For those interested in new ports or port procedures, this isn’t going to add much value!
A fairly rough night for some but it did start to ease throughout the day. Even with the stabilisers deployed, there was a bit of movement and some of the less mobile passengers were struggling to cope. One has to wonder what their expectations are when setting off on a cruise, and how they would cope in an emergency. Too dodgy to even get out of the lift when there is a little bit of movement, goodness knows what would happen, but we are now used to a fair few mobile chicanes, but there must be a limit.
Paula didn’t go to Zumba with Sarah…
A couple of virgin cruisers joined us at breakfast and John was born in Sri Lanka, which made for an interesting conversation. He taught maths so we invited them to join us for trivia! We also joined up with Dave and Sandy from our Seafarers Cruise Critic group. The session was run by Assistant Cruise Director Kelly from the USA. Far too many Australian questions we hadn’t a clue about, so perhaps as well we had some Australians with us, but even then, the winners only got about 14 or 15 points. We got 12. The one maths question was before John had arrived “What is the square of 144?”. Needless to say, Kelly soon realised that this audience would be very pedantic, as what she really meant was the square root…
As is our habit, we headed for the Atrium, deck 5, for coffee. So far, the Sea Princess hasn’t been updated to an “International Food Court”. The seating area has been rejigged to accommodate the ship’s tour desk. It was busy. More chatting before heading up for lunch where we caught up with the dance instructor – John Graham – who was on last year, but is getting off at Dubai.
A bit of blogging updates then trivia for the afternoon session – this time by Madison from Canada. Madison and Kelly are quite similar looking both being, how shall we put this, not very petite?
Madison also found out that this mob is not to be trifled with, when her answer to a question of “What Country…” gave the answer as ‘Dubai’, (UAE). We managed 14.5 out of 21.
Dinner at 7:45pm for the first time in the dining room, is always with some trepidation - unless you have a prearranged group. The thought of having dining companions you are not happy with, for 50 days, is a bit daunting. Fortunately, we were OK. One lady from NZ who has a friend getting on tomorrow in Melbourne. A couple about our age and one couple a little younger. Phew! A nice waiter – Robert and his assistant, Bong (not his real name…).
The food was similar to the Dawn though the boys didn’t offer us tea or coffee! By the time we’d realised, it was time for the theatre’s late show, so we missed out.
The ‘Lion’s Den’ again and another excellent show.
To deck 7 for a coffee, where the atrium dance area is now tables and chairs. At least the atrium entertainer seemed personable – Derek Floyd. He’d just about finished as we got there but he was chatty with the passengers and came around to see everyone. The fact that there are tables and chairs gives a strong message to the dancers that this isn’t one of their spots. Meanwhile, there are fewer chairs encroaching on the dancefloor in the Wheelhouse Bar.
A pretty good start to the cruise and we are settled in pretty well.
Although there are fewer past cruisers that we recognise than we expected, plus 200 getting off in Melbourne tomorrow, maybe after Melbourne and Perth, we’ll have a better idea of the real dynamics of this cruise.
Melbourne is looking to be a little chilly tomorrow but at least it should be dry. We won’t be getting warmer weather for a few days, so it is still long trousers – and a sweater in the Vista lounge, as there is a hiccup with the air-conditioning system, which they can’t seem to fix. So far, we are planning to catch the tram into the City tomorrow, but nothing fixed.
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