Tasmania cruise January 2015 on the Diamond Princess

Our first cruise for 2015 was on the Diamond Princess in January 2015. This was the only year where we have managed 2 cruises in the same calendar year. The second was the Vanuatu cruise on the Pacific Aria in December.
We decided to do this cruise as we hadn't been to Tasmania and we were keen to try a larger ship than the regular ones leaving from Brisbane.

The itinerary departed from Sydney, with an overnight stay in Melbourne and port stops in Hobart and Port Arthur. It was a short 8 night cruise and I would have liked if an extra night was included with a call at Burnie, but alas I'm not the cruise planner person.

Sydney
We flew in to Sydney and used the Princess shuttle direct from the baggage carousel at Sydney airport. Super easy. We just handed the luggage to the bus driver and the next we saw them was in our cabin.
My parents joined us on this cruise and they caught the train to Sydney the day before and stayed overnight.

Sail away from circular quay in Sydney is spectacular. We left at dusk and the lights were lovely.

 Sydney Opera House

Holland America Lines' Oosterdam sailed past whilst we were still at the OPT.

The Sydney harbour bridge with Luna park behind it as we backed out from the OPT.

Melbourne

Our first port was Melbourne for an overnight visit. We had only briefly visited the airport at Melbourne back in 2009 for a country Victoria land based holiday so was looking forward to having a good look around.

Wineglass bay, Tasmania

Leaving Melbourne, the next day included a half day of scenic cruising of the east coast of Tasmania. Spectacular views and photos really don't do it justice. 

 We saw some seals on a tiny island (or large rock).

Hobart, Tasmania

We arrived in the early morning to Hobart. My plan was to pick up my pre-reserved hire car and we would drive up to Mount Wellington and then take in as many sight seeing options that we could possible fit in before returning the car at 5pm. Unfortunately, all good plans can come un-stuck. I was phoned by the car hire place at 7am with the news that they didn't have a car available. Apparently cars had not been returned on time and that left about 8 of us on the ship without transport. Who would of thought that at least 8 people failed to return a car at the end of their holiday. Anyway, appreciated the early notification (car hire office didn't open until 8am) and we hastily made alternative arrangements.

We walked around to Salamanca markets. They weren't open but there were some shops that were. 

 Maritime museum

 Salamanca place

 Government building

 Mawson replica hut

Cascade brewery

We decided to hire a taxi to take us out to the Cascade brewery. Husband did a tour whilst I rested and sampled a cider in the lounge area. Taxi wasn't very much, maybe $10-12 from memory. We caught a local bus back which was only a couple of dollars each.

The gardens at Cascade brewery

Port Arthur, Tasmania

Port Arthur is a tender port and we had booked a tour through the ship to the Tasmanian Devil park and Federation chocolate factory.

The tour ended at lunch time and we made our way back to the ship for lunch. Unfortunately it poured rain in the afternoon so we never made it back for a good look around Port Arthur itself. Looks like we will need to make another trip to Tasmania.

Diamond Princess

Just a few photos from around the ship

Food photos

Cruise summary

Ship: Diamond Princess

Cruise: M501P

Cabin: A522, category BC, Balcony for 3 people in twin configuration, bunk over.

Deck: Aloha (12)

Captain: Graham Goodway

Cruise director: Dan Appleby

Pacific Dawn cabin 9196

Our December 2016 cruise was on the Pacific Dawn and here are a couple of photos of the cabin we stayed in.

 Cabin was set up as a twin configuration for us.

There were 2 powerpoints on the desk area. One an aussie, the other a US point. Handy as my kindle came with a US charger so that doubles up our USB charging points.

Only a small TV fixed to the wall in the corner. There was a TV guide supplied this cruise which helped with the choice of movies. No TV on demand though.

Standard bathroom. Just big enough to make do.

Cruise ships in Brisbane 26th December - 1st January 2017

Cruise ships in Brisbane this week. All are scheduled for Portside.

Tuesday 27th December 2016: Pacific Dawn
Wednesday 28th December 2016: Sea Princess
Thursday 29th December 2016: Pacific Aria
Friday 30th December 2016: Legend of the Seas

All four have been regular turnaround cruises for Brisbane during November-December 2016 and are all heading off for their New Year cruises.

Merry Christmas everyone!

19th December 2016: Cruise day 3

A much better sleep this morning with no interruptions through the night. Breakfast was in the buffet.
Our first event today was the Pacific cook off with Will and Steve (MKR).
We followed that up with "Morning mayhem trivia" with entertainment director Willie Lee and his offsider Wesley. This is not the usual trivia and is very entertaining. Bribery and interesting answers may earn you points. Heaps of fun and I highly recommend it. The format is similar to Zoltina-J's trivia on the Pacific Aria back in 2015.

After lunch there was a live culinary demo with Luke Mangan.
During the afternoon, Will and Steve returned for another session.
Late afternoon we attended the ordinary trivia in the Orient bar and then made our 5.45pm reservation at the Waterfront restaurant.
Looking at the menu I was a bit dubious that H would find anything to eat but surprisingly he ordered the pork belly. Verdict: he wouldn't eat it by choice again but kudos for trying something new (he ate everything except the bok-choi so he must have been hungry). I had the baked eggplant parmigiana followed by peppered swordfish steak. Disappointingly all the steak and prawns now command additional costs. See the waterfront indulgence section of the menu below.

 Apologies for poor quality photo of menu.

For dessert, H managed a bowl of vanilla ice cream and I had the apple strudel. I was so looking forward to the creme brulee that used to be on the always menu, but it looks like that has been ditched for the new streamlined menu.
I didn't take any food photos as we were sharing a table with 2 lovely ladies that we didn't know.

Tonight's show was "Life as we know it" staring the Pacific entertainers. A great show and I really enjoyed.
We managed a rest (read a book for me, movie for H) in the cabin and then attended the 10pm farewell concert in the Atrium. It was great and we were glad we stayed up for it.
As it was the last night we packed almost everything and put our largest suitcase out for collection. We only had a fraction of the luggage we usually travel with (one less person, shorter cruise, no port visits, no snorkel or beach items).

A can't believe it's the last night. I'm just starting to catch up on sleep and relax. I only have 2 more days of work this year and am really looking forward to some rest between Christmas and the new year.

17th December 2016: Cruise day 1

Embarking on our cruise from Brisbane on Saturday the weather was beautiful and we left on time. A quick lunch at the buffet, unpacked, and a bit of a rest before joining the afternoon trivia in the Orient bar. I couldn't convince H to have dinner in the restaurant so another buffet for me and burger and chips from the grill. We went to the hypnotist. Anthony B Laffan's show and both really enjoyed it. Topped off the night with an ice cream each from New Zealand Ice creamery .

As we both needed an early night we read books and settled in for the night. Unfortunately we were woken at about 11:30pm with a man overboard. Lights were thrown in the water, ship slowed as much as possible. Swift water craft was lowered. The captain eventually announced that CCTV footage confirmed that there was no one overboard and it was a false alarm. So that was good news. I can't imagine the stress the crew were under. I found it a bit stressful just thinking about it, helpless to do anything. But anyway, back to sleep for another day.

18th December 2016: Cruise day 2

With disturbed sleep the night before, we were very slow moving today. Breakfast was in the Waterfront restaurant and it was busy with the rest of the ship having a sleep in and late start. It's holiday time and we had no plans. I had the corn fritters with salmon and avocado. Yummy. I like to have something different to what I would've had at home.
As this is the "food and wine" cruise there are heaps of workshops to attend for a fee. I gave them a miss and went to the demo in the marquee theatre. Fantastic. The first freebie was Prue Daly from Grass Tree Kitchen. Very entertaining, she was great.

In the afternoon I caught the demo by the two pommies from MKR, Will and Steve.  They were great too and have another 2 sessions on Monday.

H and I played trivia in the afternoon. We were a long way from winning but was fun anyway.
Tonight was formal/Gatsby night. We could only get a shared table at 8:30pm and requirement of long pants for H. Woops!, he didn't pack any so it was buffet and grill for us.
Tonight's show was the Velvet Rope. It's a good show but IMHO each song goes for way too long to keep the story moving.

Cruise ships in Brisbane 19th-25th December 2016

Cruise ships expected in Brisbane this week. All are scheduled to berth at Portside, Hamilton. All are leaving on their Christmas cruises.

Monday 19th December 2016: Pacific Aria
Tuesday 20th December 2016: Pacific Dawn
Thursday 22nd December 2016: Legend of the Seas

Today's the day -sailaway

The weather is perfect at the moment for a lovely sailaway down the Brisbane river and out to sea. Checking the webcam, the Pacific Dawn is in port and waiting for us.

We're almost packed, a visit to the hairdressers for a touch up of the grey follicles first thing this morning, then check in time is 12:30pm for us. Departure isn't until 4pm so heaps of time to get organised. Fortunately packing for 3 nights is much easier than a longer holiday.

Cruise ships in Brisbane 12th-18th December 2016

Cruise ships expected this week in Brisbane. All are scheduled for Portside at Hamilton.

Monday 13th December 2016: Legend of the Seas
Friday 16th December 2016: Pacific Aria
Saturday 17th December 2016: Pacific Dawn
Sunday 18th December 2016: Sea Princess

Heading towards the Gateway bridge on the Brisbane river.

2014 PNG Discovery cruise on the Pacific Dawn

Reflecting on another cruise, our fourth, this was our 3rd cruise from Brisbane on the Pacific Dawn. This one had a few itinerary changes from the moment we booked in early 2013. Billed as the 3rd (or maybe only the second) cruise to Papua New Guinea, this cruise was full of seasoned cruisers, many who had not traveled with P&O for some time.

When we booked, the itinerary was a 10 night cruise departing and returning to Brisbane. Ports of call were 4 in PNG as well as a scheduled call at Townsville, who had recently opened a new cruise terminal. Many months after booking, Townsville was dropped and Rabaul in PNG substituted. This made it an all PNG cruise which suited us fine.

After the update above, the port order was changed again. The first port was Alotau, followed by Kitava, Rabaul, Kiriwina and Doini Island.

The cruise was great, however there was a cyclone brewing. The wind was really picking up during the visit to Kitava and tendering was troublesome. The captain cancelled staff leave on that day and only passengers went ashore. Rabaul, much further north, was smooth sailing, but by the time we arrived at Kiriwina Island it was clear that we weren't going ashore. We were close enough to see the Kiriwina people waiting for the ship, but the high wind and the ship dragging the anchor caused the captain to make the decision to abandon the port. The worsening weather and strengthening cyclone ended up with us also missing Doini Island and we made a slow 4 sea day cruise back to Brisbane, skirting the high seas and winds.
Even though there were itinerary changes all over the place, it didn't really bother us. We were cruising, somebody else cooked, clean and did the driving. We just had to relax and enjoy ourselves.

So...the 3 ports of the 5 we did get to see.
ALOTAU...

 We bought the bus pass to the Canoe and Kundu festival. This was held in at the education centre on the waterfront quite a long way from the dock.

Wood carved sign. The wood carving are magnificent in Alotau.

Traditional canoes and the Pacific Dawn from the education centre.

Traditional dancing. This was one of many different tribes who performed demonstrations at the festival.

The bus dropped us off at the war memorial after which we were able to browse the markets. Note they prefer their own currency, the PNG Kina.

We were able to pick up the bus back to the ship. The buses were running a continuous loop back and forward between the ship and festival. A fit person could easily walk but do take into account the high humidity and temperature.

KITAVA...

The day was rainy, with a high wind and the promise of a beach day on an island questionable. We decided quite late to catch a tender ashore, purely to take some photos and have a quick look at the beach. By the time we arrived most passengers were waiting for the tenders to go back. The high wind slowed the service giving us a bit of time for a look around the beach.

Traditional sailing boat at Kitava

RABAUL...

The weather was great in Rabaul with just a small amount of rain to wash the sweat off.

We organised a private tour at Rabaul which took in most of the sights including the volcano, museum etc.

Tavurvur volcano

Rabaul hotel where we stopped at their bar for a cold drink.

The Pacific Dawn from the Rabaul Volcano Observatory

Tunnels in East New Britain

 

Japanese barge in tunnel.

Overall, another enjoyable cruise. We saw some of PNG that gives us a better appreciation of our northern neighbours. It was a shame about the cyclone, but that's cruising for you.

The boring stuff...
Ship: Pacific Dawn
Voyage: W414
Cabin: 6175 cat FF, oceanview deck 6
Captain: Salvatore Lupo
Cruise director: Sandy