Iluvcruising2

As we were finishing up our lunch, Captain informed that we were entering the Sounds again.

Time to go out!

Sweet endings

The Tandori chicken was very good too!

The Vietnamese fried rice. The best fried rice I've ever had a cruise ship.

Alright, it is time for lunch. This lunch menu was new to us. It wasn't available during our June cruise.

And we depart from Doubtful Sound. Time was 12:30pm.

Back in our stateroom.

Shouldn't be too difficult to guess which ship this was.

We met another ship going in the opposite direction. Captain announced over the PA system. Very interesting.

We are in Thompson Sound. Compared to Milford, the mountains are not as high. Nevertheless, it is still very beautiful.

This was taken about 11:20am, as the ship entered Thompson Sound.

Hot dogs on pool deck!

Ok, so the Voyager left Milford Sound slightly after 8am. To sum up, the Voyager entered Milford Sound just before 7am, taking about 30 minutes to get to the end. The ship stopped, and dropped off those brave souls, turned 180deg around and started sailing out.

The Captain announced that we would be heading towards Thompson Sound. The ship would enter Thompson Sound and exit via Doubtful Sound. The estimated time of arrival was 11am. The Captain said he would make an announcement about 10 minutes before we entered Thompson Sound, so all would be aware.

With that, my family went to the MDR for breakfast! (Yah... breakfast again.. this was the fourth time I was having breakfast that morning, 5:30am Cafe Promenade, 6am WJ, 7am Room Service, 8am MDR!!.... only on a cruise ship!)

We went back to our cabin to watch the rest of sailing out of Milord Sound.

Saw this very interesting ship on our way out.

That's a small waterfall!

We have completed the turn and we are now heading out. Time of this picture, 7:30am.

Once the ferry was clear, the good Captain started to turn the ship.

For those unacquainted with the propulsion system of the Voyager, you would be pleased to know that the Voyager has azipods and bow thrusters. She is able to swivel on the spot.

Very cool stuff.

Without this technology, there would be no way for a ship of this size to sail the Sounds.

Goodbye, our brave explorers and see you tomorrow!

With their depature, the Captain announced that those brave souls forgot to bring their ration of grog.... and thus the rest of us could have a little more to drink tonight.... hic!

You see, what happened was about 50 cruise passengers left the ship, on this small ferry. They would become the newest settlers at Milford Sound. Apparently Diamonds had been found recently beneath one of those beautiful reservoirs. Hence, the bravest amongst the 3,400 pax would be given the one-in-a-lifetime chance to dig for Diamonds.

Talk about 21st century explorers.

Ahead, is the end of Milford Sound. This was as far as the ship would go.

We came to a stop here. For what? You'll see soon....

Gee, I didn't know the moon had waterfalls.

Captain, have we reached the moon?

They set up tables to serve coffee on deck, and even alcohol! I assume the alcohol was for a fee, though I didn't check how much.

It would not be a good idea to bring the kids up to Deck 12 in the early morning without first letting them have something to eat.

Room service solved that problem. Remember to order room service the night before, if you want to do the same.

This was taken at 7:15am, we were back up on Deck 12.