OzKiwiJJ

Does your phone allow WiFi Calling? We'd had problems overseas last year with our old phones but so far it seem to be working on Coral Princess with our new phones. Fingers crossed it will stay that way for the whole cruise. We tend to just use the debit card we have specifically for overseas travel to just withdraw cash when needed, and use a credit card for everything else. However we have been warned not to use credit cards in Cape Town. Hopefully we can safely get some cash there otherwise I won't be able to buy a fridge magnet!

Oh no! I'm really sorry to hear that, Les. Wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery with no lingering after-effects. Take care, mate. 😘

A lot of small businesses took a financial hit when most people stopped paying in cash during Covid so I can understand why they have added the charge. I don't like it though.

We did Brisbane to Cairns many years ago when they still operated Queenslander Class on the trains - pullman sleeper cabins, lounge/bar carriage, dining carriage. It was great, similar to the Indian Pacific but only 30 hours. I can't remember what it cost but it wasn't cheap. Although they now only have sleeper seats if you like train travel it would be worth doing once.

Oddly enough that wasn't noticeable by eye. It's also in the first picture if you look closely.

The problem with doing passport control at sea is that two Border Force officers were committed to only that one task and therefore were out of action for several days. With more ships doing the NZ /Australia runs they needed those people available to process more than one ship in that time frame. Our last cruise with onboard processing was in 2017. In 2019 the passport processing was done in Hobart.

Our afternoon in the Sanctuary was cut short by a passing squall but just before we left there was a gorgeous rainbow right off the stern of the ship. I've never seen a rainbow that close before.

It depends on what we're doing each day. Today they were collecting passports for the Mauritius stop so we had to get back to our cabin by 9am but usually on sea days we have breakfast in the MDR unless we sleep in too late. On ports days we often have to go to the buffet if we're doing an early excursion.

Not me! We got up there about 8am.

I hope not! 🤣

There was a rare sighting of the elusive Greater Red Twinings E.B. in the buffet this morning. 🤣

We're into day 2 of the crossing to Mauritius. It's still cool but just warm enough to have our first day in the Sanctuary. We've noticed the Bordeaux MDR has been a lot quieter after 7pm over the last three nights. Prior to that it was chocka at that time, and Good Spirits is quieter too. The early show times may account for the pattern change or maybe people have just found their ideal evening routines. We've been doing morning trivia and progressive trivia with mixed success but we're having fun. Afternoon tea has just arrived so bye for now!

You're just as likely to get better pours if you get to know the bartender well - as we did on Royal Princess in 2017. We ended up having predinner drinks most nights, along with a couple of our dinner companions, at the small Princess Live bar. The bartender must have liked us as he started free-pouring the spirits when making cocktails. His Captain's Bounty cocktail, which has four types of rum (usually a half nip of each) was lethal! 🤣

Consequently the cabin is narrower where the sofa is. I means they can squeeze more cabins in per deck.

However I believe they are now considered a non-native invasive species in NZ as they are invading habitats of native birds. Very sad as they are so pretty and they are a legume so nitrogen-fixing in soil. At one stage they were planted in cleared forestry sections to improve the soil before replanting.