JUST CRUSIN’ 

Our last cruise was in August 2019 from Shanghai to Brisbane on the Majestic Princess. After a hectic two week land tour from Beijing through China, cruising home was a good way way to avoid a long flight. And, of course, three months after returning to Australia, COVID-19 arrived in Wuhan in 2019/20, began to spread throughout the world, and locked us all down. So this cruise from Brisbane to Hawaii and back marks our return to cruising after eleven other cruises to almost every corner of the world. Our cruises have often been timed to mark an occasion, and in this case, it will signal my 80th birthday. Such a big number, but I am grateful to be able to complain about it.  

This cruise is truly a cruise with almost half of the time just at sea cruising. It is clearly a self-indulgent experience. And we will enjoy that for these 35 days. We booked a 'Mini-Suite' a little over twelve months ago judging COVID-19 would have been tamed by then! We both find lots to do and often go in different directions to pick up the activities we prefer. And we both enjoy meeting new people over dinner to hear their stories. I suspect that a cruise from Brisbane to Brisbane is likely to comprise ‘locals’ rather than the more interesting cruisers from distant lands. But, we shall see.

After opening in the midst of a disastrous period for the tourism industry, Brisbane’s new $177 million cruise terminal finally opened mid June 2022. This terminal will be a new gateway for people coming into Brisbane, but it will also set us up well for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032. If you haven't had the pleasure of using the new terminal here's a 90 sec video; 

https://youtu.be/T8WRW5TDcxE 

And if you haven't had the displeasure of driving to the terminal on poor roads among dilapidated buildings with an obnoxious effluvia still rising in the air above Luggage Point, well here's a two minute sample of those concerns. Perhaps it will all be fixed in ten years! 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLEc-s3fI64

This cruise makes its first stop in Fiji, then on to Pago Pago in American Samoa, to five islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, to Tahiti and Moorea, and on to New Zealand docking at Auckland and the Bay of Islands before a stop in Sydney and a return to Brisbane.

For all our cruises, I like to research the places we are going to before arriving. That is often a complex process trying to summarise in as few a words as possible the history of a location. For this Blog it was much easier. I simply logged into ChatGPT and a very neat summary was provided. The marvels of 21st Century technology.   

                                              

"No grocery shopping and cooking for 35 days!" Guess who said that!

Boarding Coral Princess was surprisingly painless. Only 500 passengers embarking from Qld which means 1500 got on previously as this is just one section of a larger around the World passage. We picked up our personalised medallions which unlock the cabin door as we approach it, and anything we purchase on the ship is paid by presenting the medallion which of course is linked to the credit card. Reservations for dinner were made through the television screen and the menu can be previewed on line. Our cabin is towards the stern of the ship which means considerable walking as punishment for eating too much. The NRL semi final is being screened in room or in one of the large lounges. I can feel the engines have started for the sailaway party at 5.00.