Come sail with me on a virtual cruise on Majestic Princess to Fiji!

[cnd crsr]

11 hours ago, RLK33853 said:

Glad you enjoyed your tour.  

 

We had a great day relaxing on Hideaway Island.  Nice beach, decent snorkling, but the real draw is the underwater post office.  You can buy waterproof postcards, fill them out, then you go out in the water and snorkel down in about 10 feet of water to post them.  They have a diver down there to receive them but if they are not in the water you place them in a mailbox down there.  Touristy schtick, but for some who collect postcards it is a once in a lifetime collectible.

 

We walked into town and took a bus and returned to the ship by cab.  Easy day.

 

What fun! Now where else could you find an underwater post office? Was it busy?

Gail

[ellie1145]

So What Are You Going To Do Today?

 

There’s plenty to do.

 

So what is on offer today?

 

Well, there is a Guest Enrichment Presentation on Stuttering (how bizarre!) and a Destination Presentation on Noumea, a Reflection Screening on Captain Cook (Part 2), and a South Pacific Enrichment Presentation: WW2,

 

If you are feeling more active and want to learn, there is Zumba, Ballroom Dancing, Line Dancing, Fun in the Sun Pool Games, Egg Drop Finale, Margarita Demonstration,  The Pop Choir Rehearsal, a Ukulele Class for Intermediates, Arts and Crafts: Ribbon Leis, Dicey Wooden Horse Racing, and Goofy Golf.

 

For all those photographers, there is ‘Create your own Photo Souvenir Session,’ and the ‘Art of Light Photography’ Seminar, ana an Enrichment Photo Class: ‘Understanding your Camera’ (we tried one of these seminars but it was in the Photo shop and it was rammed, no room to even sit down so a big failure. This really isn’t the right venue for this sort of event.)

 

The Morning Movie: ‘Missing Link’ is on Movies Under the Stars, the Afternoon Movie: ‘Shazam’ is in  the Theatre, and the Evening Movie Under the Stars is ‘X-Men, Dark Phoenix.’

 

In the shops there is a Tanzanite Mega Blow Out Sale, Shops of Princess Event, Effy Event, Natural and Cultured Pearls Event, not to mention the Onboard Outlet Sale, where there is everything they weren’t able to flog on the last cruise.

 

For the trivia buffs there is Trivia at10.15, and 12.15 (Progressive) Pictionary Challenge at 1.30, 2.30 Afternoon Trivia, 4.30 Evening Music Trivia, and at 8.00 pm an Urban Myths Trivia.

 

And of course an Art Auction and BINGO!

 

Tonight’s entertainment consists of a Production Show: Sweet Soul

Music, A Novelty Comedy Variety Showtime starring Martin Ralph, the Liars’ Club Gameshow, Karaoke Power Hour at 10.00 pm in Princess Live, and lots of live music from the Zinger Quartet, Rudi Douglas in Crooners, Guitarist and Vocalist Michelle Joly, Classical String Melodies with Music Wave String Duo, Piano and Cocktails with Vadim Tutov as well as Jaame’s Band. DJ Reno, of course is on hand in Crooners at 11.00 till late.

 

I can’t think how I missed the Arthritis Pain Solutions Seminar, Secrets To a Tighter Smoother Looking Skin, Detox for Health and Weight Loss, Improving Posture Seminar, and How to Fight the Signs of Ageing Seminar. I must have misread the Patter, so unfortunately I will remain fatter, older, more wrinkled and slouched..... but there is always tomorrow! Or maybe I could just go to the Maitre d’ Wine Club and drown my sorrows (it’s an Elite  perk, so free for us!).

[ellie1145]

58 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Well, since I have permission...

it's the morbid fear of sharp things.

 

Hooray! You are correct. 

 

I bet you are glad you learned that! 🤣

 

It will come in useful if you ever ***** yourself on something sharp......🙀

 

Oh there I go again.....back to the Naughty Room...

Edited July 24, 2020 by ellie1145

[ellie1145]

41 minutes ago, cnd crsr said:

 

What fun! Now where else could you find an underwater post office? Was it busy?

Gail

 

If it’s anything like our local Post Office, you would be dead as your oxygen would run out long before you reached the front of the queue! 😉

 

[JF - retired RRT]

2 minutes ago, ellie1145 said:

 

Hooray! You are correct. 

 

I bet you are glad you learned that! 🤣

 

It will come in useful if you ever ***** yourself on something sharp......🙀

 

Oh there I go again.....back to the Naughty Room...

So @*%! true. 

[rmf11699]

Such language for my virgin ears! 🤣

[ellie1145]

7 hours ago, ellie1145 said:

4.  In which country did snooker originate?

 

 

 

Just one more question to go!  We got this wrong, too!

[cnd crsr]

24 minutes ago, ellie1145 said:

 

 

Just one more question to go!  We got this wrong, too!

 

I think,  it was a British soldier while stationed in India .

 

Gail

[ellie1145]

1 hour ago, cnd crsr said:

 

I think,  it was a British soldier while stationed in India .

 

Gail

Wow! I’m very impressed.  We thought it wave UK.

 

Well done!

[ellie1145]

Well done, all you Trivia Buffs!  🥂🍾👏🎉🏆🏅

 

 

All those with the correct answers will be receiving their prizes in due course.....

 

And what is it, you may ask... well of course it’s a super powered, Mini, collapsible, Vortex vacuum cleaner, small enough to fit in your handbag, or pocket, which is winging its way to you via Amazon (the river, of course).

 

You cannot have too many of these little beauties! 

 

Dude, looks like a lady......

[ellie1145]

3 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

So @*%! true. 

 

🤫

[ellie1145]

Another Sea Day

Wednesday, October 23rd.

 

 

We wake from a gloriously comfortable sleep to the sound of the telephone, advising us that a light breakfast is on its way. We have got into a routine now, on sea days, of ordering tea, a little fruit and a croissant each so that we don’t have to rush to breakfast, and can simply have a relaxing start to the day.

 

Of course, this fits in beautifully with our Morning Trivia session at 10.15 am, in the Vista Gaming Lounge. Trivia is popular on this ship, probably because the demographic is slightly older than some of the shorter cruises, as we retired or semi-retired can afford the time to do 14 night cruises. And many of us enjoy taxing our brains with trivia questions.

 

 

 

As you can see, the Vista Gaming Lounge is very different from Vista Lounges on other ships.  For a start it has lots of little tables with two chairs, presumably because the Chinese prefer to sit there and play games. The more comfortable circular sofas are available at the sides of the lounge. On Ruby Princess there were numerous TV screens where the questions could be displayed, but here there is only one big screen. 

 

We love Trivia onboard ship, as it gives our brains a thorough workout, and through it we have met some wonderful people. So it’s good to see our ‘team’ sitting waiting in the same place as usual. We pass the time in convivial chat until our Quizmaster arrives.

 

The quiz over we make our way up to the buffet and grab a late breakfast.

[ellie1145]

The Bakery

I have to say the Bakery (which is the Pastry Shop on other Royal Class ships) is a bit disappointing on this cruise. It really does have a lot of bread, and I really can’t get excited about a bread roll. Now a profiterole is a whole different ball game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We find a seat in the window and have the best view in the world. What can possibly compare to eating breakfast looking out over the sea, even if it is dull and choppy and threatening rain?

 

How can you explain to anyone who has never cruised what unique and special delights could await them if they took the plunge and booked a cruise? But really I don’t want them to, as I want to keep it all to myself and the other cruise addicts.

 

 

 

[ellie1145]

Just outside the Bakery you will usually find three different sorts of cookies.

 

But we mustn’t linger too long as our Progressive Trivia Team will be waiting, and as it’s in Princess Live there is a dearth of decent places to sit, so we must be early birds.

 

We make our way to Princess Live, which is one of the most disappointing venues on any ship. I was so pleased to see that they have addressed this problem on Sky Princess.

 

But the outside area is a different matter, it’s really beautiful.

 

 

 

 

This is the location for Gong Cha. 

Gong Cha apparently means ‘ tribute tea for the emperor.’ It is a tea drink franchise headquartered in Taiwan, which serves bubble tea and other drinks. On Majestic Princess there are 15 different drinks to choose from. 

[JF - retired RRT]

50 minutes ago, ellie1145 said:

The Bakery

 

OOPS!

Someone wasn't fully awake when they put the name tags on the goodies.

[ellie1145]

15 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

OOPS!

Someone wasn't fully awake when they put the name tags on the goodies.

Well spotted JF! 👍👏 🤣

[azbirdmom]

I have rejoined the voyage and am back from my annual girl's trip!  So much to catch up on.

 

The pictures brought back wonderful memories of beautiful Lifou and Vanuatu.  We also went on a private tour in Vanuatu with some others from the roll call.  Our tour operator was Bountiful Tours and like you we visited the cultural park, turtle farm, and the Blue Lagoon but thankfully I had not heard anything about a snake as everyone on this voyage would have heard my blood curdling scream.  Plus we went to a chocolate factory, a duty free shop, plus a stop for kava for one of our ranks (I declined!).  Fantastic day for $85 AUD, all entry fees and lunch included.

 

Oh and I had forgotten the big deal they made about the Majestic's arrival in Vanuatu.  It was her first visit there and apparently the largest ship ever to visit.  And another big deal on Vanuatu day was celebrating our 25th wedding anniverary.  We had a fantastic day and a special, wonderful dinner at La Mer once back on board.

 

Getting settled back into our cabin and looking forward to our next stop (Dravuni).

 

Julie

[RLK33853]

The underwater post office is on Hideaway Island (a private island) - you pay to use the beach, etc.  Forget the amount but it wasn't much.  Lots of people but the beach and water wasn't crowded.  The bar was though.........

 

Sorry but I don't have a photo.  You can look it up on Google though - just ask Mr Google - Underwater Post Office Vanuatu.

[winifred]

Great to see they had some gluten free cakes ( just for me!) even if they did mix up raspberries and pineapple 🤣

[ellie1145]

9 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I have rejoined the voyage and am back from my annual girl's trip!  So much to catch up on.

 

The pictures brought back wonderful memories of beautiful Lifou and Vanuatu.  We also went on a private tour in Vanuatu with some others from the roll call.  Our tour operator was Bountiful Tours and like you we visited the cultural park, turtle farm, and the Blue Lagoon but thankfully I had not heard anything about a snake as everyone on this voyage would have heard my blood curdling scream.  Plus we went to a chocolate factory, a duty free shop, plus a stop for kava for one of our ranks (I declined!).  Fantastic day for $85 AUD, all entry fees and lunch included.

 

Oh and I had forgotten the big deal they made about the Majestic's arrival in Vanuatu.  It was her first visit there and apparently the largest ship ever to visit.  And another big deal on Vanuatu day was celebrating our 25th wedding anniverary.  We had a fantastic day and a special, wonderful dinner at La Mer once back on board.

 

Getting settled back into our cabin and looking forward to our next stop (Dravuni).

 

Julie

 

I’m so glad to see you are back, Julie! I’ve been feeding your birds in your absence, only on the balcony of course, as per Princess instructions that no wildlife should be fed in cabins. 😉 They have really missed you. 

 

Hope you had a great time with your friends.

 

Hmm, I think the blood-curdling scream could have been quite interesting! With Winifred’s super charged exit and my passing out at the sight of the snake it could have been quite an experience for the rest of the people in the Blue Lagoon. Think we could have been an internet hit and gone viral!

 

Happy 25th Anniversary, by the way. Do pop into Crooners so we can have a celebratory drink with you and the rest of the Cruising Adventurers, won’t you? 🥂🍾🎉

 

Do you have any photos of your anniversary dinner?

[ellie1145]

36 minutes ago, winifred said:

Great to see they had some gluten free cakes ( just for me!) even if they did mix up raspberries and pineapple 🤣

 

That was priceless, wasn’t it? I have to admit I hadn’t noticed. It was eagle-eyed JF that spotted it!

[ellie1145]

6 hours ago, RLK33853 said:

The underwater post office is on Hideaway Island (a private island) - you pay to use the beach, etc.  Forget the amount but it wasn't much.  Lots of people but the beach and water wasn't crowded.  The bar was though.........

 

Sorry but I don't have a photo.  You can look it up on Google though - just ask Mr Google - Underwater Post Office Vanuatu.

 

How did you get to the island RLK33853? I presume you had to get a ferry boat of some sort? How long did it take? 

 

It sounds like a really nice place to visit. Thank you for letting us know about it. 

[rmf11699]

I just realized something and had to go back to the beginning of your cruise pictures to double check, the ship is empty! Did you have to take pictures at 4 am to get images of empty venues, pools, bars and dining areas? Was the ship full?

[ellie1145]

Some More Brain-Teasers for you

 

Progressive Trivia over we are a bit despondent at our score of only 13, after a really good first round score of 18 - but, hey, it’s only a game! Our total score so far is just 43.5. Think we must spend the rest of the day swatting up! (Not going to happen! 🤣)

 

Here are some of the questions we got wrong:

 

1.  Name the ocean current that Marlin and Dory have to take to get to Australia in ‘Finding Nemo.’

2.  What does a funambulist do?

3.  What is the name of Quint’s boat in ‘Jaws?’

4.  What is the chemical symbol for tungsten?

 

Over to you!

 

Time for a walk round the deck, but it’s very windy, and then back to the cabin to relax and enjoy a movie. The weather is poor so not a good time to be outside. We still can’t open the door to our balcony, it’s so windy. 

 

Trivia calls at 2.30, and after an enjoyable chat with our team it’s time for afternoon tea, of course, in the dining room. Surprisingly few people seem to take advantage of this treat but it’s a lovely way to relax and be spoilt. We love talking to the staff who seem to be ‘regulars’ each day. The tea is great too, just to our liking. 

 

After that it’s back to Princess Live and the evening music trivia which is about ‘Motown Magic.’ We sit and chat, until it’s time to go back to our cabin so I can get ready for my daily swim.

 

Where has the day gone?

 

Tonight is smart casual, and after my swim we get ready for dinner.

 

DH declines a starter as usual, and I plump for a fresh fruit plate, which I really enjoy. 

 

 

 

It’s Italian night, and not one of my favourites, so I order the always available burger. We rarely eat burgers so it’s a treat as the meat is good. DH chooses the always available fish. 

 

 

Sadly, there is no soufflé on tonight, so we both choose the always available pavlova which is as delicious as it looks. DH orders some extra vanilla ice cream.

 

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by ellie1145

[ellie1145]

I Give Up!

 

Some extra duplicated photos have appeared on my last post, and no matter what I do they will not delete when I go back and edit. 

 

Apologies, so please ignore the repetition at the bottom. If you can’t edit and remove something what’s the point????? 🤬