Tuesday 10 June 2014

Sea Princess - May 2014 - Post 2

Lifou




Noumea


Late afternoon arrival.



Pacific Pearl at the inner berth.


Around the ship

With friends from earlier cruises: Peter (left), Dennis (centre) and Wendy (right).
 

 
Boni, from the Philippines, one of the great bar staff.

Late afternoon music from a very good string quartet.
 


Bridge visit.


Dry dock photos on the bridge.


Starboard wing console.
Me with the Captain at a cocktail party for the 40 most frequent passengers.


My plain but comfortable cabin was in a great location.

A very appealing suite - this is the way to travel around the world (when the Tattslotto gods smile down)!





Sea Princess - May 2014 - Post 1

From May 25th until June 8th I was aboard Sea Princess for identical, back to back 7 day cruises from Brisbane to Noumea, Lifou, Vila and back to Brisbane. As usual the service (especially in the dining-room) was excellent and the food was very good. The ship, while in obvious need of a dry-dock externally and suffering some engine trouble, was spotless inside and very comfortable. I was especially pleased, on the first cruise, to encounter four friends from previous cruises also aboard.

Departure Brisbane

Sailing from the Portside terminal.

The Cairncross dry dock and lay-by berth. I left my final ship as a deck officer at this berth after a dry dock when Lake Eildon was handed over from ANL to QCL to become Cementco in August 1985.
The tug aft accompanying the ship downriver.

Heading downriver.
Container ships at Fisherman's Island.


Vila

 









Port side to on the second call. Definitely needs a repaint.
Great spot for lunch.

Afternoon sailing.