Crossing Base Straight

On the 8th March 2023 the Pacific Explorer sailed north along the eastern coastline of Tasmania, then changed direction to west, northwest to sail away from the northern coast. As the ship sailed north with the coastline of Tasmania in sight we could make out the wind farms dotted along the northeastern lands of Tasmania. Then the final object to be seen was Eddystone Point historical lighthouse, dating back to 1889, perched on rocks close to the sea.  

I was in the old wheelhouse bar making Gatsby head wear for tonight's Gatsby Theme Night, sitting with a couple of new found friends. All of a sudden the glasses in the bar nearby crashed to the floor, a notice board hanging from the wall nearby swung and stayed in a 6-10 degree angle. A couple of wine glasses on the table I was sitting at, slid across and fortunately saved from crashing to the floor by the owners of the drinks they contained. Mmm...I looked around to see the ship was actually held, suspended at this angle and for what I considered to be about 5 to 10 mins, Wow! I have never seen this happen in my cruising experience!. 

Shortly afterwards to ship righted itself and the Captain spoke over the p. a. system to inform us there was a medical emergency and a helicopter medivac was required. The Captain had been requested to alter course to sail closer to Tasmania to enable the helicopter less distance to fly. At the time we were sailing in 6 meter waves and gale-force winds, so when the ship altered course, it caused a lean in that position until it was righted by a change of course back into the wind and seas. 

Paul was on a different deck, about to catch a lift and he fondly recalls a couple of young boys had decided to lie down on the carpet in front of the lifts and roll across the floor!, just like we used to do as children when faced with a grassy slope.   I later spoke with a couple who were having a late lunch, sitting at a table alongside the window on deck 5. When the ship tilted, the outside of the window they were sitting at became covered in seawater, alerting them to something not quite right, so they looked at each other and jumped up out of their chairs and tried to run out of the dining room but were hindered with the tilt of the deck. 

Rough seas whilst sailing Bass Straight  

                                              Path of Pacific Explorer showing the alterations   

On Board Activities

P & O usually have themes nights whilst on board, depending on the length of the cruise, there could be several nights in which passengers can participate. These themes can be Back to School, Gatsby or Bianco. Usually it isn't until the evening when passengers dress for the occasion. This cruise we decided not to join in but the atmosphere created by dressing up by other passengers was vibrant and exciting. 

As this is our first cruise since 2020 and a different cruise line, we hadn't seen a live on board production show in that time, so when we went to the Theatre and watched the first production, we were blown away watching. The first Production was Seven, based on the 7 deadly sins. It had great choreography and costumes. Wow! The second was Rock-Anthem of the Ages with the live band, dancing and a dazzling display of lighting. We were very impressed with these productions on board P & O and considered they shone over Princess. But things have changed in the past 3 years and production shows may have evolved on the Princess Cruises. 

Apart from the live music (4 piece band, acoustic guitar duos and piano vocalists in the Blue Room and Ocean Bar, there was a show which passengers paid $20 each to attend. The Purple Rabbit included magic, acrobats and R rated comedy. We chose not to attend but friends we knew who attended thought it most enjoyable. 

Hobart, Tasmania

6th March 2023 I rose early to witness the ship sail into Hobart. With Mount Wellington as a marker, I was able to assess our approach into Constitutional Dock, Hobart. The ship sailed past some type of fish farming pens near what I assume was Bruny Island, just south of the State's capital and then the visible landscape started to show signs of habitation with firstly farm lets then scattered housing and then suburbs. we passed Australia's first casino, Wrest Point nestled on the shoreline, just a few kilometers from Hobart.  With vision of Derwent Bridge spanning the river on our Starboard and Constitutional Dock on the Port, the Pacific Explorer docked alongside the Australian Antarctic warehouses. 

We disembarked after the initial rush of passengers disembarking to join sightseeing tours. We decided to walk around the dock famous for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race to Salamanca where the famous markets are held every Saturday. Unfortunately it was a Monday but there were plenty a historic buildings, housing cafes, restaurants and hotels. 

On route we passed a couple of tug boats tied alongside the wharf.  There I was amazed to see cables plugged into electric charging stations and leading to the tug boats. What? they power on battery power? No, not quite, The engines are powered by diesel but the air-conditioning, lights, micro wave and power points use electricity from the charging stations. A sign of the times. 

                        Our approach to Constitutional Dock with Mount Wellington in background

Derwent Bridge

The electric charging station for the tug boat. 

Sea Lion sculptures on the dock.

Various sculptures depicting Antarctic Explorers

Paul's mobility wheelchair

Selfie of myself and Paul

 

We had hoped the weather would have been warmer, allowing potential swimming in the ship's pools, but no, it was pretty cool, though not cold for February. In past years it would have been at least in the 30's C or even 40's C. The atmosphere on the ship was pretty good. There were passengers celebrating various birthdays, anniversaries or groups just happy to be holidaying together. We saw groups of  passengers walking around in matching colourful shirts or hats. So when there was a theme for the night, a lot of people were ready and happy to participate. On the cruise the first theme was 'White Nights'. We saw families of Mum and Dad's, Grandparents and children all dressed in white tea shirts and shorts, or adults wearing their white attire, even an old wedding dress to celebrate the occasion. It was really lovely to see what dressing up had changed the atmosphere of the night. 

Map of our itinerary.

Sunset

                                                  Ship's wake from bow en-route to Tasmania.

P & O Pacific Explorer

Our first cruise in 3 years! 

We have boarded the rebadged Dawn Princess for a 7 day local cruise. Leaving Adelaide, sailing over night to Kangaroo Island where the ship runs a tender service to the local Sealink Ferry Service port on Kangaroo Island of Penneshaw, then sailing across Bass Straight to Hobart, the capital city of Tasmania, back across Base Strait to Melbourne, then west to Adelaide for disembarkation. Sounds reasonably safe. Local Australian waters, not too long, minimalizing risk of Covid infection. Mmm...time will tell if our gamble payed off.

It is interesting sailing on the ship we sailed around the world in and earlier to Hawaii return. We walked into our balcony cabin to realize the cabin size, although the same as before was "wow, small!".  It is amazing how quickly we forget. The poor ship is looking tired. Although the main public areas have been revamped and upgraded to assimilate with the P & O brand, the cabins are very much unchanged. Same carpets, prints on the wall and furniture. Our Cabin Stewards still offer the same smiling and ready to please service, though I did think they were a bit lax in their cleaning. We found a previous male passenger's pair of underwear pants under our bed. (he must have been in a hurry to get into bed!!!!). 

Tender with Penneshaw in background  

 

Sealink Ferry bound for Cape Jarvis on the 

South Australian mainland.  

A little towel bunny, compliments of our friendly Cabin Stewards. 

View from Prominade Deck of the bow 

whilst anchored off Kangaroo Island.  

   

Three years from the impact of the World Covid-19.

 Hello all. As you may deduce we have not cruised over the past 3 years.

Post Pandemic our Australian boarders opened to International Cruising on the 17th April 2022. The first cruise ship to sail into Sydney was P & O Pacific Explorer on 17th April but it did not sail on its first cruise until 31st May 2022. Celebrity Eclipse was also one of the first to start its cruising post Covid-19. 

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care required additional measures to reduce risks of passengers and crew from catching Covid-19.  

    -enhanced pre-arrival reporting and ID of Covid-19 risk. PSR (RAT) testing and proof. 

    -amendment to biosecurity.

    -Stress testing of emergency response system in relation to cruises.

    -passengers will need to be double vaccinated. 

    -Cruise Industry mandates of operating and outbreak management plans to reduce transmission aboard. 

To date Australia had 11,327,773 Cases, 19,856 (.2%) deaths. 11,264,265 (99.8%) recovered people. (Australian Government Department Health and Aged Care)

W.H.O. reports 761,402,282 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 6,887.000 deaths (not including China)

13,331,975,343 vaccines administrated. 

Long Covid ? who knows.

December 2021 saw the peak of Covid-19 infections. (to date)

Generally Australians holidayed near their homes or when interstate borders opened up, they holidayed further afield within Australia. Holiday Houses, B & B's, caravan parks and hotels all had large occupancy rates. 

It was February 2022 when we decided it could be reasonably safe to book a short cruise with-in Australian shores. P & O Pacific Explorer had a 7 day cruise departing and arriving back in Adelaide in March 2023. We booked and had 12 months to look forward to the opportunity to sail again. 

Whoo Hoo!  we had a cruise to look forward it what was still uncertain times. 

             

Day 96 Post cruise but the world is in turmoil due to Covid-19

41 days after disembarkation

Our life now has been isolation as our world is trying to stop the spread of this  Covid-19 World Pandemic. Restaurants, hotels, playgrounds, libraries, every part of our life which is not considered essential has been closed down. People have lost their jobs, and there has been a run on some grocery items, (toilet paper, tissues, hand sanitizers, flour, bread mixes, seedlings, egg-laying chickens). We have all been told to isolate and only essential travel.

All the cruise ships have had issues with entering some country borders. Some have had passengers and crews displaying flu-like symptoms which has complicated disembarkation of crew and passengers. Today most ships are heading to countries where most of the crew members live. when not working on the ships. Most crew seem to originate from the Philippines and cruise companies are sending their ships there to allow their return home. Today there are 9 cruise ships at anchor of Manila, waiting for permission to dock. 

View from Sapphire Princess. The Majestic  Princess on left, Voyager of Seas directly in front. In the distance behind the Voyager of Seas is Sun Princess. The fourth ship from left is the Sea Princess, the fifth from left on the horizon is Queen Elizabeth, then there are two ships on the right. The one visible is Pacific Dawn and the ship behind is Pacific Explorer. 

These ships have brought their Philippine National Crew members home and are awaiting clearance to disembark.
I am not sure how many on board have Covid-19.

The Ruby Princess left Australian waters on 23^rd April. When it disembarked its 2,700 passengers in Sydney on the 19^th March, 21 have since died and more than 600 confirmed positive with the virus. 190 crew members have tested positive and 1100 crew member have been in varying lengths of quarantine on board for weeks. The ship is presently sailing to Manila to allow some of its crew members to return home.