BON VOYAGE Coral Princess World Cruisers 2024

[MicCanberra]

We have a magic bed here, I always find the bed made no matter what time I get up.

[sewgood]

5 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

We have a magic bed here, I always find the bed made no matter what time I get up.

 

I don't have one of those magic beds at home but when I'm on a cruise I always have one as well as a magic bathroom.

And those magic menus definitely don't work at home either as I see my husband with a dazed look in his eyes wondering when he's going to be handed the menu.

[ceeceeDee]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

A blue whale sighting would be more exciting but then you wouldn't see one of them in the buffet.

Wanna make a bet?!🤣

[ceeceeDee]

31 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

We have a magic bed here, I always find the bed made no matter what time I get up.

Yes Darren thinks the same. I opine that he's convinced it's a close relative of the self cleaning oven.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Cbtours said:

Thats earlier than we make it. So do you mix it up for breakfast? MDR and buffet? 

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.

[OzKiwiJJ]

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.

 

Edited May 8 by OzKiwiJJ

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

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.

 

Wow that’s amazing. Great pics

[ceeceeDee]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

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.

 

That's awesome!

[MicCanberra]

Nice bow

[Blackduck59]

Nice photos with the last one showing a faint 2nd rainbow 🌈 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Blackduck59 said:

Nice photos with the last one showing a faint 2nd rainbow 🌈 

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

[ceeceeDee]

9 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Nice photos with the last one showing a faint 2nd rainbow 🌈 

Well spotted! I was so enamored with the 'principal' rainbow I didn't see it's delicate sibling.🙄🙂

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Coral Princess alongside in Port Louis, Mauritius today:

 

 

[arxcards]

14 minutes ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

Coral Princess alongside in Port Louis, Mauritius today:

 

 

 

It looks like she is berthed on the dock. A bit of that going around today. The auroras are spectacular, but GPS has larger margin of error.

[boeckli]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

It looks like she is berthed on the dock. A bit of that going around today. The auroras are spectacular, but GPS has larger margin of error.

 

Not so. The white areas are the water and the darker ones the land.  Screenshot of corresponding satellite map below. 

Rather confusing on Marine Traffic these days 

 

Edited May 13 by boeckli

[arxcards]

5 minutes ago, boeckli said:

 

Not so. The white areas are the water and the darker ones the land.  Screenshot of corresponding satellite map below. 

Rather confusing on Marine Traffic these days 

 

Ahh yes, too true.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Progress report Tuesday 14th May.

 

After Fremantle we settled back into our sea day routine - lots of trivia, coffee and a bit of quiet time in our cabin. However on this section we added afternoons spent in the Sanctuary. At first it was layers and blankets, but after a few days it warmed up but not quite enough to swim.

 

Yesterday was our first international port stop, at Port Louis in Mauritius. What a fascinating place! We only saw a small part of it on our "Journey into Local Culture" tour which visited several interesting places.

 

Nelson Mandela Centre.

This consisted of two buildings: a lovely old tower building made of volcanic rock and a newer building. 

 

 

 

There was an art exhibition which included art from both international and local artists including some very moving pen and ink sketches showing scenes from the early colonisation days days of slavery and indentureship. There were a number of paintings, sculptures, etc. We really loved one painting of a hawk rising from fire and were able to chat to the artist about it.

 

As well there was a demonstration of the local Sega music and dance which developed as a form of communication between workers from many different countries. Then we had a chance to play the hand drums.

 

 

Aapravasi Ghat

This is among the oldest of the entry and transit points for indentured labourers. One building is now set up as a museum with displays covering the history of the building and artefacts that had been discovered

 

Hindu Temple

Although a fairly standard Hindu Temple this one was primarily used by the Tamil people so had some slightly different statues. It was a very tranquil spot.

 

 

Next we drove through some of the shopping streets of Port Louis including Chinatown, a street full of hardware stores, an Indian precinct which included some gorgeous clothing stores, and lots of restaurants and eateries.

 

Our final stop before lunch was at a Statue of the Virgin Mary high on a hill. There were great views over city from here.

 

We had an excellent lunch of local cuisine - curries and various other dishes all of which were very tasty. It was accompanied by a choice of drink - we opted for an icy local lager which was very refreshing in the heat.

 

We hadn't had a chance to shop anywhere but there was a small souvenir shop at the cruise terminal so I was able to buy a fridge magnet - a rather cute Dodo.

 

 

All in all it was an excellent excursion. We learnt a lot about the history of Mauritius from our guide as we travelled from place to place. Port Louis is not a place I would ever want to drive in, the traffic was crazy. Luckily buses are bigger than cars, motorcycles and pedestrians so most of those chose to give way.

[Cbtours]

3 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Progress report Tuesday 14th May.

 

After Fremantle we settled back into our sea day routine - lots of trivia, coffee and a bit of quiet time in our cabin. However on this section we added afternoons spent in the Sanctuary. At first it was layers and blankets, but after a few days it warmed up but not quite enough to swim.

 

Yesterday was our first international port stop, at Port Louis in Mauritius. What a fascinating place! We only saw a small part of it on our "Journey into Local Culture" tour which visited several interesting places.

 

Nelson Mandela Centre.

This consisted of two buildings: a lovely old tower building made of volcanic rock and a newer building. 

 

 

 

There was an art exhibition which included art from both international and local artists including some very moving pen and ink sketches showing scenes from the early colonisation days days of slavery and indentureship. There were a number of paintings, sculptures, etc. We really loved one painting of a hawk rising from fire and were able to chat to the artist about it.

 

As well there was a demonstration of the local Sega music and dance which developed as a form of communication between workers from many different countries. Then we had a chance to play the hand drums.

 

 

Aapravasi Ghat

This is among the oldest of the entry and transit points for indentured labourers. One building is now set up as a museum with displays covering the history of the building and artefacts that had been discovered

 

Hindu Temple

Although a fairly standard Hindu Temple this one was primarily used by the Tamil people so had some slightly different statues. It was a very tranquil spot.

 

 

Next we drove through some of the shopping streets of Port Louis including Chinatown, a street full of hardware stores, an Indian precinct which included some gorgeous clothing stores, and lots of restaurants and eateries.

 

Our final stop before lunch was at a Statue of the Virgin Mary high on a hill. There were great views over city from here.

 

We had an excellent lunch of local cuisine - curries and various other dishes all of which were very tasty. It was accompanied by a choice of drink - we opted for an icy local lager which was very refreshing in the heat.

 

We hadn't had a chance to shop anywhere but there was a small souvenir shop at the cruise terminal so I was able to buy a fridge magnet - a rather cute Dodo.

 

 

All in all it was an excellent excursion. We learnt a lot about the history of Mauritius from our guide as we travelled from place to place. Port Louis is not a place I would ever want to drive in, the traffic was crazy. Luckily buses are bigger than cars, motorcycles and pedestrians so most of those chose to give way.

Good to read another update. Mauritius is very interesting and like most places in the world, there’s a great divide of affluent and poverty. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Cbtours said:

Good to read another update. Mauritius is very interesting and like most places in the world, there’s a great divide of affluent and poverty. 

Yes, that was quite noticeable with the buildings around the city. However they have free schooling including transport to schools, and kids start learning multiple languages from an early age.

[Cbtours]

Just now, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, that was quite noticeable with the buildings around the city. However they have free schooling including transport to schools, and kids start learning multiple languages from an early age.

I have been three times, though not holidaying as such but when Frank has been ministering. We did have one night at flic & Flac, one of their fav beaches.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I was fascinated by the mountains surrounding Port Louis. I presume they are the remnants of a very old volcanic crater. Some were very sharply pointed and reminded me of Moorea. You can just see some of them in the background of this photo. 

 

[Cbtours]

Just now, OzKiwiJJ said:

I was fascinated by the mountains surrounding Port Louis. I presume they are the remnants of a very old volcanic crater. Some were very sharply pointed and reminded me of Moorea. You can just see some of them in the background of this photo. 

 

Were you close enough to see the massive vegetation growing on the mountains?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Cbtours said:

Were you close enough to see the massive vegetation growing on the mountains?

Not really. However the lunch restaurant had one of the biggest mango trees I've ever seen. It was huge - probably a metre or so in diameter at the base of the trunk.

[Cbtours]

Just now, OzKiwiJJ said:

Not really. However the lunch restaurant had one of the biggest mango trees I've ever seen. It was huge - probably a metre or so in diameter at the base of the trunk.

Wow

[OzKiwiJJ]

The weather has been conspiring against us for our arrival in Cape Town. 

 

First there were some very nasty seas two nights ago. The captain moved the ship closer to shore so we avoided the worst of them but, even so, we were rocked to sleep by 5-6 metre seas. We lost a bit of time with this so all the ship's excursions have been rescheduled. Ah well, at least we didn't have to get up so early!

 

However there was thick fog this morning - so thick the pilot couldn't get out to the ship - so our arrival has been delayed a bit more. 

 

The fog started to lift just as we got back to our cabin after breakfast, giving us gorgeous views of Table Mountain while the city was still swathed in fog.