Category Archives: cruising

Back to normal life…?

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I’m excited, I’m so excited that you wouldn’t believe just how excited I am! Want to why I’m excited? I’ll tell you whether you want to know or not… I’m excited because cruise ships and cruising have finally come back to Australia! Now, hand up who’s now excited with that news!

That’s some exciting news right? Well it’s exciting if you’re addicted to cruising and you’ve missed being on a cruise ship or seeing them docked in a port near you.

Living in Adelaide, South Australia, I live under a 30 minute drive to the cruise ship terminal here. I love seeing the different cruise ships in port for the day. I hope that the passengers who are on various shore excursions or doing their own thing in seeing what Adelaide has to offer, they are enjoying their day here as well.

We have shopping, fabulous restaurants, the Malls Balls in Rundle Mall, beautiful beaches, the Adelaide Hills, chocolate makers, wineries, art galleries, museums, in fact there’s something here for everyone. The weather is pretty good as well.

Currently here in Australia, we have 2 cruise ships based here, P&O have the Pacific Explorer, based in Sydney, New South Wales and doing cruises and Princess Cruises have the Coral Princess, based in Brisbane and doing cruises.

After not having cruise ships in Australian waters for 2 years due to the coronavirus pandemic which caused cruise ships to stop cruising, I’m glad to see them coming back.

If anyone has read previous posts in this blog, you would have seen that I have a cruise booked for December 2023 on the Grand Princess and just between you and me, I’m a little bit excited by that too.

The last cruise I was on was in November 2019 around the South Pacific Islands and Fiji, just before the world learned about the coronavirus and the world had to stop.

Life and the world is slowly returning to normal, or a new normal, with this virus still around but it’s a good feeling to feel as though it is returning and I’m still excited.

Until next time

Kaye

Just a cruise note…

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On my 2 cruises that I’ve done now, I would carry around several small notebook and a pen with me on the ship or while on shore excursions, so I can take note of the things I want to remember while on the cruise. This way I have detailed notes of all the things that I want to remember in my small notebooks.

I generally during a quiet time will find somewhere on the ship, in a public place and sit there and write my memories down before I forget the things I want to remember.

I write down the funny things I’ve seen and heard, I write the names of crew members who have gone above and beyond to make sure that I’m having a good time on my holiday (handy for the compliment cards from the Passenger Services Desk on the ship and the survey at the end of the cruise), I write down the informative things, the amusing things, the entertaining things, the highlights of the cruise, about the wonderful people I have met and conversed with.

I like going back to my notebooks and rereading what I have written and remembering those moments.

On my last cruise from Adelaide, South Australia to Fiji and return back in November 2019, I could be found on the Lido Deck scribbling away in my notebook, or in the Explorer’s Lounge, or on the Promenade Deck.

Writing notes at various times during the day or the evening during some down time helps me to remember a cruise, as does taking photos and video’s on my phone.

On my first cruise back in 2018, going from Adelaide, South Australia to New Zealand, on that cruise I had taken so many photos that the friend I was travelling with, jokingly called me “a Japanese tourist” lol. Funny how she wanted half the photos I had taken so she could print them off for herself lol.

The next cruise for next year, December 2023 from Adelaide, South Australia to New Zealand, as it’s going to be a Christmas and New Year’s cruise, I was considering getting the internet package on the ship and do some live videos while on the cruise, especially on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve but for this cruise, yes, I will be bringing along a pack of small notebooks to write my memories in.

However you remember your cruises, I hope you look back on the memories and smile as you remember the crew members who made your cruise enjoyable along with the memories you made on your cruises.

Until Next Time

Kaye

Welcome back…

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Sunday April 17 marked a big date in the calendar, the cruising calendar, as that was the date cruise ships and cruising finally returned to Australia after a 2 year absence, due to the covid-19 pandemic that swept the world.

The first cruise ship to be welcomed back to Australia? P&O’s The Pacific Explorer, or the former Princess Cruises Dawn Princess, for those who remember her.

I must confess that after seeing videos on Facebook from the cruise director currently on the Pacific Explorer, seeing her return home to Sydney on board the ship, even I teared up as she shared her excitement in her live Facebook videos.

I’ve never sailed with P&O before but I could feel her excitement as the ship sailed through Sydney Harbour as she shared what she was feeling and witnessing through the live videos.

The world is slowing returning to normal, or a new normal as we have to deal with protocols and procedures for keeping everyone safe from covid.

I’m sure that when it comes to my cruise in December 2023, that the possibility of all restrictions will not be a thing. No testing before a cruise, no face mask wearing, no covid regulations while cruising, that the process will be relaxed.

As someone who has cruised previously, for those who are reluctant to get on a cruise ship for their very first cruise, or who are reluctant to go back onto a “floating Petri dish” after the Ruby Princess incident, Princess Cruises did get a rap over their knuckles for not being open and transparent with the Australian authorities and the passengers on the ship at the time but I know that the Australian authorities would have received the hardest rap over the knuckles for not doing their jobs properly.

Any cruise ships visiting a port have to follow that country’s laws. They have to follow the health authorities rules, customs and immigration rules for a country and the port authorities rules, a cruise ship captain and the crew simply are unable to override those rules in place, set by that country they are currently visiting. The Australian authorities messed up big time over the Ruby Princess.

I for one, am looking forward to cruising again and I hope you are too.

Welcome home Pacific Explorer and to all the other cruise ships who have home ports here in Australia as you too come back home.

Happy sailing!

Until next time

Kaye

Feeding my cruise addiction….

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The latest news is that cruising will be resuming here in Australia again shortly in April 2022, after 2 years of no cruise ships in Australian waters. I’m excited!

Back in January 2022, I booked a cruise from Adelaide, South Australia to New Zealand and return. The Australian borders were still closed, the New Zealand borders are still closed and cruising hasn’t resumed but I booked the cruise.

I wanted some normality back in my life. I wanted something to look forward to. I wanted something from life as it was before we had even heard about the Covid-19 pandemic that swept the world and put everything on hold for the next 2 years. So, I booked a cruise.

I’m a member of several Princess Cruises Facebook groups and it’s been interesting to see how the Americans have returned to cruising.

I’m fully vaxxed, I have no issues wearing a face mask, I carry my own hand sanitiser and use it regularly. I wash my hands as necessary.

I’m definitely looking forward to just being on a ship again as the last ship I was on, back in 2019, I just missed the start of people beginning to be infected by the coronavirus. Happy to have dodged that bullet.

By December 2023, we will have gotten used to living our new normal because I don’t see this virus or its variants disappearing any time soon. This will be something that we are just going to be living with. This is our new normal.

Safe sailing to all who are currently on a cruise ship, are thinking of booking a cruise, have booked a cruise.

For those who have booked their first cruise, or are currently on their first cruise, welcome to your newest addiction. Cruising is very addictive! It’s an addiction I am happy to pay for though, as a cruise ship is my Happy Place.

For those who have booked cruises and have had them cancelled, I hope you are able to successfully have a cruise in the not too distant future.

Until next time

Kaye

Cruising in a new world…

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Well, on the morning of Saturday 22 January 2022, as I listened to radio and heard Phil Hoffmann, the boss of one of the biggest tourism companies here in Adelaide, South Australia, telling everyone regarding their latest deals, during his regular radio spot, mention a cruise from Adelaide to New Zealand, my ears pricked up to listen.

He mentioned a cruise happening in December 2023, from Adelaide, South Australia to New Zealand and return, which will be sailing Christmas and New Year before returning back to Australia, for 19 nights.

Over at a friend’s house over an hour later, as she’s my cruising buddy as well, I mentioned if she was interested. Stupid question by the way lol. I got on the Phil Hoffmann Travel website to check out the cruise in detail and liked what I saw with both the price and the itinerary. On the PHT website, there is a feature where you can chat live and after talking with a guy from PHT Travel with the chat feature of the site, a cruise was booked. Or as I jokingly say, “accidentally booked” lol. Accidentally on purpose.

The cruise is leaving Adelaide on the 16th December 2023 and returning 1st January 2024, 19 nights with ports including Port Lincoln and KI, on board the Grand Princess, sister ship to the both the Golden Princess and the Star Princess cruise ships.

Both the Golden Princess and the Star Princess are no longer Princess ships as they were both previously sold to P&O Australia and have since been renamed. It leaves the Grand Princess, the oldest of the 3 sister ships being the last of the 3 still with Princess Cruises.

I don’t know if this cruise will go ahead. I hope it will as December 2023 is just under 2 years away. Hopefully cruising has resumed here in Australia by then and New Zealand has reopened their borders again. With the world as it currently is, the world is an unpredictable place because of covid and all it’s variants.

I hope that by the time December 2023 arrives, the world is more settled and used to the new normal we have to live now. Time will tell.

All I know is this, the reasons for my booking this cruise is I want something to look forward to. I want to feel as though life is returning to a new normal because it will never be the same as it was before the pandemic. I want to go back onto a cruise ship.

For those who think that they will never get back onto a cruise ship because of covid and the thoughts of cruise ships being huge Petri dishes floating on the water, I just want to say this – cruise ships are continuously by the crews and this was going on even before the pandemic. It’s the people who get onto the cruise ships who need to not board ships while sick and those who fail to regularly wash their hands.

I also know from experience after doing 2 long cruises as a passenger, that a cruise ship simply cannot allow passengers to get off the ship without permission from the authorities of the port and the countries laws they are in at that moment, which include health authorities, customs and immigration.

I know that cruising will include being double vaccinated and having boosters, wearing face masks, washing hands frequently or hand sanitising, covid tests before boarding a cruise ship and other measures but if they keep me safe and those on the same ship as me safe, I’m going to do it without complaint.

Bring on the cruise in December 2023

Until next time

Kaye

First cruise memories…

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On this day, 4 years ago, a friend and I boarded our first cruise ship, the Golden Princess, for a 17 night round trip cruise from Adelaide, South Australia to New Zealand. The ship definitely became my happy place.

There’s something so magical and peaceful being on a ship. It’s definitely another world. I loved the sea days where I could sit outside of the Promenade Deck and look over the ocean and just relax and forget about the world in general and I did. For 17 nights, I had no idea of what was going on in the world, just what was going on board the ship.

I definitely became a cruise addict while on board the ship. Okay, if truth be told, I think I was addicted even before I got on board. Once on board the ship, it was confirmed that I was addicted to cruising.

I mean, why wouldn’t you be? For the duration of a cruise, you don’t have to cook, wash dishes, prepare meals, do housework, or make your bed. It’s all done for you by the wonderful and friendly crew on board the ship. They just made everything happen with precision.

While on that cruise, I met some wonderful people. I also got to know some of the crew from the cabin steward, the waiters in the theatre, the Explorer’s Lounge, the Lido Deck and in the Horizon Court buffet.

I laughed at the Cruise Director’s team as they entertained the passengers, I enjoyed the shows in the theatre, the barista in the International Cafe got to know my habits and how I have my coffee, or at night before going back to my cabin and bed, how I have my hot chocolate. The waiters got to know my orders as well… chocobana mocktail or a glass of Coke anyone?

While on the ship, I actually forgot that there is a world outside of the ship as I didn’t watch any news to even know what was going on in the world at the time.

One late night sitting in the Piazza and having my hot chocolate, the singer in the Promenade Lounge was playing the piano and taking requests from all the people up on deck 7. Someone had requested YMCA and so the singer is singing the song, he gets to the “it’s fun to stay at the YMCA” part and a few of us sitting in the Piazza on deck 5 start doing the actions. That was funny.

There were many funny moments and beautiful memories from that cruise, I will treasure.

New Zealand is beautiful as well and the cooler temperature, I enjoyed. While the temperature was perfect, in Adelaide, everyone there was going through a heatwave.

One day, I will return for another cruise. I am just waiting for this covid mess to calm down. People, get vaccinated, wear a mask and wash your hands!

I didn’t want to leave the ship. I could have happily stayed on as a stowaway. I had such a fabulous time.

I miss cruising but I have photos to remind me with the memories attached to those photos. One day, I will be back on a ship again, just not now.

Until next time

Kaye

Not before the right time…

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Anyone who knows me knows just how much I love cruising on a cruise ship.

Okay, there have only been 2 cruises but they have been long, international cruises lasting longer than 15 days each.

The first cruise was a 17 night cruise from my home port of Adelaide, Australia and cruising to New Zealand and the second cruise was a cruise from my home port of Adelaide, Australia again but this time it was for 18 nights going to Fiji and the South Pacific.

These cruises were before anyone had heard of a coronavirus, covid-19, covid, a pandemic, whatever you want to call it. They were in a time where we could enjoy life, we could enjoy being with the people we love or our mates. It was during a time when we were still able to enjoy life before a pandemic turned it all around and prevented us from living life as before.

On Facebook, I am a member of a few cruising forums and at present I am following the travels of those on board the Majestic Princess as they go to Alaska.

The Majestic Princess is sailing with 65% capacity of travellers and all passengers have to be vaccinated against covid-19.

I’m reading posts the passengers are posting as they cruise on the Majestic and seeing through their eyes what cruising is now like during covid times. It’s a lot the same as before but Princess Cruises have implemented a covid safe plan as well to keep everyone safe and ensure that everyone is obeying the changes in cruising.

These people do look as they are having a fabulous time though on their posts. Their information they are providing is being used by many who have cruises booked and want to discover how cruising will be different for them.

Yes, I will go on another cruise but I want to ensure that it is safe as these passengers and crew are currently “testing” the new processes introduced out of necessity for covid safe cruising. I want to ensure that I am going to be safe, along with all the other passengers and crew who will be on board the same ship as I am.

So far, it seems that the ship is cleaned even more than it was before and these ships are cleaned constantly. The buffet is no longer self serve as crew will put the food you ask for on your plate themselves. There is the wearing of face masks in places on board where social distancing is not guaranteed.

All in all, if the changes made keep people safe, if everyone plays their part to keep fellow passengers and crew safe, it is worth the effort and making the changes will benefit everyone.

Yes, one day when cruising is back because I don’t want to book a cruise to have it cancelled, I will be on the next ship from my home port and on another long cruise somewhere.

Until next time

Kaye

Cruise memories…

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On this day 3 years ago, January 8 2018, I boarded a cruise ship for my very first cruise and that is when my love affair with cruising really began in earnest.

The ship? The Golden Princess from Adelaide, Australia, my home port, to New Zealand and back again to Adelaide, Australia. The Golden Princess was my home away from home for the next 17 nights and I loved every second of my very first cruise. When it became time to disembark, I was thinking of all the ways that I could stowaway on the ship, that is how much I loved my first cruise.

When I became a member on one of the popular cruise sites, a member on that site remarked, “Welcome to the start of your cruise addiction”. How right they were! I’m well and truly hooked and I hope there is no cure for this addiction.

That cruise, I called it the “Go hard or stay home cruise” as 17 nights for a first cruise is pretty hard core, especially if you don’t know whether or not you are actually going to enjoy cruising or not.

Stepping onto the ship that first time was like stepping into another world because once it’s you on board a ship out in the middle of nowhere as there’s nothing but ocean surrounding the ship with no land in sight, it is definitely like being in another world. You also get caught up in the life on the ship where you can do as much or as little as you want, you actually forget that there is a world out beyond the ship and living the ship life.

My second cruise was called the “Go even harder or stay home cruise” as that was in November 2019 and it was for 18 nights going from Adelaide, Australia to Fiji and back again on the Golden Princess. I loved every second of my time on my first cruise on the Golden Princess and I fell in love with the ship, that I had to return on her. The Golden Princess had also been in dry dock in Singapore during the month of April 2018 and got a makeover in some of the public areas and so the second cruise on the Golden Princess was to see what changes had been made. It was fun playing “spot the difference”. (Now she’s been sold to P&O Australia and will become The Pacific Adventure when cruising returns to Australia.)

As a Pisces, this fish loves to cruise… why swim when you can get on a ship, right? Lol

On both my cruises, I met wonderful and interesting people, I explored lands I had never been to, I had fun and adventure on board the ship and with the locals I met during shore excursions.

When things return to normal, or whatever the new normal will be, I will be back cruising again. Cruising is my happy time. Being on a cruise ship is my happy place. I’ll just give the cruise lines and the passengers on the ships a few cruises to fine tune whatever covid safe restrictions and protocols they will have in place to ensure everyone’s safety before I board a cruise ship again but I will be on one.

Until I am able to get on another cruise ship, I’ll look at the photos and videos from both my cruises and relive some wonderful memories.

Until next time

Kaye

Cruising life…

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One of the many things I missed this year because of the coronavirus pandemic is cruising.

I’ve been on 2 cruises in my life. The first cruise was 17 nights on board the Golden Princess in January 2018, going from Adelaide, Australia to New Zealand and return. My second cruise was on board the same ship, the Golden Princess, leaving Adelaide and going to Fiji and back again for 18 nights in November 2019.

I loved both cruises and definitely found my happy place. I met new people and had a wonderful adventure on both cruises. I saw beautiful scenery from the ship and while doing shore excursions. I had taken lots of photos on my phone to remember my cruises by.

What I would really love to do right now is go on a cruise but I can’t because no one is travelling anywhere. It’s okay, I’m patient, I can wait for it to become safe to cruise again. I have my photos and videos to look at when I am experiencing “cruise withdrawals”, they put a smile on my face and give me a laugh as I remember some of the funny stuff that happened on the ship.

We will be back to being able to go on a cruise again, I know that but first, we must be safe to be able to get on ships again.

I have no issues with following advice from the medical experts about social distancing, wearing face masks, using hand sanitiser and everything else they advise to do. I do it because I want to not get this virus but also to keep others around me safe. You can bet that I will have the vaccine as well, once it has been proven to be safe with testing.

If I have to wear a face mask, have my temperature taken, hand sanitise or whatever else the cruise line informs me to do while on board a ship, I will do it, I don’t have a problem with it.

Right now, I am content with just having my memories and my photos and videos because I know that once this covid-19 or coronavirus is a thing of the past, we will be back on the ships and cruising again. Hopefully.

Until next time

Kaye