Australia/NZ bucket list trip 2023

 December 24, 2023 I spent most of the day in our stateroom, trying to feel better, but came out for our first (of two) specialty meals aboard ship at the Crown Grille - the ship's fancy steakhouse. Service was excellent and the meal was divine! The Crown Grille! I had a tiger prawn appetizer and Carl had the sea scallops - both were delicious and well presented! Tiger Prawns with Papaya Salpicon For the main course, I had the filet mignon and Carl had the surf & turf - the filet mignon with a lobster tail.  Oh my gosh, the meat was so tender! For dessert, I ordered the apple rhubarb cobbler with vanilla ice cream and Carl got a caramel creme brulee cheesecake (he won!) Carl's surf n' turf! After dinner, we wandered over to the Vista Live theatre where they were playing a game called "Little White Lies."  They had 3 crew members who each were given some question to answer about themselves.  But one of them was fibbing.  People had to guess who was telli...

 December 25, 2023 It's Christmas Day here on the Tasman Sea - our third day (and final) day at sea as we prepare to make landfall in New Zealand tomorrow. I thought I would use this post to share pictures of all the pretty Christmas Trees we've seen while we've been traveling. Despite all the holiday trappings, this doesn't really feel like Christmas for Carl and I.  For one thing, it's much too warm, and for another, we're celebrating it on a ship! We exchanged Christmas stockings this morning.  I would have liked it more if I wasn't running a temperature of 102 degrees F! I'm still suffering from whatever this viral respiratory infection is - and I don't like it! But it was still a nice Christmas.  We watched the Christmas Eve morning service (4th Sunday of Advent) from Messiah Methodist Church (it's still only Christmas Eve back in the States).  Lots of good music! The TV screens in our room have the holiday yule log on display so we watched ...

Sunday, December 24, 2023 It's beginning to look alot like Christmas! (P.S.  I think my computer is still on PA time - it says this is posting on 12/23, but it's actually 12/24 here). I need to let you know about my adventure in the ship's infirmary this morning.  After breakfast Carl and I went down to the medical center on Deck 4.  I had gotten up around 7 a.m. and the first thing I did (after I coughed my lungs out!) was take a rapid Covid test (I thought about that most of the previous night when I couldn't sleep).  The test was negative. But Carl and I both agreed I needed to see a doctor.  Nurse took my temperature (I'm running a low-grade fever) and got my blood pressure (which is high today - no kidding considering how stressed I am about not feeling well), She also swabbed my nose to check for the flu (nope - I don't have the flu).  Doctor finally came in, listened to my chest and description of my symptoms and said I likely have a viral respirator...

 Saturday, December 23, 2023   After the hectic start to our cruise on Friday, Saturday the 23rd was quite relaxed.  Our first full day at sea!  We got up and had a leisurely breakfast in the Allegro dining room (it's on deck six, but you can't get there from elsewhere on deck 6 - you have to go up one flight of stairs to deck 7, walk aft, and then come back downstairs (essentially walking 'over' the kitchen/galley!) Breakfast was done after 9 a.m. and we wandered a bit.  We had some business at the guest relations desk and then we had a presentation for 1st time Princess cruisers to get us a little more familiar with the cruise line and our ship.  I learned a very helpful thing to help keep me oriented on the ship.  On the decks with staterooms, the carpet in the hall on the left side of the ship is blue.  Since our cabin is on the left side, that's a handy reminder which way to go when I get off the elevator (I am TRULY directionally challenged!...

 Friday, December 22, 2023 Melissa got us to the pier to set off for our cruise at about 12:30 p.m., only to realize boarding must have started at 11 a.m. because the ship terminal was packed with people.   The Majestic Princess - our home away from home for the next 2 weeks   I had forgotten how crazy & chaotic embarkation can be.  First we went in one line to drop off our luggage to be placed on ship.  Then we snaked through several lines to show our passports and get moved on to the next station.  We were on the main floor of the port terminal for quite a while snaking back and forth in a line to go up the escalator to the actual check in desks to get our Princess medallions (they are tracking devices that open your cabin door, help staff bring you food and drink and if you touch them to touch screens throughout the ship they can guide you around the ship) and actually checked in.  This was another "snaking" line that did seem to keep movin...

 Friday, December 22, 2023 This was our final morning in Sydney before boarding the Majestic Princess for our 14-day journey to/around New Zealand.  We were up at 6 a.m. (for a vacation, our days have sure started awfully early so far), finished packing up everything, put our bags outside our room and went down to breakfast just after 6:30 a.m.  By 8 a.m. we were in the lobby and getting us and all the luggage on the bus for our city tour of Sydney before being dropped off at the ship. The highlight of the tour was our 50-minute private tour of the Sydney Opera House.  What a fabulous piece of architecture and so iconic! Sydney Opera House The opera house actually contains at least three different theatres.  The largest (concert) hall holds around 2700 people.  We got to go into the main concert hall as well as the Joan Sutherland Theatre which is home to the Australian Opera Company and the Australian Ballet.   Main concert hall in Sydney Opera H...

 Thursday, December 21, 2023 This was our last full day in Sydney.  Went down to breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and had to be in the lobby ready to go at 7:15 a.m.  Today's itinerary included a visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Sanctuary, followed by a drive up to the Blue Mountains to experience a walk through Scenic World, followed by a lunch at Echo Point. The drive to Featherdale took about an hour. Skies were still gray today and it was a little drippy out, but that worked in our favor because many of the animals on display at Featherdale are marsupials that generally hide out in bright sunshine.  We entered the sanctuary and almost the first thing we saw were lots of wallabies all walking (I guess hopping is the better term) about amongst all the visitors.  It was very cool. Wallabies at Featherdale  You could actually buy food (a mix of grass and seeds) to feed the animals (Wallabies, Kangaroos, and some of the birds that wander around/aren't caged). Since t...