We are arriving at Cairns in the next hour or so. Staying onboard in Cairns tonight.
The scuttlebutt is that there is a problem with the impellers, but that info may be worth what it costs.
The problem there being that if you are only, or mainly, interested in cruises, you end up effectively paying for two holidays. The cruise and an airfare/accommodation package that you don't really need.
I avoid jugglers, comedians and hypnotists like the plague.
We are skipping Port Douglas and going straight to Cairns. I suspect that this is related to the missing of Conflict. No tendering due to some kind of failure perhaps.
I didn't see anything like that, but I wasn't looking since I'd already decided the internet package wasn't worth it.
I've been posting whenever a signal appears on my mobile. Which is not often on this cruise. 😀
We were supposed to leave at 4 pm but we were held up as they couldn't retrieve a tender from the water until nearly 6pm. Part of the joy of being on a 30 year old ship.
Off to Port Douglas now.
In Darwin today. Hot and fiercely sunny. The ship is in good condition for her age. The public areas look more stylish than they did with Princess.
Food continues to be a bugbear for me. The free venues just aren't up to it. The food there is consistently disappointing. They have the ingredients, they have the workforce, I'm just coming around to believing that they need a Gordon Ramsay in the galley.
If the question concerns $1 or $2 tips, the answer is that crew generally do not want coins. If I tip it is at the end of a cruise and either a $50 or $20 note depending on cruise length.
I'm onboard Explorer right now in Fremantle about to cast off.
Weather is sunny, if a bit cool. The ship is looking surprisingly good. Coral Princess is tied up next door.
The food is unsurprisingly poor, so far.
I've got an Explorer cruise on Sunday, but that's not winter.
I find that winter in the islands or Cairns tend to be a bit tepid and just doesn't have that tropical feel. I'm saving my pennies for summer cruises.
It was said by Mark Twain, but he himself attributed it to Benjamin Disraeli.
But Disraeli is not known to have ever said it.
It seems to one of those sayings that appear out of nowhere that everyone thinks was said by someone famous.