18th/19th/20th/21st February – At Sea

We now have 4 sea days ahead of us before our next port of call Hong Kong. We've never done a long stretch like this before so it will be interesting to see how we cope.

Actually the first day went quite quickly. Stephan went off to sunbathe and I went to a lecture on Hong Kong. As we have been 3 times before (who's boasting?!) I wanted to see what other options there were and I've come away with a few ideas of places to visit. I joined up with Stephan and enjoyed a spot of sunbathing before lunch. The temperature has been averaging around 30 degrees C. I suspect that by the time we reach China we will really feel the cold. After lunch Stephan went off again to catch more sun whilst I did what had to be done – the laundry! I think I'm right in saying that Princess is the only line that has a launderette on every deck and having been away just over 2 weeks and with just under another 3 weeks to go the 'undies' had to be done. I wasn't the only lady in the launderette and as it is only just down from the corridor it wasn't too much of a chore. Once the weather has turned too cold for shorts and t-shirts I'll probably do another wash and save some work when we get home.

For some reason I didn't go back out but in some respect I was glad to stay out of the sun. After dinner we decided to go the the Production Show which was excellent, probably the best yet. In one of the lounges there was a Hypnotist, but to be honest neither of us like watching people making fools of themselves and it is also humiliating for the victim when they see or hear what has been going on. We went to bed about midnight.

When we woke up the 2nd day at sea we had crossed the Equator at just after midnight, the ship taking 32 seconds to cross the line from bow to stern, and a special ceremony took place on deck this afternoon. Volunteers (victims) who have never crossed The Line before were unceremoniously covered in foam and liquids of a dubious nature before being thrown into the pool. As it has been another hot day we have taken the advantage of a little sun worshiping while we can. We also tried a small experiment, we watched water running down the sink before we crossed the equator and after we had crossed, sure enough the water had reversed its direction.

I thought I would take a few moments to tell you of another moan that is common among cruise passengers and that is the cost of the shore excursions organised by the cruise line; in one word they are exorbitant and I can give you an example of what I mean. There is a ship excursion in Hong Kong which takes in a City Drive, Victoria Peak & Aberdeen & Stanley Market. This trip lasts just 4 hours, meaning that the passengers will see next to nothing an for this privilege they are expected to pay £43 per head. Contrast that with taking the 'Hop-on-hop-off' bus which will do all this and a hell of a lot more for the sum of just under £26 per head and you have all day to do your sightseeing. No contest really is there? However, there are times when it is better to pay the inflated price of the ship, rather than do it yourself and that is if you are looking at a full day's tour or you are somewhere were English may not be spoken. If you are with a ship's tour and you are late back the ship will wait, as what happened in Bali, do the trip yourself and they will simply leave you behind.

Rosalyn forgot to to tell you we are passing close by the Phillipines and we saw some merchant ships, one had a K in a white circle on it on the funnel – was it kosher!!!
After dinner as we had seen the Show the day before (because people eat at different times they tend to repeat the Production show over 2 nights to give everyone a chance to see it) we went to one of the lounges for a drink before it was time for bed. Watching the news we have been told that Darwin has had 32” of rain since we left on Monday – we really have been very very lucky not to get caught up in the cyclone.

As we are now in our 3rd day and the sun is still shining meaning we have done very little, I thought I would take the opportunity to give you a better idea of where we are sailing. Early on the 19th we crossed the equator from the Southern hemisphere into the Northern hemisphere between the islands of Sulawesi on the starboard side and Kalimantan on the port side. We then crossed into the Celebes Sea (no, I'd not heard of it either!). Basically we are cruising the islands of the Phillipines and later today (20th) we will transit the Mindoro straits as we continue on our way to Hong Kong.

We have met so many lovely people but what we have found that as cruising goes we are novices. This is our 5th cruise over about the past 10 or 11 years but when you speak to others they may have done as many as 30+ cruises. Admittedly these people tend to be the Americans who take lots of short cruises – 7 days or less but it is certainly an extremely pleasant way of holidaying. Obviously with only 1 day in a port you cannot even begin to see anything but we look on cruising as a 'taster' and if we see somewhere we like it goes on the list of places to 'do' properly. Trouble is the list is growing bigger and bigger. Here on the ship you can reserve your next cruise and it's amazing to see people queuing to have a word with the Onboard Specialist – whether they are actually booking anything I don't know and once again it raises a question – is it better to book your cruise early or late? There is no real answer to this although once again the Americans get an advantage in that if they book early and prices drop they will get a refund – something which doesn't happen either in the UK or Australia. If prices go up I don't think they have to pay more. The passengers on board are predominantly Americans, then Aussies and then us Brits, but there is a sizeable Russian presence as well as Germans and French. Age tends towards the older end of the spectrum but that can be explained by the length of the holiday; most people who still work can't always take 4-5 weeks off in one go. There are younger people and even children on board so it isn't a 'Pensioners' Outing'.

After dinner we went to the Explorers Lounge and watched a magician who was very good.

Today,our 4th day, we are crossing the South China Sea and are on course to reach Hong Kong tomorrow.

Ice Road Truckers, a programme initially showing on the History Channel of Sky and now on Channel 5, is a series about a group of men and one woman who drive very large lorries across Alaska in the winter. Nothing special until you realise that the roads they are driving on are actually rivers, lakes and the sea that have frozen over due to the cold. They haul anything from heavy machinery to provisions to the small towns, villages and oil-rigs and have only a short season of about 6 weeks before the ice starts to thaw. It's one of those programmes that you find strangely compelling, even if you don't know why. So why have I started today's blog with this nugget of information; well...

As I mentioned earlier, there is a Future Cruises desk on board and yesterday Faye had been to get a price for a cruise in May 2012 which is from Beijing to Vancouver over 19 nights. This is a cruise which is known as a repo(sitioning) cruise as the ship relocates from its winter cruising area to its summer cruising area and in theory is supposed to be a little cheaper. Anyway, the price was interesting and although we are definitely not thinking about our next holiday Stephan and I decided to pay the cruise agent a visit. I asked her if it was correct that in the case of price drops Americans who have paid will get a refund while us Brits (and Aussies) don't. She confirmed this was true and said it was something to do with a Holiday Act/Rule/Regulation – I can't remember which exactly. While we were waiting to be seen, as there is always a queue, I looked at another preview brochure, this time just Alaska, and to our amazement we have found a 7-day Alaskan cruise with a 7-day landtour and guess what, 2 of the places the tour goes to are Coldfoot and Prudhoe Bay, the latter being above the Arctic Circle and 2 of the places the drivers in the aforementioned Ice Road Truckers visit! We have asked for a price simply out of curiosity but I suspect it is the power of television that has brought about the inclusion of such far away places.

Anyway, back to reality; up until lunchtime the weather has been hot but after we ventured out of our cabin having had a sleep at about 3pm we discovered the weather had turned quite cold – so I suspect we have now said goodbye to sunbathing on this cruise. I actually felt a little cold and for the first time on our cruise I wore a cardigan to keep my arms warm. After dinner it was decided that as tomorrow in Hong Kong will be a long day, the ship doesn't sail until 11.30 pm, we would all have an early night.

HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE ABLE TO UPDATE THE BLOG WHILE WE ARE IN HONG KONG. OUR NEXT PORT OF CALL (TAIWAN) IS A FULL DAY TRIP SO WE WON'T HAVE TIME THEN, SO POSSIBLY IT WILL BE ANOTHER 4-5 DAYS (NAGASAKI) BEFORE A FURTHER POSTING. FAILING THAT AND BECAUSE OF FURTHER FULL DAY TRIPS IT WILL NOT BE UNTIL WE DISEMBARK IN BEIJING A WEEK ON THURSDAY, BUT PLEASE KEEP CHECKING.