August 2024 - Croatia, Istanbul, Melbourne and Papua New Guinea (there's an unlikely combo!!)
We had a lovely dinner in Venice and both got up the next morning a bit nervous. It was my first Press trip. What would the others in the group be like? What was expected of me? Would I be run ragged? Would I be excluded by the others as I was so new to all this?
I needn’t have worried. The entire group – one couple from London and the others all from Sydney or Melbourne – was lovely and welcoming and excited! We all gelled from the start and had a lot of fun!
Yes, it was busy but it was fun busy. We had a few “mandated” dinners together and one “mandated” activity. The dinners were fine dining including a Chef’s Table experience. Wowee!! The activity was a hike. I was worried about the activity level there too but it was fine. The hardest thing was keeping your head down so as not to trip over tree roots instead of looking up at the beautiful scenery.
We were lucky enough to be given onboard credit which we used for other excursions and two other free shore excursions. We added a couple of private excursions ie not organised through Azamara and ended up with an activity each day! I wrote about them in a story Mamamia published – https://www.mamamia.com.au/azamara-croatia-cruise/ We had SO.MUCH.FUN!
We loved the Azamara experience – a small ship (702 at double occupancy) with no queueing and a wonderful outdoor dining area. We docked or tendered right at the Old Towns and we had long days in port. We had time to do an excursion each day and a city walking tour. Activity and history; adrenalin and culture. It was an energising combo and just what we needed as our desire to travel had started to flag a bit. We had been away for 7 weeks after all.
It was also to be with a group for a change. Different personalities and different conversation was fun. Interestingly, two of the Aussie couples were having an extended European stay (a few months for one couple and a year for another). With our kids and our dogs, that’s not an option for us but it did sound cool to “be Europeans” for an extended time. To live in a place rather than just visit. Maybe one day….
Our last excursion for the day was a mini tour of Athens in searing heat! We were dropped off at Athens airport and flew to Istanbul for two nights. Singapore Airlines only flew out of Istanbul every second day hence the little wait for our flight home.
For the third time in this trip, we checked into the Hilton Istanbul Bakikroy. We were given a huge and amazing corner room with views to die for! We also had Lounge access so we went there for a light (and free) dinner. Next day, we enjoyed watching some Paris Olympics (we’d only seen news bulletins on Azamara) and then went into the Old City to meet up for dinner with one of Andrew’s cousins who had just started her European trip.
We flew home for only a week before our next trip. This time, a P&O cruise out of Brisbane to Papua New Guinea.
It was a hectic week, catching up on washing and seeing family and our doggies. We had some bad health news about my Dad and Andrew’s Mum…on the same day. Andrew’s Mum’s news has improved although she has a nasty few months ahead. My Dad is no longer in remission and it is a matter of time. I don’t know what to say about this yet and I know he would hate it if I said anything so, for now, I will just say that he has a very good attitude and we’ll cross our fingers.
Dad was given the green light to go on a cruise himself. It’s a part circumnavigation of Australia and he’s about halfway through at the moment. I’m glad he could go.
We were a bit hesitant about the P&O cruise. How would a small ship cruise of Croatia where we had VIP treatment be topped? Also, what would we think about a bigger ship? The last big ship we travelled on was pre-Covid.
Again, we needn’t have worried. We were also given VIP treatment – a lovely meal at the upmarket Luke’s Bar & Grill, a show called Blanc de Blanc (still blushing!), WiFi, access to an exclusive pool area called Byron Beach Club, included non-alcoholic drinks including barista-made coffee…I could get used to this celebrity life!
We actually booked this cruise in May 2023! Andrew’s Mum was to come with us too but she had to pull out at the last minute which was a shame.
Citro who have commissioned Andrew and I to write a monthly travel column asked us a few weeks ago to do a P&O cruise and write a feature story for them. As it happened, we had this cruise booked so…serendipity!! P&O came to the party and gave us the perks I’ve mentioned so we unpacked once and relaxed!!
The P&O cruise was very different to the Azamara one but we loved it too! How was it different? Some key things:
• The size of the ship – 2,600 people versus not quite 700. This meant queueing sometimes especially for tenders back to the ship. We don’t like the queueing and this would be worse if we used the lifts but we rarely use lifts on cruises. Taking the stairs is necessary exercise on cruises where you always eat way more than you need!
• The ports – more on that later.
• The number of sea days – 5 compared to 1. I didn’t mind this as I treated the sea days as writing and reading days. There are also heaps of onboard activities if you want to participate. Nearly all are free. I can see that some people would get bored though.
• The number of restaurants, bars and lounges – many more on the bigger ship.
• The quality and variety of the live entertainment onboard – without dissing the smaller ship, generally much higher on the bigger ship.
What about cruising PNG? Well, it was an eye-opener. We stopped at Alotau, Kiriwina Islands, Rabaul and Conflict Islands. We were struck by the poverty. We were struck at the lack of tourist facilities. Conflict Islands excepted, there were no restaurants, no bars, no cafés, no hotels. Seeing what we saw, I would not travel to PNG independently but it was perfect for a cruise.
There was no time zone change, no long haul flight yet we were overseas.
I didn’t always feel 100% safe in the ports but I knew that I could just return to the ship; to my cabin where I was all set up and all unpacked. I felt that the ship was my safe refuge.
We did tours in Alotau and Rabaul and a boat trip around some of the gorgeous Conflict Islands. All of these were booked though P&O. In Alotau, it was a cultural performance with cute as kiddies. In Rabaul, it was a sobering WWII tour. Conflict Islands is owned by an Australian and set up for day trippers. It is also absolutely breathtaking!
Kiriwina Island is also beautiful but P&O do not offer any tours there and, after a tour by a local of the village, there was little to do but wait in the heat (for 90 minutes!) for a tender back to the ship. Unluckily, we were there at low tide so swimming and snorkelling wasn’t really possible.
Home for another week, we have started to get used to not living with our son, N, any more. He and his girlfriend have moved into their own place. Our daughter, L, is still in Europe (home tomorrow as I type this!) so it has just been three humans and two Golden Retrievers!
I have spent the week catching up on some life admin, including having my eye checked out. No damage remains from my laundry liquid altercation. Phew!
We’re in for a busy run to Christmas with some milestone birthdays and our son (M’s) wedding. Lots of parties and outfits to plan!!
Looking forward to a quieter September 😊
Writing Wins for the month:
I’ve had a few stories published this month. Firstly a few travel stories:
• The Croatia activities story I mentioned in Mamamia - https://www.mamamia.com.au/azamara-croatia-cruise/
• A tongue in cheek one about Ferrari - https://www.joincitro.com.au/news/ferrari-birthday-gift-for-husband?l
• One about Bologna - https://www.goworldtravel.com/things-to-do-in-bologna-italy
• One that is partly travel and partly memoir - https://www.businessinsider.com/retired-couple-paid-for-adult-kids-to-travel-2024-8;
• Andrew and my second He Said/She Said article. This time, on Japan https://www.joincitro.com.au/news/holiday-in-japan; and
• One that I wrote a year ago which finally came to print. Yes, an actual flick the pages magazine called “WellBeing Magazine.” The story is in Issue 211 and is called, “How Claustrophobia Tried to Stifle my Life.” I have requested a URL or a pdf.
Fiction was a bit light on as I have been concentrating on travelling and travel writing. I did write some very short stories to a theme of “Summer Nights” for a competition. The competition didn’t like them but Café Lit did - https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2024/08/summer-nights-collection-of-very-short.html
^Swimming off Conflict Islands with the P&O Encounter in the background
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