Cruise ships in Brisbane 5th-11th December 2016

Cruise ships expected this week in Brisbane, all scheduled for Portside at Hamilton.

Monday 5th December 2016: Legend of the Seas
Friday 9th December 2016: Pacific Aria
Saturday 10th December 2016: Pacific Dawn
Sunday 11th December 2016: Sea Princess

 The Sea Princess in Brisbane

27th November 2016.

2012 New Zealand Christmas cruise on the Sun Princess

Looking back to 2012 we embarked of a magnificent cruise to New Zealand over Christmas time.
My husband and I toured New Zealand for our honeymoon way back in 1996 so many of the ports on this cruise we had visited back then with the exception of Akaroa. In 1996 we only had 3 weeks to fit as much as we could in, so Akaroa was missed and I was really looking forward to seeing it this time.

The itinerary map shows Christchurch, however, after the earthquake in 2011, Akaroa was substituted and the map wasn't updated to reflect this.
We left Brisbane on the 16th December 2012, with 3 full sea days before scenic cruising in the Fiordlands.

The cruise into the Fiordlands is fabulous. Arrival was early morning, and the temperature was freezing, even for the middle of summer. We had a parkland guide on board giving a commentary which was informative and added to the experience.
The following morning we arrived at Port Chalmers and caught the shuttle bus into Dunedin. The bus ride was about 20 minutes. Once in Dunedin we did a Cadbury factory tour, checked out the railway station, Chinese garden, and the Otago Settlers museum.

 Looking back at the Cadbury factory from the Dunedin railway station

 Old computer game at the Otago Settlers museum

Dunedin Chinese garden entrance

Our next day was Akaroa, a tender stop. As we had been to Christchurch in 1996 and the damage from the earthquake still fresh, we enjoyed poking around Akaroa. The day started out cold but it warmed up to beautiful day. We walked up to the light house, had lunch at a cafe and browsed the shops.

I bought a beautiful necklace at Fire and Ice.

The following day, the Sunday before Christmas, we were in Wellington. We caught the shuttle into the main street and walked from there. There is plenty to see and do in Wellington. We caught the cable car up and back, visited the Te Papa museum and generally had a great time. The shops all had their Christmas decorations up and it was very festive.

The next port was Napier. To keep my child entertained we booked a Duck tour which was a lot of fun. The amphibian vehicle drives on the road and into the water. I had previously traveled on one of these at the Town of 1770 in Queensland many years ago so knew what to expect but it was great fun for a 9 year old.

Napier put on a great welcoming for cruise ship visitors including period costumes, old cars and bands to showcase the art-deco architecture it's famous for.

The next day was Christmas day. Docked at Tauranga we booked a tour through the ship to Rotorua for the cable car and luge. We had a terrific day and was exhausted when we arrived  back at the ship.

The final port day was in Auckland and we didn't have too many plans. All the port days in a row made us slow down and look forward to that 3 day sea only cruise back to Brisbane.

While we were in Auckland we did ride the old trams, browsed the shops (it was Boxing day after all) and dodged the rain.

Overall we had a fantastic cruise. We loved the 14 nights and really felt like we had been on holidays. We didn't feel we had to see it all because I'm sure we will be back some day.

The boring stuff...

Ship: Sun Princess

Cabin: D614, obstructed view deck 8

Captain:Andrew Froude

Cruise director: Dave Webster

Cruise ships in Brisbane 28th November - 4th December 2016

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

Monday 28th November 2016: Pacific Aria
Tuesday 29th November 2016: Pacific Dawn
Friday 2nd December 2016: Legend of the Seas
Saturday 3rd December 2016: Pacific Dawn

From the photo archives: Pacific Dawn 2011

Brisbane overnight stay

It was our anniversary about 6 weeks ago and we didn't really get an opportunity to celebrate, so when an offer for an overnight stay for my son with his grandparents came up, we jumped at the chance of playing tourists in our own city.

Admittedly we had a function to attend at city hall early on the Friday evening as well as tickets to see Bill Bailey's performance at QPAC later that night.
I booked a room at Rydges Southbank to stay overnight as this was the most convenient hotel to QPAC. I was able to request an early check-in online and on arrival found we were upgraded to a junior suite. Wow, after a cabin upgrade early in the week, now a hotel room upgrade I'm feeling very lucky and blessed this week.
We also had a late, 1pm check-out on Saturday so I made the most of it. Browsed the markets at Southbank and had a leisurely  stroll through the gardens.
The buffet breakfast at Bacchus restaurant was fantastic and the staff were attentive, excellent service all round.

The whole experience was wonderful and if we get the opportunity again we would definitely stay at Rydges Southbank.

 Junior suite at Rydges South bank. There is also a bedroom and ensuite not shown. They do have king suites and I can't imagine how huge they would be.

 View of the Wheel of Brisbane from our room

 Southbank

 Confucius garden, Southbank 

Cabin upgrade fairy

Woohoo!!
Notification today from our travel agent that we have scored a cabin upgrade for our upcoming December cruise. Booked an obstructed view cabin and received the highest category ocean view. This is excellent news, we are so excited.

2011 Fiji Cruise on the Pacific Dawn

Our second cruise was once again on the Pacific Dawn. In 2011 there was very little choice leaving from Brisbane and we had such a great time on the first cruise we thought we couldn't go wrong.
This cruise was half in, half out of school holidays and there were plenty of kids for my son to play with. He had a fantastic time at the kids club and was even lining up before they were open.

This cruise was the "island magic" cruise. 12 nights taking in Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

This cruise featured the up-grade fairy bestowing on us a higher level cabin. We were booked into cabin E212, cat FF on deck 6 and were elevated to deck 9 mid-ship, cabin C192 , cat DD. This is the first and only time we have received an upgrade and it is exciting.

The cruise was absolutely fantastic and we still keep in touch via Facebook with some of the fellow cruise addicts we met on board.

We booked 2 tours via the ship.
Firstly the Secret Garden Outdoor Cultural Centre at Port Vila.
The second was Fijian Firewalking-Culture Show  at Port Denarau.

Tender arrival at Port Denarau

 The secret garden Port Vila.

Isle of Pines

Mystery Island

Cruise ships in Brisbane 21st-27th November 2016

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

Monday 21st November 2016: Legend of the Seas
Saturday 26th November 2016: Pacific Dawn
Sunday 27th November 2016: Sea Princess

From my photo archives

The Legend of the Seas in Brisbane March 2016.