Category: 2024 – Crown Princess, Round Australia, 26 Oct – 23 Nov

I was up at 5:00 this morning to try and photograph our arrival into Sydney. My phone captures some reasonable photos in low light without the faffing around which are good enough for the blog. I took plenty that mostly look the same but I will narrow it down to a few to post here.

The Horizon Court (canteen) was heaving so it was just a coffee and a couple of pastries which we ate out the back while admiring the Sydney Harbour Bridge. What a great view for breakfast.

Once we had finished we did a quick circuit of the open decks before going back to the cabin and gathering our things to disembark.

Our flight wasn’t until 9:45 pm so to fill the day we booked a trip out to the Blue Mountains. Our driver arrived earlier than expected so we were soon making our way to our first stop which was Wentworth Falls.

The journey took about 1 ½ hours and we spent 40 minutes or so viewing it from the various lookouts. 40 minutes later we arrived at the Three Sisters Lookout for some breathtaking views of the Blue Mountains iconic landmark. Here we spent about an hour enjoying and photographing the views.

We decided that our next stop would be good for a lunch break and our driver suggested the Katoomba RSL which is what we did. We probably spent too long there chatting and eating because our next stop was Scenic World and there were three rides there that we had planned to do but because of the queues we only managed one which was the Skyway, this was a cable car ride across the Jamison Valley. It’s the highest cable car ride in Australia and Nicole coped with it admirably.

Because of the timing and the really long queues, we cut our stop short and decided to head back to the airport. Had it been a weekday and no queues we could have achieved a lot more.

We arrived back at the airport at 5:15 dropped our luggage off and passed through security fairly quickly. It was then a case of grabbing a drink and a nibble to eat before our flight. We must return to the Blue Mountains at some point and give it the time it deserves.

Fitbit Steps 11,542

Although the day started off overcast and windy, during the morning the clouds disappeared and we were treated to some lovely sea day weather and with the sun being on our side of the ship, we made full use of the balcony. Our last lunch onboard was taken in the MDR where we made full use of being able to enjoy some favourites for the last time on this cruise.

After it was packing, which was done with Nicole’s usual efficiency while I filled in the luggage tags and Incoming Passenger Cards for the Australia Border Force.

The rest of the afternoon we found a couple of beds at the aft and made the most of our last few daylight hours in the sunshine.

As it’s the last day, it was time to say goodbye to the people and crew that we have enjoyed the company of over the last 4 weeks. We have met some amazing people during this cruise, both fellow passengers and crew. They have all contributed to the wonderful experience of this Australian circumnavigation cruise and will be remembered fondly but it is time to move on.

Tomorrow morning we disembark in Sydney and have a tour planned which hopefully I will have time to share details of before our flight home.

Fitbit Steps 7,733

Brisbane was our last port before we return to Sydney, our arrival time was set at 8:00 and the departure was 5:00. It’s three hours shorter than we had with Celebrity so did limit what we could achieve given that the 8:00am is actually 8:30am because you need to allow for the securing of the gangway and getting clearance from the local authorities. All aboard is 4:30pm so if we had pushed it to the maximum, we would have had 8 hours with a transfer time of approximately 1 hour into Brisbane.

I would like to say that I feel very short changed by Princess with their port timings, with the exception of Melbourne and Darwin, they have all seemed quite compressed. It will certainly make me think about sailing with them again in the future.

Last time we were here, we docked at Fisherman’s Island but today it was on the opposite side and we used the newer cruise terminal.

Anyway, back to today and how our day transpired. In order to go ashore, we had to take a ticket with us to say we were B2B passengers so as not to confuse us with the disembarking passengers and only one gangway was in use so that slowed things up too.

When we eventually got off at 9:00 we booked an Uber to take us to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, it took 15 minutes to arrive then a further journey time of 35 minutes.

After buying our tickets we set off to explore the compact but amazing little zoo. Obviously the star attraction are the Koalas of which there are over 100 of them to enjoy. Their welfare is of utmost importance and they are totally pampered with the eucalyptus leaves constantly being refreshed. What a life!!!!

There are also lots of other animals in the zoo but another big attraction is to be able to walk in the Kangaroo enclosure and hand feed them. Nicole totally enjoyed the chance to get up close and feed a couple of the Kangaroo’s as did yours truly.

We kept ourselves amused until around 1:30pm before ordering another Uber back to the ship which got us to the terminal at just after 2:00pm. After a quick bite we just chilled in the cabin and recapped the day’s activities. The ship has a different feeling to it this afternoon, as all the newcomers are only on for 2 nights, there seems to be a younger/party vibe onboard. There are also a lot of Japanese school children onboard doing of all things a school trip. We never had the option of a cruise for a school trip, quite how their teachers are going to keep them in check in the evening remains to be seen. One more sea day before we disembark in Sydney so we are a bit melancholy tonight.

Fitbit Steps 15,721

Lone Pine Excursion Price Comparison

Privately

1 x $66.39 Uber Out

2 x $54.00 Entrance fee

1 x $68.30 Uber Back

$242.69 total for two

Ship Tour

2 x $179.95

$359.90 for two

What a difference in the weather between yesterday and today. We have gone from windy, sunny and hot to cloudy with a warm breeze this morning to almost gusty in the afternoon and it was very much cooler. The ship was still quiet on the open decks so finding a bed wasn’t a problem and never has been on this cruise

There has been nothing notable about today other than the battery on my medallion giving up the ghost so I made the same trip as Nicole did yesterday to Guest Services to get a replacement. There was quite a queue of people all in the same predicament in that they were locked out of their cabin.

We have said goodbye to a few friends today as there are 600 getting on and off at Brisbane tomorrow. Cabin allocation must have been an absolute nightmare for someone and all those that are getting in are only on for 2 days.  Our after dinner drink venue is a bar called Adagio. It’s free from music or ridiculous games, the seating is really comfortable and the bar staff are great, it’s taken us nearly 3 weeks to find it, but at least we did. I believe it is used by suite guests and higher ranked Captains Circle members for pre dinner drinks and serves as the bar for Sabatini’s next door. I wish we had discovered it sooner.

Short post today but tomorrow it should be longer as we have a day in Brisbane.

Fitbit Steps 6,768

The many sea days were always going to be a part of this cruise, we could have done without the two extra ones but had no control over the circumstances that brought them about. It never occurred to me that weather conditions would prevent some of the stops in Australia so you live and learn.

Today we passed Willis Island and I have been trying to get to the bottom of why we didn’t follow the same procedure as we did in 2017 when on Celebrity Solstice doing an Eastern Australian itinerary. Here is a quote from my blog back then.

“As this cruise is all Australian home ports it isn’t technically an international cruise and therefore the ship is not allowed to sell any duty free items. To get round this the ship has to drop anchor very briefly off the coast of Willis Island so that it can be recorded in the ship’s logs and thus qualifying it as an international stop. The whole process took around 45 minutes and during this time we were given a talk over the PA by one of the three meteorologists that live on the island for 6 months at a time. The weather station on the island is used to monitor and record weather conditions which hopefully will provide early warning against cyclones in the region.”

Today, we slowed up and just sailed past while being receiving a talk over the PA by one of the meteorologists. All the stops have been Australian so the requirements for selling duty free must still be in place.

On the way back to the cabin I happened to spot the captain so seized the opportunity to ask him about the difference. He explained that the regulations have now changed and there is no requirement to drop anchor, it’s an environmental issue because there were concerns about the operation breaking the coral. Also if the weather was bad ships didn’t bother dropping anchor anyway. He went on to say there is loads more paperwork to contend with if you do drop anchor so the logical answer is just to sail past and record it on the ships logs. It still serves the same purpose but is less damaging to the coral.

Just before we arrived at Wills Island, we started to be accompanied by lots of sea birds which were a mixture of Brown Boobys and Red Footed Boobys. My perseverance paid off and I managed to get some reasonable photos.

Fitbit Steps 10,061 .

When we initially thought about Cairns as a destination, we wanted to try and do something different from our visit in 2017. But with Nicole’s new found courage with heights we thought it would be good to revisit Kuranda but this time take the Skyrail up one way instead of the train both ways and that is what we did. Our day started more leisurely as we didn’t arrive at Cairns until 9:00 and once again there was a delay getting ashore. We had booked tickets through Skyrail direct which included a bus transfer from Cairns to Smithfield to get on the cable car.

We had to be there for 10:45 and due to our late arrival the pick up time was a lot closer than it should have been. The bus journey took about 25 minutes and we were soon on off the bus and on the cable car after we arrived. The trip up to Kuranda is done in two cable car journeys, there is a stop about half way to change where you can take a 20 minute guided tour around a boardwalk in the rainforest which is what we did.

The second car goes directly to Kuranda with an option to get off to view Barron Falls but we decided to stay on and get to our destination.

Kuranda itself was much how we remembered it, a small town which basically is only there because of the train and Skyrail set up, there are loads of souvenir shops and places to eat and drink that all seem to close after the last train departs at 3:30. We enjoyed wandering around and stopped a couple of times for a drink before making our way back to the station for the return journey on the train.

Like our last visit, we had booked Gold Class tickets which provides a little more comfort and snacks for the journey as opposed to the standard fare which is just a ride on wooden benches.

The train took us directly back to Cairns via Freshwater station which is where we got on and off last time.

It is also where all the ships tours got off and carried their journey back to the ship via coaches. I am perplexed on how they can justify almost double priced tickets for the ship excursion. Using the we won’t leave without you doesn’t hold much water given the train is on a timetable and arrives back in Cairns at 5:45 and just a 20 minute walk back to the terminal. It was all aboard for 8:30 but we were tired and hungry so went straight back to the ship for food and drinks. It was a memorable day again in this part of the world and it’s a real favourite area for us to come to, I hope we can come back again some day for another visit.

Fitbit Steps 14,986

Today was our third sea day of three before we arrive at Cairns. First thing today we sailed quite close to the shore and later on passed a few reefs which provided something interesting to look at. It has once again been very windy with sun beds only being put out in sheltered areas.

The weather has varied all day and we even had a few slight showers around lunchtime which cleared to leave it windy and sunny. If the wind wasn’t there it would be really hot so we both made sure we had plenty of sun screen on. We had lunch in the MDR today which was the first time for a couple of weeks and it made a nice change. Other than that it’s been a quiet relaxing day onboard moving into our last week.

Fitbit Steps 7,166

Today it was windy but with mostly clear skies, our usual place on deck 17 didn’t even have the sun beds put out so we came down a deck where it was still windy but with less chance of taking off and going to Munchkin Country.

We stayed until lunch time and then grabbed some food and ate it in our cabin. While Nicole stayed there to read her book, I went to the enrichment talk which today was all about the mutiny on the Bounty. Interesting to hear about something l knew little of and it passed 45 minutes.

The rest of the day was pretty much a pedestrian sea day with shower, food and bar time.

At around 9:30 we just happened to be out on deck as we passed the northern most tip/area of Queensland, Australia and from Google maps we were able to determine that we were passing Keriri Island. Nicole took the following photos on her phone and despite me having the same model I could not compete with her results.

We were even able to spot a fire of some description on the land as we passed by. During the night we will be heading south towards Cairns. Fitbit Steps 10,119

After yesterday it was great to be able to kick back and enjoy the first of three sea days until we reach Cairns. With just over a week to go now the end is getting ever closer with just 2 more ports until we disembark in Sydney. The ship has remained very quiet today with the open decks almost completely deserted. If this was somewhere in the Mediterranean or Caribbean the outside decks would be packed and a sunbed difficult to get.

Now a grumble, as part of the Princess Plus Package you get two included meals at no cost in the ship’s casual restaurants, on Princess these include Vines, Salty Dog Pub, O’Malleys, Ocean Terrace, Planks, Steamers, Alfredo’s, and GiGi’s. Now on Crown Princess all we have is Vines Wine Bar (I’m not sure it’s applicable) and The Salty Dog Gastropub which is inside The Wheelhouse Bar. The gastro pub has on their menu a Beyond Burger which is vegan so we thought that’s great, we will use our included meals one lunchtime on one of the sea days. A good idea in principle if it was open at lunchtime. It turns out that the opening hours are from 5:30 – 9:30 so the only way we can give it a go is to let gluttony lead us astray and have both a meal there and in the MDR or forfeit the latter. It’s not an extensive enough menu to become an evening meal but it would make a great pub lunch. Come on Princess, engage the brain and open on a sea day for lunch.

Not much else has happened today so this is going to be one of the shortest posts of the cruise.

Fitbit Steps 9,407

As we were coming into Darwin this morning at 5:30 I was just about coming to but at 6:00 we were roused from our bed by the Rick Wakeman of didgeridoo players who proceeded to launch into some pretty impressive tunes along with a hearty “welcome to Darwin” at the end of his performance.

After an early breakfast it was back to the cabin to gather our things for our excursion today. Our meeting point was just outside the terminal at 8:00 am with a company called Lichfield Park Adventures who like us arrived almost bang on time. There were 19 of us on this tour today with one guide who was also our driver. His name was Aaron and he quickly established the fact he was going to be a great guide as we made our way to Lichfield Park.

During the journey he gave us some good information about Darwin and the local area while at the same time being very entertaining. The drive to the national park took just over an hour and a half through the bush along lots of pretty much deserted straight roads. We paused a couple of times to view some of the wildlife and in particular Wallabies and Wallaroos.

There were three stops in the park today and at all of them there was the opportunity to go swimming. So, our first stop was at Wangi Falls which was pretty spectacular even though it had not rained much in the last 7 months.

Aaron showed us some of the native trees and explained some of the details about them some of which had certain medical uses. I decided not to go in the water at the first one choosing to explore and take a few photos but Nicole made straight for the pool and was soon enjoying a cool dip. I found some impressive looking webs with spiders and there were also lots of Fruit Bats hanging from the trees.

After about an hour we travelled another 22 km to our second stop which went by the name of Buley Rock Hole, this was a series of plunge pools and this time I succumbed and followed Nicole into the water.

We enjoyed 45 minutes here and then gathered near the car park where Aaron had prepared a picnic lunch for us all. It also gave us time to dry off which didn’t take long at all.

Our next stop was only a short drive and probably my favourite, it was about 4 km down stream and another spectacular place called Florence Falls. There were two options for getting down to the pool and we took the shortest one which involved 100 or so steps down a metal staircase.

The other route being flatter and much longer which is how we got back to the bus afterwards. This was the busiest of the three places and easy to understand why as it was an amazing setting and the water was cool and refreshing on the skin. I quickly took several photos before eventually joining Nicole in the water. Like the first stop there were lots of Fruit Bats hanging in the trees presumably making the most of the cooler temperature near the water.

Once back to the bus it was time to make our way back to Darwin with a couple of stops along the way, one to visit some Magnetic Termite Mounds, one for a refreshing drink at a small town called Bachelor and lastly a quick one to look at a Bowerbird nest which was absolutely fascinating. Built by the male in order to attract a partner. We were told that if you moved stuff around, it would end up exactly in the same place when the Bowerbird returned.

We were back onboard just after 6:00 and ready to eat, the ship wasn’t due to leave until 10:00 but we decided that by the time we had changed and got ready, had something to eat it wouldn’t have been worth the effort as most of not all of the places we wanted to see would have been closed long ago. As it happens another medical emergency happened and we didn’t set sail until nearly midnight.

A fantastic day today and great fun.

Fitbit Steps 15,441