We are off - whoops, not yet...

Monday May 24^th and early  to bed, well, early for us as the usual time for lights out is after midnight. Not a very restful night even though all the packing was done and there were no real worries – other than hearing the alarms and noting that my (body, not luggage) weight was only about half a kilo under my self imposed upper limit.  Having heard of a previous cruiser who managed to pack on 15kg on a 28 day cruise,  the chances of me only adding just half a kilo over 100 days at 5 grams a day is looking decidedly slim – which is probably more than I’ll look, come September 4th.

 

Well we managed to stagger out of bed at 3:30am easily enough and piled the luggage outside where the temperature was a decidedly nippy 8 degrees and a bit misty.  The Auckland Super Shuttle was spot on time at 4:10am and we had a pleasant enough ride to the airport.  An errant car speeding across our bows on a red light in Auckland City, was a timely reminder that Auckland drivers are not exactly the world’s greatest or safest. We’ll probably realise soon enough after experiencing  the chaos of Mumbai (Bombay), that maybe Auckland drivers aren’t so bad after all.  The roads are surprisingly busy at 5am around the airport.

 

CHECK IN

 

The wonders of modern technology.  Gone are the days of long slow moving queues at the check in desks only to find that the queue you chose was the one with all the problem travellers in it and you shuffled along for an hour or more.  This may not apply to other airlines but Air NZ have it well and truly sussed out.

 

1)    Put passports face down in the kiosk reader (no queue..) and your names and details come up on screen

2)   Answer a couple of questions on the touch screen such as are you carrying any bombs, are you Osama Bin Laden’s replacement etc.

3)   Input the number of checked in pieces of baggage - in our case, 3.

4)   Swipe credit card in the reader to pay the $50 for one excess piece.

5)   System deducts the $50 and along with your baggage tags and boarding passes you get a printed GST receipt.

6)   Attach the luggage tags to each piece and trundle them over to the conveyor, where an attendant checks the weights (16, 18 & 21 kg for us), scans the tags and bye-bye luggage.

 

Wonderful. A leisurely snack from McDonalds - not a lot of eating choices at Auckland these days, with just Subway, McDonalds, KFC, (KFC at 5am???), a Sushi bar and a couple of coffee shops, plus Burger King and  a bar airside.  A decent cup of coffee in my Autobahn travel mug from Cafe espresso as I know from past experience that their idea of a large cup and my idea of a large cup, are vastly different.  A leisurely wander through immigration to gate 7 for the 7am NZ101 flight to Sydney. We weren’t tempted by any duty free offerings as neither of us drink spirits anyway.

 

Announcement 6:45am – “Flight 101 to Sydney is cancelled due to operational requirements.  All passengers will be booked on the 9am ANZ flight, but you will be given meal vouchers...”

 

Ho hum.  The joys of international travel.

 

An hour or so later.

 

“For passengers on the 9am Sydney flight, it will now be leaving at 10am from gate 8.” .... Oh deep joy.

 

At 9:10am, visibility was back down to about 50 metres so opting to leave a day early for Sydney was still less stressful than wondering if we’d make it straight to the ship on the day of the cruise. We eventually took off on a 777 about 10:45 and as we were late even for the 9am flight, a holding pattern before finally landing at Sydney. Not the best of landings either for such a modern aircraft.

 

What really capped it then was the seat belt lights went out and everyone leapt up, grabbed their hand luggage and surged forwards, ready to disembark, only to be told after 5 minutes, that we all had to sit down again as they weren’t used to the 777 on that gate and the air-bridge wouldn’t reach and we needed to be towed forwards a couple of metres.  At least we got the opportunity to sit and wait in the Premium Economy seats and try them for size.  Worth the extra?  H’mmmm.

 

As usual, we had two pieces of luggage through together then a long wait for Paula’s case.  We finally got outside the terminal at 1pm to a very chilly Sydney.  Only about four and a half hours late.

 

Our pre booked shuttle ($26AUD) arrived just as we were trying to ring them (luckily).  Checking in to the Four Points Sheraton was easy enough and the room overlooking Darling Harbour was ready, so a shower and out to Harbourside across the bridge at 3pm, killing time until our pre-cruise 4:00pm meeting.  We were both feeling peckish so shared a slice of pizza - made by Italians!

 

So at a few minutes to 4pm, we braved the pouring rain and dashed over the road to the Pyrmont Hotel where Joanne had pre-booked space for about 22 pre-cruise travellers. Several were already there.  

 

The “2011 Crazy cruisers” group cruise came alive after we had eaten, as Joanne and Ros bounced back an April Fool’s day shopping list that Ros and I had compiled for Joanne, but I had emailed.  Check out the link on the left to Joanne’s blog.... Suffice to say that there were lots of laughs (at my expense) and I came back with a weird bag of goodies that will need to be packed up until we reach Auckland. A wonderful evening and nice to get to meet some people again and some for the first time.

 

A cold and damp windy walk back to the hotel having been up since 1:30am Sydney time, so it was lights out again at about 10:30pm, with the expectation of a good night’s sleep ready for the real off May 25^th 2011.  

Nearly there for the starting grid!

These last few days have just flown by and it seems to be a succession of emails out, advising people to stop sending those much appreciated funnies, U-Tube clips and Powerpoint slide shows; finalising the race series accounts, personal/business accounts; making sure there is enough in each bank account to cover the standing orders whilst we are away; making provisional arrangements to catch up with people in the UK; trying to update the info on the websites; work (not a lot of it thank goodness; then printing and cutting the name tags for other cruisers.  

The next big event was a shorter haircut than is normal for me for winter - just in time for a night temperature that dropped to 8 degrees before we'd even got home. We almost needed the winter quilt last night and Paula did wake up in the night needing to add a robe to the bed clothes as she was cold. Hard to think that this time next week we'll be 1 day north of Sydney and the weather should be getting warmer - much warmer as we get further north until the real heat of Dubai, Egypt, Greece etc. Places I have never been to and to be fair, have never really been on my bucket list. I will enjoy them but most of all, we are really looking forward to a whole new group of friends, several will no doubt become lifetime friends.


What really made it all seem so real was a farewell Skype call to son Stewart and a wave to that gorgeous little grandson that I am dying to meet and various farewells from all sorts of people.

Never had so many hugs and handshakes in such a short period of time as people wish us Bon Voyage! 
We have a farewell dinner Saturday night and possibly a tea dance Sunday to look forward to and then Monday to finalise everything else.  Paula was adamant she'd manage with just one case, but already has enough for a case and a half!

I haven't even started assembling anything other than paperwork - which seems quite extensive.  I can't even print out our luggage tags for part two, as they are not available until 75 days before sailing, so that is a last minute job still to be done, along with a few more CC11 name tags.

One extra expense (through choice) was an auto- focus long lens for the full size camera, as Paula has struggled with focussing the manual one.  It hadn't arrived today so hopefully should arrive tomorrow.

Sorry no pics on this post as nothing really relevant - other than I could post a pic of some food.  Food is always relevant...

Two more weeks and we are OFF!

Joanne as team leader or mother hen, may well get a slightly different name tag from the rest of us...

Meanwhile, I am madly transferring, installing and updating files on the new laptop and just checking how things work.  I need to get back to writing up my guidance notes for new computer users as it is essential to reduce the file size of photographs before posting, especially from the ship or where internet access is both slow and expensive.  I also need to test loading up images via email as it doesn't always work the way I think it should...

Meanwhile, we have just finished a very busy weekend that included the Andre Rieu concert (with the Seekers!), a race meeting I was organising and in which I was racing, of course.  That was the last of the season and apart from a dodgy fuel filter that dropped me to last place in both races at the December meeting, a successful season.  My definition of success is driving the car under its own steam at the conclusion of the meeting...

Paula is up to date with her shopping and the spare bedroom is a temporary pre-packing storage area.  The "to do lists" are on schedule with just a couple more bits to do and once this weekend's series awards dinner is out of the way, the way ahead is fairly clear. 

We continue to meet fellow cruisers and although we don't catch up again until Fort Lauderdale with some of them, we are looking forward to all aspects of the trip.

The Auckland Shuttle picks us up at 4:10am on departure date. Not much sleep that night...

Gulp, just 4 weeks to go!

Watching that countdown clock has been a mesmerising experience of late.  When I first started this blog there were well over 300 days to go and the movement was quite slow, but as you get closer to sail away day, each day seems to slip past in a blur and the list of jobs to be done doesn’t seem to shrink fast enough.  Now with just 4 weeks to go, a degree of urgency has crept in, not to mention an increased level of excitement – and more than a little panic if truth be told.  

I started a spreadsheet ages ago listing everything we had to do (or take) and a completion day for each task.  Some items were easy to bowl over early, such as Paula’s passport renewal and getting the visas for India.  However, as time marches on, the list doesn’t appear to shrink too much and that is mainly due to the obvious long list of last minute tasks such as switching off various appliances on the day we leave.  Much of it is automatic of course but remembering to switch off those personal appliances on standby such as TV, towel rail, digital clocks etc., unlikely to be used by the house sitter, plus garage doors etc., need to be on the list, as once that shuttle van appears outside, we are OFF!  

The critical thing is in fact drawing up the list early and then completing some of those tasks as early as possible but with such a long trip, the packing list is important too, particularly when it comes to electronics and ‘gadgets’. Once upon a time you took your wallet/purse and your Box-Brownie or Instamatic camera and a couple of films. Now it is a compact camera  - with charger, flash card(s) possibly a spare battery and computer connection leads; plus the mobile phone (with charger); lap top computer – with charger; video camera – with charger and spare battery; possibly a full sized SLR digital camera – with charger, more flash cards, telephoto lens, not to mention USB drives or DVDs to store and transport images and files.  Others have i-pods, i-pads, i-phones etc with the same pile of accessories. 

We almost need one bag for the electronics alone.  The Sydney shuttle from the airport charges an extra $10 per bag over and above the one per person! A bit mean as the Auckland Shuttle we normally use doesn't seem to have any restrictions as they use a trailer. 

The pile of what we now consider essential luggage on a trip has gone way beyond a few changes of clothes, swim togs and your wash gear and a pair of sun glasses with a book and a pen.  

Also critical now is informing all those well meaning email contacts to stop sending those massive files of funnies that we are happy to receive when at home on an unlimited Broadband internet connection, but definitely do not want to receive when paying by the minute whilst on-board. 

I have been busy of late adding some (hopefully) useful info onto my website for those fairly new to the technology.  That has proved to be time consuming but has also made me learn the new Web construction package I have been  struggling with for well over a year. 

So far, we are only aware of a couple of other blogs to follow (links on the left) so hopefully there will be more shortly, now the real countdown is in calendar days rather than weeks or months.  

The last major decision is whether or not to update the laptop to one with a lot more memory, so that I can make a start on video editing when we have an ‘at sea day’ and Paula is busy swimming. 

Meeting fellow cruisers in advance has been fantastic with three ‘new’ people in the last month or so and another couple shortly.

A late update to the previous post....

Our name tag - designed by Packetau

I have volunteered to sort out name tags for our Cruise Critic group. Joanne designed the initial logo and I am adding the cruise critic user names, name and country of residence. After hearing that last year's "Cruise Critic" meetings were infiltrated or invaded by cruisers who just wanted the opportunity to moan, the decision was made several months ago to change our group name to 'Crazy Cruisers' - well, Joanne decided and no one has objected. 

Last year, the main grizzle was a lack of washing machines, so after several moans by the invaders, others soon cottoned on and offered to get them organised! The laundry was apparently the real hot-spot on the ship, with lurid tales of grisly deaths, plagues, thefts of outerwear (and underwear no doubt), changes to the itinerary, laundry swapped from machine to machine causing all sorts of panic, fights.  Some tales were true of course, but many were nothing more than rumours put about by those with an innate sense of fun. Oh I can't wait! 

With less than 7 weeks to go now, new cruisers are hooking in to the Dawn Princess Roll Call faster than I can get the name tags done!

Just 50 days to go...

Time has really flown by recently but now the real checklists start to kick in.  Cancelling various items such as the monthly garden refuse collection, at least one or two magazines and newspapers is straightforward enough, but then a little birdie told me about health insurance vs travel insurance.  We elected to use our regular health insurance provider (Southern Cross) for an annual travel insurance policy, after doing a local internet search for the options.  We normally take the insurance that is included in our annual credit card fees, but that has certain limits, one of those is the amount of time you are away and the other is that you must pay a fair proportion of your travel using the credit card.  

These days, many companies (particularly in the travel sector) charge a 2% premium when you pay by credit card.  As with most cards, ours attracts reward points or dollars, but as the reward value is less than 2%, it was a no brainer to pay by direct bank transfer.

The annual travel insurance policy was the equivalent of a little more than 3 months regular premiums, but we were allowed to suspend it for three months – but losing our ‘no claims bonus’ of $250.  It still meant that the real cost of a very comprehensive travel insurance for multiple trips for 12 months was almost a bargain.  However, we can’t suspend it again next year as that suspension deal cannot be invoked again within the next 12 months, or maybe it was longer?

The other bit of (possibly) useful information for travellers, also concerns credit cards.  Before travelling on a  world cruise – or anywhere overseas for that matter, it does pay to telephone your credit card company with a list of countries you will be visiting.  Before you travel,  you should also validate your credit card by using it in an appropriate local ATM machine and just check your balance.  This validates your card before departure.  On your return, you should repeat the procedure, but it may pay to have a bottle of smelling salts handy.

On a more personal level, we have almost finalised all the little travel links, with just two to confirm. The first is the Shuttle from Sydney airport to the City (oh what a boon the internet is for travellers..)  and the final links are the shuttle from home to Auckland Airport and a shuttle from Miami International Airport down to Fort Lauderdale.

It always fascinates me that some companies are back to you within hours and others don’t seem  be bothered about replying at all.

We’ll leave some of the details to the actual day such as the coach details from Dover to the car hire company at Heathrow.  Not very cheap compared to the public coach from Dover to Victoria Coach Station maybe, but the chosen coach is directly from ship to the door of the hire company.

Paula has still to work through some of our side trip or tour options but we are well aware of the usual tourism 123 ABC mantra, Another B****y Castle,  Another B****y Church, Another B****y Cathedral…  Apart from maybe the Blue Mosque in Abu Dhabi (a new experience) most tours concentrating on the ABCs will be probably be given a wide birth.

Apparently the  recent troubles in Egypt may now have settled down a wee bit, so at the moment, we are skipping Port Said, but with an extra day in Istanbul – which we are happy with, but others are more than keen to do the pyramids and were bitterly disappointed with the change. Who knows? We, like many others, are quite philosophical about the potential for hiccups and as long as we can still get on in Sydney, off in the UK and back on again in Fort Lauderdale,  we’ll be happy enough.

Joanne has been busy designing our “Crazy Cruisers” logo and I have been personalising it for name tags, so at our first “Meet and Greet” leaving Sydney, those on the Cruise Critic message board roll call, will be able to speed up the friend making process quite considerably. However, I fear that the list of attendees is going to grow rather rapidly in the next 4 weeks as word gets around. 

Skyping the UK  and watching new grandson Noah grow so fast, has been a revelation and much as we are looking forward to setting off from Sydney and the various ports, I am also looking forward to that first cuddle with the only representative of the next generation of our family...