Day 15 (Monday 30 December 2024) Sydney to Toowoomba

 

We stayed at the Pullman close to the Airport ready for our mid day flight home to Toowoomba. The hotel is comfortable and provided us full access to the executive lounge like the Sofitel Wentworth.

Breakfast was pleasant. Cos got his tasty omelette that wasn’t bland unlike the ship ones. We feel for the cooks and chefs who need to prepare food for lowest common denominator of people’s tastes, bland. 

The restaurant had many flight crew of various airlines enjoying breakfast, which makes sense given how close the hotel is to the airport.
 

Unfortunately for us, some the “bugs” on the ship may have caught up with us, as both us had the start of cold like symptoms over night. So our sleep last night was less than perfect due to our symptoms. Fortunately the symptoms are slight so going home today is a blessing for us.

Depending the “bug”, it may as impactful our planned trip to Harvey Bay which would be disappointing as we are keen to catchup with Jacqs and Kobie. 

The joy of travelling home is always interesting. (Sarcasm implied). The airport checkin, bag drop off and security went smoothly, but being Sydney and an airport prices were highly inflated. 600ml bottle of sprite cost $7 which is insane. 

The flight went swiftly on two engine turboprop Qantas Link flight. No issues. The fun really began on landing in Toowoomba when a pre-booked Uber didn’t appear.

We then spent a hour waiting for a Uber to arrive. We were not alone in this dilemma. The driver was friendly enough and we had reached our tolerance of waiting. 

Toowoomba is very hot and humid which is unusual, but it is still nice be home. 

We had a lovely holiday and met some very nice people along the way, so overall a very pleasant break. 

Thank you Kym for looking after Rose (our dog) and Charlotte for house sitting. ❤️

Now the planning for next trip begins. 😃

Day 14 (Sunday 29 December 2024) exploring Sydney CBD and Manly

 Today is our last full day in Sydney. The Hotel (Sofitel Wentworth) we are staying at is very comfortable and perhaps one of better hotels we have stayed in. As platinum Accor guests food and alcohol flows freely with no extra charges.

We took a fast ferry to Manly today, which was fast and cheap and very very busy. From the brief walk along the beach front area of Manly I can see why it is popular. The beaches were full of sun worshippers soaking up the sun. (However in 20 or 30 years, sun cancer will strike.) 

So apparently seagulls are unwelcome, so the beach / city authorities have hired specially trained seagulls patrol dog teams to scare off seagulls! 

The cafe culture was very much alive and well with packed tables of foodies enjoying the seaside food. Of course if you want cafe food at came at premium price. We settled for cafe called Felons, which probably was a hint to outrageous prices charged. The food was nice, but probably worth a fraction of the ticket price.

After lunch we continued our exploration of the beaches. Again we can understand the attraction for Sydney folk, as it is pleasant.

After our return trip we explored the Royal Botanical Gardens which were beautiful and well maintained.

Finally we returned to Sofitel to collect our luggage and uber out to Pullman (near Airport) ready for our flight home tomorrow. 

Day 13 (Saturday 28 December 2024) return to Sydney

 

This morning our cruise ship docked at circular Quay. Sadly our most recent adventure on a cruise has come to a pleasant end. Our “The key” perks entitled us to a pleasant breakfast in one of dining rooms where Eric (Our main waiter from dinner) provided service. Eric was wonderful during the cruise. Friendly but very professional. All staff we regularly interacted with were fantastic as well. 

Summing up the cruise, it was very enjoyable. The ship is well designed to cater for up to 5000 passengers and 2000 crew without seeming crowded. There are plenty of eateries, bars and entertainment. You can either partake in all the activities or if relaxing is your thing, just veg out. The experience on board ship is really up to you, which suits us fine. The design of the ship is modern, well-maintained and clean. The crew are fantastic as they are friendly but also professional.

This cruise was a holiday cruise at Christmas time on a resort ship, so there were many families and children which didn’t bother us too much over the course of the cruise. Certainly we saw some antics from some of the teenagers and some of the kids clearly had been given free run by their parents, but on the whole, most children were fairly well behaved. Probably the only complaint we had, was some children that use our corridor as a race track. It regularly sounded like a herd of elephants were going by. The other passengers, were mixed, very international with a strong number of Australians on board which led to a very multicultural cruise. As a result, Christmas was somewhat downplayed compared to other cruises that we’ve been on. For us, the multicultural nature of the cruise made it more interesting, as we met many people from different places.

Overall, we enjoyed our cruise. The only feedback we could give to Royal Caribbean is to stop the accountants deciding the charges and fees on board ship and treating customers as fools. Compare to other cruise lines that we’ve been on, this cruise line is probably the most guilty of “nickel and diming” its customers? Royal Caribbean’s basic fair is generally set at a reasonable rate most of the time. However, we found if you wanted to add specialty dining, drinks packages, and decent Internet it soon added up. For us, we found that our total fare with all items that we’re accustomed to was almost as expensive as a premium cruise line with similar additions. Another annoying aspect of Royal Caribbean, is their pre-cruise pricing and marketing tends to fluctuate greatly but in reality there was rarely a real special for customers. For example, a full price deluxe beverage package (which included alcohol coffees, water, and soft drink), had base price that varied from $155AUD to $165AUD per person per day.

We constantly got hammered with emails claiming huge percentages off and other deals, but often the price had been inflated prior to the sale. Buyer beware as Royal Caribbean maths had been put into play. Potential customers should monitor the actual pricing, and look at actual pricing and ignore the hype around percentage sales.  In comparison to premium lines such as Princess and Norwegian (both of which we have cruised on) have set pricing tiers which are inclusive of all these add-ons and are very reasonably priced. Finally, most cruise lines use US dollars as the ticket price for onboard goods and services charges so beware of the exchange rate. Would we cruise with Royal Caribbean again, yes for sure, but with a financial lens over the costs. 

The rest of the day spent relaxing at our hotel, the Sofitel Wentworth or wandering around the Sydney shopping precinct of Martin place, Pitt street and George street.

Day 12 (Friday 27 December 24) Day 2 of 2 Tasman Sea crossing

 

Another lovely day at sea. After a decent night sleep, we enjoyed our bistro dining room. Breakfast followed by 30 minutes of uninterrupted bumper. Car madness. Absolutely and totally fantastic experience. One of the questions in our minds since purchasing the key was, was it worth it? For 30 minutes of uninterrupted bumper cars it was certainly worth it. Part of the package involved high-speed Internet which has been very

reliable and relatively fast. A downside has been Melissa and I only have one device each at a time. Otherwise, it has been quite worth the expense. Today we enjoyed a lunch at the main dining room which is unusual for us as usually we graze across the mini different complimentary food outlets. we also got an understanding of the life of a crewmember on board ship. It appears to be a particularly hard life where they work for 7 to 9 months on a contract every day followed by two months leave. One of the crewmembers indicated that by the end of the contract most crew operate on autopilot. Given the quality of the Service we have enjoyed  aboard ship from the crew, this is a high indication of their stamina and professionalism.

Day 11 (Thursday 26 December 24) day 1 of 2 crossing the Tasman Sea

 Our clocks got changed to 2 hours back on QLD time. Nice more sleep.

Meanwhile back home, Charlotte and her cats (Rick and Summer) look after the house. 

Our day today included a couple of lapses around the ship, towel animal art, Star Wars quiz, and Ricky Pointing wines tasting followed by air cream and pizza.

We finished the day at theatre watching “Beautiful Dream “ which is about: As goes in the land of dreaming, where secret wants and hidden fears lie deeply tucked in our subconscious, our greatest adventures often await in slumber. The Beautiful Dream is a story of a man who is visited by his departed soulmate who has come to help him rediscover his passion for life, and his will to love again. This is the biggest adventure of his life, the confrontation of his secret fears, and the dream of his eventual awakening.

Day 10 (Wednesday 25 December 2024) the New Zealand Sounds and Christmas Day

 Merry Christmas to all.

A view this morning from our cabin. Photographs of the three Fiordland sounds doesn’t do it justice. Our last visit was New Year’s Eve 2023.

The Sounds are famous for plentiful natural wildlife and magnificent flora. Seals are regularly seen sunning themselves on the rocky shores while able birdlife flies overhead. We enjoyed room service this morning from our balcony while NZ pilot (broadcast on the cabin TV) explained what we were seeing. Very enjoyable and educational.

Our morning was spent enjoying Dusty and doubtful sounds, followed by lunch at Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant. The food was great, as was the wine. 

After lunch we spent afternoon in the magnificent Milford Sound. It was better last year’s cruise through it. Fantastic!

Tonight we dined in the main dining room with a lovely couple from the United Kingdom. Poor Luke and Pam have shared a table with us since the beginning of the cruise. For our part, we have been blessed with pleasant conversations to which we are grateful. Thank you. 

Our day ended with a beautiful sunset as we head west over the Tasman sea towards Australia. Merry Christmas to all.

Day 9 (Tuesday 24 December 2024) Dunedin

 This morning we arrived in Port Charmers (Dunedin) which we last visited back on new years’s day 2024. 

 Today is cool, damp and overcast compared to a warm sunny day back on 1st of January. Also another cruise ship has docked as well. town.

 We haven’t booked any excursions except a bus ticket to get us to Dunedin and return. A generally lazy exploring day was planned and achieved. It has been awhile since we last explored Dunedin so it was like visiting the town anew again.

Initially the day was cool, overcast and foggy with a promise of rain, but by mid day the sun had burnt through.

The bus took us on long road that borders the large bay for about 20 minutes into town. 

The bus dropped us off near the museum not far from the fantastic railway station which we saw on our last trip to Dunedin.

At the museum we got directions, and decided to visit the Chinese gardens. A lady that appeared to be of Chinese heritage indicated to us that the gardens were fairly authentic. For NZ$22 revisited the gardens and found them to be very serene and different to Japanese Gardens that we had visited in the past.

We would certainly recommend visiting the gardens for something different. We then climbed the hill travelling past several parks, magnificent buildings until we found the Spieght’s brewery.

We didn’t take a tour, but we did taste six of the beers that they had on offer. Certainly worth a visit if you enjoy beer. We then proceeded to climb a very steep road up a hillside to the towns, magnificent catholic Cathedral.

We then proceeded down Stuart Street to the octagon in the centre of town. Again we enjoyed the late Victorian architecture found in Dunedin. 

Dunedin was founded mainly by Scottish immigrants during the 1860s to the early 1900s, who developed the town and surroundings. As a result, we found a Scottish shop, on Stuart Street so we dropped in for a wee shop and gather. The shop had all manner of cool stuff ranging from kilts, tartans, and other Scottish paraphernalia. We left more than a wee bag of goodies. 

Eventually, we found food in a Burger ( velvet burger) Speciality restaurant (not MacDonald’s as that isn’t food.).

Octagon

We continue down Stuart Street to the railway station turned to head to our bus line. The line to the bus was long but did move fairly quickly. Another cruise company (celebrity) operating much smaller ship (2/3 the size of the Ovation) appeared to have vastly more buses available. While waiting in line we got to talk to some of the crew who had short leave today.

We enjoyed Dunedin, as it was generally a no frills day but was enjoyable.

 Departure from Port was interesting as our ship passed the celebrity edge in the harbour and passengers from both ships called out Christmas greetings. as the ship passed out to sea people park their cars along the road and waved as we passed by.

The scenery in the channel was typical of New Zealand, simply beautiful.

We finished our day with a speciality meal at the Japanese restaurant followed by a Christmas show in the theatre. We then returned to our favourite ship bar called Vintage. 

Day 8 (Monday 23rd December 2024) Lytteton and Christchurch

 Welcome to the South Island! Once more in the little port of Lytteton. We docked in port 10am local time. 

Today was an example of what happens when 4000+ passenger cruise ship arrives in port at 10:30am instead 7am. Everyone has had a chance to get up, eat a leisurely breakfast and get off the ship at the same time at 11am. People waited up to 1 hour and half (plus some as we retreated to our cabin for 45 minutes ) to get off ship, as the various buses ferried them to Lytteton or Christchurch. At Lytteton, it is a working port, passengers cannot just walk off the ship but instead shuttled off the port. This process slowed down the whole departure process and causes tempers to flare with some passengers. Hmmm. For us, joining the line at 11:30am and reaching Lytteton drop off at 12:20am. 

We took a $4nz dollar trip through the tunnel to the Christchurch gondola centre. Again confronted by a long queue which we joined for 30 minutes before Melissa did the maths that by the time we got a ride, we would need to return to the ship for scheduled 3:45pm North Star ride. So we abandoned the queue and took $10NZ uber ride back to Lytteton for a leisurely lunch in the Main Street followed by a 3pm free bus shuttle service back to the ship. 

A quick refresh, and we headed to our 15minute North Star ride above the ship. Stunning views but is it worth $70USD dollars,… probably not. Fortunately for us, our ride was complimentary as part of our package. 

After the ride, we enjoyed an ice cream and cold drink from the bar before retreating to our balcony to watch in comfort the ship’s departure. 

Tonight, we dine in the main dinning room 7:30pm as we have a show called the Spectra Cabaret at reserved for 10:30pm. Originally booked for the earlier 8:30pm show but that messed up our dinner choices. 

It was very enjoyable with dance, music, singing and techno lights display. The cast could appear almost anywhere using special rising platforms rising out of deck.