I’ve decided that blogging using satellite WiFi is not good. My posts for the rest of my cruise will follow after leaving the ship. Items to follow include:
A Koala stole the heart of Mrs Me
Memories of a Memorable Day (Our Wedding)
The Final Frontier
King Neptune – Will He or Won’t He?
Singapore, Land of Wonder
Plus pictures
Clearly, [slightly] misleading; or is it?
The one thing that Debbie really hates is the cold. Even walking round the cold isles in a supermarket will turn her fingers white where the circulation has stopped resulting in agony when the blood does finally return. I have no idea what the cause is or if anything can be done to address it other than to wear gloves, which she clearly does when outside, though even then gloves are not enough.
Stick with me, this will all come together….
Around the beginning of 2013, I asked Debbie, “If I asked you to marry me, would you say yes”. Much to my delight, her response was ‘Yes, of course I would’. Brilliant I thought, when the times right, I’ll propose, safe in the knowledge that I won’t be rejected. 🙂 I know, I’m an old romantic.
Anyway, not long after that we were looking through our favourite magazine, the P&O Cruise Brochure when I pointed out a cruise that went from New Zealand to Singapore that actually included Adelaide (where her Son Matt went to Uni’ for a while and won a big cycle race). I also pointed out that it was likely to be warm (hot) for most, if not all, of the cruise. Better still, it had many, many sea days, which would allow us to rest & relax. It was however quite a long trip extending to close on 23-days. We just knew however that this was the cruise for us. So, we booked it.
Shortly after that when out for a meal in our local, I decided that the time was right and asked her, properly, if she would marry me. To my great relief, she stuck by what she said and agreed. A few drinks later we started to discuss possible dates when almost simultaneously we suggested getting married at sea and where better than when on the cruise round Australia. That was it: a done deal. A wedding at sea it would be, with a party afterwards when we returned back home.
And today, is the day before that long awaited day. I was excited when she accepted my proposal of a proposal. I was excited when she accepted my proposal. I was excited when we both agreed to a wedding at sea. I’m still excited now.
But:
Ever since boarding the ship, Mrs Me has been constantly seeking the sun’s rays soaking, nay, drinking in the sun’s warmth and sitting there with a glazed looked about her and a smile of contentment. For sure, I just knew that Mrs Me would be happy here. And yet, this constant desire to seek out warmth, which brought about an apparent inner peace and self contentment made me wander whether or not everything was as it should be. I began to fear that maybe she was in fact a ‘Visitor’ from ‘V’. This would also explain why she was happy for me to be getting a little plump: A nice plump meal.
My fears were further reinforced when she started to shed her skin all over the balcony floor. How reptilian I thought. Maybe the marriage has an outcome I was not prepared for. Or:
Maybe I’ve been taking too many tablets with too much whiskey 🙂
Back to the land of reality, I continue to sit on the balcony quietly content in knowing that tomorrow, the title ‘Mrs Me’ will become official. I look forward to seeing that magical dress that was created and fitted within 7-days and 3-fittings. No doubt I’ll never know the true cost but I don’t really care. I look forward to having Jack as my Best Man and witness and Jill from our table to be our second witness. Most of all, I look forward to spending the rest of my life with Mrs Me (her real name’s Debbie by the way).
For those that are interested, the music I wanted for the ceremony was:
Happiness – Ken Dodd; Bring Me Sunshine – Morcambe & Wise; Unchained Melody.In the end however, we elected for:
Cantata from Fifty Shades of Grey; Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini; Unchained Melody.Until then however, I’m going to enjoy my last day of freedom and drink whiskey without being nagged.
Obviously, the title isn’t true. One of the attractions of cruising, apart of course from the variety of places one can visit in just one trip, is meting up with friends you haven’t yet met, and let’s be honest the worlds is full of such people but cruising seems to be able to bring such friendships to the fore. But, every once in a while something happens to make you think:
If it weren’t for passengers, Cruising would be brilliant
This morning in Melbourne was just one of those occasions, though the feeling passed by as soon as it came. But what caused such a feeling?
The cause was MyKi, Melbourne’s equivalent to Oyster!
To get into town from the where the boat was parked, we really did need to get a bus and/or tram. To do this we would have to obtain a MyKi card. This would cost $6 for the card(!) and $8 for a days worth of travel. The only place we could get a MyKi card was in the cruise terminal (unless you were prepared to walk all the way into town) and apparently, they only took cash. At this point, it’s worth pointing out that immediately after we had parked our boat, a Holland America boat came in and parked next to us. Each of the two ships held around 2500 passengers. Both ships were scheduled to be in Melbourne from 08:00 to 17:00 (ish). So everybody naturally wanted to get off early to get the most of their time in port. Can you imagine what it’s like when two ships disgorge their passengers together? That’s when I decided:
If it weren’t for passengers, Cruising would be brilliant
Obviously, not all 5000 passengers turned up at once, many went on excursions, many stayed on board and the rest staggered their departure time but nevertheless, queues were an inevitable outcome. After what seemed to me to an outrageously long time, we finally reached the pay desk; were asked if we wanted to pay by cash or card(!); elected for cash and obtained our cards, which, we were told, were valid for 4-years. So, if anybody wants a MyKi for getting round Melbourne any time in the between now and 2018, we have two J
Looking back, it wasn’t really that bad, if it took 20 minutes, it wasn’t really that big a deal.
Partly because of the passengers, Cruising is brilliant.
In due course, our ‘packed to the gunnels’ bus delivered us into town close to the river and train station. As we alighted we were met by a number of red topped tourist advisers who took time to explain on a map where we were and asked if the was anything we anted to see in particular. I think to myself, ‘I’ll get him here’ and asked where the nearest camera shop was. Straight away, he marked it on the map, explained how the Mall was close by and also where we would be able to get the tram back to the ship. He also mentioned that if we got lost or needed more information to look out for other groups of advisers in red tops and hats that are stationed around the town at major intersections. Now that, London, is how to look after your tourists/visitors.
As instructed, we made away along Collins Street and then up Elizabeth Street and sure enough we came across the camera shops and $300 later, I left with a shiny new wide-angle lens. Naturally, having spent so much money on myself, this was a green light to the future Mrs Me to spend at least twice that on shiny sparkly things, but first, she wanted a pair of Ugg Gloves – why not, it was after all [well] below 80°
For the records, the Ugg Gloves were followed by one Australian Opal ring, one Clogau Necklace and one pair of Clogau earrings. No doubt the remaining bracelet will join the collection in due course. She did however treat me to a pair of Calvin Klein socks!
Anyway, back to my lens buying experience. Having sourced the lens and left the shop we continued back towards the river, or that’s what we would have been doing had we left by the same door as the one we entered, which we now know we didn’t. Doh. Eventually, we realized something was amiss; the sun being in the wrong place was the clue. We looked at our map and worked out that we were at the intersection of Collins Street and Queens Street: we therefore continued down Collins Street to the next junction, which was also an intersection with Collins Street and Queens Street. This confirmed it; we were lost, disorientated and confused. Now, I don’t mind admitting that sometimes, I can be a little bit clever. I worked out that the river to be down rather than up the hill so we continued down Collins Street J, until we saw going back up. I gave in. I did what us blokes hate to do. I asked for help. I asked for help from what turned out to be a very helpful traffic warden who said we should cross over, continue down the next left, cut through an arcade, turn right and we would be there.
While in the arcade of course, Mrs Me naturally smelled out a shop with things we needed, like a sterling silver coaster with a koala on it, a glass koala, a postcard with a koala and a pewter koala. Finally, we got out of the arcade and reached the riverside where we now needed a drink in what looked like quite a nice little Italian bar (those that know Mrs Me won’t be too surprised at that). Where we finally persuaded a little Italian Waiter to make a table for two on the Veranda. Our quiet little drink turned into wine, water, pizza and fries. And, very nice it all was. As with all good things, we finished our repast and made our way to the tram stop, stopping the check with people in the red tops and hats that we were going the right. At the tram stop, was a tram travel assistant who kept us up to date with the progress of the tram. As the arrival time drew near, it was clear that passengers from both ships were heading back at the same time. Boarding the tram was a bit like boarding the Northern or Circle Line in the rush hour and we were all on it to the end of the line. This did of course mean that we all arrived at security at the same time. This was however where Mrs Me’s cunning plan fired into action and stopped at the Australian Opal store to purchase said Australian Opal Ring. By which time the crowd was but a few stragglers. And so, on to the ship, up to the cabin, pour a drink and relax before dinner where we announced to our table friends that we were to be married by the Captain and asked if they would be happy to be our witness. Their excitement for us was apparent and jumped at the chance. So much so that they started to work out what they would have wear (more on that after the big day). Dinner itself was itself its normal satisfactory affair before Mrs Me and I retired for a quiet drink in the Crows Nest before retiring.
It was in the Crows Nest that we Met Jack (our future best man and nearly 80 years young) and his sister, Joy (86 years young). They both asked us to join them for a drink to celebrate our forthcoming marriage, as Joy was to be leaving the ship two days before hand. Well, one drink led to another and before we knew it, it was 1 o’clock in the morning and both Jack & Joy were just a little bit tipsy. So we found ourselves escorting two wobbly octogenarians back to their cabin so as to make sure they were both ok.
Then, it was time for bed for ourselves. Next Stop, Adelaide…..
Was my mantra on my last cruise. On this cruise, I will be seeing far more sea though this time a little more exotic. Instead of seeing the Atlantic Sea, I’ll be see’ing the Tasman Sea and the Indian Sea.
So far, the Tasman Sea has come up trumps. The 1st two days were a bit bumpy but nothing to write home about (we even had some rain on day 2) but day 3 was flat, flat and flat again with the temperatures rising enough to burn both Mrs Me and Me :-). I’m sure however that the application of natural yoghurt to the affected areas will sooty us both. The use of yoghurt was recommended by a fellow passenger but I couldn’t be sure if he was having a bit of a giggle. So, alternatively, maybe we’ll just use after sun.
As for Sea; Sea; Sea! Nothing but Sea: had we joined the ship in Los Angeles, Sea would be all we would see for 8 whole days (not sure how I’d cope with that long without seeing land. Anyway, for us, Day 4 will bring Sydney and we will have to be up at 5 to enjoy the sail into harbour and park opposite Sydney Opera House. So, it’s an early night.
My original intention was to write the first blog of our Wedding Cruise on Day 1. Why not? It’s almost logical to start the blog with first day. On reflection, I’m glad I didn’t.
The day started on Wednesday, our first real chance for us both to pack for what was to be a 3+ week cruise from New Zealand to Singapore during which time, we would be married at sea by the Ship’s Captain. Prepared? I don’t think so: we only had, after all, the best part of a year to get ready. Granted, the wedding bit was a relatively recent enhancement to the cruise, though even that had an interesting ‘last minute’ twist.
Last Minute Twist?
Let me explain, Debbie, quite rightly wanted her wedding dress to be just so but we were having trouble finding the right outfit. For my part, whatever she wore would be fine by me, just so long as she was there, but Debbie didn’t buy that. Eventually however, we wandered into an Alice Temperly store to find what was just perfect and at just £350 a snip. So that was that, dress sorted shoes could easily be sourced from Russell and Bromley – where else? All we had to now was await the day of departure but, just over a week before we were due to leave, the future Mrs Me declared that she wasn’t quite sure about the dress, although she did agree it would be good for the going away evening (we’ll be on a ship so not sure where exactly she thought we’d be going away to). However, a quick trawl through the Internet, she identified a bridal wear outfit that would be so must better. So, a couple of a frantic phone calls and an emergency fitting was scheduled for the next day to be followed up by three additional fittings, all in the space of 7 days. I’m still not clear what it cost but I do know that cardboard box it came in, cost £50! I shall give my verdict on the dress on the 5th March, the day after our wedding.
Anyway, back to day 1. Our flight was scheduled for 18:05 with Cathay Pacific; first to Hong Kong, then a change of planes for the last leg to Auckland, New Zealand. So we left on Wednesday (mid-day to get to the airport in good time) and reached New Zealand on Friday and embarked the Arcadia at mid-day on Friday. By this time, we were both extremely tired and grouchy (a grouchy Mrs Me, you really don’t want to meet and yours truly isn’t a lot better) so inevitably anything that didn’t go like clockwork seemed inordinately and disproportionately unacceptable and we wanted blame everybody and everything for all of it. But me, being the sensible one ☺ kept saying to let it go and we’ll see how it all is in the morning. And so we did and we agreed to have our evening meal on our balcony as we sailed out of Auckland Harbour and onto the Tasman Sea bound for Sydney.
On reflection, all that went before the morning after wasn’t really that bad and we are once more settled into our rightful place on board a P&O Cruise Ship, this time – The Arcadia. And once again – and really big thank you to P&O for this – we were upgraded to a Mini Suite. And yes, it is ‘fab_u_lous darling’. I regret to say that for our retirement world cruise, a Mini Suite it will have to be. It is so worth the extra money.
For our first morning on board, we met our wedding Coordinator Ellie or Miss Ellie as I chose to call her, to discuss the arrangements for the 4th March. After going through all the procedure she asked who we would like to be our witnesses. We mentioned that we had met a lovely man (79 years young), called Jack, just before he left Southampton on the Arcadia for the whole of the World Cruise and that he had agreed to be my best man. ‘Oh’ said Miss Ellie, ‘I know Jack: he was a witness at a wedding earlier in the cruise and mentioned he was to be your best man’. (At least he’ll know the ropes ☺)
We then discussed the matter of hair and whether or not Debbie would want to arrange for her hair etc. to be ‘done’ on the day. ‘Oh, absolutely’ said Mrs. Me, ‘we must go and arrange that straight away’. ‘And what about the photographs?’ asks Miss Ellie: ‘Oh absolutely’ said Mrs. Me: ‘We’ll do that straight after we’ve seen the hair people’. – So, off we trot to the Spa where Mrs. Me gets booked in to have anything that can be done, done. And somehow I find myself booked in to have shampoo, haircut, shave & massage! Photographers were next. They explained what they would do for us on the day: photographs with the Captain on the Bridge and then around various locations of the ship plus photos in the East Restaurant in the evening. We then discussed the various packages. Fortunately, we didn’t have to decide on which package until after the wedding. Just as well, I needed a drink just to read them ☺
Having completed all our chores we had that well needed afternoon glass of Pinot Grigio Blush before dinner and an early night in readiness for two whole days of doing nothing but sit on our lovely balcony (the biggest we’ve had so far) and soak up the sun’s rays as sailed across the Tasman Sea heading for Sydney. We knew we’d need the rest, as we would have to up early on the day we sailed into Harbour to be sure we didn’t miss out on the whole ‘sailing in’ experience.
To End:
“With so many things in the sea, you’d think we’d see some of them” mused Mrs Me as she sits on the balcony watching the Tasman Sea drift by.
“Perhaps” said I, “it’s because they are just what you said, they are ‘IN’ the sea, i.e. under the water rather than on it, that you can’t see them”
“Oh yes”, said Mrs Me and back to sleep she went – stirring occasionally to moan that the sun was too hot, put on more sun lotion before going back to the land of nod.
Cruising was invented for Mrs Me.
The Adventures of Podge & Tubbs 