OzKiwiJJ

Yes, that was quite noticeable with the buildings around the city. However they have free schooling including transport to schools, and kids start learning multiple languages from an early age.

Progress report Tuesday 14th May. After Fremantle we settled back into our sea day routine - lots of trivia, coffee and a bit of quiet time in our cabin. However on this section we added afternoons spent in the Sanctuary. At first it was layers and blankets, but after a few days it warmed up but not quite enough to swim. Yesterday was our first international port stop, at Port Louis in Mauritius. What a fascinating place! We only saw a small part of it on our "Journey into Local Culture" tour which visited several interesting places. Nelson Mandela Centre. This consisted of two buildings: a lovely old tower building made of volcanic rock and a newer building. There was an art exhibition which included art from both international and local artists including some very moving pen and ink sketches showing scenes from the early colonisation days days of slavery and indentureship. There were a number of paintings, sculptures, etc. We really loved one painting of a hawk rising from fire and were able to chat to the artist about it. As well there was a demonstration of the local Sega music and dance which developed as a form of communication between workers from many different countries. Then we had a chance to play the hand drums. Aapravasi Ghat This is among the oldest of the entry and transit points for indentured labourers. One building is now set up as a museum with displays covering the history of the building and artefacts that had been discovered Hindu Temple Although a fairly standard Hindu Temple this one was primarily used by the Tamil people so had some slightly different statues. It was a very tranquil spot. Next we drove through some of the shopping streets of Port Louis including Chinatown, a street full of hardware stores, an Indian precinct which included some gorgeous clothing stores, and lots of restaurants and eateries. Our final stop before lunch was at a Statue of the Virgin Mary high on a hill. There were great views over city from here. We had an excellent lunch of local cuisine - curries and various other dishes all of which were very tasty. It was accompanied by a choice of drink - we opted for an icy local lager which was very refreshing in the heat. We hadn't had a chance to shop anywhere but there was a small souvenir shop at the cruise terminal so I was able to buy a fridge magnet - a rather cute Dodo. All in all it was an excellent excursion. We learnt a lot about the history of Mauritius from our guide as we travelled from place to place. Port Louis is not a place I would ever want to drive in, the traffic was crazy. Luckily buses are bigger than cars, motorcycles and pedestrians so most of those chose to give way.

Actually that is what they promised when they first announced Dine My Way but never delivered on it. It will be interesting to see whether they can get it to work this time. We did walk-up dining for the first couple of weeks of this cruise so we could try out different locations and waiter teams. We never had to wait more than a couple of minutes for a table however we usually dine around 7pm or later. The other day we finally decided where we'd like to be in the Bordeaux MDR so have booked a specific table for the rest of the cruise.

I guess that depends on how much variety you want, and if you dress up on formal nights.

I'm not sure but one of the sommeliers used to work there and said "don't use credit cards or you'll get scammed". He was very emphatic about it.

Definitely a furphy! My guess is that there is something that needs to be done to Station Pier that the Victorian authorities aren't telling anyone but has caused them to limit or stop any disembarkations/embarkations from Melbourne . That may explain why the Diamond itineraries have ended up as they are. I suspect the original plan was for Diamond to homeport for the whole season in Melbourne but Princess had to change things due to whatever is going on with Station Pier. Princess isn't the only cruise line to pull out. Cunard is no longer coming here other than as port stops on it's world cruises. Virgin has also redeployed.

We paid $3,821 for a mini-suite, Plus fare, on Diamond last year for a 9 night itinerary. Now they want $5,159 or more!

All cabins should have a small sofa. On the only Royal Caribbean cruise we've done even the inside cabin had a sofa.

We'd be happy with something very similar in size and design as Coral but a couple of changes: The first, of course, is cabins with better bathrooms and comfortable seating in all cabin categories. The second would be to redesign the Bayou restaurant/bar so that it feels less like a brick barn. Other than that it's close to perfect for us.

Please also pass on regards from Julie and Rolf to Yalcin. We met him on Coral on several cruises we did during the Australian restart in 2022. We're back on Coral at the moment doing the world cruise and we miss him.

Does your phone allow WiFi Calling? We'd had problems overseas last year with our old phones but so far it seem to be working on Coral Princess with our new phones. Fingers crossed it will stay that way for the whole cruise. We tend to just use the debit card we have specifically for overseas travel to just withdraw cash when needed, and use a credit card for everything else. However we have been warned not to use credit cards in Cape Town. Hopefully we can safely get some cash there otherwise I won't be able to buy a fridge magnet!

Oh no! I'm really sorry to hear that, Les. Wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery with no lingering after-effects. Take care, mate. 😘

A lot of small businesses took a financial hit when most people stopped paying in cash during Covid so I can understand why they have added the charge. I don't like it though.

We did Brisbane to Cairns many years ago when they still operated Queenslander Class on the trains - pullman sleeper cabins, lounge/bar carriage, dining carriage. It was great, similar to the Indian Pacific but only 30 hours. I can't remember what it cost but it wasn't cheap. Although they now only have sleeper seats if you like train travel it would be worth doing once.

Oddly enough that wasn't noticeable by eye. It's also in the first picture if you look closely.

The problem with doing passport control at sea is that two Border Force officers were committed to only that one task and therefore were out of action for several days. With more ships doing the NZ /Australia runs they needed those people available to process more than one ship in that time frame. Our last cruise with onboard processing was in 2017. In 2019 the passport processing was done in Hobart.

Our afternoon in the Sanctuary was cut short by a passing squall but just before we left there was a gorgeous rainbow right off the stern of the ship. I've never seen a rainbow that close before.

It depends on what we're doing each day. Today they were collecting passports for the Mauritius stop so we had to get back to our cabin by 9am but usually on sea days we have breakfast in the MDR unless we sleep in too late. On ports days we often have to go to the buffet if we're doing an early excursion.

Not me! We got up there about 8am.

I hope not! 🤣

There was a rare sighting of the elusive Greater Red Twinings E.B. in the buffet this morning. 🤣

We're into day 2 of the crossing to Mauritius. It's still cool but just warm enough to have our first day in the Sanctuary. We've noticed the Bordeaux MDR has been a lot quieter after 7pm over the last three nights. Prior to that it was chocka at that time, and Good Spirits is quieter too. The early show times may account for the pattern change or maybe people have just found their ideal evening routines. We've been doing morning trivia and progressive trivia with mixed success but we're having fun. Afternoon tea has just arrived so bye for now!

You're just as likely to get better pours if you get to know the bartender well - as we did on Royal Princess in 2017. We ended up having predinner drinks most nights, along with a couple of our dinner companions, at the small Princess Live bar. The bartender must have liked us as he started free-pouring the spirits when making cocktails. His Captain's Bounty cocktail, which has four types of rum (usually a half nip of each) was lethal! 🤣

Consequently the cabin is narrower where the sofa is. I means they can squeeze more cabins in per deck.

However I believe they are now considered a non-native invasive species in NZ as they are invading habitats of native birds. Very sad as they are so pretty and they are a legume so nitrogen-fixing in soil. At one stage they were planted in cleared forestry sections to improve the soil before replanting.