Sky Princess, January 6 - 20, 2000
Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia
by Pete Stark
Just for background: we are both senior citizens, though still working
full-time. This was our fifth cruise; our prior cruises were on Princess (to Alaska), two cruises on Royal Caribbean (through the
Panama Canal, and around the British Isles and Norway), and Norwegian Cruise Line (Boston to Bermuda). So we have had a few prior cruises to
compare against. Here are our impressions:
We arranged the trip through a local travel agent about two months before the cruise. The first set of Princess documents,
with some forms for us to fill out, apparently got lost and we had to fax things back
and forth in a rush at the last minute. Likewise, it took a second request before we got the promised info on shore excursions. The
booklet and forms arrived about December 15th, but the deadline for filing was December 8th. So we missed out again (which turned out to be
lucky).
We had plenty of frequent flyer miles but were not able to get free seats on the dates we needed, so we arranged plane
transportation through Princess. Plane tickets and info arrived about two weeks before
departure.
Princess' arrangements for the flights down included United Airlines from New York to Los
Angeles and an American Trans Air charter from LA to Auckland. Because the flight crosses the international date line, we
had to leave New York on January 4th to arrive in Auckland the next day, January 6th.
Tuesday, January 4th, 2000: Still in the U.S.A.
Knowing the second leg of the flight was a charter, we decided to check our luggage only as far as
LA and hand-carry it to the American Trans Air (ATA) charter. But when we arrived at the NY
airport, the United Airlines clerk told us their computer knew about the ATA
charter and United had an agreement with ATA to exchange luggage. So we checked our big suitcases directly through to
Auckland and only carried our two carry-ons.
The United flight was quite nice. Enough leg room and a fairly nice lunch. When we got to
LA we took an airport bus to the Bradley International Terminal, as stated on our tickets.
When we got to the terminal, we couldn't find any ATA check-in. After roaming
around a while, we spotted our ATA flight on the departure TV monitor screen, so we knew we were in the right building.
But several airport employees told us that ATA was in Terminal 2, not here. Finally, we spotted a Princess sign--a Princess representative
was there to organize a line in the middle of the terminal while we waited for the ATA folks to arrive.
While waiting in line we began to wonder about our luggage. If several
airport people were convinced we should be in Terminal 2, it was likely that all our luggage would go there too. Since there were other people
in line whose luggage was checked straight through, we decided ours would have lots of
company and would attract attention if it wound up at the wrong place. Still, when they finally opened an ATA
check-in line, we made it a point to bring it to the attention of the ATA people. We were about as insistent as we could be (while still
being polite), but it was obviously still not enough. Next time we'll stomp on someone's toes to emphasize the point!
Anyway, our ATA flight was scheduled to leave LA at 7:15 PM and left about an hour late. We hoped
the reason was that it took them that long to get all the luggage properly located and loaded.
The ATA charter flight was like a sardine can. Except sardines have the advantage of facing in alternate
directions so they have a little more room. In our case, it was tight! Even overhead storage
space was skimpy; hence ATA confiscated everyone's carry-ons and checked them. The plane was all coach class, with too few bathrooms for several
hundred people on such a long flight. Not only that, two of the bathrooms broke during the trip. Considering all the Arabic signs in
the plane, it was probably bought used from some Arabian airline.
Wednesday, January 5th: Somewhere in Hawaii
It was at this point we discovered our flight was not direct to Auckland--we would fly five hours to Hawaii, refuel and change
staff, and then fly eight hours more to Auckland. Well, it was nice to get out in Hawaii in the middle of the night
and stretch our legs.
Thursday, January 6th: Auckland, New Zealand
We arrived in Auckland early the next morning and were hustled by Princess reps directly into buses. When we inquired
about our luggage we were told all luggage would be brought to the ship separately
by truck and it was not possible to check whether our stuff was there.
The buses didn't go to the ship, though. Princess arranged with a downtown hotel to set up a banquet room as a
temporary holding area. There was coffee and tea as well as cookies. And real restrooms! And
comfortable chairs. Thank heavens for the cookies--the ATA food was greasy and not particularly edible. So bad, in fact, that my wife (who
is always ready to eat) passed up dinner on the plane.
At this point we were quite convinced our suitcases were lost. So we went shopping for underwear and a few shirts. Not knowing whether we
really needed all this or not was a problem, but we decided to play it safe. Good idea!
Part of the Princess check-in process was at the hotel, so we got some info and paperwork done. Eventually, after a few hours, buses started
arriving for the short trip to the ship. We finally had lunch about 2:30 p.m. and found our room. Now came the long wait for our luggage.
We watched luggage being brought aboard the ship and almost immediately distributed by the cabin stewards. About an hour before
departure, our carry-ons finally arrived in the cabin, but still no suitcases. A half hour before departure, we went back to the gangplank,
only to be told that all the luggage had already arrived. And still no
suitcases!
Incidentally, there is one thing we really like about Princess--the A-Pass security system. During
check in for the ship, you get a barcoded ID card. When you first board the ship, you insert the card into a slot
and a digital camera takes your picture. Each time you leave the ship at a port, you slip the card into the slot, and the computer records
the fact that you've left. When you return, you again slip the card into the slot and the computer again records that you have returned.
But it also looks up your picture in its files and displays it on a TV screen. A member of the crew compares the picture with your face to
make sure you are the right person. I like the system for two reasons. In this world of potential terrorism, it makes it just a bit
more difficult for someone to sneak aboard that shouldn't be there. And if you don't make it back to the ship in time, there is at least the
possibility that someone will know you're missing. (I checked with the manufacturer of the A-Pass system to see what other cruise lines use
their system. It would be an extra plus in choosing other cruises. Unfortunately, while Carnival has signed up for it and will install it
over the next 18 months or so, and a few other lines are considering it, Princess is the only one that has A-Pass as of early 2000.)
Anyway, at 6 pm, we sailed off. Our clothing consisted of what we wore, plus a few changes of underwear in our
carry-ons, and a few more items bought in Auckland. Not quite enough for fourteen days at sea!
At this point, we got busy. We went to the Purser's office to complain and discovered
we were not alone--they were compiling a list of people whose luggage got lost. Apparently ATA must have had a big pile
of luggage somewhere in LA that they didn't know what to do with.
We also asked about changing from second to first seating. There was a young chap in one of the
lounges compiling a list of people who would like to switch. So we put our name on the list, but never heard from
him again.
Fortunately, we went to the first seating anyway, to try to find the maitre d' himself. Instead, we found the headwaiter who
was on our first Princess cruise a year before and he introduced us to the maitre
d'. All got taken care of on the spot. We had three other wonderful couples at our table for the
trip and enjoyed ourselves immensely. One of our tablemates even offered to lend me a jacket and tie for the
formal nights so I'd feel a little more comfortable.
Meanwhile, we scooted to the Shore Excursion desk, and managed to sign up for a tour the next day.
Late that evening, we went back to the Purser to inquire about our missing luggage. This time, they had a faxed list of luggage
"discovered" in Los Angeles and promised for delivery tomorrow. We were told we would get a $50 shipboard credit
to use to buy a few necessities in the store to tide us over. Since I noticed a number of apparently unoccupied cabins, I suggested to the fellow
that a far more useful and appreciated gift would be an upgrade to a better cabin. He put our name on a list of people requesting an upgrade
and promised we would hear tomorrow, but we never heard from anyone about that again. Making lists of people and then throwing them
away seems to be a favorite activity on that ship.
Speaking about the ship: The Sky Princess is one of the oldest Princess ships. In fact, it will be transferred to P&O Lines
(Princess' parent company) at the end of 2000. It is apparently the last steam turbine
powered cruise ship made (the newer ships have diesel engines which drive electric generators, which in turn power electric motors that
turn the propellers). Anyway, that's what the literature says. When you're on the ship, you really can't tell the difference. The ship
moves, and does so fairly quietly. On the other hand, most of this trip involved short distances, so the ship seldom exceeded 15 or so miles
per hour; according to my GPS, most of the other cruises we've been on went at 20 or 22 mph. So it was fairly leisurely travel.
In terms of appointments, the ship looks fairly modern. In a few spots you can see its age, but that is not really obvious. The layout is a
bit strange though; you can't get from one end to the other on some decks because there is a kitchen in the way. There is no really good
observation platform at the very front of the ship. The pools are tiny. The show theater ceiling is supported by columns which obstruct the
view; its seating is also somewhat strange, with some rows of seats slightly lower than the seats in front of them, creating visibility
problems.
Eating is a problem too. At breakfast and lunch you have a choice of either the dining room or a buffet. But the buffet is
outdoors and the seating is scanty. Due to the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica,
the sun is very strong and sitting in the outdoor buffet for any length of time can potentially give you a solid sunburn.
There is no real indoor dining area for the buffet, only a lounge which has been sort of
converted for that purpose, but is not ideal.
In the evening, there is no buffet. Your only choice is either the dining room, or the pizza restaurant. But the pizza place is very small
and really has only pizza--no sandwiches, or Italian food, or any of the other goodies that most pizza places offer. So it is very
limited and not the place for dinner. The ship desperately needs an alternative evening dining arrangement. And we really missed the 24-hour food on
some of our prior cruises. If you miss the meal hours, you do without.
Cabins seem fairly spacious, but strange. We had cabin L55 on the topmost cabin deck, but inside, squeezed between a number of suites.
Like all cabins, this one had three closets and plenty of drawer space. But two of the closets were very shallow,
not quite the size of a coat hanger. Coat hangers would only fit catty-corner.
The beds showed their age, very low down with tired mattresses sunk low into the bed frames. So low that the frame cuts into your legs
when you sit on the mattress. Two twins is what you get and they cannot be rearranged into a double
bed because the night table, located between them, has wiring in it which controls the lights and room
temperature and thus can't be moved.
Another Sky Princess review I read commented on loud creaking sounds in the wall. I pooh-poohed the idea when I read it, but it is true! The
wall next to my bed groaned every time the ship pitched forward or back even just a bit. Not enough to keep me awake, but some people might
have a hard time falling asleep.
The bathroom was also strange. The door opened into it, rather than out. The bathroom was tiny and the toilet was behind the open door, so
to get to the toilet you had to step backward into the shower and reach out to close the door. The towel rack was above the toilet, so
you also had to close the door to wash and dry your hands. On the other hand, the shower was huge,
definitely big enough for two.
As usual, the toilet was a vacuum affair which would suck in your yuck when you pushed a
button while pouring in a small amount of flush water. Unfortunately, several times during the trip it would stop
working. It's very disconcerting when the toilet is full, more water keeps adding with every attempt to flush, but nothing gets sucked out.
It's even stranger when you give up, go back into the cabin, and suddenly hear the whoosh as the toilet decides to flush itself five
minutes later.
As to the staff... the people you tip were great. The cabin steward was excellent, the dining room staff cheerful and helpful. But
the salaried people seemed a lot less interested. Perhaps it is a lack of spirit since they know the ship will leave the Princess line at the
end of the year. The Purser's staff promised everything, but didn't deliver. The shore excursion folks were seldom to be found. The chef
seemed to have an attitude problem. We like to have our food cooked. On two separate evenings, when my wife sent a dish back with a request
that it be cooked a bit more, it came back half its original size and looking as though it had been refried in grease. Perhaps the chef was
trying to punish us for not appreciating his greatness (one of our tablemates who took a tour of the kitchen overheard the chef making
some snide comments about people who drink water or juice with their dinner not being able to appreciate his excellent
cooking).
As to the passengers - the typical senior citizens like us. Two or three babies, a handful of people under 40, and the rest of us mostly
over 60. But remember, this was a 14-day excursion (16 days by the time you add in air travel) at a strange time of year. Younger people
who have to work, and children who have school, can't go on such a long trip in January. The cruise was not that expensive, but the $1800 or so
for plane tickets greatly increased the cost for a family.
Friday, January 7th: Bay Of Islands, New Zealand
The first full day aboard was a bit tough on us, just one day after spending over 20 hours traveling. Little rest for the weary!
The Sky Princess was anchored in the Bay of Islands up near the northeast corner of New Zealand. We took a tender (one of the
lifeboats) into port and then the two tours we signed up for at the shore excursion desk. It was a lovely
day and gorgeous scenery as well.
Our first tour was a boat trip around the bay and out to a rock with a hole in it large enough to pass the boat through. The second tour was
for an underwater look at marine life. Fascinating flora and fauna, but we were still beat from the day before. Us senior citizens are not as
resilient as we once were.
The big surprise came when we returned to the Sky Princess--our luggage had arrived! We were ecstatic! It must have cost ATA a lot to
ship out several hundred pieces of luggage by Air New Zealand, then truck it to the ship, and transfer it to the ship by boat. (They could
have saved all that if they had listened back in Los Angeles, when we told their staff
we thought our luggage was in the wrong terminal. Too bad!)
Saturday, January 8th: Tauranga, New Zealand
As usual, Princess offered a number of shore excursions, but we had a hard time choosing. It looked as though each port had two or three
interesting places and a bunch of lesser ones to visit. Unfortunately, there was no single tour
taht went to all the interesting ones. Each tour would hit one good site and several mediocre ones. So we
decided to strike out on our own. It worked out so well in this port that we did it throughout most of the rest of the trip.
As soon as we came down the gangplank, we noticed a bunch of taxis ... and Hertz! So we walked over to Hertz and rented a car. It was fun. In
both New Zealand and Australia, they drive on the left side of the street. Further, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.
Worse yet, this car was a stick shift, and shifting was done with the left hand. The controls on the steering wheel were also backward --
turn signal on the right side, windshield wiper on the left. Every time I tried to turn right, I managed to wipe the windshield, but that was
about the worst of it. As I said, it was fun.
Tauranga is a fairly small town; our guidebook said the most interesting sight was
Rotorua, a thermal spring and geyser area about
an hour out of town. So we drove out there. We stopped for lunch, drove around town, and went into the thermal park for their tour.
The problem with Rotorua is, once you've seen Yellowstone and been in Iceland and seen their thermal areas, everything
else is a disappointment. So, while all the other tourists oohed and aahed, we ho-hummed. Seeing some of the natives and how they live was
more interesting.
Most interesting was a short conversation with a U.S. physician who moved to New
Zealand and gave us the lowdown on medical care in New Zealand. Terrible, she said. It had been run by the
government; however, it became so bad that it was being privatized, but not fast enough. There
was an 18-month waiting period for a heart bypass, long enough that many patients would die before getting their surgery. A sonogram
procedure that could be obtained here in a day or two, took a six-month waiting period over there. Because of the high cost of education and
low salaries, there was a brain drain out of New Zealand and doctors were moving to other countries so they could afford to repay their
education loans. Definitely not the place for us senior citizens who might need medical care in a hurry.
Sunday, January 9th: At Sea
We slept til noon, finally catching up on lost sleep and fighting down our jet lag. Then we enjoyed a day of rest aboard the ship. Not much
that we wanted to do and that suited us just fine.
Monday, January 10th: Wellington, New Zealand
We took a city tour through the shore excursion desk and thoroughly enjoyed it. Wellington is a lovely city
if you like hills. It seems like the whole city is on the side of one big hill. Our bus tour took
us through the lowest part of town, up to a monument to Admiral Byrd (who used Wellington as the base for his trip to the South Pole),
through a lovely old wooden church, and then to the bottom end of the cable car, which goes up to the top of one hill.
Wellington has one public cable car and about 80 private ones. Many of the houses on the sides of the hills have no roads to them;
hence they have private cable cars that bring up people and things from the street below. After the ride up the hill (the cable car makes
several intermediate stops on the way up), we were met by the bus again and came back down, with a stop at the botanical garden.
In the afternoon, we ventured out on our own to see the Te Papa museum in town. Housed in a very modern building by the water,
most of Te Papa is dedicated to celebrating the native Maori culture of the original
New Zealand peoples. I am sure that the Maori love it, but as tourists we felt that it was a bit overdone. If the natives were as peaceful and
calm as the exhibits claimed, why did they have such impressive war canoes?
Tuesday, January 11th: Christchurch, New Zealand
A lovely city, Christchurch (abbreviated CHCH by the locals) is the base for many expeditions to Antarctica. We took a taxi through town,
sightseeing along the way to see both the Catholic cathedral and the Protestant cathedral.
Right next to the airport is the International Antarctic Center, a permanent exhibition (and base) for
Antarctic expeditions. There are films and exhibits on the geography and animal life of the area
(especially penguins), as well as a tour of the United States Antarctic Center, funded by the National Science Foundation, which equips and
organizes the U.S. Antarctic effort. Part of the tour is a ride on a tank-like transporter used in the Antarctic, which (in a back-wrenching
ride) demonstrated the incredible agility of this vehicle.
After our tour we took a bus back into town and walked around. The river Avon winds through
town with Venice-like gondolas carrying tourists (and lovers) back and forth on the water. Picturesque,
old-fashioned trolleys are still found here as well and the town looks like a gigantic picture postcard.
Wednesday, January 12th: Dunedin, New Zealand
Dunedin was our last actual stop in New Zealand. It is a small town, with none of the picturesque charm of Christchurch or Wellington, but
OK. We took the shuttle bus into town, headed for the tourist center, and arranged to rent a car so we could head out of town.
One of the destinations listed on our shore excursion brochure was a penguin
preserve and that's where we headed. The tour arranged by Princess went there by
boat since the reserve was on the other side of the bay where the Sky Princess docked. Instead, we had to drive all the
way around on a narrow road that in spots hugged the side of the hill with no railing on the downhill side. But the scenery was lovely--hard
to keep your eyes strictly on the road!
The penguin preserve was an old sheep farm, whose owner was trying to rebuild a colony of yellow-headed penguins which had become almost
extinct. Unfortunately, penguins like cold weather and this was a fairly warm day (though nothing like the 85-to-90 summer temperatures
we had expected and that we later got in Sydney). So they were all hiding in their nests. The farmer
dug trails and built blinds into the side of the hill so that we could approach the penguins without
being seen. So they didn't see us, but we didn't see much of them either. Even with a huge telephoto lens, I was barely able to get some
pictures of them.
Close to the penguin area was an albatross breeding area. We headed there, but found that the only way to see them in their nests was with
a formal tour and the last one of the day had just left. We saw a few of these magnificent birds soaring overhead, though. They are
impressive, with a wingspan of four to six feet and an easy soaring motion through the air.
Thursday, January 13th: Cruising Fjordland National Park
We've been to Norway several times to see the famous Norwegian fjords and these were as good. Because this area is a bit warmer, you don't
see the glaciers melting and calving into the water as in Alaska, but the fjords are equally impressive. The Sky Princess spent the whole day
weaving in and out of several fjords and it was a gorgeous sight. It would be easy to get carried away with describing the sights, so I
won't even get started.
Friday, January 14th and Saturday, January 15th: At Sea
The trip from New Zealand to Australia goes across the Tasman Sea and takes two days. You could see a lot of whitecaps, but the water didn't
seem that rough. Still, the ship pitched back and forth and we were told a number of people were
seasick and down at the medical facility. More likely, though, they were down with the flu; there were
people all over the ship coughing and sneezing. We tried to stay away from them wherever possible, but it wasn't easy. This was flu season
back home and we noted a number of people on the airplanes going down and coming back
home who wore cloth or paper masks in an effort to avoid the flu. Wonder if it worked for them; we were fortunate not to
get it even without the masks.
Oh yes, before I forget... I hate to get dressed up like a penguin for formal dinner. There were three formal nights on this trip, and even
with just a plain black suit, I hated them. What I wouldn't have given for an alternative place to have dinner! Alas, nothing but the dining
room for dinner on this ship.
Sunday, January 16th: Hobart, Tasmania
Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, and the like are the world-famous attraction here, so we again rented a Hertz car and headed out of town
to see animals. We figured the animals in this part of the earth were so unlike any back home, that it would be really worth making a
trip to see them in their natural habitat. Or as close to it as an animal farm could be.
Renting a car here was not as easy as it was in New Zealand. In Tauranga, Hertz was at the pier. In Dunedin, Jackie's Car Rental came
to pick us up and then drove us back to the ship. Here in Hobart, we had to hike through town to get to the Hertz rental facility. Then they
gave us bad directions to the animal park, instructions which took us in the wrong direction out of town and onto the Tasman
Bridge where a hidden automatic police camera photographed us going 81 kilometers
per hour in a 70 km/h zone. The car rentals themselves were cheap on the trip, usually well under the cost of an official tour, but the
extra $50 speeding ticket brought up the cost of this particular day. And the Tasmanian Police tracked us down at home to send us the
speeding ticket, but were too cheap to send us a copy of the picture - that would have been an extra $7 or so.
Still, despite the bad directions we managed to find the animal park about a half hour out of the city. Tasmania is a dry, barren
looking island, not at all the lush vegetation we had gotten used to in New Zealand. Seeing all the dry, brown hills is a dreary
sight and the animal park was somewhat barren as well. Still, it was fun seeing and
touching the kangaroos romping around us. It was surprising to see a baby kangaroo upside down in its mother's pouch, with just its rear
legs sticking out. Maybe they nurse that way?
We didn't see the Tasmanian devils, but we saw a couple of very sleepy koala bears. They apparently sleep 20 hours out of every day,
eat very little, and drink even less. Doesn't seem like a very exciting existence; I suppose they don't have too many natural enemies or they
wouldn't be so lethargic. This time, touring by ourselves by car was a disadvantage; whereas we walked through the farm by ourselves,
apparently the tour bus that was there earlier got its own guide who woke up a koala bear and let the tourists touch it. We just got to
see him from several feet away, on the other side of the tree trunk,
managing to hang on while sound asleep.
The day ended well, with the Hertz chap driving us back to the ship.
Monday, January 17th: At Sea
Hate that formal night again.
Tuesday, January 18th: Melbourne, Australia
Our Hertz car rental in Melbourne didn't go nearly as well as elsewhere. Hertz couldn't pick us up from or deliver us to the ship, so
we wound up taxiing quite a distance back and forth. Unfortunately, when we returned the car to Hertz, we lost almost an hour searching and
waiting for a taxi, with the result that we got back to the ship only a few minutes before they pulled up the gangplank. It was a pretty
harrowing time, wondering whether we'd make it or not. Fortunately, all is well that ends well, and we
got back in time.
In Melbourne, we again rented that car to go out of town to an animal preserve at
Healysville. This one was a lot more formal and organized
than the one at Hobart, with a much greater selection of animals. Great park, but the same sleepy Koala bears...
Wednesday, January 19th: At Sea
The last night at sea, but this is the night when everyone is packing, so no more formal wear at dinner. Hurray for that, but it is still sad
to see the adventure end.
Thursday, January 20th: Sydney, Australia
Disembarkation went fairly smoothly; Princess obviously has plenty of practice. We planned to stay in Sydney an extra three days, but
arranged our own hotel (the All Seasons/Darling Harbour, much cheaper than Princess' hotel extension), so we also had to arrange our own
transportation. As it turns out, the ship docked in Darling Harbour and our hotel was also in Darling
Harbour, so a short van ride took us
there.
Sydney is a beautiful city and very tourist oriented. In general, the people of New Zealand and Australia both are very appreciative of U.S.
tourists. Several complete strangers said how happy they were that we came to visit their country. One thing struck as interesting...
Atlanta Braves' John Rocker was in the news just before our departure, complaining that New York City was so full of foreigners that even the
taxi drivers were aliens. By way of comparison, we took about ten taxis
in Sydney and not one of the drivers was an Australian native either!
We visited the aquarium, took a city tour, ate in a pub, went out to Bondi Beach (where we were amazed to see a bunch of people suffering
from jelly fish stings--at least these were ordinary jelly fish, not the box jelly fish
we saw at the aquarium that can be fatal within a half hour), didn't just see the opera house, but actually went
to see an opera (a Johann Strauss opera translated into English and moved to New York City--strange to hear the Aussies speak with a New
Yawk accent), had dinner in the rotating restaurant on top of Sydney's 300-meter observation tower, and shopped in the City Market, an indoor
flea market right near our hotel. Had a great time!
Sunday, January 23rd: Qantas Air Lines back to New York
This flight was arranged by Princess, so I suppose it's valid to talk about it. Compared with the charter flight down, it was a delight.
We were scheduled to leave at 12:50 PM, but the flight was late.
Numerous announcements told us that one of the toilets was not functioning and the plane would not leave until it was fixed.
Eventually, one announcement told us we could walk down to a nearby lounge to wait for departure. We barely got
there when we were told to run back to the plane, which was about to take off. And so we
went, over an hour late. Just after takeoff the Captain said the delay was due to some prior passenger flushing his glasses down the
toilet and clogging up the works. I guess that would do it!
Twelve hours in a plane is an awfully long time! Qantas fed us lunch just after we left, breakfast just before we arrived in Los Angeles,
and nothing in between, so we were ravenously hungry and thirsty when we arrived. Los Angeles was supposed to be just a short stop on the way
back to New York to let off some passengers and get a new crew, but when we
landed we were told to get off the plane and take all our belongings with us. After about 20
minutes we were sent back to the plane. A few of us were confused when we noticed they were sending us
to a different plane. Quantas apparently decided to switch planes in order to speed us on our way. Fortunately, they
had enough time to transfer our checked luggage to the new plane.
And so we arrived back home, nearly three weeks after we left, dead tired after the long trip, but with a lot of happy
memories. Plus fourteen rolls of film and an hour worth of video tape.
Pete Stark
pastark@cloud9.net
More P&O/Princess
Cruises Reviews
