Carnival Splendor Cruise to South America – January-March 2009

Our departure date of January 27th finally arrived and we boarded our Qantas flight ready and eager for a new adventure in South America!
Our pre- cruise visit to Las Vegas was fun and even better than the last time we were there because it wasn’t so crowded at that time of year.
Our stay at Harrah’s was enjoyable and more than we expected for $69 per night.We had a nice room in the quieter Mardi Gras Tower and the hotel facilities were good.. The reception staff were very friendly and efficient and the hotel was in a great position in the centre of The Strip.

It was fun visiting some of our favourite hotels such as the Venetian, Bellagio, Paris, the Mirage and Caesar’s. I think the Venetian is our favourite. Bellagio had a beautiful display for Chinese New Year.

Our red eye Delta flight to Ft. Lauderdale was full and our carry ons were stowed way back from where we were sitting.

Once there we settled into our pleasant room at the Fort Lauderdale Grande for two nights pre-cruise. The first night we went out to eat with friends Deb & Joe from a previous cruise who live nearby. We had a nice meal at the Cheesecake Factory and swapped cruise stories – it was a fun evening!

The following day we met Gail & Murray who were sailing with us on the Splendor and went out for breakfast downtown in Las Olas Blvd. We joined them for a drive around Ft. Lauderdale to pick up necessities for our long cruise. Later in the day we joined some of the Cruise Critic members( Salsa 49ers) at the Bimini Boathouse for drinks and dinner.

Carnival Splendor cruise itinerary:
January 31st – March 21st 2009 – 49 days

First leg:
Jan.31st – Feb.17th 2009 – Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Buenos Aires, Argentina

Day 1

Embarkation day arrived and we woke up to sunny but windy weather. We walked along the road to the French Bakery for breakfast – good coffee in a giant mug and a delicious toasted panini!
We took a cab from the hotel to the cruise terminal ($10 with tip) and arrived there at 11.15am. Check in was smooth and we were onboard just after 12.00pm. Our suitcases were delivered early so we unpacked after lunch in the Lido.

It was just as well we boarded early because we found out later that there was a bomb scare. This meant that people who arrived later on were kept waiting in the arrivals hall until 8.00pm or later whilst everything was checked out. We were so lucky to have missed all the aggravation by arriving early!

We were on a table of ten in the Gold Pearl dining room. Luckily Ken, our wonderful maitre’d, had given us a table in the middle of the restaurant with good company and great servers too!

After dinner we went to a short show with the Carnival singers and dancers and the piano man.
We enjoyed a good sleep in our cosy balcony cabin for the first of forty nine nights on this exciting cruise!

Days 2 & 3 – Fun Days at Sea

We enjoyed two full days at sea to further explore this ship which we had first sailed on in the Baltic last September. The Carnival Splendor is113,300-tons, is 952 feet in length, has a cruising speed of 22 knots and carries 3,006 passengers. She’s a beautiful ship and we were happy to be sailing on her for a second time!
It was good to relax for two days and meet up with friends from Cruise Critic.

Day 4 – Dominica – Feb. 2nd 2009 (12pm-7pm)

Dominica is set halfway between Guadeloupe and Martinique and is the largest and most mountainous of the Windward Islands. The landscape is lush and green with rivers, waterfalls, rainforests and the Morne Trois Pitons National Park.

We went on a tour to the Emerald pool and Trafalgar Falls but it was raining so we didn’t walk to the falls. We enjoyed our drive around the island but unfortunately we didn’t have the time or the weather to get out much and explore further.

Day 5 – Barbados – Feb.4th 2009 (7am-4pm)

Barbados is a beautiful island with British traditions. It has wonderful panoramas of oceans and valleys, and pink and white sand beaches.

We had a really interesting tour here with Colin from Cameron Reid’s tours. He was an excellent guide and took us to a wide variety of places.

First we explored a local street at Cape Hill and then went on to Highland Park lookout where we tasted some rum punch. From there we visited beautiful Bathsheba to admire the views and on to Nicholas Abbey, Speightstown, the very interesting Church of St. John and Holetown. After the tour we spent an hour or so in Bridgetown and then walked back to the ship. We enjoyed Barbados and would like to go back there someday.

Days 6 & 7 – Fun Days at Sea

It was good to have two relaxing days at sea following our visits to Dominica and Barbados. We joined in some of the activities onboard but we also just lazed around on our balcony.

Day 8 – Crossing the Equator – Feb.7th
Crossing the equator is a rite of passage for cruisers who have not crossed the legendary line before. To make it more memorable, a ceremony is performed with King Neptune to mark the occasion.
We have crossed the equator before so we are referred to as “Shellbacks”. Those who have not crossed the equator before are referred to as “Pollywogs”.

Day 9 – Fortaleza, Brazil-Feb. 8th (7am-6pm)

Fortaleza with its lovely beaches, restaurants and nightlife, is a popular destination. The city has a Gothic style Cathedral with beautiful stained glass windows.
The Central Market offers delicious exotic tropical fruits and fine lacework, embroidery, leather goods, and ceramics. There is also an interesting market in the old prison.

Our Brasilian friend Marisa met us at the port and took us on a tour of the city. She took us to the market in the old prison where we purchased a bag for our waitress Martina who had to stay onboard. Marisa’s cousin was there to greet us in his shop where we bought cappuchino and caramel flavoured cashew nuts – yummy!

We visited Dragon de Mar with it’s colourful squares and buildings and met some of the passengers who were on a Carnival tour. We felt very lucky to have Marisa as our local guide!

A big surprise was a special lunch arranged for us at the L’O restaurant by Marisa. She has her own PR agency and as she was promoting this restaurant we were invited to a wonderful lunch there!

After lunch she took us to a supermarket to buy wine and to change some money into reals.

Marisa seemed to know everyone and phoned a friend to take us to Beach Park which is a seaside resort about half an hour’s drive from Forteleza.

When we returned to the ship we said our goodbyes and set sail once again. After sailaway I went to the Spa for a facial, mini manicure and a foot massage – a special for $69 which I had booked earlier – it felt so good! What a wonderful day!

Day 10 – Fun Day at Sea

We slept in and had a late breakfast in the Lido. We walked around the jogging track for almost an hour and then did some laundry and ironing. Later on we met some friends for a drink and went to bed early as tomorrow is a port day in Recife.

Day 11 – Recife, Brazil – Feb.10th (7am-6pm)

Recife is known as the “Venice of Brazil” because of its rivers and bridges. It is a modern city and a tropical beach resort. The city is a centre for culture and the arts.
Olinda, Brazil’s old colonial capital declared World Historical Monument by Unesco, is a few miles from Recife. It is a fascinating place to visit!

Our guide Carlos took us to Olinda first. It was very interesting with colourful historic houses and shops full of Carnival costumes.We visited the cathedral and admired the lovely views over the bay. Then we went to the market in a prison – a similar idea to the one in Foreleza. We looked around at the unusual giftware and bought some souvenirs.

Downtown Recife had some interesting public buildings and we strolled around for a short time before returning to the ship. We really enjoyed our tour and Carlos was an excellent guide.

Day 12 – Fun Day at Sea – Feb.11th

We slept in late and had breakfast in the Lido. We played Scattergories in the Cool Lounge and then joined in with a dance class. We went to the talk on Rio de Janeiro in the theatre and afterwards we joined friends at the Liner bar. Just before bedtime we walked around the top decks to enjoy the night sky and the sea.

Day 13 – Salvador, Brazil- Feb.12th (7am-4pm)

Salvador de Bahia is Brazil’s third largest city with a large population including Afro Brazilians as well as Portuguese. It has been designated a World Heritage Site by Unesco and has a pleasant tropical climate, miles of lovely beaches and lush tropical vegetation.

We were up early and had breakfast delivered to our room as we were on an early tour. We visited the historic area and also the colourful and vibrant Pelourinho district. T-shirts and other souvenirs seemed to be quite expensive in this popular area of Salvador so we didn’t buy anything.

Day 14 – Fun Day at Sea Feb.13th.

Day 15 – Rio de Janeiro- Feb.14th (8am-5pm)

Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful city with many beaches, including the famous Copacabana and Ipanema, set against a mountainous backdrop.Two of the main attractions are a cable car ride up Sugarloaf Mountain and a cog train ride up Corcovado to see the views and the wonderful statue of Christ the Redeemer. Rio is famous for its annual Carnival, an amazing five-day celebration that draws tourists from everywhere in the world.

A rainy day for our tour with Marcelo Neves but he helped to make it a great day despite the weather. We didn’t go by cog train up to Corcovado as it was crowded so we drove up to the elevator. There was a strange beauty in the mist-shrouded views from the mountain top and Christ the Redeemer statue was awesome! We took lots of photos here.

We visited Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. We stopped at Ipanema for lunch with Marcelo and then he took us to a supermarket to buy wine.
Sugarloaf Mountain was our next stop and we bought T-shirts before riding the cable car up to the top. We saw some little monkeys with cute-looking faces.
On the way back to the ship we stopped off to see the Carnivale preparations. Unfortunately we were there just a little too early for the celebrations!
Back at the cruise terminal we used up our last 20 real to buy cashaca, a local drink made from sugar cane alcohol with limes.
Rio de Janeiro is a place we would love to go back to – preferably when it’s a sunny day!

Days 16 & 17 – Fun Days at Sea

Time to do our laundry! There were long lines most days but we struck it lucky and only had a short wait for the machines.
We spent the two sea days relaxing and made good use of the hot tub!

Day 18 – Buenos Aires, Argentina September 17th. ( 8.00am – overnight)

Buenos Aires combines South American flavor with European style. The city shows French influences in its architecture, cafés, beautiful parks and boulevards.
The Italian district of La Boca and the artists’ quarter of San Telmo are two of the interesting areas to visit.
You can take a flight excursion to Iguassu Falls from here but we didn’t have time to do that on this occasion.

We were looking forward to our morning tour of Buenos Aires but there was a hassle getting of the ship and we had to wait in long lines for more than two hours! Eventually we joined our tour and were pleased to get an overview of this beautiful city. We planned to visit some of the more interesting sights the following day.

We went back to the ship for lunch and we were delighted to meet up with our friends Marilyn & Steve who had just joined us for the second leg of this cruise. They had moved into the adjoining cabin so we opened the balcony door to make it into one big balcony.

In the evening we went on a privately arranged tour with other cruise Critic members to La Ventana Tango show in San Telmo. It was a wonderful evening with a great show, good food and wine for only $72.50 per person!

2nd leg:
February 18th 2009 – March 3rd 2009 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Santiago (Valparaíso), Chile

Day 19 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – February 18th

We decided to explore the city on our own instead of taking a tour.
Together with Marilyn, Steve, Ada, Richard, Mei and Ed we headed for Recoleta sharing two taxis. We all wanted to see Eva Peron’s Duarte family mausoleum first! We were very impressed with the opulence of Recoleta cemetery and its varied mausoleums of the rich and famous – mostly crafted from marble. It would have taken days to see everything!

We took a taxi from Recoleta to one of the famous historic meeting places – the Café Tortoni. The décor was very original and interesting and we enjoyed our huge toasted sandwiches and delicious coffee!

Afterwards four of us went to the Italian La Boca district by taxi. We were captivated by the colourful buildings, architecture and liveliness of the Caminito area – especially by the tango dancing in the street cafes. We stopped for a while at one of the cafes to watch the dancers. Then we took a taxi into the main shopping street of the city to window shop and to buy some wine before returning to the ship.

Day 20 – Montevideo, Uruguay – February 19th.( 8.00am – 5.00pm)

Montevideo is a clean and very pleasant city. It has an old and a new town featuring many historical sites as well as restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and casinos.

The city is situated on the north shore of the River de la Plata. Statues of the country’s heroes are scattered throughout the town. An impressive equestrian statue sits in Independence Square, while the others fill the local parks.

On that hot, sunny day we took a tour with our very knowledgeable guide Marta. We travelled all around the city and then looked at some beach areas along the river (the ocean beaches are about 120 miles away from the city) We saw the contrast between the old and new areas of the city. Marta showed us a Gothic style church and also the palatial mansion of Reverend Moon as we explored one of the upmarket neighbourhoods.

We had lunch at a winery but we thought it very expensive for a tour stop. Normally they choose a local spot with good value eats but not on that day! The tour itself was very good value for only $45 per person.

When we left the restaurant we had a bit of a drama because the van would not start due to a flat battery! Luckily Marta phoned to get another van to take us back to the ship so we all breathed a sigh of relief!

Day 21 – Fun Day at Sea – February 20th.

We were quite ready to relax on our sea day after three port days in succession!

Day 22 – Puerto Madryn, Argentina – February 21st – (9.00am – 6.00pm)

Puerto Madryn is situated on the Golfo Nuevo in Patagonia, Argentina. The city is the gateway to many natural splendors, such as Punta Tombo National Reserve (home to the world’s biggest colony of Magellanic penguins), as well as the Península Valdés (the world-famous wildlife sanctuary). The city also offers several attractions, from its beaches to its historic sites.

It was a nice day for our walking tour of the town. Together with Marilyn and Steve we went shopping for souvenirs which were really good value here compared to other places we had visited. We would have liked to have seen the penguins at Punta Tombo( especially as later on we missed our tour to see the penguins in Punta Arenas due to bad weather!) but it was a long drive to get there so we preferred to explore Puerto Madryn on our own. Another good day!

Day 23 – Fun Day at Sea – February 22nd
Another relaxing day at sea!
We enjoyed Dirk’s travel talk on Ushuaia, Punta Arenas and Cape Horn. It was very interesting!

Day 24 – Cape Horn Cruising – February 23rd

Cape Horn,named after the city of Hoorn (in the Netherlands) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile. It marks the northern boundary of the Drake Passage and for many years it was a major milestone on the clipper route, by which sailing ships carried trade around the world.

We were looking forward to rounding Cape Horn and had planned a small party on our balcony to celebrate the occasion. We had the balcony door open between Marilyn & Steve’s cabin and ours so we invited Gail & Murray and Linda & Mike to join us for the afternoon. It was a cold, blustery and rainy day so we bundled ourselves up in warm clothes and enjoyed a few drinks and laughs together!
Luckily the sea wasn’t too rough that day so we all enjoyed the experience!

Day 25 – Ushuaia, Argentina – February 24th (6am-6pm)

Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world and one of two main cities on the island territory of Tierra del Fuego. It is very scenic with a National Park framed by the sea, forests, lakes and mountains. Once a small fishing village,Ushuaia is today a welcoming, busy town with a growing population, at present numbering about 50,000 inhabitants.

Ushuaia is a departure port for Antarctic cruises. It is considered the capital of the Argentine Tierra del Fuego province. Located on the Beagle Channel and backed by the Martial Mountains, the city offers an abundance of eco-tourist activities and access to Tierra del Fuego National Park.

We had an early start to join our private tour of the Tierra del Fuego National Park with our guide Karina.We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the sunny weather which warmed up as the day progressed.
We stopped at Ensenada Bay at the cute little post office on the edge of the lake.We bought postcards and had them stamped there.We had lunch at a lovely restaurant with great views over the park. The cheese pie and fruit tart was delicious!

At the end of the tour we had time to look around the pretty city of Ushuaia. We did some shopping and then met up with Terry at the Irish pub before heading back to the ship. It was a very good day!

Day 26 – Punta Arenas, Chile- February 25th -(6am-5pm)

Unfortunately this was one port that we had to miss out on due to strong winds. We were disappointed that we couldn’t go to the Otway Peninsula to see the penguins but Gail very kindly gave us some of the photos that she had taken in Punta Tombo!
Punta Arenas lies at the entrance to the Strait of Magellan and is the gateway to Antarctica, a land of snowcapped mountains, icebergs and frozen fjords. The city overlooks the Strait of Magellan and Otway Sound, home to colonies of sea lions and Magellanic penguins. We docked there to let the customs officials off the ship and continued on our sightseeing voyage through the Strait of Magellan.

Day 27 – Feb. 26th. – Strait of Magellan (cruising)
On a voyage through the wild untamed beauty of the Strait of Magellan you can observe the rugged nature and indigenous wildlife, trying to exist in often harsh and unpredictable weather conditions.
Day 28 – Chilean Fjords Cruising – Feb.27th

The Pacific coast of southern Chile is a fjordland which is very sparsely populated, with only a few towns and cattle ranches to be seen along the shores. The Chilean fjords extend south into Tierra del Fuego, the territory at the southern tip of South America that is divided between Chile and Argentina.

Day 29 – Puerto Montt – Feb.28th – (6am-6pm)

Located in the lake district of Chile, Puerto Montt is a city amidst snow-covered volcanoes, lush jungle ferns, hot springs, forested hills and narrow fjords. The city’s early German settlers left their mark with distinctive European-style architecture that gives this city a unique feel. Their legacy can be seen in the rose gardens of Puerto Varas and the village of Frutillar.

We tendered early to join our tour together with Ruth, Grace, Marilyn and Steve.
First of all we had a quick drive around the city of Puerto Montt but then drove on to the much prettier Puerto Varas. We visited the tourist center by Lake Llanquihe and walked around the main streets and the lake.

When we reached Petrohue Falls the weather had warmed up and we enjoyed the sights. We visited a Llama farm on the way and took some photos there.

After our visit to Emerald Lake we would have enjoyed a lunch break but there didn’t seem to be enough time! As we had made an early start to the day we were starving by the time we stopped at a German style café for coffee and cake at 3.15pm!

Back near the port we shopped at the nearby markets to buy alpaca scarves and a shawl as they were incredibly cheap!

Then the downpour started and we had to run to the cruise terminal! Unfortunately we had a long wait in dripping wet clothes to get the next tender. The weather was so rough that it was difficult getting close to the ship and we had to make a big jump from the tender boat on to the ship. It was pretty scary!

Day 30 – Fun Day at Sea – Mar. 1st

It was nice to relax in a warm dry place after yesterday’s wet and windy end to the day!

Day 31 – Fun Day at Sea – Mar.2nd
I stayed in bed until noon as I had a bad cold and didn’t want to miss out on the following day’s tour in Valparaiso. Marilyn and Steve packed everything for their disembarkation the next day. We were sad to say goodbye to them but also looking forward to the last leg of our voyage!

Sapphire Princess – Sydney to Los Angeles April/May 2008

When we boarded the Sapphire Princess to sail on a thirty-one day cruise from Sydney to LA it was only three months since we had disembarked from our Bangkok to Sydney cruise on the same ship so it was a bit like coming home again! This was our third cruise on the Sapphire so we really knew our way around the ship this time!
This was the longest cruise we have been on and probably the most relaxing because of the many sea days.

Our Virgin flight from the Gold Coast to Sydney took only a little over an hour and we arrived at the cruise terminal at 1.00pm. The taxi from the airport was expensive. The trip usually costs around $35 but this time we were charged almost $60!

Sydney – Australia

Embarkation was smooth and we were on board by 2.00pm.We had lunch in the Horizon Court buffet and then got off the ship to have a walk around The Rocks area of Sydney harbour.
We enjoyed having a drink and a chat with daughter Fiona and fiancé Ben at the Orient Hotel in The Rocks after they arrived there from work.
We bought some wine to take onboard and checked to see that our suitcases had arrived at our cabin. We had a balcony cabin close to midships on Caribe deck and met our friendly and efficient stewardess Christina who would be with us until Auckland.

We met our Cruise Critic friends in the Oasis bar at sailaway and enjoyed the views of Sydney harbour at night with all the lights twinkling – it was a beautiful sight! We were on our way at last on a new cruising adventure!

Melbourne – Australia

After a nice relaxing day at sea we arrived in Melbourne on April 16th – my birthday!
Cruise Critic friends Ray & Mirella from Melbourne had organised a private tour for twenty-four of us with lunch at La Porchetta, an Italian restaurant. It was a well-organised tour but we were glad that we had visited the city centre before as the bus did a tour of the different suburbs around Melbourne and included a visit to the Royal Exhibition Hall.
We all stopped at Dan Murphy’s liquor store on the way back and loaded up with drinks to take onboard.
We had booked into the supper club Sabatini’s for my birthday and really enjoyed the meal and the service. Carnival surprised me with balloons on my cabin door and even brought me another little birthday cake to the cabin later in the evening!

Another pleasant surprise was a note in the door to let us know that friends Des & Dorothy from a previous cruise in Alaska were on the ship so we arranged to have dinner with them later.

The next day was a sea day and Les bought me some lovely pearl earrings for my birthday at the jewellery shop on board. We enjoyed the formal night and the past guest cocktail party with captain Philip Pickford.

Hobart – Australia

After a rainy start the sun came out and it was a beautiful day in Hobart. Cruising friends Roger and Heather, who live there, met us off the ship and took us out through Battery Point to the Huon Valley by way of Kingston & Kettering. It was a lovely day and we had lunch beside the Huon River.
The sailaway from Hobart was lovely and moonlit as we watched the lights fade into the distance.

That night we joined new friends Liz & Ian from Chester for a drink in the Wheelhouse Bar and afterwards in the Savoy restaurant for dinner.

Milford Sound – New Zealand

We had the next five days at sea because we had to miss out on Dunedin due to rough weather. Luckily we were able to sail into Milford Sound in New Zealand. It was misty and rainy with that air of mystery that fiords seem to have and is part of their attraction. We got up early and dressed in our hooded rain jackets to eat breakfast on our balcony and were glad we had because the weather worsened later on in the day and was quite rough and stormy.

Auckland – New Zealand

Everyone was pleased to get off the ship in Auckland after five days at sea! The weather was fine so we took the ferry over to the pretty little town of Devonport. We had been to Auckland before so we decided to spend at least half the day in Devonport. We walked around the town and then along the waterfront with a view of Auckland over the bay.
We went back to the ship for lunch before exploring some new developments that we hadn’t seen before in Auckland city centre.
We got back to the ship in time to see the Maori dance session which was quite entertaining. We ate in the Pacific Moon restaurant together with passengers from Scotland & Guatemala.

Suva – Fiji

It was about twenty years since we last visited Fiji and Suva is not the best place to stay on the island if you are planning a holiday there.
We were welcomed into port by the Fijian police band and they entertained us very well both on our arrival and on our departure.
We did some shopping in Suva as we were told that the other ports we would be visiting in the South Pacific would be very expensive – especially in Tahiti!
We ate lunch on the ship before taking a Princess tour to the Arts Centre at Pacific Harbour for a cultural show.

We remembered seeing the firewalkers years ago but we still enjoyed the show this time and the drive through the countryside.
That night we ate in the Vivaldi restaurant with friends Ray & Mirella and enjoyed the pleasant evening.
We had two April 27th’s as we crossed the International dateline between Fiji and Pago Pago!

Pago Pago – Samoa

This was the first place on our cruise that we hadn’t seen before so we were feeling excited as we joined Tisa’s private tour. This was a tour of the national park followed by drinks and lunch at Tisa’s barefoot bar which is a popular tourist attraction in Pago Pago.

The cost was US$60 per person and we enjoyed it but you can visit the bar independently by taking the bus or a taxi there.
The national park tour was lovely and we enjoyed the beautiful views from our open air bus. The bus was decorated on the sides with the red ginger plant and our bus driver Fred was quite a character! We were all feeling very happy as we sang a Samoan song that Fred taught us on the way back to the port!

We joined a sailaway party at the Outrigger Bar with our friends and dined in Horizon Court. We got into the hot tub and then went to bed early after such a fun-filled day!

Rarotonga – Cook Islands

It was a lovely morning as we sailed into Rarotonga and we were looking forward to picking up our rental car from Island Car Hire and driving around the island with cruising friends Hilary & Mick. It cost only NZ$59 for the Nissan Bluebird rental and that included the cost of a special tourist driving licence (NZ$5) for the day!

The island was just as you would imagine a South Pacific island to be with turquoise blue sea and beautiful white sand beaches. The people were friendly here and the island was relatively unspoiled by tourist attractions – it was very natural.
We drove along by the beach around the island which doesn’t take long. We visited a waterfall and a pearl factory and ended up at a place called Trader Jack’s for lunch. We had cheese pizza bread and drinks at a cost of NZ$31 for the four of us. The petrol cost only NZ$12 as we didn’t need to drive too far on the island.
We went back to the ship around 3.00pm after looking at the stalls near the ship selling souvenirs. We thought they were expensive and didn’t buy anything there.
There was an Island party by the Calypso pool that night and a good time was had by all!

Bora Bora – French Polynesia

Bora Bora is a magical island! It is incredibly beautiful but it is very expensive!
We took the local Le Truk ( US$5 ) to the lovely Matira beach where we spent the morning in and out of the water. We then boarded the bus to go to Bloody Mary’s Bar – a big tourist attraction and a must-see in Bora Bora! Just be prepared for the drink prices if you ever go there! It cost US$19 for a Pina Colada and wait for it – US$10 for a diet coke!!!

We went back to the ship for lunch and then walked around in Vaitape where the ship was docked. Everything was very expensive there so we just window shopped!
Hilary and Mick celebrated their wedding anniversary in the Savoy restaurant so we and many of our Cruise Critic friends joined them for dinner.

Papeete – French Polynesia

We had a bit of a hitch at this port because the guide that Hilary had booked didn’t turn up so we waited until 10.00 am and then set off to do our own thing.
We walked around the town and bumped into Ray & Mirella at the marketplace. Things close down in Papeete at midday on Saturdays so we decided to find a taxi to take us around the island.
I must say that we didn’t find the French Polynesian people very friendly or helpful to tourists! We spoke with one lady taxi-driver who wanted 8000 francs for two hours but said there would be no stopping anywhere! We declined her offer and eventually met up with Hilary & Mick so the six of us rented a nice air-conditioned vehicle to explore the island for two hours. Our driver William was quite happy to let us stop wherever we wanted to and we had an enjoyable drive around the island.

We had four sea days between Papeete and Honolulu and crossed the equator during that time. Princess put on a fun ceremony for crossing the equator and everyone got a certificate at the end of it to say that they were now Shellbacks not Pollywogs!

Honolulu – Hawaii

We took the courtesy bus to Hilo Hattie’s and did some shopping there before going into Waikiki. It was a long time since we had visited Waikiki and we saw quite a few changes! We had a walk around the Hawaiian International resort on our way to the beach and took photos around the place.

We walked along the beachfront and visited the International Marketplace as well as the Pink Palace. We took a taxi back to the ship and decided that we would return to Waikiki for a stopover on our way back from the US next year.

Hilo – Hawaii

This was the last port on our cruise before the final four sea days and then our disembarkation in Los Angeles. The time seemed to have gone much more quickly on the last half of the voyage than on the first half!
We had arranged to share an Alamo rental car for the day with Phil, Donna, Sultan & Lourdes. I think it cost only around US$100 plus the petrol so it worked out very economically when split between the six of us.
We went to the Volcano National Park and viewed the crater, the lava and the lava tube. It was very interesting and we popped into the visitors centre while we were there to find out more about the volcano. After a quick lunch of hot dogs we went on to visit the Mauna Loa macadamia factory and then to Rainbow Falls.

It was a nice day although a little cool up on top of the volcano so we were glad to have our sweaters to put on!
We enjoyed our last sailaway of the cruise and looked forward to some relaxing days at sea!

On Mothers Day we had a wonderful lunch( organised by Ray & Mirella) in the Savoy restaurant together with Cruise Critic members from our Koalas group.
Lorraine & Tom did a great job of organising the group and planning tours and activities so we were happy to meet them on this cruise as well as many of the other Koalas who brought us all together.

Los Angeles

We said goodbye to our cruising friends and the Sapphire Princess as we disembarked at 8.30am on the last day of our cruise. It felt good to know that we would be cruising again in August – so not too long to wait for the next one in northern Europe!
We had arranged to rent a car for the day as our Qantas flight didn’t leave until 11.20pm. Everything went smoothly at the Hertz depot and we were soon on our way towards San Diego which is one of our favourite cities in the US. However our plans changed when we decided to stop off at San Juan Capistrano to see the mission.

We ended up spending most of the day there. We had a nice lunch at the New York café and visited the historic centre.

San Juan Capistrano is a pretty place with beautiful flower gardens at the mission and in the old town. It’s well worth a visit if you are ever in that area.

I haven’t gone into many details about the ship as I did this on the last review when we sailed on the Sapphire Princess.
This time we had two cabin stewards Christina and Elmer who were both excellent – especially Elmer who went out of his way to make things special for us.
We enjoyed the anytime dining as we did on the previous cruise but the table service in the restaurants was sometimes lacking on this cruise. Most of the time it was very good.

The Princess production shows with talented singers and dancers were excellent and the Westenders singers were very good. The rest of the entertainment was mediocre and a few of the entertainers were so bad that people walked out of the show after the first ten minutes!

In conclusion this was a wonderfully relaxing cruise and very different from the shorter, port intensive cruises that we do in Europe. I like both types of cruises but I’m beginning to enjoy the longer cruises now! I’m looking forward to 49 days cruising in South America next year!

Bangkok to Sydney on the Sapphire Princess 20/12/07

This was our tenth cruise and our second one on the Sapphire Princess. We sailed on this ship when it was new in 2004 and enjoyed it very much so we were interested in doing this longer cruise over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

My husband and I are in our sixties and live on the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia. We usually have long flights to join cruises in Europe and the US but this time it was only a seven and a half hour flight to Singapore where we stayed overnight in order to see the Christmas Lights.

The next morning we took a short one and a half hour flight to Bangkok for our operational overnight stay that we had booked with Princess. This turned out well because our transfers went smoothly and the Menam Riverside hotel in Bangkok was a pleasant place to stay. We had the advantage of being able to check in with Princess at the hotel so that embarkation was a breeze the following day. It took about 3 hours to get to the port but this took longer than usual because of road works.

Once on board we found our cabin on Caribe deck and were happy to see that we had a large balcony with nice blue mesh chairs and flooring. The cabin was nicely laid out with good storage space and plenty of coat hangers. The shower was quite small but manageable. We met Marvin, our cabin steward, who looked after us very well for the duration of the cruise.

We unpacked our suitcases before muster and then joined our Cruise Critic friends in the Oasis bar. We had already met some of them at the hotel but now we were able to match more names to faces. We were all excited to be at the sailaway together and were looking forward to our 20 day cruise!

The ship is large and beautiful. It’s one of the Grand Class ships and carries 2800 passengers. The décor is classy and elegant with lovely artwork and a pleasing colour scheme throughout. I won’t go into too many details as a full ship’s review can be found on www.cruisecritic.com
It takes a while to explore it fully and find your way around but we had been on this ship before so it was easier for us this time!

We had opted for anytime dining rather than the traditional dining and I’m glad we did because it was fun eating in the various restaurants and also convenient to eat at different times. We usually booked ahead when we had figured out our plans for the day. Sometimes we changed dining times and it was no problem. We ate with friends or on our own and at other times we joined a big table where we met some interesting people from all over the world and from all walks of life.

We rotated between the Pacific Moon, Savoy, Vivaldi and Santa Fe restaurants in the evening. In the morning we sometimes had breakfast in the International dining room and at other times we ate buffet-style in Horizon Court.

On port days we ordered breakfast in our cabin and ate on the balcony. The restaurant and the room service was consistently good. On occasion we enjoyed afternoon tea in the International dining room.
One time when we were at afternoon tea a passenger was being rude to one of the waiters. He told the waiter he was stupid and this irked me because the waiters are always trying so hard to give good service. I loved it when my husband defended the waiter and told the passenger that he would be more likely to get good service if he wasn’t so rude!

The food was very good everywhere on board and there were only a couple of meals we didn’t like. We usually had a drink on our balcony at sailaway and then ordered wine at the dinner table.

The entertainers were not as good as on our last Sapphire Princess cruise but the production shows with the talented singers and dancers were very good.
Lenny Windsor, the comedian, was quite amusing and we also enjoyed the dynamic singer Caron Kate Blackwell and her husband, comedian Marty Allen.

The best band of all was Deep Blue who managed to get everyone dancing and having fun. What a talented group! They usually played in Club Fusion or around the pool deck.

The captain was Attilio Guerini. The cruise director was Sammi Baker who was quite a live spark around the ship. Her assistant Sam was a wonderful teacher for the dance classes together with Tom who also organised the virtual golf team competition on some of the sea days.
We went once to the bingo and also to the wooden horse races on a sea day.
After attending one of Brad Coates rather uninspiring lectures on Achieving Personal & Financial Freedom in mid-life we decided to free ourselves of him before the next lecture!

Christmas Day

Santa arrived in the Atrium on Christmas Day. We listened to the announcement that he would be arriving by helicopter to give the children their presents! There were Christmas carols in the Atrium on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day. It was fun joining in and watching the children receive their gifts from Santa. The snow machine was an excellent idea and really helped to get everyone into the spirit of things.

New Year’s Eve

A fun time for everyone! We had dinner with friends and then got changed out of our formal dress to attend the pool deck party where Deep Blue was playing. We danced the night away and brought in the New Year with our friends and other passengers.

Now to the ports and what we did there.

Koh Samui

We joined four of our Cruise Critic friends on a private tour, Mr. Ung’s Magical Safari, in Koh Samui. We travelled in a jeep which was a bit bumpy but made for some good fun rides!
We visited the elephant, crocodile and monkey shows before going on an elephant ride along a winding path through the forest. We managed to get some great photos of us on the ride. We went to a waterfall and gardens before having a delicious Thai lunch at a scenic viewpoint high up in the mountains. We all enjoyed the day and had a lot of laughs together!

Singapore

We had been to Singapore before so we decided to explore the Tanglin Rd area and the Botanic Gardens, which are lovely and have some beautiful orchids as well as other tropical plants.

On the way there we were invited into the newly opened St. Regis hotel and had an interesting conversation with the assistant manager. She introduced us to the butler who took us around the hotel and showed us the bedrooms. They were absolutely lovely and the bathrooms had a plasma TV on the mirror next to the bath – quite an innovative idea! It was a hot day so on the way back from the gardens we called into one of the shopping centres and had a cool drink before catching the shuttle back to the ship.

Vietnam

We had booked the Ho Chi Minh City on your own tour with Princess.
We drove through little villages with run-down shops and houses. It was interesting to watch the people in cone shaped hats riding bicycles and mopeds and going about their daily business. In about two hours we arrived in HCM.
I’ve never seen so many motorcycles on the road all hurrying to get to their destination without stopping to let anyone across the road. We managed to survive by just crossing over and letting them go around us otherwise we would never have got to the other side!
Shopping was fun at the markets! We bought shirts, pants, sunglasses and hats at absolutely ridiculous prices! Finally we went up to the rooftop lounge of the famous Rex Hotel for a well- deserved drink! The buffet up there was quite cheap and the food looked good but we weren’t hungry enough so we decided to wait until we got back on board.

Kota Kinabalu

Another private tour booked on the internet with KK tours by one of our friends.
Henry was our guide and he spoke good English. First he took us to the water village which was situated in a sea of mud with rubbish everywhere! The houses were on stilts and living conditions were poor and far from sanitary! I thought of my own very comfortable home and was thankful I didn’t live there! It was an interesting experience!
The next stop was a Chinese temple and then we arrived at the Monsopiad Cultural Village to see the headhunter’s house of skulls and the traditional cultural show. It was all very interesting and I would recommend this tour to anyone else.

Darwin

It was a very hot and humid day so we just went into the city for a look around. We took a taxi to Mindil beach and walked along the sands( no one swimming here because of the deadly box jellyfish!) It was New Year’s Day so there wasn’t too much happening. We were glad to get out of the heat and back into the ship’s air conditioning!

Cairns

We live in Queensland so we have visited here before. We decided to go to the little tourist town of Port Douglas with the Princess tour bus. It was another very hot day so we walked along the main street to Four Mile beach for an hour or so and back to the Old Court House hotel where we sat upstairs on the verandah and had a light lunch and a cool beer. The pretty coastal drive was about 40 minutes each way and we were back on the ship by 3.00pm.

Airlie Beach

We were lucky with the weather again! After a quick shower at the start it turned out to be a beautiful day.
We visited the markets first and then explored the town. It had changed for the better since we were last there many years ago. A new lagoon area and boardwalk had been added as well as extra sand on the little beach.
We were very fortunate to miss out on the floods that came to this area after our visit!

Brisbane

We stayed on the ship as we live just a one hour drive from here. We had the ship to ourselves for the day apart from a few others who probably lived there too. We sat around the pool, read our books and had a nice lunch. It was a very relaxing day.

Sydney

We were lucky to get a late disembarkation time as our flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast didn’t leave until 1.30pm. It was very well organised and on time but we had to wait almost an hour for a taxi as there were two other ships docked in Sydney that day. But that was fine as we had plenty of time before our flight home.

Summary

On this ship you can really “ Escape Completely” as they say in the Princess ads!
We had a fabulous time but we didn’t feel as though we had to join in everything. We used our balcony a lot and enjoyed watching the sailaways before dinner.

Meeting up with new friends from Cruise Critic really enhanced our cruise and we hope to meet some of them again soon.

We met some people who were rude to the staff and complained about everything but
you will always get those unhappy people on cruises or anywhere you travel – just move away from them! We met some lovely people on board and all were enjoying the cruise as much as we were.

We saw some parents who let their children run around unsupervised on the ship at night but we also met some very polite children who were well controlled by their parents.
I wish Princess would ban children from running around the bars and lounges late at night. It annoys adult passengers and it’s also dangerous when drinks are being served. There are lots of activities for children to enjoy throughout the day.

We are looking forward to our next cruise on the Sapphire Princess when she sails from Sydney to Los Angeles in April.

Trip review – Shanghai and Europe 2007

OUR TRIP TO SHANGHAI AND EUROPE INCLUDING A 24 DAY BACK TO BACK CRUISE ON THE CARNIVAL FREEDOM. APRIL 12TH -MAY 16TH 2007

It was our first visit to Shanghai – an amazing place with so much to see and do there! We used Frommer’s Shanghai walking tours to give us some idea of where to go and what to do.
We stayed in the Puxi side of the river which is the oldest part of Shanghai. The other side of the river is the more modern business area of Pudong and has two towers which are worth visiting, the Orient Pearl TV Tower and the Jin Mao Tower.

Andes,Peru & the Mexican Riviera

On the last leg of 3 cruises we will spend an exciting 18 days, aboard the brand new Carnival Splendor, on this Andes, Peru and Mexican Riviera cruise. It will visit some of the best ports in Peru, Ecuador, Mexico and the West Coast.

Visit http://www.carnival.com/splendor for details

Cape Horn & Strait of Magellan Cruise

On February 17th 2009 we will set sail on the second leg of our cruise. This will be a 14 day cruise around Cape Horn and Strait of Magellan on the Carnival Splendor with port calls in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.
Cruising friends will be joining us on this voyage so we are looking forward to enjoying it together with them!

Visit http://www.carnival.com/splendor for more details.

Caribbean, Brazil & Argentina

Departing on January 31st 2009 we will spend 17 days aboard the brand new Carnival Splendor on this exciting cruise. The cruise ports are in some of the most beautiful destinations in Dominica, Barbados, Brazil and Argentina.
This will be the first leg of our three cruises on the Carnival Splendor circumnavigating South America.

For further information please visit http://www.carnival.com/splendor

Cruise in Northern Europe

We will enjoy a Northern European voyage on August 30th 2008 aboard the brand new Carnival Splendor. We’ll visit some of Europe’s most interesting destinations in England, Denmark, Germany, Finland,Estonia,Russia and the Netherlands.
Some of our cruising friends will be joining us on this voyage so we are really looking forward to having a fun time with them!

For further details visit http://www.carnival.com/splendor/

Review coming soon!

Our next cruise to New England and Canada

In September we will be sailing on the Celebrity Constellation in New England and Canada.
This should be a good time to see the Fall colours both on the cruise and on our driving trip in New England. We’ll be staying in New York for three days and also in Niagara Falls and in Lititz PA. during our drive.
Just before we go on the cruise we’ll be spending a weekend with some cruising friends at their Rehoboth beach house so we are looking forward to the reunion.
The cruise will sail out of Cape Liberty,NJ to the ports of Newport R.I, Bar Harbor,Maine(where we’ll be meeting up with more cruising friends),Quebec City( 2 night stopover), Saguenay River (cruising),Halifax,(Nova Scotia),Portland (Maine),and Boston(Massachussets).

For more details on the ship visit http://celebritycruises.com/plancruise/ships/ship.do?shipCode=CS

I will be posting a review of this cruise in the near future. I’ve been so busy planning and researching for current holidays that I haven’t got around to this one yet!

Still cruising and haven’t got around to writing the review for this one yet. It was a wonderful cruise and the road trip was great!!

Brand new Ship

This is Carnivals latest ship.. Freedom, and the one we’ll be sailing on for the Med Cruise !