KYBOB

Thanks for your comments! I have been down and out with the flu for a couple of weeks then my wife's mother fell and had to be in the hospital for a week which has left us drained physically and emotionally too. She is better and back home now but we are just beginning to recover from it. As to Qantas we found the service much better than any of the US carriers, to us the service on Qantas both the international (business) and (in economy) domestic flights was by far better than the US carriers in any class. But do not know what it was like before to compare just the contrast to US carriers. On our next trip we will be trying out British Airways, Kenya Airlines, Delta and American first class on long haul flights. The Kenya leg of the trip will be the shortest flight of a little over 4 hours but on the same plane 787 as the others to compare service.

A polarizing filter will be very useful on a sunny day because it will cut down the glare off the water. It even helps when you are not even near the water in cutting down reflections in tree leaves on sunny days. Over cast days could be removed. I tend to always leave a polarizer filter on my lens all the time and have one for each lens I have and use it as the so called "protection" filter where a lot of people use a UV filter for that. The other thing a polarizer filer will do is help bring out reflections in the water for a very dramatic effect.

The next stop was Wellington. Here in the morning we went to a ‘farm’ outside of town that was the location for the US troops base. The Owner was a real character who told stories of that time when the troops where there. One thing we did learn that had significance later in the day was when we were on the City tour was about the US Marine flag hanging in the church in town.

Oh horrors!!!! I just found some photos I took on New Years Eve of dinner that night and Champagne water fall. We both had the surf and turf (steak and lobster) it was wonderful. We in a mini-suite in the Reserve Collection (AKA Club Class) so we ate in the dinning area. We found the food there was really good. This does bring up one topic that we found that some things on the Royal that we had on the Grand not just 4 month earlier were very different. One very notable change between the two ships was the pastries - on the Grand we had nice flaky pastries and consonants but in the Royal they were more 'bread' like. We at first thought well this must be an Aussie thing kind of like the bacon which if you are a US citizen it comes in strips crisply cooked. (at least the fat is translucent not white) Aussie bacon is like they take the bacon out of the fridge, kiss the grill with it and put it on the plate. OMG it about choked me the first time I tried to eat some. You could see the Americans digging the rubbery mess looking for something cooked. But once we were off the ship every place we stayed through out Australia had flaky pastries that were a 1000 percent better. Bacon NO. We hope this is not fleet wide now but just the Royal and they need a new pastry chief. It was one of the things we enjoyed the most about our breakfast in the mornings. Oh we did learn the 'correct' way to eat Vegemite lots of butter and kind of wave (actually dab) the Vegemite over the bread.

We were again up early to watch the ship come in at Lyttelton the port city for Christchurch. To get to Christchurch there was a tunnel almost directly opposite where the ship docked. You go through the tunnel and you come out in Christchurch. The building you will see on top of the mountain is the tram. You have to go through the tunnel to access it. Today we were off on one of the most adventurous tours we have ever. Done, a jet boat ride up the Waimakariri River. Billed as “the birth place of jet boats”. The ride was amazing full of 360 spins and all. Just was too short. We missed riding one of these in Alaska but to ride one here was a special experience. After the jet boat ride we took a 4x4 up into the hills for some incredible views. We returned via Christchurch for a quick drive through town. If we return this would be a place we would like to come to spend some time.

Here are a few more shots as we left Port Chalmers we really enjoyed our time here. After the ports of Alaska and the Caribbean with all the jewelry stores and t-shirt shops it was nice to be in a port unspoiled, what we first enjoyed about cruising when we first started so many years ago.

Our first land fall was Port Chalmers - Dunedin, we were up bright and early to watch the ship pull into port. We had breakfast in the room to save time and avoid the buffet. The Majestic Princess was in front of us as we pulled in and docked first. We docked at the dock closes to the town hall where the craft fair is held. If you get the chance the craft fair is worth seeing, lots of local vendors with some very unique items. For this port we took the ships tour to Olveston House and Larnach Castle. At Larnach Castle we had “Tea” and learned from some Aussies how to correctly put jam on our scones. Supposedly cream first then jam is the Queens way. (This was a very debated discussion among our table mates) We stayed out if this conversation in that this was our very first “Tea” with scones. We have had tea before just not a “Tea”. Both houses were very unique from each other and were very interesting to see. We made it back to Port Chalmers still in time to visit some of the town and see the craft fair. We unfortunately missed packing a few needed items that we picked up at the drug store there in town. We did also a quick tour of the grocery store there too, which had a lot of interesting things. Since we were the last ship in we would also be the last to leave which was nice to watch the Majestic leave port. The next stop Lyttelton - Christchurch.

I have started posting a trip report of our cruise to New Zealand with land tour of Australia. We left Dec 25th and returned January 21, 2024. I am posing a link here because of all the helpful posts I read before our trip on this board. One thing that I could not find any where was how a Princess land tour in Australia was, flight information, baggage information, etc. There is a lot posted on Alaska land tours but noting on Australian land tours. For instance the information from Princess is a direct copy of the same information provided on an Alaska land tour (which we have taken in 2023 so still have the copies of that information) I will have copies of all the information Princess and the tour operator handed out to us on this tour. Some of which I wish we had before we left it answered a lot of questions we had and I have seen others ask about here. The bags being a big one. The information found on the Princess web site is useless, for instance, the carry on bag size. you will be flying on Qantas domestic. We took our normal roll on hard sided bags (international dimensions AKA the 21") and a personal item (me - camera bag under the seat, wife backpack) plus one each checked bag. No issues. The question on weight, If your bag is bigger than a hard size international sized roll on and the back pack stuffed to the gills yes they will look at it. But my camera bag which fit under the seat (ie was small) weighed a ton like 25-27lbs (2 camera bodies, 4 lens, batteries, chargers, laptop, ipad) never weighed once. I also never made eye contact and tried to board middle of the pack had my ticket out stuck it in the scanner and went on. Hesitate and you might be lost. We only once had to check our roll on and that was because the ticket agent at the counter did not know the correct plane size. The agent on the counter next to us told her we did not have to check them right as they disappeared out of sight down the conveyor. We had a great time and enjoyed every minute. But there were a few things If we would have known would have turned out even better. Cheers!!

Next two days our crossing of the Tasmanian Sea was rather calm considering all we had heard people say about this part of the voyage. Those wanting something like the inside passage of Alaska sailing this would not be that calm nor the calm sea of the Caribbean. We made it to the entrance to Milford Sound just as the fog lifted, but then it started raining which most would think would be bad. But our balcony was under the walkway protecting it from the rain somen. The other good thing was the rain was really coming down making the water falls to be really flowing, to the point it sounded like a plane taking off. The sound was amazingly loud and awe inspiring.

The next morning we met the driver and one other couple for our short ride to the cruise terminal. For some reason our medallions were not shipped to us and we had to pick them up at the port. I am assuming / guessing here but I think it had to do with needing to see our passports and visas since we are from the US? From pickup to on the ship including picking up out medallions took about 45min. So we had 15 minutes to kill before the dining room opened for lunch with anticipation growing for the orange soufflé! We watched the lifeboat drill videos and checked in to our life boat station. It was then time for lunch. After lunch the room was ready for us, complete with bags. We unpacked and settled in for the next 13 days. With 2 sea days at the beginning we hoped to get more oriented to the time some 16 hours in the future for us. We did not have to much trouble adjusting but going back home was another story.

This will be our second cruise on the Royal Princess the last time was a B2B in the Caribbean for 20 days. I was up before dawn to watch the Royal Princess enter the bay and slide past the opera house turn and dock across from the opera house, what sight to see.

Sorry the PDF did not post right

Sorry forgot the warning there will be food porn, if this offends you please look away. Going through customs was very easy, we had applied several months ago for our e-visas for both Australia and New Zealand. We scanned our passports at a kiosk and were through, we picked up our bags and then through the declaration control (similar to going to Hawaii) no fruits, plants, etc. (we had some trail mix was better to declare it to be safe). Since we were coming in day early we had arranged through Princess a pre-cruise hotel (The Four Seasons Sydney with great views of the opera house and bridge!) and transfer from the airport to hotel and then hotel to ship. We exited from the formalities and according to the information from Princess we were to meet the Princess representative as you exit, if not at another location just down from that. I was looking to someone with a Princess clipboard because the information said we would be given our “hotel packet and transfer information” of the next day to the ship. Well looked around asked the information person if they knew where the Princess rep would be. We were told to go to the other location listed in the information we were sent. Nothing. So we started to walk back to where we were and my wife spotted a man holding a board with our name on it. That was our driver. So all good we made it to the hotel. But no packet on where to meet the next day. So we walked around some got tired and went back to the hotel and took a 6 hour nap. Woke up and it was dark and after 6:30 that evening. We went downstairs for dinner had great meal. After dinner we went to the front desk to enquire about our packet, etc or where to meet and when fro the transfer to the ship. The front desk knew nothing. Just as we got back the room someone slid under the door a letter on where and when to meet for the ship transfer.

On the following pages there will be an account of our Princess New Zealand cruise / Australian land tour (AKA 21 day Ultimate Australian Outback). A little over a week before we were to leave we received a call that one of the land destinations would be canceled - Darwin. Instead they added an additional day at Uluru and Sydney. So we would have 2 days at Cairns, 2 at Uluru and 3 at Sydney. Being “seasoned cruisers” and travelers especially during the holidays and this time of year flew in a day before the cruise and also added 4 nights in Sydney once the “land portion ended” to see more of Sydney. Little back ground here, this was an epic trip for us in that we had been wanting to go to Australia for over 34 years, and we were supposed to go there on our honeymoon. Back then we had researched everything we could and even bought a puzzle of Australia which we framed and is hanging in our house. So for us this trip was in a way very surreal to actually be seeing and visiting the actual sites in the puzzle that has been hanging on our wall for so many years. We had already booked this trip before our last cruise as a omen there was a photo in our room of the Sydney Opera House. I did not use EZAir since I wanted to be guaranteed the flight I wanted, we had and experience on our Alaska trip that they moved our flights so many times and I did not want a tour of the US before we left and we also wanted Business Class ( I am a fluffy person and need the room, economy for 16 hours would not be a good thing). We left Lexington, Ky on December 25th, 2023, it was a cold and rainy day, but at least it was not snowing. The flight from Lexington to Dallas was on time, we arrived in Dallas way before our Qantas flight from Dallas to Sydney left. So we found the Whataburger (a Texas's Mecca for hamburgers and shakes, yes born a Texan always a Texan) and then the American Airlines Flagship lounge. We hung out there for over 4 hours I was settling in to watch and movie I had downloaded when they announced boarding for our flight. We headed to the gate and proceeded to board in row 7 and settle in changed into our Qantas PJ’s!!! We had dinner then off to sleep. I woke up a couple times and had some treats from the galley and midnight snack. Then back to sleep, they woke us up about 2 hours out for breakfast and change back into street clothes.

Looks like many of the same excursions we have booked for our cruise this September on the Regal. So looking forward to it, we had this cruise booked but COVID canceled it for us. So just now getting to schedule it again.

There was no difference in rooms among the group we all stayed together in the same building / floor. To make it easier for bag pickup in the morning. The difference was at Fairbanks we actually were in the Fairbanks Riverside lodge (some of the non escorted were in a hotel across town), Denali we were in the newer building at the top of the hill, at McKinley the building was just behind the theater. Kenai we all seem to have the rooms with king size beds instead of doubles and Copper River which is a smaller lodge we were on all the second floor ( a win in my mind in that nobody walking on my head).

Just got back from Sydney and loved every minute of it. I cannot say enough about the city and the people we met there. We did the Blue Mountain tour booked directly with Andersen tours it was a limited small group tour to only 20 people. They picked us up at our hotel which was one of the pick up points. Our guide got us to all the various look outs and rides at Scenic World before all the large crowds got there. Which made it seem at each stop it was only our little group was there. But I noticed that just as we would leave bigger busses, like 3 or 4, would start to arrive and massive amounts of people would pour out. The tour did include to go to a zoo which was nice to see all the native Australian animals and have a good photo taken with a Koala. The ferry ride is of a faster way to get back to the CBD area of Sydney than sitting in traffic and better views than sitting on the bus. It is the “fast ferry” which only had a few stops from where we go on before ending at Barangaroo where there are numerous restaurants and other things to see in Darling Harbor. We had dinner and walked around some before hopping another ferry to Circular Quay which was next to our hotel. I will say the Zoo on this tour is very small but will get you closer to the animals, after having done the Taronga Zoo where we walked over 6.75 miles just in side the zoo and we skipped the kids area. I would say it was worth it if you do not have a whole day to spend at the Taronga Zoo.

We did the connoisseur 10 day land and 7 day cruise in August of 2023 and it was amazing. We enjoyed it so much that we still talk about it and enjoyed the people we traveled with in our group that we met. Our guide kept us entertained and informed as to when we had to be somewhere including our excursions. On the train our group had our own car which was more spacious and better seats than the non escorted groups. Also our rooms seemed to be the ‘nicer’ ones or better locations. She also like mentioned above made our dinner reservations for us at the ‘nicer’ restaurants at the larger lodges where our meals were included. At some stops for lunch she had maps for us showing restaurants or things to see and do during those stops. We found out through talking to some on the unescorted tours they could not get reservations at those restaurants. The non escorted tours the people did not seem to know were to go or what to do. To me it seems they are just provided transportation from each point and when you got off the bus a room key and when to meet for the next bus to the next lodge. To me our guide Rachel Moody was worth every penny it cost extra she made our trip so effortless and made it into an amazing trip.

Well I am headed off to Australia Ito get on a New Zealand cruise in a couple of weeks (leave Dec 25th). It seems I am taking trips where there is some restriction on what I can take lately. Going to Australia and the cruise portion we have no restrictions on carry on luggage other than one carry on and one personal item. But we are doing a land tour of Australia and the flights we are limited on weight. Well the kit it took to Alaska weighs too much and once again the size is an issue. Much to my wife's aggravation I need a new bag!! She now says I have more camera bags than she has hand bags. The bag I have found is amazing and which if I had for the Alaska trip would have been so much better. It is Gura Gear Chobe, and I am going to wear a photo vest to get some of the lens on the plane. For this trip it is going to be A1 and A7RV 70-200 f/4 24-70 f/2.8 14mm f/1.4 16-35mm /2.8 And yes for this trip a tripod! We are going to Uluru for Sunrise and sun set. I also will do some astro photography either before sun rise or sun set.

Thanks! We are going to be on a Safari in South Africa for over three weeks and on the “way home” we have to fly through London to get back home. When COVID hit we had to cancel our British isles cruise so rather than fly home then fly back for a cruise someday thought since we have to fly through London had an 11 hour layover, why not just stop and do the cruise on the way home. We would then only have the additional cost of the cruise. Kind of get the most out of the airfare cost as we could. The issue has now become how to get “cruise ware” clothes for that part to London. The commercial flights the luggage would be a non issue, but on the planes to get to the safari locations are so small we can only take a duffle bag with clothes for about 5 days and the camera bag which is as big as the duffle bag. No casual or formal ware are needed for the safari but for the cruise…

Has anybody shipped their luggage from the US to a London pre-cruise hotel? If so how did it work and how long before the trip was it sent?

We have been staying at the Hilton Marina for over 13 years and is my favorite hotel for one big reason and one smaller. We always get a room on the cruise port side to watch the ships go in and out. the ships start rolling in around 5:00am a beautiful sight with all the lights and so quiet. The other reason is the water taxi stops right at the hotel. The last time we were there last year at Christmas they were working on renovating the restaurant. But we usual eat at the restaurant behind the hotel on 15th Street Fisheries. The hotel also has several different room types and styles which the higher up in the hotel the nicer the room. The only thing we have noticed over the years is check in/out on cruise day is getting very congested. The last time we stayed at the Embassy which was a long time ago we did not care for all the noise coming up from lobby and kids running around. Before that we stayed in Pompano Beach Embassy which is a ways from the port and air port.

Yes, that 300mm /f2.8 looks mighty interesting. Has me thinking do I really need it? I already have the 200-600, 100-400 and 600mm /f4. But I was already thinking about the 400 f2.8 and it is half the cost so ……just maybe….

So what happens if it weighs over 15#? I have a camera bag and if I add my laptop I am at 19#. Also are the flights on Qantas or Jetstar?

I have taken this cruise twice, loved every minute of it. I know nothing about Canon cameras (DSLRs or mirrorless) but my suggestion would be get a mid range mirrorless body and a 24-70/f2.8 or 24-105 range to go with your 70-200. Those are my go to lens for just about anything non-wildlife. For video the iPhone works great but kind of a pain to have your phone tied up doing a Timelapse, for that the old GoPro is great for this and you can pick up and older model kind of cheap. But the 11 delivers some amazing video and is easy to program for time lapse shots. Only thing is kind of have to watch battery life. I am not sure this is possible or not but would be great to plug external battery into it for long time lapse. Other wise you have to shove batteries in it every 45-60 min. Ok I do have one Canon non SLR camera and suggestion, is to go super light and small is the Canon G7 X Mark iii it is a great little pocket camera that allows control over the settings and has good quality photos, zoom range is good nothing too extreme. It is an older model but is decent autofocus. Also shoots video. A lot of YouTubers use this camera for video. So is kind of a good at stills and video. I think Sony has a model similar but is a little more pricy. These would be my suggestions. But I am a drag your kitchen sink along kind of guy. I would freak out with just one camera and a phone. ( which I will admit the iPhone 13 Pro is not bad )