LIVE - World Cruise 2017

[Stumblefoot]

Highlights for us were touring the Hobbiton movie site near Tauranga and wine tours in the last three ports.

Bag Ends at Hobbiton

Love this! Will have to check it out one day.

[RachelG]

Loving the pics. The winery tour sounds just the ticket.

[alithecat]

We have good friends on the WC and enjoy reading about your adventure.

[tnt10]

Internet has been very spotty here in New Zealand. Will post more when we can.

 

Just a quick question, and I hope not a stupid one at that:

Is the Wi-Fi free for those needing to use the ships computers as well? Also, is this fleet wide or just on the Whisper?

Enjoying your review and pictures immensely!

tnt10

[Wellseasoned]

tnt10, we will dine with the HD this evening, so I will ask him about those wifi specifics.

 

We had a nice visit to Newcastle, Australia and went on a tour of the Hunter Valley, home to some 200 or more wineries. We visited two, sampling about six wines at each. The next early morning we had a spectacular sunny sail in to Sydney, passing under the Harbor Bridge and docking in the White Bay area, with a nice view of the ANZAC bridge and downtown Sydney.

 

The first day in Sydney we visited the Featherdale Wildlife Park and saw a wide variety of Australian animals and birds. Now I can say that I have stroked a wombat. The second day we did a gourmet icons tour which was quite tasty and pleasant. A visit to the Sydney Fish Market was amazing! I would have enjoyed spending a couple of weeks eating my way through it. Temperatures in Sydney were in the upper 90's F both days

 

Last night we had a lovely dinner at Hot Rocks with the Emtbsam's. The 10 PM sail away from Sydney was beautiful. Today we are in rough seas with rain and clouds, much cooler, headed for Burnie, Tasmania. My highlight so far today was lunch in Terrazza, having tasty raw oysters and crocodile curry. In two days we will be in Melbourne, end of segment day, with high temperatures predicted.

 

Captain DeStefano docking at Newcastle

 

Wine tasting in Hunter Valley

 

Sydney sail in

 

Sydney sail in

 

Wombat

[Wellseasoned]

Just a few more pictures.

 

ANZAC bridge from fish market

 

Sydney Fish Market

 

 

 

Sydney sail away

[rogerg43]

Hello Wellseasoned,

We have been following you/Silver Whisper since you left your first port. Throughly enjoyed you reports and pictures. Our reason for our following is two fold, we have never cruised before and are traveling Athens to Rome on the Silver Muse in July. Big event for us, first cruise, wife's 70th and our 52nd Anniversary! Next, we are visiting Silver Whisper at Port Melbourne on Thursday. We live 25km north east of Melbourne beside the Yarra River. We are sitting by the pool, 29 deg, looks to be even warmer on Thursday. Hope you enjoy Melbourne, looking forward to your continuing reports. Roger.

 

 

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[spinnaker2]

All reports sound fabulous. Love that wombat picture, but what is the animal?

🙊

[dusababy]

Lovely photos Wellseasoned -- thinking of dinner on deck - wish we were there.

Dusababy

[Stumblefoot]

Sydney sail in

Gorgeous! We'll have to do that sail in someday.

 

 

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[WesW]

Hi Dieter (and Debbie) wonderful posts/pix thanks for sharing. When we were in Sydney a few days ago our guide let us know the Sydney locals refer to the ANZAC bridge as Madonna's Bra. Today, we're one day out from Cairns and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.

 

 

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[RachelG]

All reports sound fabulous. Love that wombat picture, but what is the animal?

🙊

 

I believe the animal is a wombat.

[ging466]

Sydney locals refer to the ANZAC bridge as Madonna's Bra.

 

I've lived here all my life and NEVER heard of the ANZAC bridge being called Madonna's bra:confused: That's hilarious but it certainly looks like it from that pic posted.:)

 

The Sydney Harbour bridge is lovingly referred to as "The Coathanger".

 

You picked a great time to visit, the east coast has been sweltering in the heat all through January and now into February.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[Emtbsam]

We loved our time in Sydney despite the heat. The Royal Botanical Gardens are simply wonderful, and we wandered around for hours. David Jones department store is very nice with a great food court. Generally the Shopping in Sydney is wonderful with all of the major brands well represented and a whole host of local labels as well. We had the opportunity to get together with a passenger who got off in Sydney for a while, and his suggestions of where to go were spot on. We had a very authentic Hunan lunch and then wandered back to Circular Quay for the shuttle back to the ship.

 

Since our friends' apartment has a view of the harbor, we arranged to flick ourlights off and on as did they which made our departure from Sydney even that much more special. We are looking forward to spending more time in Sydney next year pre cruise.

 

We had dinner last evening with the Captain, two Austealian couples and a lady from Texas. THe Captain is a wonderful host, and it was a most enjoyable evening.

 

Today the weather was rough enough that our stop in Burnie, Tasmania was cancelled.

[ging466]

We are looking forward to spending more time in Sydney next year pre cruise.

 

Sorry to have missed you this year so will look forward to catching up with you next year!

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[Wellseasoned]

Is the Wi-Fi free for those needing to use the ships computers as well? Also, is this fleet wide or just on the Whisper?

Enjoying your review and pictures immensely!

tnt10

 

The computer use is also free on the ship's computers. But you must log in and out with each use. Using our own computer and I-pad we logged in once at the beginning of the cruise and have not had to log in again.

 

The unlimited free use for all is not fleet-wide at this point. The recently much improved internet system on the Whisper allows this, and it is a perk because this is the world cruise, even for those of us not doing the whole world cruise. Still, the HD believes that free unlimited internet will become standard on the fleet in the future.

 

Thanks to everyone for the kind words about posts and pictures! We are looking forward to Melbourne tomorrow.

 

Koala peekaboo

[tnt10]

The computer use is also free on the ship's computers. But you must log in and out with each use. Using our own computer and I-pad we logged in once at the beginning of the cruise and have not had to log in again.

 

The unlimited free use for all is not fleet-wide at this point. The recently much improved internet system on the Whisper allows this, and it is a perk because this is the world cruise, even for those of us not doing the whole world cruise. Still, the HD believes that free unlimited internet will become standard on the fleet in the future.

 

Thanks to everyone for the kind words about posts and pictures! We are looking forward to Melbourne tomorrow.

 

Koala peekaboo

 

Thanks! for the info on the computers!

How many Koala's are you sneaking home in your suitcases??

tnt10

[57 varieties]

Wi fi was free and unlimited on the Wind last week. It worked well at all times of day in the Caribbean.

 

 

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[Silver Spectre]

The computer use is also free on the ship's computers. But you must log in and out with each use. Using our own computer and I-pad we logged in once at the beginning of the cruise and have not had to log in again.

 

The unlimited free use for all is not fleet-wide at this point. The recently much improved internet system on the Whisper allows this, and it is a perk because this is the world cruise, even for those of us not doing the whole world cruise. Still, the HD believes that free unlimited internet will become standard on the fleet in the future.

 

Thanks to everyone for the kind words about posts and pictures! We are looking forward to Melbourne tomorrow.

 

Koala peekaboo

 

 

That's good to hear, and thanks for the photos

 

 

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[Master Echo]

Many thanks to you all for the continuing news and the lovely photos.

 

BTW, the word "Wombat" can be used as a derogatory term for someone who is dozy or dopey.

 

Pity that you were docked out at White Bay instead of having to get the shuttle to the iconic cruise terminal at Circular Quay from where we sailed in and out last September.

 

Embtsam - so pleased to hear that you enjoyed your time in Sydney. As I write we are sitting on the balcony of the Sheraton Iguazu gazing in awe at the Falls!! Never thought I would finally get to be here. Arrived earlier today, and doing a nine hour trip tomorrow, so it's bed time for us. We have Easter Island to follow, before collapsing in a heap no doubt, on the deck of Silver Spirit on February 20. Please give our love to Ana, Luke and Aimee.

 

Keep the logs and the pics coming. Love to all.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

[les37b]

Wi fi was free and unlimited on the Wind last week. It worked well at all times of day in the Caribbean.

 

 

Oooh.... Thats interesting!

 

5 weeks to go.... :D

 

Glad its all going well..... Sydney Harbour is such a great place.... I'd love a few of those waterfront properties so I could sell up and spend the rest of my days afloat on the Wind and others.

 

I spent many a day in Sydney City Centre on a year long working holiday.... and worked on a fruit and veg stall of all things to keep me tied over! Have a laugh.... see attached!

fruit-pic - oz.pdf

[Stumblefoot]

...and worked on a fruit and veg stall of all things to keep me tied over!

Are those Hass avocado's from Mexico?

[les37b]

Avo's from Queensland I'd imagine!

 

No idea. I just sold them!

[Emtbsam]

Yesterday, Melbourne was hot = 97F. Since we had been here before, we opted to walk through the Royal Gardens where we hoped it would be somewhat cooler. It wasn't. I melted, so we walked back to the city center for lunch and a bit of shopping in the air conditioned stores. Then instead of taking the 109 tram back to the port, we decided to take it in the other direction to the end of the line and see what the suburbs looked like. It was about a 40 minute drive through a variety of areas, one which featured an enormous Asian supermarket. Had it bee cooler, I might have gotten off the tram to explore it, but I was too tired to even consider it. During the ride, schools were getting out, so we had the opportunity to experience pre-teenage girls by the 100's, all in matching uniforms down to the shoes, back packs and hats. I was a non-touristy experience, and I highly recommend it if you want to see how people really live.

 

Back to the ship in time to see all the new faces on board and to have a cold drink before dinner in La Terrazza.

 

The ship now has around 310 passengers for this next leg to Bali. Today we are at sea and tomorrow we will be in Adelaide which I hope will be cooler than the 106F it was yesterday!

[Emtbsam]

Yesterday, Melbourne was hot = 97F. Since we had been here before, we opted to walk through the Royal Gardens where we hoped it would be somewhat cooler. It wasn't. I melted, so we walked back to the city center for lunch and a bit of shopping in the air conditioned stores. Then instead of taking the 109 tram back to the port, we decided to take it in the other direction to the end of the line and see what the suburbs looked like. It was about a 40 minute drive through a variety of areas, one which featured an enormous Asian supermarket. Had it been cooler, I might have gotten off the tram to explore, but I was too tired to even consider it. During the ride, schools were getting out, so we had the opportunity to experience pre-teenage girls by the 100's, all in matching uniforms down to the shoes, back packs and hats. We had a non-touristy experience, and I highly recommend it if you want to see how people really live.

 

Back to the ship in time to see all the new faces on board and to have a cold drink before dinner in La Terrazza.

 

The ship now has around 310 passengers for this next leg to Bali. Today we are at sea and tomorrow we will be in Adelaide which I hope will be cooler than the 106F it was yesterday!