Live from Majestic Princess 13 March 2019

[Geoffa30]

My partner (frflatt on CC) will be doing a blog from our cruise on the Majestic Princess around New Zealand which commences in Sydney on 13 March. We’ll be flying out to Sydney with Cathay Pacific from London on 3 March staying four nights in Sydney followed by four nights in Cairns before returning to Sydney for another night prior to our cruise. Will be staying at the Langham Sydney and the Pullman Reef in Cairns. 

 

He’s already started blogging in the lead up to our dream ‘once in a lifetime’  😉 trip Down Under. I’ll be providing proof reading / editorial / photographic services. Hopefully our friends on CC will be able to follow along. He will of course also be posting snippets here. If you’re interested please click http://livinglifeonecruiseatatime.blogspot.com

Edited February 24, 2019 by Geoffa30

[Colo Cruiser]

Cant wait! Thanks and Bon Voyage!  😎

[jwattle]

Looking forward to following along! Happy travels!

[PurpleTraveller]

I will be following along. Hope you have a wonderful trip and I still have my fingers crossed that you will get into the Sounds! 😊 Bon Voyage!!! 

[Married15]

We are doing this cruise in November, can't wait to hear about it!

[cnd crsr]

Enjoy! It is a fantastic part of the world to explore. I will be following along.

[Geoffa30]

We’re edging closer to our Majestic Princess cruise. Currently in Cairns having had four amazing days in Sydney. Will be visiting the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow then flying back to Sydney on Tuesday before boarding the Majestic on Wednesday. Our pre-cruise days are our first non-cruise holiday since 2014. Living somewhat out of a suitcase and having to make decisions around where to go for dinner etc. make us realise how much we love cruising. You can read about our trip so far in the blog linked in my first post above. Once we’re on the ship, we’ll be posting here too, Internet permitting of course.

[emmak8]

I'm looking forward to your postings. I'm especially interested in learning about how you like the Majestic. I sailed her in 2017, 35 days from Barcelona to Singapore. Great memories and exotic ports!

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review and photos.

[SFO-F/A]

On 2/24/2019 at 8:28 AM, Geoffa30 said:

My partner (frflatt on CC) will be doing a blog from our cruise on the Majestic Princess around New Zealand which commences in Sydney on 13 March. We’ll be flying out to Sydney with Cathay Pacific from London on 3 March staying four nights in Sydney followed by four nights in Cairns before returning to Sydney for another night prior to our cruise. Will be staying at the Langham Sydney and the Pullman Reef in Cairns. 

 

He’s already started blogging in the lead up to our dream ‘once in a lifetime’  😉 trip Down Under. I’ll be providing proof reading / editorial / photographic services. Hopefully our friends on CC will be able to follow along. He will of course also be posting snippets here. If you’re interested please click http://livinglifeonecruiseatatime.blogspot.com

 

 

Thanks for posting the link to your blog.  It's very informative.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more.  

We won't be on Majestic Princess until February 2020, and will spend time in Sydney before we sail.

Any information about the ship and Sydney is what I'm interested in.

Will keep following you, 

SFO-F/A

Edited March 12, 2019 by SFO-F/A

[PescadoAmarillo]

I just saw this post and spent an enjoyable bit of time reading your blog and catching up. I love that part of the world and am really enjoying not only reading about your adventures but also the way you write about them. Thank you for taking the time to do it!

[Calabazar]

Following. We will be boarding as you are disembarking.  

 

I have enjoyed your previous blog posts and am looking forward to seeing what you have to say about both the Majestic and NZ. My daughter and I did that cruise in January and loved it and the ship, hoping you will too!

[c7009]

We get on after you disembark...14 more days. I saw her sail out of Hobart last evening. Seems surreal that she goes to NZ and back in that time. Enjoy your cruise, NZ is a lovely place. I look forward to your blog.

[Frflatt]

6 hours ago, SFO-F/A said:

 

 

Thanks for posting the link to your blog.  It's very informative.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more.  

We won't be on Majestic Princess until February 2020, and will spend time in Sydney before we sail.

Any information about the ship and Sydney is what I'm interested in.

Will keep following you, 

SFO-F/A

 

Thank you - I have fun writing it and am glad to share it with you; I hope you find it helpful

[Frflatt]

5 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I just saw this post and spent an enjoyable bit of time reading your blog and catching up. I love that part of the world and am really enjoying not only reading about your adventures but also the way you write about them. Thank you for taking the time to do it!

 

Thank you, I’m a fan of your blogs and always enjoy reading about your great adventures, glad to have you following along.  Finding blogspot difficult to use on the iPad, especially adding the pictures as I can’t get the page to scroll - any hints and tips gratefully received - I’m using safari do you use an app to edit posts?

[Frflatt]

4 hours ago, Calabazar said:

Following. We will be boarding as you are disembarking.  

 

I have enjoyed your previous blog posts and am looking forward to seeing what you have to say about both the Majestic and NZ. My daughter and I did that cruise in January and loved it and the ship, hoping you will too!

 

Thank you, glad to have you following along - Only 24 hours until we board, exciting!

[Frflatt]

52 minutes ago, c7009 said:

We get on after you disembark...14 more days. I saw her sail out of Hobart last evening. Seems surreal that she goes to NZ and back in that time. Enjoy your cruise, NZ is a lovely place. I look forward to your blog.

 

Thankyou 😎

[PescadoAmarillo]

6 hours ago, Frflatt said:

 

Thank you, I’m a fan of your blogs and always enjoy reading about your great adventures, glad to have you following along.  Finding blogspot difficult to use on the iPad, especially adding the pictures as I can’t get the page to scroll - any hints and tips gratefully received - I’m using safari do you use an app to edit posts?

Thank YOU!  

 

I use an app called BlogTouch Pro. It costs something (less than $5 I think). You’re right, the scrolling issue makes it nearly impossible to edit directly on blogspot.com, either in Safari or Chrome (which you would think would be able to handle it since it’s Google). I also tried two other browsers and they didn’t work either. 

 

Using BlogTouch Pro on the iPad, I can type in landscape mode on the iPad directly in the app. Adding photos is very easy, and it allows you to set a standard size for them to appear in the posts (I set a default size for landscape photos and have to manually. adjust for portrait photos). But, on the iPhone, a landscape keyboard is not supported in the app.  Lately I’ve been doing most of my writing on my iPhone (because I start it during waits for shows in the Princess Theater), so I type in Word and then copy and paste it into BlogTouch Pro. I’m not a teen...I can’t type entire posts in portrait mode!

 

i wouldn’t try to blog on an iDevice any other way, and so I strongly suggest you buy the app. Don’t be scared off by the reviews...I tried every app available before I paid for this one, and it’s the only one that reliably works on a iDevice, and its developer provides excellent, fast support when it doesn’t (usually because Google has made a change that negatively affects the app). 

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[lola2013]

Geoff,

I've seen some of your great photos already on Instagram...looking forward to this review.  

Susan

[Geoffa30]

Typically the internet service on the ship is proving to be pretty substandard. (Oh for the day that Medallion Net is available throughout the Princess fleet.) As a result we have only been able to post updates to the blog linked in the first post above. We are also falling behind by a few days. Sorry about this. 

 

Needless to say, we are having a great cruise despite some minor negatives. One thing we have discovered is that New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and we plan to do a longer more in depth land tour here one day soon. It is somewhere everyone should experience in their life if at all possible.

[PurpleTraveller]

I have just seen the fabulous photos of the Sounds! I am so pleased that you got there and that you had such beautiful weather. All that finger crossing must have worked. 😄 Hope the rest of your trip is just as wonderful. 

 

[Geoffa30]

Just back on the ship after a great day in Napier. Had a tour of the Art Deco architecture followed by tastings at a couple of wineries then a selection of craft beers. Lunch of fish and chips at a local hostelry. Back at the ship there was a welcoming committee of classic cars and a band playing in a 30s style.

 

Wonderful place.

 

 

[Geoffa30]

59 minutes ago, PurpleTraveller said:

I have just seen the fabulous photos of the Sounds! I am so pleased that you got there and that you had such beautiful weather. All that finger crossing must have worked. 😄 Hope the rest of your trip is just as wonderful. 

 

 

Thanks for that. According to Captain Dino Sagani we have had the best weather of the Majestic’s New Zealand cruises this season. Fingers crossed (again) that this continues for the remaining five days. Off to Hobbiton tomorrow.

[SFO-F/A]

On 3/19/2019 at 2:18 AM, Geoffa30 said:

Typically the internet service on the ship is proving to be pretty substandard. (Oh for the day that Medallion Net is available throughout the Princess fleet.) As a result we have only been able to post updates to the blog linked in the first post above. We are also falling behind by a few days. Sorry about this. 

 

Needless to say, we are having a great cruise despite some minor negatives. One thing we have discovered is that New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and we plan to do a longer more in depth land tour here one day soon. It is somewhere everyone should experience in their life if at all possible.

 

 

Last year we spent 2 weeks in New Zealand on a land trip, renting a car and driving the North and South Island.  We were amazed at the beauty of the country and the kindness of the people.   I highly recommend a land trip, spending more time on the islands and seeing what else New Zealand has to offer.  You will love it.

Edited March 20, 2019 by SFO-F/A

[Geoffa30]

A few pictures from our day in Akaroa. We did a Princess Excursion - Canterbury High Country by 4WD and Jet Boat - pretty expensive but a great day all the same. The actual town of Akaroa looked like a really quaint place but the excursion was a full day so we didn’t get chance to properly explore. Will definitely do so when we return in a few years. The people of New Zealand are so friendly and are rightly really proud of their country.

 

Edited March 22, 2019 by Geoffa30