At Sea and Melbourne

At Sea

            On Thursday, 20 November, we went to breakfast about 8:00 AM – still on a fairly early schedule for us!  We shared our breakfast table with Dick and Chieko, from Colorado Springs, USA.  He retired from the US Air Force in 2011.  They were married in Japan, exactly 50 years ago, today!  They are the second couple that we have met who is celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on this cruise.  Dick and Chieko experienced quite an ordeal in order to marry.  The way we understand it, with Chieko being Japanese and Dick being of Japanese descent, Dick had to prove his citizenship.  Apparently, if Dick’s father had registered Dick’s birth (in Seattle) into Japanese family records, he would have had dual citizenship, one of which he would have been required to give up before being allowed to marry Chieko.  Luckily, his father had not registered his Japanese birth so Dick only had US citizenship.  After an extensive amount of paperwork, Dick and Chieko were allowed to marry.  Of course, there is always a lot of paperwork involved for US military personnel to marry someone from the country where he/she is stationed.

            After breakfast, we went for a swim, then returned to or cabin for more rest and relaxation (R&R).  We enjoyed lunch from about 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM; then more R&R.

            For dinner, we tried the Santa Fe Dining Room for dinner this time.  Apparently, the décor is the old (US) West, although it wasn’t really very obvious.  There were wrought iron sculptures of a cowboy and a wagon train, and a photo of an old-style revolver.  We chose to share a table but were well into our appetizers before Madine, from New South Wales, Australia, joined us.  She is an artist taking her 14th cruise, but cruising alone for the first time.  A few minutes later, we were joined by Tony and Sue from Adelaide.  Tony is still working in the textile industry, but was able to get away for the 28-day cruise.  This is their 5th or 6th cruise.  After dinner, we danced to the Princess Orchestra in Club Fusion and the Soul Wave in the Wheelhouse bar before retiring for the night.

Melbourne

On Friday, 21 November, Jesse awoke at 6:30 AM because Dick and Chieko had told us that 6:00 AM was the best time to access the Internet.  By the time Sally awoke at 7:30 AM, internet access had slowed to a crawl.  At breakfast we shared a table with Brian, from South Wales, near Adelaide.  His wife, Julia, was still napping in their cabin.  We found many topics of conversation, ranging from politics to hearing aids, so that it was 10:00 AM by the time we left the dining room; we had sat there talking for two hours.

Soon afterwards, we were in the swimming pool, where we stayed until 11:30 AM or so, and then headed for lunch.  En route, we met Brian’s wife, Julia.  By 12:45 PM, we were on shore, checked in for our day’s excursion.

Today, Melbourne is one of the busiest ports in Australia.  As the bus drove us around the city, our tour guide, Leslie, pointed out notable sights, including the ornate Princess Theater.  Built in 1857, it's regarded as Melbourne's home for international musical productions.  Other sights included Melbourne Park, Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Arts Centre, the Grand Prix site, and St Patrick's and St Paul's Cathedrals.

Our first stop was the Shrine of Remembrance.  This memorial is primarily dedicated to the memory of the men of Victoria who served and those who died in the Great War.  Its design ensures that a ray of sunlight falls on the Stone of Remembrance and illuminates the word LOVE at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the exact moment of the armistice ending WWI.  However, there is also space allotted for remembrance of soldiers from later wars, as recent as Afghanistan.



Captain James Cook

Cook's Cottage

Next, we visited the grand Fitzroy Gardens, where we discovered huge formal garden beds, walking paths, a superb collection of trees, and a gorgeous conservatory.  We toured Captain James Cook’s cottage, the only 18th century building remaining in Melbourne.  The cottage was originally built by Cook's father in 1755 from sandstone and brick, and was dismantled and transported from the village of Great Ayton in Yorkshire, England, to its present site in 1933. Capt. Cook discovered and charted Australia's eastern coastline. (He was said to have been tall; however, the doorways are low and the bed, small. In fact, we noted later that the living space in that cottage was not much greater than in our current cruise ship cabin.) 

 

Our final stop was Southgate Pier, where we started our 50-minute cruise on the Yarra River.  Although Melbourne is situated on the shores of one of the largest bays on the Australian coast, the Yarra River is considered the city's main waterway.  However, it can’t be compared in the slightest to the Mississippi River back home either for its size or barge traffic; in fact, most of today’s “traffic” on the Yarra consisted of students practicing their coordinated rowing for future races.  In early times the Yarra was the major food source and meeting place for indigenous Australians.  We sailed past the Royal Botanic Gardens founded in 1846 and the Melbourne and Olympic Park Sports Precinct, considered to be Australia's premier sports complex that regularly hosts some of the biggest domestic and international sporting events. The 1956 Summer Olympics and 2006 Commonwealth Games were held here.

  Our bus driver, Shawn, did a great job navigating through the heavy Friday afternoon traffic.  (Jesse was glad not to be driving, again on the “wrong side” of the road.  Also, since our tour guide, Leslie, walked with a cane, it was Shawn’s job to “chase down” any missing passengers before we departed our scheduled stops.

We returned to the ship at about 5:15 PM and, before too long, went to the Savoy Dining Room for dinner.  This time, we were at a table for two but conversed with first, Jane, and then also Ann, who came to be seated at a nearby table.  Jane is a nurse who has already retired three times but will be starting a new job when she gets back home to Melbourne.  She is travelling with a group of women, but the others were watching the movie Grace of Monaco.   Ann has been on numerous cruises and has been a Princess Elite member for quite a while.  She gave us a few tips on maximizing the benefits of our Elite status.  Ann’s husband was attending a Princess “Showtime.”

It was very late when we finished dinner, so that when we arrived at the Explorer’s lounge, the New Deal was already playing their last song.  We made our way to the Wheelhouse Bar, where we danced for about 30 minutes before retiring for the night.