2011 Cruise, Days 21,22 & 23

Saturday, October 8, 2011, At Sea, Day 21


Ship's position S22°59.44' E177°.

A lazy day at sea. Breakfast in our cabin, reading and Sudoku. Gerri had her 4th facial and then we had lunch at the Horizon Court. After all that effort we sat on the deck near the pool until we got too cold.

This was another formal evening. After dressing we had a few pictures taken with a couple of backgrounds we hadn't seen before. If we buy all the pictures they take it would probably double the price of the cruise.

Before supper we met Tim and Beth in the Wheelhouse Lounge and listened to the band Elements play for about a half hour'

After supper we went to a show in the Vista Lounge. I was skeptical at the name of the act; The Magic of Mime and Mask. It was pretty good, especially when he got to the hand shadows part of the act. He went way beyond a dog, a rabbit and an eagle.

It was late when the show finished and we had to set our time forward.

I noticed that I didn't get the minutes for the morning ship's position and I didn't get the evening because I was too tired.



Sunday, October 9, 2011, At Sea, Day 22

Ship's position S50°0.28' E175°50.46'.

We didn't order breakfast this morning and slept in. We got to the Horizon Court and got breakfast just before the switch over to lunch.

After lunch we sat near the pool and did the daily Sudoku puzzle and read. The sunshine was intermittent and overall it was cool but comfortable in the sun.

Tim and I went to a presentation by the Chief Engineer on the systems that run the ship. It covered propulsion, air conditioning, electrical, air conditioning, desalination and purifying water. The size output and capacities numbers were staggering. For example the engines that produce the electricity to drive the ship are 16 cylinder turbo diesels producing 14,500 hp each, there are four. Each one weighs 107 tons. Fuel consumption is measured by the ton and the fuel for the trip from San Francisco to Sydney costs 2.5 million dollars.

We went to a show before supper. It was song and dance with a country western theme which we all agreed the show was one of the best so far on the cruise.

After supper we retired to our cabin. We arrive in Auckland tomorrow morning and have scheduled a tour that meets in the theater at 8:15 AM.

The ship's position is S34°43.36' E175°9.84'.



Monday, October 10, 2011, Auckland, NZ, Day23

When our coffee came at 6:35 we were already in port.. Our tour started with a meeting at 8:15 in the Princess Theater. We waited there for about an hour before the bus was ready to load. We drove about 45 minutes to a bird sanctuary named The Gannet Colony. It's along the north coast. Thousands of sea birds covering very flat protected spot. After that we visited a small farm. They had refreshments on our arrival. They presented a sheep shearing demonstrations and showed how sheep dogs work a group of sheep. We had lunch at the farm before heading back to the ship. It was a cold windy day but a great one in a beautiful place.

I had downloaded 100 geocaches in Auckland but used the wrong starting coordinates, so the closest cache was about 5 miles away. While the others shopped I went back to the ship and got the location of two caches. I DNF'd the first and found the second. I returned to the ship. Gerri was already back resting up.

It was raining when we left port. Land was visible off the port side with rain between us and the land.

After supper we went to the Princess Theater and watched the Crew Talent Show which we got lots of laughs, so another great show.

Ship's position S36°27.75' E170°0.72'.