A Sea Day In TheTorees Strait

Thursday march 12, 2010 At Sea
Today was so hot, you could smell the heat. We got up rather late today and after breakfast we went directly to the pool to cool off. It was too hot to stay in the direct sun. Dun went to a session given by the staff on lifestyles at sea while I sat and listened to music. This afternoon we went to a movie. It was a very uneventful day. Tomorrow we are in Exmouth and our tour leaves at 7:15 so we will be in bed early tonight.

Broome

Thursday march 11, 2010 Broome
Last night an elderly gentleman had a stroke. The captain made an announcement that there was a medical emergency but the person had stabilized but he was speeding up so that we could get to Broome to get him to a hospital. Around midnight, a pilot boat came along side and they off loaded the patient. It is so sad that this happened on a vacation. This morning we awoke to clear skies and extreme heat. We docked around 7 am and do to government regulations we are not allowed to walk off the ship along the jetty. All passengers must take a shuttle bus into town and they are supplied complimentary by the ship. We can only disembark at 9:30. Dun went to pickup our shuttle tickets and we are on shuttle # 27. Figure this out. They have 7 shuttle buses that hold appx 46 passengers each and it is 20 minutes into town and there are 2000 passengers that are getting off the ship. We were told that our wait would be about an hour which didn’t add up. Our first tour is scheduled at 1 pm with pick up time at 12 :15. Our chances were slim. At 11 am I went to the pursers’ desk to ask them to call a taxi, but was told that the port does not allow taxi’s onto the jetty unless they are booked several days in advance. I was starting to get really disappointed. Finally, we were ashore at 12:45 and at the visitors centre at 1 pm. I spoke to a wonderful lady and asked her to call the tour company of our situation and guess what...they held the tour for us to arrive and the manager of the visitors centre took us to the location. Is this service or what!!!!This was a hovercraft tour and it was truly an awesome experience. It took off from the sand out into Roebuck Bay. We followed the coast until we came to a small inlet where we went ashore and were shown dinosaur tracks in the rocks. The coastline is a sight to behold...red cliffs with mango trees growing up through the white sand. After the tour, they delivered us back to the ship just in time to take our next tour which was an orientation tour of the city. Broome is a small city of about 20,000 people and it is the gateway to the Kimberlies and the outback. The prime industry is pearling followed by cattle industry and then tourism. Our first stop was to the Japanese cemetery which is the final resting place for many thousand pearlers who perished. Our next stop was Cable Beach with it’s 20 miles of pure white sand. It is listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. As it is late in the day we head back to the ship. We are supposed to go now for the camel ride but the skies have suddenly turned black and we are seeing the most amazing lightening show I have ever seen. The sky has opened and the rains are pouring down. I am disappointed about not riding the camels but I did see them and they looked ugly but wonderful. Maybe I’ll get to ride them on some other vacation. We are worn out tonight. The heat has been oppressive and it zaps what strength we have. Tomorrow is a sea day which will give us time to regroup again. We skipped the diningroom tonight and just went to the buffet for supper. Bedtime will come early

Another Sea Day

Wednesday March 10, 2010
Today we only awoke around 9:30 and after breakfast we decided we needed a short nap and that’s exactly what we did. That is the beauty of vacation isn’t...you can do exactly what you want when you want. I spent most of the remainder of the day on our balcony watching the world slide by. There is nothing to see but miles and miles of ocean and I never tire of gazing at the vastness of it. Dun wandered around the ship a bit and walked his daily mile. Before leaving the room for dinner, Dun decided that we needed to make a stuffed dummy to put in our bed for our stateroom attendant Francisco. We made the legs of pools towels, the body from a pillow, arms from regular towels and the head we rolled from a regular towel that we then wrapped in a black tea shirt. We used cut up band aids to make a mouth and nose and then we put sunglasses and a hat we left a note saying “do not disturb, Francisco is sleeping” He thought it was really funny. Tonight was our 3rd and last formal night for the cruise and we had a delightful surprise... we were invited to have dinner at the Hotel Director and manager of Guest Relation’s table. The Hotel Director, Rodney Darwin is responsible for everything on the ship which is non marine related and he is second in command. He hails from Toronto and he and Sheldon had quite a conversation about the Maple Leafs. After dinner we again retired to the lounge for wine and champagne. I think Sheldon has acquired a taste of white wine..he had 3 glasses at dinner and 1 glass in the concierge lounge..but then maybe it’s because it is free lol. All in all another great day

Sailing the Timor Sea

Tuesday March 9, 2010 Sailing the Timor Sea
This morning we awoke to another beautiful day. The sea is calm and with the sunshine it looks like tiny diamonds bouncing on the waters. There is not a cloud in the sky. I went to the pool at 10 am. Dun decided to explore around the ship. At 2 pm the captain held a “walk a mile” for the Make a wish Foundation. Most cruisers donated the $10 and received a T-shirt. It was amazing to see so many with the white T-shirts walking the upper deck. We have two new T-shirts. Can you believe it; I burnt the bottom of my feet walking across the deck at noon. How stupid could a person be? I was in a hurry to get in line to purchase the t shirts for the walk. I burnt my nose today too and I look like Rudolph. Tonight we are attending The Australian Phantom of the Opera. It has definitely been a laid- back lazy day and tomorrow will be more of the same.

Darwin

Monday March 8, 2010 Darwin
What a beautiful day to visit Australia’s capital of the Northern Territory. Darwin is located midway along Australia’s northern coast and it is situated on a peninsula surrounded by crystal clear turquoise waters. It’s culture is a melting pot of several nationalities as it is the gateway for several Southeast Asian countries. The city was completely ruined during WW11 and then again in 1974 by a cyclone. As we left the dock for today’s adventure, we saw several pearling boats. They look like our draggers. 65 % of the worlds’ pearls come from these waters. We left this vibrant city behind, following the Stuart Highway south toward Litchfield National Park. Along the way, we saw several road trains used to haul cattle. They are taken to holding pens before being loading on boats for Indonesia. Remember the movie “Australia”, these holding pens look like they did in the movie. Our drive was about 2 hours to the park. Along the way we also saw four WW11 airstrips that were used by the allies. Darwin also has the longest airport runway in the world. It is an emergency runway for the space shuttle and the US stealth bombers also land here. When we reached the park, our first stop was the termite mounds. They are found everywhere in the park and what an amazing site they are. Some are cathedral mounds which are the largest and some are magnetic and these are lined up facing the poles north to south. I was totally fascinated by them and I could not stop snapping pictures. We then visited two different falls. Florence Falls and Wangi falls. Wangi Falls was the largest and was a sight to behold. We had planned a swim in the pools beneath the falls but swimming was closed due to the high waters and strong currents. It sure would have felt good though. It was 97.5 degrees and 80 percent humidity. My glasses kept steaming up. While at Wangi Falls. It started pouring. The heavens opened and within 5 minutes we were completely drenched and then suddenly it was over and within minutes we were completely dry again. We saw more flying foxes in the trees hear. They are larger here than they were in Sydney. What an ugly creature they are. We finally left the park and arrived back to the ship just in time. Within minutes we were sailing away. Tonight I am exhausted and after our evening meal, I think I will call it a night. No wine tonight. The next 2 days are sea days. Good night.

Sailing the Indian Ocean

Sunday march 7 2010 A Day Sailing the Indian Ocean
This morning I was up at 6 am enjoying a cup of coffee on the balcony enjoying the world drift by. Sheldon only got up at 9 am and shortly after we headed for the top deck. It is another beautiful day in paradise. I suddenly had the need to visit the ships shops. I really want to purchase an opal necklace. I found the perfect necklace and they had a discount of 30 percent. My heart was pounding and when I tried it on it was the perfect one until I asked the price... $3.800.00. I could feel my heart drop to my feet. Needless to say the beautiful necklace is still in the shop as I still want to be married! Oh well, the dream was good while it lasted. I spent the rest of the morning relaxing on the lounge chair on our balcony. This afternoon we attended an information session put on by Captain Rick. What a terrific sense of humour he has. He told us that he has been at sea for 35 years, first with cargo ships and different freighters traveling around the world. He began as captain with Royal Caribbean 10 years ago. He said he works 10 weeks on the ship and then he has 10 weeks of vacation. He also told us about various situations he has faced and the most challenging places he has sailed. What an interesting life he has had. Before our evening meal, we were invited another reception for Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Plus members. The captain told us that there are 5 million Crown & Anchor society members worldwide among other statics that I can’t remember. It must be the champagne, I’m losing my memory. After, supper we went to the Diamond lounge for more champagne before heading to the evening show. At 11 pm we attend a pool barbecue and watched line dancing before retiring for the night.

A Sea Day In TheTorees Strait

Saturday march 6, 2010 A Sea Day
Today was a sea day. I think I am finally in relaxation mode with no cares in the world. This doesn’t happen often with me and it feels awesome. We only woke up at 9:30 this morning and that is a far cry from my normal of 6 am. We had a late breakfast and then we hit the upper deck to see the wonderful view as we sailed through the Torres Strait and the Prince of Wales Sound before entering the Indian Ocean. We only had 3 meters of water under the keel. The water was calm with clear blue skies. We could not have asked for better weather. Today was hot at 95 degrees but thankfully there was no humidity. We spent a lazy afternoon beside the pool or I should say Sheldon did. He went swimming once while I spent over 3 hours in the pool. I must have drifted off to sleep while relaxing in the lounge chair because I woke myself up snoring around 4 pm. Funny no one else was around me. Hum...wonder if I drove them away? Supper tonight was lobster tails and steak. Delicious. After we went to diamond lounge which is exclusive to elite Royal Caribbean past cruisers. We met up with Evelyn Jean, Les & Averill (our tablemates) and shared a few drinks of wine before heading to the evening show. Did I say how relaxed I am??? Wonder if it’s the wine??Time is flying by much too quickly. I think I could handle this life style on a permanent basis. Where is my maid and butler?? Tomorrow is another sea day. Wonder if I’ll sleep as sound again tonight? Time will tell