferry was too high to go
under the bridge, the tide was full, and the Captain said that the
afternoon trip would just fit underneath. So it was back to Perth
again and a long walk
up the hill to the top of town.
After a disagreement, the girls went one way and the boys the other.
I'm more interested in taking photos, Helen wants markets and shops, Tony looks for cafes and bottle shops and where he can get the next cuppa coffee and Anne looks at shops like Helen.
After a disagreement, the girls went one way and the boys the other.
I'm more interested in taking photos, Helen wants markets and shops, Tony looks for cafes and bottle shops and where he can get the next cuppa coffee and Anne looks at shops like Helen.
Perth
would be very easy to live in, the pace is much slower, less traffic
on the road even in the city and public transport is controlled very
well and very accessible. Free buses, called red cat, blue cat
etc take you anywhere in the city as hop on hop off and a day
pass for trains and buses other than the free bus.
I've
got to do something about my bag that I carry, it is just too heavy, it has two cameras, the iPad a rain coat, passports and all the other stuff like hand wash, sun screen, sun glasses etc, so I need to get a bag
that only has the essentials and the rest gets left in our room.
Because
the weather is so changeable, rain one minute and fine the next you
have to carry a coat, not that it is cold, just wet. Like
yesterday everyone got wet.
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| Dawn Princess |
Call Sign: ZCBU2
There
is nothing like STRESS, my suds are up at 8/10 and because of others
I have no control over what is to happen. Because we didn't need to
book in to the ship until 1300, to the others that meant a free
morning, but to me it meant get going, get down to Fremantle and use
what ever hours spare to look around down there. So, a taxi was
booked for 12noon and on the Redcat we all went to Perth City again.
We did a round trip on a Bluecat then caught a Redcat back to Mantra.
Loaded
all the bags and us into the taxi and zoomed down to Fremantle $50.
Taxi dropped us at the loading bay for the bag drop.
 |
| Boarding process |
 |
| Deck 8 |
We
were ushered in to a waiting area and at the same time given a number
and some forms to fill out. This process is different from aircraft
and works much more smoothly.
Papers
filled, our number was called and a large group of us were ushered
through customs, our Passports were collected en-bulk and an
identification card was produced. This card was to be our room key,
ship ID card, anything we bought was logged to the card and it was
very susceptible to magnetic interference. In fact my card was
changed 5 times and re-magnetised twice.
Next
step was security where we had a photo taken and we were lead up the
gang plank onto the ship. Group by group we were ushered through the
lifts to our levels and shown to our staterooms. Helen and I were
D709 and we were one of 19 that were looked after by Lidiya Parshenco
our room stewardess.
 |
| Stateroom D709 |
 |
| Nick, Lidiya, Helen |
By
this time it was 1430 and we were told that lunch was available on
level 14 at Horizons.
You
have to see it to believe it. Two huge areas lined with hot and cold
dishes, cold and hot cuts of meat, salads, pasta, vegetables, sweets, fruit, drinks, I just hope
the photos you'll see later do it justice. Then seating in groups from two at a table
to 10 or more and probably seating more than 500 people in total.
 |
| Life Jackets muster Drill |
The
ship made a late departure due to delays in loading fuel and food.
The ship moved away from the wharf and turned 180 degrees and headed
out to the open sea at approx 2050 West Australian Standard Time. Most agile passengers were on the top deck taking photos of the departure.
We all headed to the dining room and I was chipped for wearing shorts. The dress code is longs. But on this first occasion Alex allowed me in. Dining has never been this grand since I had dinner with my Grand Mother. The table was the correct height, but the chairs were lounge chairs and we were kind of eating up hill.
The table setting was as posh as a 5 star hotel with glasses for water and wine. Cloth napkins and tablecloth. The flower on the table started out with buds and as the days went on, it flowered. Some sort of water lily.  |
| Isagani and Rosa |
To bed in our little room. Lidiya came by to explain why the beds were single and not a double. As a double in that room configuration would have been squeezier than the caravan. So we left the beds as singles.
I
found the Internet Cafe and it's manager Jules Krige from Pretoria in South Africa. Jules is an award winning copywriter and web designer. So I bought 400 minutes of satellite time.
The speed is not as fast as land based ADSL, but I found it very
adequate for sending email and FaceBook. The bandwidth was OK for
Skype or face to face and for
one of the passengers who wanted to see his horse racing in NZ. Logging on had to be exactly as your name on your cabin card. 400
minutes gave me 25minutes a day for 16 days. On the last day I had 5
minutes left so I thought that was time well spent..
30 June 2013
You might know some of my background, but one little snippet was that I came to Australia in March 1966 on the Oriental Queen. A war time ship called the MS Kanimbla and just under 11,000 tons. If you want to look up more just click on the link above. The story was that while the ship was in Auckland harbour, maritime inspectors found that the lifeboats had been fixed in place by lavish coats of paint and the boats were unable to be deployed. The ship was held in harbour while this safety issue was rectified.
The life boat mechanism has changed dramatically over the years. Dawn Princess has a combination of inflatable 25 man rafts along with a number of motorised lifeboats which they call tenders.
Each tender is capable of holding 150 people and are deployed from a telescopic gantry crane. One lifeboat that I enquired about was powered by twin 6 cylinder Perkins diesel engines, weighed 8 ton, and are so much safer than the old style boats.
Each time the tenders are used, they are washed down and maintained before being tied back.
On both Port and Starboard sides of the ship the life boats are capable of taking on every person from the ship. So in the case of the ship rolling one way, then the boats on the other side will hold the total number of people on board.
1 July 2013
The wind speed increased and the height of the waves increased too, but the ship still gave you that safe feeling even though you zig zag a bit more when walking..
Now one of the important levels is 12. This is the home of the Lotas Spa and health centre. Debra Feist was born in Edinburgh Scotland and is the manager in this area. I found her a little bashful and not wanting her photo taken. Maybe she thought I was some geek out collecting pictures of females. But Debra I can tell you I was
there to write a bit in my blog about the Health Centre.
Many passengers took advantage of the Gym, peddling the calories off and soaking in the sauna, the spa and having a massage, manicure or pedicure and enjoying a session of yoga, pilates and even aerobics.
For those more adventurous a trip to the Acupuncture centre could lead to a pain free few weeks. I have never been near one. My sister believes it is the only way to help her sinus. So after suffering from back pain for many years I decided to give Alex who has studied Chinese acupuncture a go. I had three sessions and haven't had back pain since. We were in our rooms for an hour with the pins in, mine in my feet, below the knee, both wrists, and both eyebrows, then in the back around the lower back and the under side of the ankle.
So I'm a Believer.
Like Vietnam, some people live in squallier while next door will be a well to do wealthy very clean looking house. The
filth of plastic rubbish, wrappers, bottles, non bio degradable waste, mud, junk, building products like bricks and timber scattered, sheets of rusty iron, skinny dogs and cats, chooks and chickens roaming wild, cows tethered but free to move a certain distance, water lying about, communal washing areas and squat toilets, all visible from the road. And then quite often a man standing facing away from the road having a pee, what do the ladies do?
Being Sunday, everyone was on ''holiday''. The men sit on a raised floor about two metres square, and a meter off the ground with a thatched roof, sit there and gaze out into space and smoke. A few men and boys were working cleaning out the waste water drains. Heaps of silt, rubbish, plastic bottles and household waste. They dig it out and pile it on the side of the
road, whether someone comes along later and picks it up I don't know, or maybe it just washes back into the drain the next time it rains.
Traffic on the road is not as chaotic as Vietnam, a lot more small vehicles and quite a few scooters, but not crowded with scooters. Generally one to four people squashed onto a scooter, some with helmets some without.
Lombok is 8 by 10 kilometres with a population of just over 3,000,000 people. A very high rainfall and lots of vegetation. Crops grow everywhere, rice, tobacco, tapioca, paw paw, mango, snake fruit, bananas. Main crop is rice and we watched as farmers cut the rice, stacked it to dry, hand thrashed it to remove the seed, laid the rice out to dry on mats on any flat dry surface and that included the side of the road. It takes two days in the hot drying sun and the rice is hand bagged and sent to market. The whole family gets involved with the harvest.
Sixth, Barossa Valley Estate E and E Black Pepper Shiraz $134, lovely but who is going to pay that sort of money for a bottle
With the live shows, artists get on at a shore stop and may only stay for a couple of shows and get off at the next. But what we saw was great. One night we had Ross Maio, a piano accordionist. Just a one man band but professional and a wonderful show.
I would have loved to have got up early for the sunrise in to Broom, as someone else we know did, but I suppose we could look forward to 15 more sunrises.
Birthing at Broom 3 July 2013 seems to be a bit funny. The ship hoes too at the jetty, but passengers can't walk on the jetty. The only movement was by bus. Unfortunately we had booked late and not knowing what was to see missed out on the good tours. Our tour was downright disappointing and we saw very little of Broom. Helen was very upset because the bus didn't stop anywhere, not even for photos. Ann of course came back with a pearl, much to Helens envy. When we compared the Broom tour to the Lombok tour which were the same price, Lombok was wonderful.
That night we were entertained by a Mentalist and a comedian, both wonderful shows.
Guess what tomorrow is.... 4th of July and yes my state room key has broken again. I'm on my 4th replacement, it seems to have a magnetic strip problem.
This morning was overcast and quite cloudy, but I suppose our US passengers were praying for a clear day to celebrate, and as the day rolled on it turned into a bright sunny day. Lots of sun worshippers on level 14 and the movie Grease to watch on the big screen.
I met an interesting couple at lunch. They had got on in Fremantle as mum and very red haired daughter and each day they were to instruct willing passengers in facets of craft.
Our American passengers were well entertained on level 15 at The Sanctuary, while the rest of us ate at the fish fry or any other restaurant that suited you and it was a night of partying, music, games and for some a good session on the booze.
As a highlight the ship sailed into Prince Frederick Harbour on the Kimberley Coast and came to a stop in very glass like water and we watched the sun set over the Kimberley Ranges. In the area there are the Horizontal water falls and this is a great attraction, but not from the ship.
6th July Darwin - I was up at 5am to watch the ship dock at Darwin and it just slowly slid into the wharf area with the aid of a tug. We had booked a tour in Darwin that went at 10am, in the mean time we took a bus to the Mall and looked at the shops and we were back ready for our tour. The tour from the ship was great! Company organised tours always start in the Princess lounge, you get a number, then wait. When our tour bus arrived we all walked down from 8 to 5 and out via the gang way and walked to the bus.
The
gardens
were
lovely
and
green
and
I
found
a
new
flower
I
haven't
seen
before.
Called
a
cannonball
flower.
It
was
growing
on
a
weedy
looking
vine
growing
up
another
tree.
Last
bit
of
the
tour
took
us
out
to East Point a
lovely
point
and
a
view
back
on
the
city
across
the
bay. This tour was 500% better than our Broome tour.
Four young ladies from Ohio who got together at University while doing a music degree. A cello, violins and viola and beautiful relaxing music. It was so peaceful to sit and listen to their music.
7 July 13 at Sea - Every day the Princess Patter comes out and occasionally we saw new groups, so I visited the Information Desk and asked if we could have a meeting of those who had been awarded an Order of Australia. Initially the girl didn't know what I was talking about, so I wrote out a script explaining what the OA was about. Next day it appeared in the Patter and we all met at the Wheelhouse Bar at 1130.
Left to right - Lieutenant Commander Retired Henry Hall MBE, OAM, Alan Donald AM, Madeline Lavers representing husband Andrew Lavers OAM, Helen Bielenberg OAM, Nancy Donald Alan's wife, Nick Quigley OAM (myself) and Eric Hayes AO
At noon today our ship was located at 10degrees 47 minutes south and 136 degrees 38minutes east we had covered 405 kmiles at a speed of 20.25 knots there is 52meters of water under the ship, the wind is 25knots in an easterly direction and the sea has a 2.5m swell. So from that you can see that the wind is up the swell is increasing and we are in for some bad weather while we travel across the top of Australia, passing the tip of Cape York by 1.5 kilometers.
In the misty rain and the rough weather I spotted an odd shape, gray in colour and as we got closer it turned out to be an Australian Navy Patrol boat. The wind is up at 39knots and the ship is only going forward at 11knots. A rolling sea and very blustery up on 14 on the top.
Another amazing and very talented person was Sarah Dyer. Now if you watch Sarah carefully you will see her playing the piano and at the same time she'll be playing the organ and all along she will be conducting and controlling the whole musical piece. Sarah came from Wales and she had learnt to play the Piano at 8 years old by the help of her Grandmother. After school Sarah went to University and studied Music and Mathematics and now in her 12th year with Princess Cruises controls all music on board the ship.
At noon today the ship was at 11 degreens 52 minutes south and 143 degrees 14 minutes east, 240 miles NW of Cooktown and last night we travelled 448kmiles at 18.7 knots, 31m of water below and the wind is 35knots at ESE with a 2 meter swell.
Now here is an interesting one - Why do Koalas carry their babies on their back?
Because they can't get a pram up a gum tree.
If you are interested in Koalas you should visit our Koala Volunteers site
The passage is a bit rougher inside the reef and at Port Douglas the ship stopped suddenly with a lot of vibrations and swirling muddy sand and it was as if we had run aground.
Two catamarans from Port Douglas came along side, but they deemed it too rough to take passengers off. So after a while our Captain announced that Port Douglas was cancelled.
When the ship got under way we went outside the reef into open and deeper water. With the wind the ship was listing to Port and the ship rolled and pitched in the conditions.
6am next morning 10th July 2013 we stopped outside Airlie Beach. Tenders were lowered and a Cat arrived from the shore to carry passengers to the mainland.
Helen and I caught a tender to Airlie and walked the town, posted some letters and had a real New Zealand ice cream. The main street is under huge reconstructions and from a tourists point of view it was chaotic Where the bus dropped us off there was a market and many little items were added to the packing.
Out Captain always announced that when going ashore passengers who have difficulty walking should consider their safety and be aware of access problems. One person with walking frame decided to go ashore and on return missed his step at the wharf and fell into the harbour. Ships crew dived in and fished him out. I'd say he had a good story to tell the Grand kids.
For some reason the ship periodically runs the propellers and Starboard side thrusters while waiting in port.
10 July 2013 2210 at sea I was always on the go, up and back on the decks, camera in hand and seeing some light in Jammers, a Night Club, I pushed the rotating door and entered the room. Looking to the left where the lights were I took two steps forward and next thing I was falling to the right, crash landed on a marble table winding myself and ended up a crumpled heap on the floor. After a bit I pulled myself up onto the couch and looked back to see where I had come from. I then saw the step. Lit from the vertical section and not visible from the top. There was no body in Jammers. After getting my air back I slowly moved out and headed to our Stateroom and told Helen what had happened.
I slept OK that night after the fall, but in the morning my right shoulder is a bit sore and my right ribs catch with movement, but my breathing is OK. There is a large bruise on my right thigh and just above the knee, and slowly appearing on most of the right rib cage.
At noon today the ship was at 23degrees 11minutes South and 152degrees 15 minutes East and we are travelling at 17.5Knots
11 July 2013 - The ship is pitching in a short moderate to rough sea with an Easterly swell, but more importantly today is games day.
People had to design a package that would contain a dozen eggs and be dropped from three floors up and land safely. Some amazing contraptions with parachutes and padding and all eggs survived.
The galley was opened up for a visit. You can't imagine the size, but when you calculate the area needed to prepare 17,000 meals a day, you need some space. No gas,(no naked flames) all electric, all stainless steel, very clean, but I can imagine after 500 people troop through the kitchen everything would have to be cleaned again.
After talking to others I decided that in the interest of safety I should report my fall in Jammers. So I visited the Information Desk and a Security Officer interviewed me on what I was wearing on my feet, had I had alcohol that night, what was I carrying, how did I land, who witnessed it, took photos and we visited the scene, had I reported to the ships Doctor.
Wonderful stage show tonight called British Invasion. Incredible costumes and dancing, probably the best show for this cruise.
The end is getter closer every hour. Helen has started the packing and it is a logistical nightmare to get all the nicnacs we have bought on board to fit in our little cases. Hand luggage max is 7kgs and we need to get the bags to close too.
There is one other special group that needs a special mention and that is the ships cooks and stewards. So tomorrow I will talk about the wonderful food and some of the staff who deliver it.
Beppe Castino is the Maitre D'Hotel and he looks after 158 staff being waiters and stewards, while Amedeo Scarin is the Executive Chef has 147 staff, butchers, bakers, pastry cooks, dishwashers, an ice carver and galley helpers.
Food was fresh as if you had just dropped down to Wollies and bought the groceries. In the morning there was a choice of cereals, museli, fruit, nuts, yoghurt, bacon, beans, tomato, mushrooms and the list goes on and on. Toast cooked to perfection, eggs cooked how you like them, tea, coffee or juices and you could go back as often as you wanted to.
Lunch and diner at the steak house, pizza place, in the restaurant or at Horizons. You had the choice. To feed 1900 passengers there had to be two sittings, but there was no compulsion to go to the restaurant. Our sitting was at 1730 and this gave us time to eat and be ready for a stage show and not go to bed on a full stomach.
The Captain many times said he was concerned about the amount of food that there was available to eat and the amount of weight diners would be putting on.
I ate very well and lost 2 kgs, so Cruising is a great diet.
Well that is it from me. If you want to know more go straight to the top - Princess and look for a cruise that you would like to go on, don't hesitate, DO IT.
I can now recommend it, but make sure it is at least 10 days because you will be just getting on and it will be time to get off.
Saturday the 13th July 2013, I didn't want to get off!
We sailed into Sydney Harbour in the dark which was a bit disappointing. I had hoped to see Sydney heads and the Opera House, but all I saw was us just missing the underside of the Sydney Harbour bridge, maybe we'll get to see Sydney Heads another day.
27 June 2013
Each day at noon the Captain addressed the ships passengers and gave them the navigational information for the day.
Navigation location - So for today at noon, we are at 28 27.8S and 113 19.2E, we had travelled 249 nautical miles times 1.852 = 461.1Kilometers at an average speed of 17.4 knots times 1.852= 32.2kilometers per hour.
Just so you can do the calculations in future 1knot = 1.852Km/hour
Each day at noon the Captain addressed the ships passengers and gave them the navigational information for the day.
Navigation location - So for today at noon, we are at 28 27.8S and 113 19.2E, we had travelled 249 nautical miles times 1.852 = 461.1Kilometers at an average speed of 17.4 knots times 1.852= 32.2kilometers per hour.
Just so you can do the calculations in future 1knot = 1.852Km/hour
We had breakfast in the formal dining
room and yes in the morning it was ok to wear shorts. A gentle swell
had the ship rolling slightly. It was enough to make you zigzag when
ever walking forwards.
Each morning a paper called the
Princess Patter was delivered and this would give you the program for
that day. Helen and Anne organised their day and Tony
and I would meet them for lunch and dinner.
I walked the decks finding my way
around. Didn't seem to matter how many times you did this, you always found something new and lost your way at the same time.
 |
| Internet Cafe |
Now I could take my iPad and sit where
ever on the ship and tap into internet.
Sitting having a bit of a doze and occasionally looking around to observe what this cruise was made up of. Predominantly much older people, lots of walking sticks, wheelie walkers and a sprinkling of mobility carts. The ship is like a huge floating retirement village. The passengers are mostly over 70 and some one told me that there were 16 under 20 year old. Now that doesn't include crew, there are a few young ones on the crew too.
Sitting having a bit of a doze and occasionally looking around to observe what this cruise was made up of. Predominantly much older people, lots of walking sticks, wheelie walkers and a sprinkling of mobility carts. The ship is like a huge floating retirement village. The passengers are mostly over 70 and some one told me that there were 16 under 20 year old. Now that doesn't include crew, there are a few young ones on the crew too.
Every
where you go there is a person on a wheelie walker or a mobility
scooter, but I suppose you have to get used to that.
28 June 2013
Navigation location - So for today at noon, 21 12.5S 113 30.1E last night we traveled 443 nautical miles at an average 18.5 knots. So you can calculate distance - One minute of latitude equals one nautical mile and degrees of latitude are 60 nm apart. The distance between degrees of longitude isn't constant because they converge towards the poles.
Today's Patter at 0915 Welcome to Princess Cruises, all about the benefits of on going cruises and the different colour cruise cards and what they indicate.
1100 an introduction to Photography. This was well presented by a knowledgeable photographer and it would lead to enlightening those passengers who wanted to know more about taking good photos.
The Photography Department is an essential group on the cruise. They capture a moving history of the whole cruise from start to finish and stills of passengers coming and going, at diners, special occasions, going ashore and returning and sell the quality images within 24 hours of them being taken.
I say quality because the prints are produced in a chemical lab below decks and are reproduced on good quality A4 photo paper. The quality of the photos depends on the skills of the photographer and the equipment used.
Princess at the moment are promoting Nikon cameras and I felt that the whole operation was A1.
Some photographers have wide knowledge and university degrees to back them up, while others have learnt by doing it. One up and coming photographer who took some wonderful portraits of Helen and I was Natasha Kuzmanovic. If she sticks to it she has a great career ahead of her.
At 1300 I went to a seminar on a theory on how to loose 8 inches round the middle. Interesting to listen to and probably a plausible way to loose weight, but having said that the catch was to buy a product to wipe on the skin to make you shrink. .. it would be good.
An interesting one today, Friends at Sea Veterans meeting at 1545. It was good to meet up, no one I knew, but 14 Veterans with Australian service. One gent ex Navy and still going at 90 years old and later would display his ability to recite some of Australias Bush Poetry. But the most interesting thing we all learnt was that if we contact PandO and Princess we will be entitled to more Princess money to spend on the ship. A bit late for this cruise, but next time ...
Our first Formal night. As much as I would prefer to wear shorts all the time it wasn't going to happen tonight. The full bag of fruit. Some were dressed like lords with a tux and bow tie. I was lucky my suit fitted. But in saying all that, everybody did look good, neat and tidy and the ladies looked lovely. When we were seated our two stewards stood out, they were immaculately dressed. In fact all staff were black tie dressed and it gave the lounge a very upper class feel about it. It reminded me of the day at the Governor Generals and Government House.
While on food and its availability, what is listed on the menu, you can have the lot if you think you can eat it. But I didn't, I only have mains and sweets.
In three days, 500 tonnes of food will have been consumed by the 1900 passengers and 800 staff.
In the Atrium, Captain Ivan Jerman an English born man educated in the port town of Southwold and now living or based in Sydney Australia, introduced his senior officers at a cocktail party. It was interesting to watch the gentry crawl over each other for a better placing, all dressed in their tux and sipping cocktails. You either are, or you aren't and never will be....
29 June 2013
Navigation location - So for today at noon, 13 48.6S 114 50.9E and we travelled 450 nautical miles at an ave speed of 18.8 knots.
Today was another day at sea and there is a shit load of water in all directions including under the ship to 5000 meters.
The Ships Officers, those men and women who make the journey as pleasant and as enjoyable as possible have a special responsibility in this large floating hotel
and were quite approachable to talk to. English was a barrier, but they always smiled.
One of the most important members was the Chief Engineer Simone Solimini and I don't have information on him but he runs the power, motors and everything mechanical.
28 June 2013
Navigation location - So for today at noon, 21 12.5S 113 30.1E last night we traveled 443 nautical miles at an average 18.5 knots. So you can calculate distance - One minute of latitude equals one nautical mile and degrees of latitude are 60 nm apart. The distance between degrees of longitude isn't constant because they converge towards the poles.
Today's Patter at 0915 Welcome to Princess Cruises, all about the benefits of on going cruises and the different colour cruise cards and what they indicate.
1100 an introduction to Photography. This was well presented by a knowledgeable photographer and it would lead to enlightening those passengers who wanted to know more about taking good photos.
The Photography Department is an essential group on the cruise. They capture a moving history of the whole cruise from start to finish and stills of passengers coming and going, at diners, special occasions, going ashore and returning and sell the quality images within 24 hours of them being taken. |
| Natasha Kuzmanovic Graphic designer & photographer |
Princess at the moment are promoting Nikon cameras and I felt that the whole operation was A1.
Some photographers have wide knowledge and university degrees to back them up, while others have learnt by doing it. One up and coming photographer who took some wonderful portraits of Helen and I was Natasha Kuzmanovic. If she sticks to it she has a great career ahead of her.
At 1300 I went to a seminar on a theory on how to loose 8 inches round the middle. Interesting to listen to and probably a plausible way to loose weight, but having said that the catch was to buy a product to wipe on the skin to make you shrink. .. it would be good.
An interesting one today, Friends at Sea Veterans meeting at 1545. It was good to meet up, no one I knew, but 14 Veterans with Australian service. One gent ex Navy and still going at 90 years old and later would display his ability to recite some of Australias Bush Poetry. But the most interesting thing we all learnt was that if we contact PandO and Princess we will be entitled to more Princess money to spend on the ship. A bit late for this cruise, but next time ...
 |
| Rosa and Isagani Florentine Stewards |
While on food and its availability, what is listed on the menu, you can have the lot if you think you can eat it. But I didn't, I only have mains and sweets.
In three days, 500 tonnes of food will have been consumed by the 1900 passengers and 800 staff.
In the Atrium, Captain Ivan Jerman an English born man educated in the port town of Southwold and now living or based in Sydney Australia, introduced his senior officers at a cocktail party. It was interesting to watch the gentry crawl over each other for a better placing, all dressed in their tux and sipping cocktails. You either are, or you aren't and never will be....
29 June 2013
Navigation location - So for today at noon, 13 48.6S 114 50.9E and we travelled 450 nautical miles at an ave speed of 18.8 knots.
Today was another day at sea and there is a shit load of water in all directions including under the ship to 5000 meters.
The Ships Officers, those men and women who make the journey as pleasant and as enjoyable as possible have a special responsibility in this large floating hotel
and were quite approachable to talk to. English was a barrier, but they always smiled.
One of the most important members was the Chief Engineer Simone Solimini and I don't have information on him but he runs the power, motors and everything mechanical.
The Dawn Princess is a twin- screw diesel- electric vessel designed for
worldwide cruising. In addition to two main fixed pitch
propellers, she has two rudders, two bow thrusters, two stern
thrusters and two stabilising fins. The hull and superstructure
are of welded steel construction.
Each stabiliser fin is 5.4
meters long and generates a maximum lift of 88 tonnes. The fin
is shaped like an aircraft wing, providing lift. A gyroscope
measures the speed and direction of any rolling motion and sends a
signal to a computer that controls the hydraulic pump which rotates
the fin.
The
Dawn Princess was commissioned on the 16 April 1997 with its maiden
voyage on 10 May 1997.
To
make the journey the ship has 900 crew and on this cruise 1975
passengers.
The ship is 261.3
meters long, 77,441 ton, 32.25 meters wide. The power plants are made of four
Sulzer V16 turbo charged engines rated at 15,448 HP, ticking over at 514 RPM. Each
engine uses roughly 450 gallons per hour. The ship holds 686,000
gallons of fuel. The engines drive a generator producing 6.6 KV
3 phase at 60 Hz. Also on Deck 5 are two V12 Caterpillar diesel auxiliaries.
The
propulsion system is controlled by 2 GEC Alsthom propulsion motors with
a max speed of 145 RPM and producing shaft power rated at 18,774 HP
and on the end of each a 6 skew bladed propeller weighing 14.6 ton
with a 5.2 meter diameter. All very impressive and huge in size.
When
one looks at the overall operation, the whole ship is like a 16 story
high rise floating hotel. 5 air conditioning plants, 2 with a capacity
of 10,500,000BTU and 3 with a capacity of 6,800,000BTU. The air conditioning pressure is enough to stop salt air entering the ships interior when external doors are opened.
The
ship makes its own fresh water with 3 banks of evaporators one producing 320
tonnes and the other two produce 640 tonnes each per day and the
water storage equals 636,070 gallons or 2370 tonnes of water.
The water is chlorinated and runs at every tap on the ship.
The process of evaporation leaves a trace of salt, which makes
you feel thirsty at times.
So
in summary the main engine pistons weigh 310 kg each, each
crankshaft weights 15 tonnes, the cubic capacity of each cylinder is
70,370 cm cubed. At full power the Dawn Princess chews up 1
gallon of fuel over 55 feet of distance. The total generating
capacity on board is 44.5 MW enough to light up 750,000 light bulbs. Power generated feeds the galleys, (no gas cooking), and all power and lighting required by the ship.
On deck 7, three
times around the deck is equal to one mile or 1.6Kilometers.
Now
you would have noticed that the story above flicks from metric to
imperial. The information came from an the ships data sheet.
Last
night we travelled 450 Nmiles at 18.8 knots and we will be at Lombok at
7:30 am tomorrow Tuesday 30 June
The
ship leaves the same day and goes back to Broome
Another of my observation - the cruise is like a very large day care centre for
retired people. The staff continually ask you if they can get
something for you, help you, entertain you, pamper you and squeeze
dollars out of you.
It
is certainly the way to go to REST, some of the furniture is very
luxurious. With spas, pools, games, theatres, live shows, live
music, a gym, sauna, health centre, etc and over a dozen eating
places, including pizza, steakhouse, buffet, ice cream shop and bars,
booze and coffee /tea anytime 24 hours of the day.
30 June 2013
You might know some of my background, but one little snippet was that I came to Australia in March 1966 on the Oriental Queen. A war time ship called the MS Kanimbla and just under 11,000 tons. If you want to look up more just click on the link above. The story was that while the ship was in Auckland harbour, maritime inspectors found that the lifeboats had been fixed in place by lavish coats of paint and the boats were unable to be deployed. The ship was held in harbour while this safety issue was rectified.
The life boat mechanism has changed dramatically over the years. Dawn Princess has a combination of inflatable 25 man rafts along with a number of motorised lifeboats which they call tenders.Each tender is capable of holding 150 people and are deployed from a telescopic gantry crane. One lifeboat that I enquired about was powered by twin 6 cylinder Perkins diesel engines, weighed 8 ton, and are so much safer than the old style boats.
Each time the tenders are used, they are washed down and maintained before being tied back.
On both Port and Starboard sides of the ship the life boats are capable of taking on every person from the ship. So in the case of the ship rolling one way, then the boats on the other side will hold the total number of people on board.
1 July 2013
The wind speed increased and the height of the waves increased too, but the ship still gave you that safe feeling even though you zig zag a bit more when walking..
 |
| Two lovely massage ladies and Alex |
 |
| Entrance to Health and Lotas Spa |
 |
| Well equipped Gym |
Many passengers took advantage of the Gym, peddling the calories off and soaking in the sauna, the spa and having a massage, manicure or pedicure and enjoying a session of yoga, pilates and even aerobics.
For those more adventurous a trip to the Acupuncture centre could lead to a pain free few weeks. I have never been near one. My sister believes it is the only way to help her sinus. So after suffering from back pain for many years I decided to give Alex who has studied Chinese acupuncture a go. I had three sessions and haven't had back pain since. We were in our rooms for an hour with the pins in, mine in my feet, below the knee, both wrists, and both eyebrows, then in the back around the lower back and the under side of the ankle.
So I'm a Believer.
I'm sitting with a group of much older retires who seem to just eat and sleep all day. But I suppose it is similar to a retirement village, but in the fresh air. The chairs are very comfortable and the tables are just the right height, so comfort is 100 percent.
We went to see customs at 0730 and had our passports stamped for Broome, then up to breakfast. In the open on deck 14 the wind was so strong that you had to hang on, the sea is rolling far heavier than before, white caps everywhere. But with all that it doesn't stop people in there 100 s walking round and round the deck with fresh salty air.
Excursion Tickets - It is important to go through ALL the paperwork placed in your cabin as soon as possible after departure. As you sail along the pile of paper work grows and grows.
I found our pre booked excursion tickets, quite relieved to know where we had to go and at what time. And if you feel there might be something else you can do it is only a matter of visiting the Excursion Desk and seeing what is on offer.
Yesterday we visited Lombok. Now most of you know I'm not a lover of Indonesia, but I must say now that I've been to Lombok there is never going to be the need to visit Bali.
The Lombokinese are quite friendly, the hawkers are not as persistent as those in Vietnam, but I was pleased to see the end of them as we headed back to the ship.
To visit Lombok the ship anchored in the middle of the harbour and we were shipped in via the fleet of ships tenders about a 30 minute run.
Arriving on land we were met by security (no guns) and boarded our bus. Before leaving the ship we were divided up into groups and given a sticky number, ours was group 5, so that put us on bus 5 of 13. Our guide was Arief and when he started to speak he said he was embarrassed becaused his English was not good. But we all thought he did a very good job. A running commentary while the bus moved.
Like Vietnam, some people live in squallier while next door will be a well to do wealthy very clean looking house. The filth of plastic rubbish, wrappers, bottles, non bio degradable waste, mud, junk, building products like bricks and timber scattered, sheets of rusty iron, skinny dogs and cats, chooks and chickens roaming wild, cows tethered but free to move a certain distance, water lying about, communal washing areas and squat toilets, all visible from the road. And then quite often a man standing facing away from the road having a pee, what do the ladies do?
When we stopped at the Sheraton for lunch, all 13 buses arrived at one sitting, so their were people all over the place, and an unbelievable amount of food was set up and drink waiters zig zagging in and out. The Sheraton is right on the beach and only Sheraton patrons can use this section of the beach, guarded each end by security. Every where you looked there were evacuation signs for a tsunami. Our stops at each place was very time constrained and to make it worse at lunch it rained.
I would have loved to been able to see the volcano but we did get to the base. Our guide told us that they had had a 5.2 earthquake a few days ago with no damage.
One of the markets was well set up with little stalls and better than normal junk, like the boy and girl statue in the photos. Lots of timber products and cloth.
It was quite exciting driving from place to place. Every two seconds the driver beeped his horn, that was to warm whoever was in front to move out of the way. On our return to the boat one scooter when the wrong way and hit the bus. The two people on board were ok just a bit shaken, but the motor cycle front wheel was no longer round. A bystander appeared and told the bus driver to go.
As we turned to the right on corners I could see bikers watching where the wheels were so they weren't run over. It was very close at times.
Well that was Lombok. Our ship was supposed to depart at 5 pm, but finally left at 5:30 with only 8 metered of water under the hull.
We went down for dinner and after went to a live show. Piano entertainer Larry Dunsmore a tribute to the Rat Pack Era, Frank Senartra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Sammy J Louis. The theatre is as big as the Pilbeam Theatre in Rockhampton and there was not a seat vacant.
Today Helen and I went to a wine tasting. Entertaining and lovely wines and expensive too.
First was a Arras sparkling Pinot Noir, Chardonnay $79 per bottle, not our style Second, Brookland Valley Estate Sauvignon $54, beautiful
Third, Tyrells Vat 47 Chardonnay $79, not our style
Fourth, Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz $63, beautiful
Fifth, Penfolds Private Release Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon $33, delightful
Sixth, Barossa Valley Estate E and E Black Pepper Shiraz $134, lovely but who is going to pay that sort of money for a bottle
We came away glowing and feeling quite good.
We also went on a health trip. Started out at a seminar on balance. Anyone with a sore back, crook knees, head aches, well he talked about the three horizontal areas of the body. First one is the shoulders, they support the neck and head. Next area is the hips, they support the backbones, shoulders and head and the last area is the feet. Your feet support the whole body. So we all walked over a screen printer and took an image of both feet. He then applied a certain shaped insert for the shoes to provide a better balance.
My feet have been dreadful for a long time and recently I had an X-ray to look at the bones. I have my mothers toe problem called claw toes and I walk on the tip of my toes not the flat surface underneath. The insert has taken the weight off my toes, so I hope that wearing them continually will improve other balance issues.
It is now 3 weeks since that seminar and I'm still wearing my inserts and I'll have to see my Doctor and get a referral to a foot specialist to get better footwear to suit my feet.
2 July 2013
The ships crew are all very helpful and within the passengers there was a good number who were interested to know about the ships navigation, so a Nav seminar was held. Followed by a movie called the Fall of Malta.
Plenty to chose from when it comes to movies. If you don't see it on the big screen, you can watch it on your state-room TV. On the same night the movie Capturing Bin Laden was screened.
The ships crew are all very helpful and within the passengers there was a good number who were interested to know about the ships navigation, so a Nav seminar was held. Followed by a movie called the Fall of Malta.
Plenty to chose from when it comes to movies. If you don't see it on the big screen, you can watch it on your state-room TV. On the same night the movie Capturing Bin Laden was screened.
With the live shows, artists get on at a shore stop and may only stay for a couple of shows and get off at the next. But what we saw was great. One night we had Ross Maio, a piano accordionist. Just a one man band but professional and a wonderful show.
I would have loved to have got up early for the sunrise in to Broom, as someone else we know did, but I suppose we could look forward to 15 more sunrises.
Birthing at Broom 3 July 2013 seems to be a bit funny. The ship hoes too at the jetty, but passengers can't walk on the jetty. The only movement was by bus. Unfortunately we had booked late and not knowing what was to see missed out on the good tours. Our tour was downright disappointing and we saw very little of Broom. Helen was very upset because the bus didn't stop anywhere, not even for photos. Ann of course came back with a pearl, much to Helens envy. When we compared the Broom tour to the Lombok tour which were the same price, Lombok was wonderful.
That night we were entertained by a Mentalist and a comedian, both wonderful shows.
Guess what tomorrow is.... 4th of July and yes my state room key has broken again. I'm on my 4th replacement, it seems to have a magnetic strip problem.
This morning was overcast and quite cloudy, but I suppose our US passengers were praying for a clear day to celebrate, and as the day rolled on it turned into a bright sunny day. Lots of sun worshippers on level 14 and the movie Grease to watch on the big screen.
I met an interesting couple at lunch. They had got on in Fremantle as mum and very red haired daughter and each day they were to instruct willing passengers in facets of craft.
Our American passengers were well entertained on level 15 at The Sanctuary, while the rest of us ate at the fish fry or any other restaurant that suited you and it was a night of partying, music, games and for some a good session on the booze.As a highlight the ship sailed into Prince Frederick Harbour on the Kimberley Coast and came to a stop in very glass like water and we watched the sun set over the Kimberley Ranges. In the area there are the Horizontal water falls and this is a great attraction, but not from the ship.
6th July Darwin - I was up at 5am to watch the ship dock at Darwin and it just slowly slid into the wharf area with the aid of a tug. We had booked a tour in Darwin that went at 10am, in the mean time we took a bus to the Mall and looked at the shops and we were back ready for our tour. The tour from the ship was great! Company organised tours always start in the Princess lounge, you get a number, then wait. When our tour bus arrived we all walked down from 8 to 5 and out via the gang way and walked to the bus.
This
tour
left
at
10am
and
got
us
back
to
the
ship
at
1:30
ready
for
a
2
pm
sailing.
We
went
via
the
city
mall
and
Government
House,
a
cathedral
that
was
destroyed
during
Cyclone
Tracey
in
December
1974,
and
while
at
that
point
the
commentator
told
us
that
after
the
cyclone
there
was
not
a
stick
of
timber
standing,
every
tree
in
the
area
was
replanted
after
the
cyclone.
On
to
the
museum
and
art
gallery.
This
was
very
impressive,
a
very
good
and
well
displayed
collection
of
Australia's
animals,
from
the
tiniest
to
the
largest,
happy
and
venomous.
Snakes,
spiders,
butterflies,
marsupials,
fish
and
insects,
ancient
fossils
and
prehistoric
bones,
they
had
them
all.
The
art
gallery
had
a
display
by
an
artist
deployed
with
the
military
in
Timor.
Drawings
were
in
two
colours
and
definitely
told
a
story
with
a
code
displayed
in
dots.
Not
morse
code.
The
gardens
were
lovely
and
green
and
I
found
a
new
flower
I
haven't
seen
before.
Called
a
cannonball
flower.
It
was
growing
on
a
weedy
looking
vine
growing
up
another
tree.
The
water
fountain
was
lovely
and
we
were
lucky
because
just
after
we
arrived
the
water
stopped.
About
2:30
pm
the
Pilot
came
along
side
and
the
ship
pushed
away
from
the
wharf.
So
smooth,
a
blast
of
water
from
the
thrusters
and
we
were
turning
180
degrees
out
and
away
from
Darwin
and
in
a
matter
of
minutes
the
ship
was
on
its
way
toward
the
open
sea.
The
Captain
reported
that
we
should
expect
30
knot
winds
and
3.5
meter
swell
and
showers.
We
have
been
sailing
now
for
3
hours
and
the
only
reason
I
know
we
are
moving
is
I
can
hear
the
propellers
in
the
water.
Remember
yesterday
I
said
we
had
a
country
western
group
on
board,
well
my
eyes
couldn't
believe
it,
here
on
the
very
front
sun
pool
deck
were,
Nymphs
in
mini
bikinis
soaking
up
the
sun.
Last
night
we
went
to
a
show
staring
celebrity
mind
reader
Anthony
Laye
and
international
Comedian
Mike
Harris.
Amazing
and
wonderful
only
just
touch
how
good
the
shows
were.
The
mind
boggles,
how
does
a
mind
reader
work.
To
choose
his
victims
he
threw four
balloons
into
the
audience
and
said
to
bob
them
about
until
the
music
stopped,
then
hold
onto
them.
One
candidate
was
a
total
drip.
Either
that
or
he
hypnotised
him
as
soon
as
he
got
on
the
stage.
He
asked
each
one
to
draw
a
picture,
then
a
lad
from
the
floor
gathered
then
and
holding
them
upside
down
and
facing
away
from
the
four
the
MR
decided
what
each
had
drawn.
The
drip
had
a
blank
page.
The
M
R
asked
him
why
he
didn't
draw
anything
and
he
said
you
didn't
tell
me
to
draw.
Then
he
asked
three
random
people
3
questions,
one
a
number
between
1
-
1000,
second
how
much
he
paid
for
his
suit,
and
the
third
how
much
was
his
air
fare
to
go
to
London.
Now
a
blond
was
dragged
up
and
given
a
calculator
and
after
two
goes
at
adding
them
up
it
came
to
5713
and
the
MR
said
that
was
a
great
number,
it
represented
a
number
referenced
earlier
in
the
night
and
it
was
yesterday's
date
5th
July
2013.
I
can
never
remember
jokes,
but
this
comedian
had
the
theatre
in
stitches
laughing.
Other
than
the
gig
dress
up
and
the
faces
he
could
pull,
his
punch
line
always
brought
the
house
down.
Don't
ask
me
for
one,
I
can't
remember.
Tonight
after
dinner
I
went
to
see
Trevor
Knight
in
concert,
featuring
songs
and
stories
of
Neil
Diamond,
Paul
McCartney,
Elton
John
and
Kenny
Rogers.
I
nodded
off
and
clapped
when
everyone
else
did.
After
sailing
for
five
hours
and
just
past
sunset
I
spotted
two
small
yachts
on
the
port
side.
They
had
one
sail
up
and
were
heading
for
Darwin.
Our
ship
is
sailing
in
a
just
north
of
an
easterly
direction
at
the
moment.
Tonight's
sunset
was
at
an
acute
angle
with
the
stern.
Now
here
is
a
job
for
you
sailor
buffs
...
Each
time
we
leave
port
on
the
mast
is
flying
a
red
and
white
flag.
Not
knowing
what
this
is
I
can
only
surmise
that
it
means
Pilot
on
board.
The
Pilot
boat
has
a
similar
flag.
Other
flags
are
the
Flag
of
Australia,
Red
Ensign
and
the
Princess
Cruises
flag.
On board we have a wonderful four female group called Thalia Strings Wonderful music and the four girls are so happy with what they are doing. Even though you can see their deep concentration, but all the time smiling.They play three brackets each day in the evening. The four girls met at university while they were studying music, they got together and formed their group and have two contracts a year on Princess Cruises and in between they play at weddings, parties, formals etc Listen Here
Left to right - Lieutenant Commander Retired Henry Hall MBE, OAM, Alan Donald AM, Madeline Lavers representing husband Andrew Lavers OAM, Helen Bielenberg OAM, Nancy Donald Alan's wife, Nick Quigley OAM (myself) and Eric Hayes AO
 |
| Cape York |
 |
| Australian Navy Patrol Boat |
At noon today our ship was located at 10degrees 47 minutes south and 136 degrees 38minutes east we had covered 405 kmiles at a speed of 20.25 knots there is 52meters of water under the ship, the wind is 25knots in an easterly direction and the sea has a 2.5m swell. So from that you can see that the wind is up the swell is increasing and we are in for some bad weather while we travel across the top of Australia, passing the tip of Cape York by 1.5 kilometers.
In the misty rain and the rough weather I spotted an odd shape, gray in colour and as we got closer it turned out to be an Australian Navy Patrol boat. The wind is up at 39knots and the ship is only going forward at 11knots. A rolling sea and very blustery up on 14 on the top.
 |
| Sarah Dyer |
At noon today the ship was at 11 degreens 52 minutes south and 143 degrees 14 minutes east, 240 miles NW of Cooktown and last night we travelled 448kmiles at 18.7 knots, 31m of water below and the wind is 35knots at ESE with a 2 meter swell.
Now here is an interesting one - Why do Koalas carry their babies on their back?
Because they can't get a pram up a gum tree.
If you are interested in Koalas you should visit our Koala Volunteers site
The passage is a bit rougher inside the reef and at Port Douglas the ship stopped suddenly with a lot of vibrations and swirling muddy sand and it was as if we had run aground.
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| Airlie Beach Here's looking at you big boy |
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| Airlie Sand Dragon |
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| Welcome Back to Dawn Princess |
Two catamarans from Port Douglas came along side, but they deemed it too rough to take passengers off. So after a while our Captain announced that Port Douglas was cancelled.
When the ship got under way we went outside the reef into open and deeper water. With the wind the ship was listing to Port and the ship rolled and pitched in the conditions.
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| Dawn Princess out in the harbour |
6am next morning 10th July 2013 we stopped outside Airlie Beach. Tenders were lowered and a Cat arrived from the shore to carry passengers to the mainland.
Helen and I caught a tender to Airlie and walked the town, posted some letters and had a real New Zealand ice cream. The main street is under huge reconstructions and from a tourists point of view it was chaotic Where the bus dropped us off there was a market and many little items were added to the packing.
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| Main street Airlie Beach |
Out Captain always announced that when going ashore passengers who have difficulty walking should consider their safety and be aware of access problems. One person with walking frame decided to go ashore and on return missed his step at the wharf and fell into the harbour. Ships crew dived in and fished him out. I'd say he had a good story to tell the Grand kids.
For some reason the ship periodically runs the propellers and Starboard side thrusters while waiting in port.
10 July 2013 2210 at sea I was always on the go, up and back on the decks, camera in hand and seeing some light in Jammers, a Night Club, I pushed the rotating door and entered the room. Looking to the left where the lights were I took two steps forward and next thing I was falling to the right, crash landed on a marble table winding myself and ended up a crumpled heap on the floor. After a bit I pulled myself up onto the couch and looked back to see where I had come from. I then saw the step. Lit from the vertical section and not visible from the top. There was no body in Jammers. After getting my air back I slowly moved out and headed to our Stateroom and told Helen what had happened.
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| Bruising on the 19th July |
At noon today the ship was at 23degrees 11minutes South and 152degrees 15 minutes East and we are travelling at 17.5Knots
11 July 2013 - The ship is pitching in a short moderate to rough sea with an Easterly swell, but more importantly today is games day.
People had to design a package that would contain a dozen eggs and be dropped from three floors up and land safely. Some amazing contraptions with parachutes and padding and all eggs survived.
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| One of the Ships Galleys |
The galley was opened up for a visit. You can't imagine the size, but when you calculate the area needed to prepare 17,000 meals a day, you need some space. No gas,(no naked flames) all electric, all stainless steel, very clean, but I can imagine after 500 people troop through the kitchen everything would have to be cleaned again.
After talking to others I decided that in the interest of safety I should report my fall in Jammers. So I visited the Information Desk and a Security Officer interviewed me on what I was wearing on my feet, had I had alcohol that night, what was I carrying, how did I land, who witnessed it, took photos and we visited the scene, had I reported to the ships Doctor.
Wonderful stage show tonight called British Invasion. Incredible costumes and dancing, probably the best show for this cruise.
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| Beppe Castino and Amedeo Scarin |
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| Rosa |
The end is getter closer every hour. Helen has started the packing and it is a logistical nightmare to get all the nicnacs we have bought on board to fit in our little cases. Hand luggage max is 7kgs and we need to get the bags to close too.
There is one other special group that needs a special mention and that is the ships cooks and stewards. So tomorrow I will talk about the wonderful food and some of the staff who deliver it.
Beppe Castino is the Maitre D'Hotel and he looks after 158 staff being waiters and stewards, while Amedeo Scarin is the Executive Chef has 147 staff, butchers, bakers, pastry cooks, dishwashers, an ice carver and galley helpers.
Food was fresh as if you had just dropped down to Wollies and bought the groceries. In the morning there was a choice of cereals, museli, fruit, nuts, yoghurt, bacon, beans, tomato, mushrooms and the list goes on and on. Toast cooked to perfection, eggs cooked how you like them, tea, coffee or juices and you could go back as often as you wanted to.
Lunch and diner at the steak house, pizza place, in the restaurant or at Horizons. You had the choice. To feed 1900 passengers there had to be two sittings, but there was no compulsion to go to the restaurant. Our sitting was at 1730 and this gave us time to eat and be ready for a stage show and not go to bed on a full stomach.
The Captain many times said he was concerned about the amount of food that there was available to eat and the amount of weight diners would be putting on. |
| Sydney Terminal |
I ate very well and lost 2 kgs, so Cruising is a great diet.
Well that is it from me. If you want to know more go straight to the top - Princess and look for a cruise that you would like to go on, don't hesitate, DO IT.
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| Sydney Sunrise |
I can now recommend it, but make sure it is at least 10 days because you will be just getting on and it will be time to get off.
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| Horizons Level 14 |
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| Sunrise over Sydney City |
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| Lady Helen enjoys her coffee |
We sailed into Sydney Harbour in the dark which was a bit disappointing. I had hoped to see Sydney heads and the Opera House, but all I saw was us just missing the underside of the Sydney Harbour bridge, maybe we'll get to see Sydney Heads another day.
