Like we never left!

It doesn't take long to slip back into our shipboard routine. This is our
first cruise on the Sea Princess, except for the names of the venues, she
really is not different to the Dawn and Sun. She is the youngest of the
three sisters and you can see the slightest of changes to make her more user
friendly.
One thing that is noticeable is how friendly the staff are. Every one of
them is quick with a smile and a happy hello. There is the excitement when
you recognise a staff member and even better when they recognise you back.
Especially the beautiful Oana, the only female Deputy Maître d in the whole
Princess Fleet.
World cruises must be addictive, because everyone seems to keep coming back.
So many repeat passengers that everyone looks familiar. Like creatures of
habit we all sit in the same seats and do the same things as we did on the
last cruise.
Here we sit just outside of the Horizon Court, me on my lap top, Garry
reading his book. The wonderful waiters keeping us supplied with hot
coffee. The elderly gentleman that jogs around deck 14 for what seems like
an eternity, the passenger that tethers himself to the edge of pools and
swims marathons in the same spot. We keep looking up expecting to see Ray
and Paula walking across the deck, stopping for chat before they head into
breakfast. But alas they are not with us this year.

Captain Genaro Arma

“Have a relaxing day on the beautiful and friendly Sea Princess.” Those are the words that our Captain Genaro Arma uses to describe his ship.

Each sea day at 12 midday the bell rings out, Garry uses this as a signal for lunch, but it is really the introduction to our Captain’s daily update.  He usually starts with our position, the weather and what we are to expect in the next 24 hours . He then finishes with a little bit of nautical trivia.

Today it really was a bit naughtical…. Crossing the Bight the seas were rough, as if caught in a washing machine cycle we were pitching and rolling.  The captain told the story of how it is King Neptune that controlled the sea conditions.  Sailors believed the sight of a naked woman would keep him happy and ensure calm seas.  This is why on many of the old ships you will find a carving of a naked mermaid on the bow.  The Captain then suggested that if any lady on board wanted to help out, she could do so, but in the privacy of her own cabin.

 

Fremantle 1

Fremantle 2

Today started off with a mission! I needed a new camera! Just after leaving
Melbourne and starting to work on my blog, I noticed that there was
something desperately wrong with all my photo's. The edges were blurry. At
first, I put it down to user error, but EVERY photo! I checked the
settings, I reset the camera what felt like a gazillion times, but to no
avail.
Now most professional photographers would pay a lot of money for a filter to
get the same effect, but for my type of photos, it looked more like I was in
a drunken stupor than being artistic.
Because of the time of year, we have arrived in each of our ports under the
cover of darkness. The sun has not been rising until after 7am each morning.
Though there is something about seeing a city lit up in all its glory.
Just before you exit the Terminal, Meeters and Greeters are there to assist
you with maps and information on how to get around and what to see. Whether
it is jumping on a train to Perth, catching the free Cat Buses that take on
a tourist run or just walking around Freo, it is a place very easy to do on
your own.
With the shops not opening till 9am we decided on just walking randomly
around until the Camera Store opened. The first thing that strikes you
about Fremantle is the beautiful Victorian buildings. I was getting anxious
now, as all I wanted to do was to take photos, but I knew anything I took
would end up in the trash can until I got my new Camera. Practically
breaking the doors down, we were in the store by 8.59 and out by 9.15 with
my Sony in hand and a grin on my face like a Cheshire cat.
The city centre streets are lined with the most gorgeous buildings lovingly
restored, and now house restaurants, cafes and specialty shops: very
Cosmopolitan.
As if frozen in time sculptures can be found throughout Fremantle. Each
depicting a certain time, event or the simple lifestyle in Freo's History.
Paying tribute to its leaders, heroes or just showing the struggles of its
everyday people.
The Fremantle markets were in full swing. A wonderful array of fresh
produce, meats and cheeses. Street food so tempting and pleasing to all
the senses, making you wish you didn't eat so much at breakfast!!
Enjoying the warmth of the sun we decided to walk along the esplanade to
make our way back to the ship. Being a Saturday the parks and reserves were
filled with families enjoying this glorious day that Freo had put on for us.

There is always something special about water, boats and marina's, so it was
a given that this was where we would sit and enjoy a well-deserved coffee,
and the popular holiday past time of people watching.
Along the waterfront, we visited the Shipwreck Galleries. Taking pride of
place in the museum was a section of the ill-fated Batavia wrecked in 1629.
The display included several other artefacts that have been brought to the
surface, including a sandstone portico destined as an entrance to a
building, not sitting on the bottom of the sea.
Just like all good cruisers we made the obligatory stop in Coles and its
adjoining liquor store where we spotted many familiar faces. Like a trail
of ants, we all headed up the gangway to the sounds of the tinkling bottles
as they knocked against each other.
It's funny to watch the crew just rolled their eyes in defeat as each bottle
rolled along the scanner's conveyer belt, and the passengers looking
chuffed, that they managed to sneak their wine through.
It was a beautiful sail away with the warm sun and blue skies. The
waterfront was lined with waving well-wishers and a flotilla of small boats
at full throttle escorting us out of the harbour.
To quote our captain, goodbye from the beautiful and friendly Sea
Princess...

05 Melbourne Sail away

Having to wait for the storm to pass we didn’t leave Melbourne until  11 am the next day.  Lacking the blue skies from yesterday sitting out on deck 11 was a little chilly to say the least.  You don’t realise how vast Port Phillip bay is until you sail out in daylight and yet the channel to exit is so narrow that a pilot boards for a short distance to get you out the heads…  As we started to enter the bight the swell of the sea was becoming more apparent, the feeling which is like being on an aeroplane with really bad turbulence.  With the threat of another low coming through, the seas seemed to have settled down a little over the last couple of days, could this be the calm before the next storm.  Only time will tell.

 

04 Melbourne

 

04 Melbourne, buy one get one free

Well we scored a two for one offer on our visit to Melbourne.  Due to the threat of high winds and bad seas our Captain made the decision to extend our stay in Melbourne by another day, which meant we would arrive in Fremantle a day late.  The good news was that Colombo is still on track!

Another bonus was that Melbourne greeted us with beautiful sunshine but a wind chill factor that kept the temperatures down.

Cruising buddies Sharon and Peter joined us for a day, spent walking to St Kilda.

We docked at Station Pier along with the Spirit of Tasmania.  The terminal was well set up with volunteers eager to help you plan your visit.  The Myki card sellers were doing a roaring trade with their $15 all you can ride offer.  Outside the terminal, buses, trams, even cyclists were at the ready to take you wherever you wanted to go.

We just followed the esplanade for approx. 5.5km to reach St Kilda, following markings on the ground teasing you with how much further you had to go. In order to preserve some of the city’s heritage, the facades of many of the old brickworks and distilleries have been left intact.  Like a snake shedding its skin, the new buildings seem to be breaking through the top of the old creating an interesting contrast. 

Making it about half way we stopped for coffee at one of the small cafes that dot the waterfront.  Thinking we were witnessing some sort of Druid water ceremony, there were a group of men in circular formation, standing in the water.  Even more interesting were the cameras on the beach filming this sacred event. Wasn’t till we got closer that we realised it was the North Melbourne Football team engaging in some cold-water therapy… Of course, us girls stopped and watched for a while…

Forcing ourselves to keep moving we headed into St Kilda down past the pier and Sea Baths.  The familiar laughing face of Luna Park and the Palais Theatre are just a couple of the sites we passed on our way to Acland St.  A trendy little street lined with café’s and the most delicious looking pastry shops which we now regret in not partaking.  Another feature is the amazing artwork that adorn the plaza and the buildings, reminding us of our visit to Ashbury in San Francisco last year. 

We ate lunch down by the water front then started our trek back to the ship.  Having walked around 15 kilometres today we certainly felt we had our share of exercise for the day.

 

03 Sydney - Sail away

Today was our turn to sail.  We joined the Sea Princess to officially start our adventure.

You know it is World Cruise Day when the Today show interviews a pair of perpetual cruisers. Wayne and Joan have appeared a couple of times as a result of their many months at sea each year. We have cruised with them on several occasions, and they are just the loveliest people…

Outside, it was a wet and miserable morning and you couldn’t be blamed for thinking “damn, the forecasters were right,” but as the day progressed so did the weather. The rain cleared, the clouds parted, and the sun made its appearance. 

The beauty of being so close to the pier meant that as early as 8am, we could walk down and check in our luggage.  Then when time came to check out of the hotel all we had with us was our carry on.  

We arrived at the terminal and walked straight in. Although check in was seamless, it was a little slow. Now, it probably was not that bad but remember, we are the husband and wife check in team extraordinaire (well in our own minds anyway).

We were feeling a little conspicuous pulling our two cartons of wine behind us, but we didn’t feel so bad when we saw a large four-wheel trolley loaded with at least a dozen cartons waiting to be pulled straight through to security as its owner passed through immigration.

Some of you may remember from last year’s blog we were “that couple,” when one of our boxes tumbled off our trolley and smashed to the ground and emitting a very fruity aroma.

We managed to make it past immigration and through security without incident.  We paid our corkage for twenty-two bottles to the waiters, which now that I reflect, looked a little confused with the process. 

When we thought we had made it onboard without drawing too much attention to ourselves, we were just about to ding on, and down the line came the waiter waving his stamp looking for us.  So now we had to stand to the side while he stamped every bottle.  You might notice the words “every bottle”… so our little benefit was we actually got all twenty four bottles stamped..  So yes, we once again became “that couple” as everyone had something funny to say as they walked past us.

Lucky I was wearing my sunnies when we walked into our cabin as there was this blinding light, more commonly known as a window. That little upgrade fairy had been working overtime and we are the proud residents of an Oceanview.  Thanks to its position, we have the added benefit of being woken to the tune of anchors away on some port days, and being rocked and rolled to sleep in inclement weather. But we do have daylight, and best of all, we have floor space.

Instead of the traditional sail away cocktail, small bottles of Princess Prosecco were on sale for $9 each instead of the usual $17.50.  Now here is a bargain which needed taken advantage of, so several of us have taken delivery of a carton or two in our staterooms for future use.

It didn’t take long for us to gently slip back into routine.  A familiar ship and familiar faces makes it so easy.