Random thoughts as the cruise winds down

 Wednesday, January 3, 2024

The cruise is winding down.  Tonight we'll have our last big production show by the Princess entertainment crew, called "Encore."  Should be fun.

It's been a good cruise - we've seen lots of New Zealand and covered lots of nautical miles - I need to ask the front desk just how many miles we've sailed on this cruise.  The ship's passengers have been mostly Australian, a small contingent of Kiwis (New Zealanders), and a smattering of British, Indian, Japanese, and a group of about 100 of us Americans!  As I've mentioned before, I've felt rather outnumbered all week.  Don't get me wrong, most everyone has been pleasant and friendly (except for the hordes of young children onboard who have no sense of a "quiet voice" or of personal space).  

During our time on the cruise, we've actually managed to run into ALL of the folks who were on our Australia tour ahead of the cruise, at least once.  The last couple we managed to connect with were Jim & Nancy Colliers from Colorado.  Carl ran into them up on Deck 17 at the pool yesterday. They were there to do fjord watching and we shared a poolside table together.

Don't recall if I ever posted a photo of our Australia crew, but here's the only (mostly) full group shot we got - at Uluru near the watering hole.

Our Australia tour crew:  Front row L to r: Dana, Carmel, Carl, Anne, Loretta
Back row L to r: Mark, Sherry, Ken, Jim, Nancy, Lou, Gwen, Dave, Bob, Belinda, & Melissa (Our guide). Not in picture: Loretta's husband Robert and daughter, Autumn

All of the guides on our various tours have been friendly and knowledgeable. Other than Melissa, who was with us for the full week in Australia, my favorite tour guide has been Wai Wai - who led our Wellington tour of the WETA studios and the filming sites for Lord of the Rings!

Food has been good everywhere and sometimes downright exceptional!  My (and Carl's) only complaint is about coffee service.  They just do not get it on board the ship that when we ask for coffee we want it right now - and keep the cup filled!

The day we boarded the Majestic in Sydney, as we were pulling away from the dock, the ship played the "Loveboat" theme on the ship's horns (like 4 octaves below the lowest bass I've ever heard) - it was hysterical!

Our cabin steward Hector, has been great!  The room is always tidy when we return from our various adventures, with the bed made, and a ship's newspaper laid out for us to plan for the next day! 

Can I admit to you that I'm nervous about packing up tomorrow?  We have to have suitcases repacked and outside our door before we go to dinner tomorrow night! We've bought a few things, and I've got all the paper souvenirs to pack too.  I have to be sure to keep out receipts and paperwork for the jewelry we've bought to show to customs.

Today has been a very leisurely day at sea.  I've used it to catch up here on blogging and just rest.  I'm thinking about packing and that has got me a little wound up.  Nothing for it except to actually work at packing tomorrow!  Whereever in the world will I pack my stuffed Stanley!  Thank goodness he isn't as big as the "live" Stanley we took a picture with getting off the ship in Port Chalmers!

Carl & Anne with "Stanley" on the dock - Port Chalmers

It hasn't been 'fun' dealing with an upper respiratory infection on the cruise.  The first couple of days were pretty rough for me, but I finally have the right meds and whatever it is I had, is working its way through my system so I am feeling much better.  But now Carl is struggling with a bad knee (yes - he's going to see an orthopedist once we're back in the States) and his sciatica is acting up - making it hard for him to sit or stand for long periods.  I tried to see if I could upgrade our seats for the long flight back to LAX on 1/5 - but no luck.  We'll be sitting in coach for 14 hours! Followed by 4 .5 hours in flight back to Atlanta, and about 1.5 hours to Harrisburg!

Hope to do one more from-the-ship blog post tomorrow (Jan. 4), but then I may be 'dark' until we actually get home.  We'll see.