Cruise Review

Sailing Out of Vancouver

When we first told people we were going on a 43 day cruise to New Zealand, many reacted with “Oh my, 43 days on a boat, how will you manage?”. I thought that now that we are back on land a quick review of the cruise might be interesting.

The Length

Tendering to Port

We did not find the cruise long. There is always something you can do and the many sea days crossing the Pacific were perfect times to relax and read. The ship always has things going on to keep you busy; culinary classes, gym sessions, dance classes, lectures or movies. The nice thing is that after 43 days, we were quite prepared to leave the cruise where on a short cruise you are always feeling sad that it is over. It was however sad to sit out on the balcony in Auckland and watch the ship sail away without me.

The Weather

What can I say, we left in the fall just as it was getting colder back home and traveled around to the other side of the world to spring and temperatures getting warmer. We left as

Visiting Another Port

things were dying off and arrived to see everything just coming into bloom. It was 15 – 20 when we left Dartmouth, and that is what it was here in New Zealand when we arrived. Now we did have to sail through a few days of hot sunny south pacific days, but I managed. It rained only once while we visited a port, and Regis missed one day of swimming in the oceanview pool due to rain, and had to use the indoor pool. It rained through Doubtful sound, but I thought it added to the beauty, and we only had one day of rain here in New Zealand so far.

A Beer With Friends

The Food

The food on the boat was always excellent. Although some meals were repeated the menu was usually varied enough to always give us lots of choices. They did not do so well on the seafood early on, but seemed to get much better as we went on. We generally ate in the dining room for dinner, but usually had breakfast in the Lido buffet. This was often our choice for lunch as well. There was often a special lunch put on in the pool area, and there was an excellent hamburger place that served good burgers, hot dogs and fries. We found that the open seating option allowed us to meet many different people and we made a number of friends who we ate with multiple times. . . now if I could just recall their names.

The Entertainment

This was a weakness for sure. I was looking forward to the B. B. King Blues club, but the

Sunset at Sea

band played mostly the same songs for 43 days. The first band had a female singer who could sing the blues, but only knew four songs. She sang four songs at 8:45, and repeated them at 9:45 and 10:45. The real surprise was when they brought a new band on in Hawaii, and I thought I’d get now songs, but all new people but played mostly the same stuff. Needless to say I stopped going after a few nights. The entertainment troop was not much better. They had four shows they performed and these were repeated on each leg of the cruise. They did bring on new entertainment along the way, but most of them were not that good.

Anchored in the Pacific

The Ports

Many of the stops we made along the way were regular cruise ports such as San Diego, Hawaii and Sydney, but some of the Pacific islands were only included because they were convenient stops for the re-position cruise across the Pacific. This often put us in container piers or lumber piers and we had to be shuttled to towns nearby, because we were not allowed to walk through the piers. Some of these ports did not really have much to offer cruise passengers. I also felt that some of the ports were presented by the staff slightly different from the reality we saw.

Sailing Away Without Me

So, all in all, 43 days on a cruise ship is just fine. We arrived in New Zealand happy, well fed, rested and with no jet lag. We are still happily talking to each other and have made some nice new friends. Now I notice that there is a 60 day cruise around South America . . . . . . . 

Why is my Ship Listing?

Cruise ships, even ones as big as the Noordam, move around a lot as they navigate the oceans, and you get used to the constant rhythm of the ship. However the movement usually goes both ways; the ship goes down in the bow only to return as the stern takes its turn on down stroke. A rocking to the starboard is always followed by a equal rocking to port.

This Ship is not listing . . .

I was a little surprised when I felt the ship list one way and not return to level. Sitting in the restaurant, I felt the ship shift to one side and remain there. With a clear view out both port and starboard windows I could see sky out one side and ocean out the other. A walk up to the aft pool deck showed a clear, steady 10 or 12 degree list to one side. The horizon behind the ship was no longer straight, and the water in the pool instead of splashing back and forth was down on one side and overflowing on the other.

A quick tour around the ship did not find crew members scrambling to emergency stations, the list did not seem to be growing worse, and our speed remained a steady 18.9 kts. By the time I made a tour of most of the ships outside public areas we were mostly back to horizontal, so the problem seems to have been fixed, the testing of ballast tanks or stabilizers successful or whatever . . .

Sailing Out Of Sydney Australia

The most interesting thing about this was that except for one couple who noticing me staring out at the crooked horizon, and commented casually on the list, no one seemed to notice. People remained in their deck chairs reading their kindles, bridge games continued in the games room, and no one but me seemed to get up from their breakfast to see what was happening. I am not sure anyone noticed?

An Italian Haircup

I have been getting my hair cut and my beard trimmed for over 30 years by an excellent Italian “Hair Stylist” (I am told they prefer that over “barber”). When you have been going to the same shop for that long, it is hard to change, and although he is now partially retired I try to fit my need for a trim into his schedule, and although his younger brother does an equally great job, I do like to go back to him when I can. Being away from home for over nine weeks, I had to get an especially short cut to make it last, and since my “hair stylist” was away in Italy, his brother did the job. As he is not so familiar with my beard, Regis said he did not cut it short enough. I had waited for the last minute to get this done, so it was a case of too late, so sad, it’ll have to do . . . .

A Handy Italian 'Hair Stylist"

Now if you read my previous post on “The People You Meet”, you will know that we are getting to know a lot of great folk on this cruise. Early on the cruise we enjoyed the company of two lovely ladies from Toronto, and have met up with them for additional dinners and events around the ship. We knew that Angela was Italian (She shouted that out in the Vista Lounge on the first evening), and we knew Jane was a friend and client, but we did not find out her profession until later.

Turns out that she is a well known hair stylist in Toronto, owning several salons and clipping, trimming, colouring, and making presentable some of the well known and famous in this city.

Looking Our Best on Gala Night

I was not privy to how the topic of Regis’ hair came up, but Angela and Regis decided that it needed a bit of a re-style and she offered to perform that service. She admitted that she did not have her best Italian scissors, but assured us that the ones she travelled with were more than adequate. An appointment was made and after lunch on one of the “Gala Night” (you want to look your best) sea days she came to our stateroom and not only gave Regis a “new do” but also trimmed my beard. Our balcony became her temporary salon, and a bath towel was used to catch the clippings.

I can just imagine the room steward coming to clean our stateroom the following morning, and discovering all the hair on the balcony flooring, “What on earth went on here?” We thought it would blow away on the sea breezes, but no luck.

Docking in Astoria

Sailing into Astoria

Almost There

I enjoy cruising. I like the “boring” sea days where we just sail, covering distance across the oceans. Most people however go on cruise vacations to visit new towns, cities and countries, so the ships normally spend whole days tied up in various locations. Here passengers are expected to go ashore and spend their hard earned retirement savings supporting the local tourist economies. The boat normally sails overnight and often we just seem to mysteriously be docked at a new port when we get up in the morning. Unless you are up very early, you don’t feel or see this operation; it just happens. It is one of those necessary operations that the cruise lines try to do when it does not disturb people’s vacations.

Pulling in the Ropes

Today, docking it Astoria Oregon, was different. Not only did we arrive later, my balcony provided a front row seat for the entire operation. As we finished breakfast I felt the ship slow, and so I knew we were approaching port. I got to watch the ship and saw how everything worked, from entering the port to actually getting secured to the wharf.

Pulling in the ropes

It is not a fast process, taking well over an hour from when we started maneuvering to when the gangway was opened to funnel the shopping-deprived passengers into the town. The ship first did a complete turn, basically spinning completely around, so later this evening when we leave we can sail straight out of the port. It is quite the sight to watch a 935 ft. ship slowly spin 180° in the water. Once this was done with tug boats, but now the ship thrusters make these work-horses of the harbor unnecessary, and the ship can turn on a dime and then slowly move sideways into place without making a ripple in my glass of wine. Once close enough to the wharf, ropes are thrown out from the ship and workers on shore catch them and pull first light ropes and then the huge heavy ropes which are used to secure the ship to the shore. No fancy sailor knots are required; loops are put over large posts on the wharf, and the boat winches everything tight.

Going Ashore

Then once all the paperwork formalities are completed successfully, the gangway is attached, gates are opened and the tourist dollars start flowing ashore.