Wednesday 20 September Sydney

 ITS ALL OVER!

After 108 days our world tour has finished, and what a finish. We probably had the worst weather of the entire trip in the last two days. Yesterday and last night the wind was gale force and the seas very rough. The ship was moving up and down and from side to side but we still sailed on around 18 knots. At night you could feel the ship shuddering as it hit the waves. We are very thankful to Kirk for suggesting we seek an aft cabin as it would have been a lot worse up forward. About 2 am it had eased off as we got closer to Sydney.  Ann has been ill for the last two weeks with periods of coughing which was common on board and was know as the Coral cough. Then yesterday with the rough seas she was hit with sea sickness as well. So that put a damper on the end of the cruise, but it was mitigated by the sea days at the time. We were still able to enjoy Auckland and Bay of Islands.

We wake up in Sydney to 22 degrees and the sun rising over the opera house. We have booked a Princess cruises bus transfer to the airport which should make things easier. We depart the ship and are lined up waiting to board the bus. The buses are leaving half to two thirds full, but with full luggage compartments!  We have to wait 40 minutes before we can get on a bus. Princess should have realised that luggage not passengers would dictate when the bus is full! Some passengers had 6+ bags being loaded! We arrived at the airport at 9.50 check in our luggage and relax and wait for our noon flight.

Highlights of the trip, quite a few. Would need to go back over the blog to remember. The Suez and Panama canals, Iceland and Greenland were great. Biggest surprise was the Prins Christian sound and the ice bergs.  

Our flight takes off roughly on time and lands pretty much on time at 1.35 pm. However our baggage is delayed along with other world cruises and we have to wait nearly 50 minutes after landing before we head off to find Adam. We leave the car park just after 2.30 and we are home by 3.35. Now for the unpacking, opening mail and other mundane shit. Then we have to think about getting something to eat! 

We are up the top on the right hand corner

Tuesday 19 September At Sea

 I cannot believe that we have now come to our last day at sea. 107 days ago we left Melbourne to fly to Sydney for an overnight stay before boarding the Coral Princess the next day. It seems a long time ago now.  Ann is very keen to get home now, but I could keep going. We have developed a very comfortable routine of things to do at sea and have not been bored once. We have been able to relax and just do what we want. Looking back we have not been to many shows or events, the only constant has been morning trivia. Once you get into a routine, time just meanders along. Would we do another world cruise, probably not, but never say never.

Overnight the swell and wind has increased with the ship moving around considerably. This morning was 17 degrees with 35 kmph winds and a strong 4 metre swell. It is a cloudy morning with te occasional sunny breaks. Some time this afternoon we will have to start packing. We had our last ice cream at 11.30.

We dined at Sabbatini’s the Italian specialist last night and had a great meal. We started with fried arancini rice balls, followed up with lightly fried calamari and shrimp, then lobster tortellini and for main I had lasagna while Ann had chicken scaloppini! I finished with a Zabaglione Marsala with fresh berries while Ann passed on the dessert. To say we were full is an understatement!

The mid day update has the winds up to 25 knots or 45 kmph with a short swell of 4 metres and a temperature of 18 degrees. There is less than a handful of people out on the pool deck, the wind is very strong and is whipping up the water in the pool and then with the ship’s movements the pool is becoming a wave pool.

We decide to skip the horizon court for lunch and head to Alfredo’s Pizzeria. A few other people had the same idea and we had to wait 45 minutes for a seat. It was not a problem as we had nowhere else to go. After lunch it is time to pack. Bags have to be out by 9 pm, so we will finalise everything after dinner.

Last night’s sunset 

Todays rough weather 

Monday 18 September At Sea

 Not long now! We have farewelled our last port of call and next stop is Sydney. Clocks went back another hour last night so we are only one hour ahead of Melbourne. We will catch up with Melbourne time overnight as our clocks go back again tonight. The captain’s forecast was pretty accurate last night as the ship continued to rock and roll during the night. This morning it is a westerly winds with a rising swell and 15 degrees. At 11 we have clear sunny skies and the temperature has increased to 17 degrees but there is a bit of wind chill, but lovely sitting in the sun. We are sailing due west at 20 knots into a 15 kmph headwind, so the combined wind strength is very strong when you are out on the open deck.

I have messaged Adam and he is set to pick us up from the airport on Wednesday.

At 4 pm we had a deck party for the conclusion of the world cruise. While it was a bit cool out on deck 14 the sun was out which compensated for the wind. The captain presented all the crew to the gathering and thanked us all for choosing Princess. We then had party music! It was a great 90 minutes of thank yous, dancing, great music and reminiscing. The captain was great and quite an entertainer. While we are looking forward to getting home and seeing everyone there is still a bit of reluctance we are finishing! 

Ship going up on the swell, normally you could see the horizon above the deck level.

Sunday 17 September Bay of Islands

 We have an early start this morning as we are anchoring in the Bay of Islands at 8 am, so no gym this morning. It is a beautiful sunny morning but only 8 degrees. We have a lie in and then breakfast and we are ready to pick up our shuttle tickets by 9.10 am. Our number is 19 but we are told it is loading now, so we race back to our cabin to get our stuff.

It is a 15 minute shuttle ride to the pier and then shuttle bus to  the town of Paihia which is about a 10 min ride. The ship is using three shuttles and everything is going ahead smoothly and efficiently. We have decided to head to the Waitangi treaty grounds which is only a five minute walk from the pier. This area is very respected by the Māori as it is where their treaty was made and signed with the British.

It is a $60 NZ entry fee per person which includes a culture experience and a guided walking tour. The grounds themselves are lovely and well kept with artefacts laid out and a number of museums to attend. In one is a memorial to all Māori and kiwis who died in the world wars. All the names are printed on the walls and in the centre is a curved structure made out of small blocks of wood. Each block represents a fallen soldier. On one side is the end of the block, while on the other side is a coloured stone, with each colour signifying which war the soldier died in.

We then move on to the cultural performance which is held at the Te Whare Runanga or meeting house. We have to wait outside and not enter until we are challenged. Our host wants a volunteer to be a chief. As no one else volunteers I put my hand up. I have to stand about 10 feet in front of everyone else while I am challenged by a Māori warrior. After the challenge some leaves are placed on the ground and I have to approach and pick them up and retreat as a sign we come in peace. We are then allowed to enter the meeting house. As I am the chief I am entitled to have a front row seat with Mrs Chief. But now I have to receive a welcome from the chief of the meeting house and then I have to respond in kind to his welcome!

They then put on a display of singing and dancing which included demonstration of their weapons. This also involved me standing as still as possible as they practiced and demonstrated their killing moves around my body! Needless to say I survived and was able to leave with my tribe at the conclusion of the experience. It was a rewarding experience and well worth it.

We had spent so much time there that we did not feel like rushing into the town, so we decided to head back to the ship. Back on board we had a light lunch and an lazy afternoon until we upped anchor at 3.50pm. It was time to farewell our last port of call with a wine on our balcony. The sun was on our side and it was a pleasant 20 degrees.

As we sailed out of the Bay of Islands the wind increased but later on died down a bit. The captain has told us we are heading into 40 kmph winds overnight with a 1.5 metre swell and for tomorrow a building swell to 4 metres! To make matters worse we received our disembarkation notices late this afternoon 🥺.

Saturday 16 September Auckland

 About half way through the night we must have left the strong winds and rough seas behind, as it became very calm. At 7 am it was light winds smooth seas, sunny and 8 degrees! We had entered the start of Auckland harbour and we had a very pleasant view from the gym as we sailed into Auckland.

Before we headed off the ship a replay of Carlton and Melbourne was on, so we delayed our departure to watch the end of the match. Carlton took the opportunity offered by their opponents in both finals, if you can’t kick straight it will cost you. Good luck Emma, bad luck Luggy!

We headed off about 11.30 and went straight to chemist warehouse to replenish our drugs! There is a lot of coughing going around so we topped up our cold and flu and paracetamol. Seems half the ship had been there. We then found a supermarket and picked up some M&Ms and double headed snakes. 

It was then onto the marina area to find a place to have a drink. The temperature was now around 18 degrees and very nice in the sun. The marina area is a lovely place similar to docklands with lots of restaurants and watering holes with views over the harbour. We went past one place and were amazed by the number of girls at the tables. It was about 90% female clientele. 

We eventually found an upstairs bar and restaurant- Dr Rudi’s. Ann had a apple cider and I had a Dr Rudi’s lager. It was very enjoyable. We then headed back to the ship and we’re back on board around 2 pm. and had a late lunch. As I had not had my usual morning ice cream, I had one on the way back to our cabin. There are not too many mornings I have not had an ice cream Cullen, but where I have missed out I made up for it at night with dessert 😋. We don’t set sail until 9 pm tonight so we can relax in our cabin with a bottle of wine. 

Friday 15 September At Sea

 We both had a great night’s sleep not waking up until after 7 am. This morning is cool, only 15 degrees. We are continuing to head SW at 15 knots. We have a southerly wind of 40 kmph with a choppy sea and a building swell. It is mostly sunny with some cloudy periods.

The weather deteriorates during the afternoon with wind and swell increasing further and rain storms coming through. We are due in Auckland tomorrow morning so we hope the weather improves for our last few days.

Scenic cruising on our way to NZ

Thursday 14 September At Sea

 The wind has all but disappeared overnight. It was a very comfortable night with hardly any ship movement. We wake to sunny skies, light winds and smooth seas and 18 degrees. The further south we go the cooler it is becoming. We now envy the Melbourne weather forecast where mid 20s are expected for the next week!

While at the gym we passed through a large rain bank. It lasted about 20 mins and then it was back to sunshine, but coolish. Time wise we are now only 2 hours ahead of Melbourne and no more time changes until we leave NZ.

At 11 am there was a crew tug of war competition with the various departments competing against each other. The dancers, the entertainment, kids staff did not last long. The bridge crew put up a good fight but went down to the house maintenance crew. The final was between the house maintenance and the engineers, with the engineers triumphing in the end. It was a great crowd cheering everyone on and after the event there was a group world cruise 2023 photo.

During the afternoon the wind has picked up a little and the temperature has dropped to 16.

Leaving the rain behind