Cruise ships in Brisbane 30th January - 5th February 2017

Cruise ships expected this week in Brisbane. All are expected to dock at Portside.

Thursday 2nd February 2017: Sun Princess
Friday 3rd February 2017: Pacific Aria
Saturday 4th February 2017: Pacific Dawn

The Norwegian Star was due to call at Brisbane this week, however an itinerary change due to mechanical issues will see it pass by.

From my photo archives

Pacific Dawn, January 2010, Brisbane river.

Cruise ships in Brisbane 23rd-29th January 2017

This week there are five ships scheduled to call at Brisbane, all at Portside.

Monday 23rd January 2017: Europa 2***
Tuesday 24th January 2017: Pacific Dawn
Friday 27th January 2017: Pacific Aria
Saturday 28th January 2017: Pacific Dawn
Sunday 29th January 2017: Legend of the Seas

Europa 2 is the newer, sister ship of Europa who had called at Brisbane the previous week.

***UPDATE*** Port of Brisbane have updated Europa 2 as arriving on Monday night and staying until Tuesday evening. Now berthing at the Grain Terminal.

From my photo archives

Pacific Aria at Portside Brisbane 2015.

Cruise ships in Brisbane 16th-22nd January 2017

Cruise ships expected this week in Brisbane. All ships are scheduled for Portside this week, including the overseas transit visit from Europa.

Monday 16th January 2017: Pacific Aria
Friday 20th January 2017: Europa
Saturday 21st January 2017: Pacific Dawn
Sunday 22nd January 2017: Sun Princess

Photo from my archives

Sun Princess in New Zealand December 2012.

Road trip Uralla and Tamworth NSW

24th December 2016.

Leaving Tenterfield, we set out bound for a family Christmas catch up in Tamworth. Approaching Uralla at lunch time, my taste buds were looking for a really good Aussie hamburger. You know the sort, one with beetroot and the buns toasted. So I talked everyone in the car into a hamburger with instructions to keep their eyes peeled for somewhere suitable.
Parking the car in the street, the highway goes through the main street, we set out on foot for the elusive hamburger. Fortunately one was found at the Thunderbolt country kitchen. It was heaven and so good I ate it without taking the photographic evidence.

There are heaps of fancy cafes and restaurants in Uralla lining the main street, even a micro brewery. The Thunderbolt doesn't look fancy but their burger was great and their coffee good too.
Whilst we were here only briefly, I snapped some photos. There are quite a lot of old buildings preserved in Uralla and I would like to one day stop and do the heritage walk.

 Hotel

 Uralla stores, now a cafe and gallery

 Old building

The sweet shop. With decadence from around the world. My husband and son managed to sneak in and buy me a Christmas present. Some Scottish toffee's. Yum they were great.

Leaving Uralla, we travelled the rest of the way to Tamworth. As we were staying with family over Christmas we didn't really do any sight-seeing, though we did drop by the golden guitar and truck memorial for a photo.

 The Big golden guitar, Tamworth NSW.

The Tamworth truck drivers memorial

27th December 2016

Travelling back to Brisbane we stopped briefly at Cunningham's Gap for a break and photo op.

Our next holiday should be our cruise to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We've had it booked since early last year and we are so looking forward to it.

GBR itinerary update

Well...As I expected, it looks like we are leaving from the multi-use terminal at Fishermans island on the 7th April 2017. The Brisbane ports info has had the Sea Princess scheduled for there, with the Pacific Aria at Portside on the day, however Princess cruise personaliser and my travel agent (TA) have both said no it leaves from Portside. 
I actually checked yesterday and the personaliser was still saying Portside but today the info is changed to Fishermans island. I assume we will get an email in the upcoming week with the notification.
The only issue we have is whether we drive to Portside to leave the car and somehow catch a shuttle or taxi to the Port. Or... we just get a taxi both ways from home. At least we know definetely and I have heaps of time to work it out.

We were out at Portside this afternoon just to have a brief look at the ship. The next time it returns to Brisbane will be to pick us up. Only 89 sleeps to go.

Cruise ships Brisbane 9th-15th January 2016

This week Brisbane welcomes the first of the overseas cruise ships for 2017 on a transit or day visit. All the expected cruise ships will dock at Portside.

Monday 9th January 2017: Seven Seas Voyager
Thursday 12th January 2017: Pacific Aria
Saturday 14th January 2017: Pacific Dawn
Sunday 15th January 2017: Legend of the Seas

A very warm Brisbane welcome to the passengers on the Seven Seas Voyager. I hope you have a fabulous visit.

If you are looking for further info on Portside wharf, they do have a website at Portside wharf, Hamilton

World cruise bloggers 2017

If you are like me and can only dream of having the time and money to embark on a world cruise, and love to follow other peoples' holidays from the comfort of your home, then check out the bloggers on the current world cruise.

• World adventures

• Bill and Mary Ann

• Captain Jonathon of the Amsterdam

• Flying Pig Tales

Their cruise left on the 4th January 2017 from Fort Lauderdale and travels around the globe returning to Fort Lauderdale on the 26th April 2017. The brief itinerary from one of the blogs is below. Last year this cruise visited Australia and New Zealand so it looks a little different and I look forward to each bloggers unique take on their experience, including the captain.

The cruise ship is the Holland America's Amsterdam

DAY	DATE		PORT	ARRIVE	DEPART
Wed	Jan	4	Fort Lauderdale, FL		10:00pm
Sa	Jan	7	Santa Marta, Colombia	10:00am	6:00pm
Mon	Jan	9	Panama Canal (Full Transit) (Cruising)
Wed	Jan	11	Puntarenas, Costa Rica	7:00am	5:00pm
Thu	Jan	12	Corinto, Nicaragua	10:00am	6:00pm
Fri	Jan	13	Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala	9:00am	7:00pm
Mon	Jan	16	Puerto Vallarta, Mexico	8:00am	6:00pm
Thu	Jan	19	San Diego, CA	7:00am	5:00pm
Wed	Jan	25	Hilo, Hawaii, HI	7:00am	5:00pm
Thu	Jan	26	Honolulu, Oahu, HI	7:00am
Fri	Jan	27	Honolulu, Oahu, HI		4:00pm
Tue	Jan	31	Cross International Dateline (Cruising)
Thu	Feb	2	Majuro, Marshall Islands	8:00am	5:00pm
Tue	Feb	7	Guam, U.S. Territory	8:00am	5:00pm
Wed	Feb	8	Saipan, N. Marianas Islands, U.S. Territory	8:00am	5:00pm
Sun	Feb	12	Osaka, Japan	8:00am
Mon	Feb	13	Osaka, Japan		11:00pm
Wed	Feb	15	Kagoshima, Japan	8:00am	5:00pm
Thu	Feb	16	Nagasaki, Japan	8:00am	6:00pm
Sat	Feb	18	Seoul, South Korea	8:00am	11:59pm
Mon	Feb	20	Cheju City, South Korea	8:00am	4:00pm
Wed	Feb	22	Beijing (Xingang), China	6:00am
Thu	Feb	23	Beijing (Xingang), China		6:00pm
Sun	Feb	26	Shanghai, China	8:00am
Mon	Feb	27	Shanghai, China		11:00pm
Thu	Mar	2	Hong Kong	8:00am
Fri	Mar	3	Hong Kong		6:00pm
Mon	Mar	6	Nha Trang, Vietnam	7:00am	2:00pm
Tue	Mar	7	Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Vietnam	6:00am	6:00pm
Thu	Mar	9	Singapore	8:00am
Fri	Mar	10	Singapore		7:00pm
Sat	Mar	11	Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), Malaysia	8:00am	6:00pm
Wed	Mar	15	Colombo, Sri Lanka	8:00am	7:00pm
Sat	Mar	18	Bombay (Mumbai), India	8:00am
Sun	Mar	19	Bombay (Mumbai), India		6:00pm
Wed	Mar	22	Muscat, Oman	7:00am	5:00pm
Tue	Mar	28	Petra (Aqaba), Jordan	8:00am
Wed	Mar	29	Petra (Aqaba), Jordan		11:00pm
Fri	Mar	31	Suez Canal, Egypt (Cruising)
Sun	Apr	2	Rhodes, Greece	8:00am	6:00pm
Mon	Apr	3	The Dardanelles (Cruising)
Tue	Apr	4	Istanbul, Turkey	8:00am
Wed	Apr	5	Istanbul, Turkey		6:00pm
Thu	Apr	6	The Dardanelles (Cruising)
Fri	Apr	7	Mykonos, Greece	8:00am	6:00pm
Sun	Apr	9	Valletta, Malta	8:00am	5:00pm
Mon	Apr	10	At Sea
Tue	Apr	11	Palma de Mallorca, Spain	8:00am	6:00pm
Wed	Apr	12	Barcelona, Spain	8:00am
Thu	Apr	13	Barcelona, Spain		6:00pm
Sat	Apr	15	Cadiz, Spain	8:00am	6:00pm
Sun	Apr	16	Casablanca, Morocco	7:00am	9:00pm
Tue	Apr	18	Funchal, Madeira, Portugal	7:00am	7:00pm
Wed	Apr	26	Fort Lauderdale, FL	7:00am

On another world cruise I'm following a blogger on the first segment of the Pacific Princess cruise and another on the world voyage.

• Yellow Fish cruisers

• Retired Nomads

This cruise left Fort Lauderdale on the 3rd January 2017 and takes in a Panama canal crossing. It should be in New Zealand and Australia in February.

Another blog...
REGENT SEVEN SEAS-NAVIGATOR
 

• Rick and Rebecca

Hope everyone has smooth seas and a fantastic voyage.