2017 Grand Asia Pacific Thursday, November 30 – Tauranga, New Zealand

We woke up at 8:40 after the cruise director made the ship's clearance announcement.  It was 64 degrees under mostly cloudy skies.  We ordered coffee and dressed to go out while I updated the blog.  We went to breakfast at 9:30 and ate on the aft deck.  I worked the crossword and we left the ship at 10:40.  We walked to downtown Maunganui and by all of the shops and cafes, by a nice park with kids feeding the ducks, and along the beach boardwalk before returning to the ship at 12:30.  It was a sunny and warm day.  I left Glenda on the aft deck and went to the cabin to drop off our bags and download my pictures.  I returned to the aft deck at 1:25.  We had ice cream and cookies and read until 3:40 when we returned to the cabin.  At 5, I went to the excursion desk and cancelled our Waikiki Beach Excursion since we decided that it would be difficult to get to the beach in the wheelchair.  We got read for dinner and went to the Crow's Nest for happy hour.  Howard had bought cowboy hats for the Station Band to wear when they played country and western songs.  After dinner, we went to the casino and played slots for 1 1/2 hours.  I won 15.25 and Glenda broke even.  We got to the cabin at 10:40.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Wednesday, November 29 – Waitangi, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

We got up at 8:58 when the tendering announcements were coming every 5 to 10 minutes.  It was 61 degrees under cloudy skies.  We ordered coffee and dressed for cool weather while I updated the blog.  We went to breakfast at 9:45 and ate on the aft deck.  I worked the crossword and we read until 1:50 when I finished my last book on my kindle fire and went to the cabin to order more books to download.  I couldn't get them to download so after many attempts, I returned to the aft deck at 2:20.  I got some pictures of dolphins off the side of the ship.  The wind came up later and temperature went down, so we went to the cabin at 3:45.  I tried to download my 3 new books several times and finally got one downloaded after spending many of my internet minutes.  I downloaded my pictures to my computer.  Before dinner, we went to the aft deck for 30 minutes and visited with Harold.  We went to the Crow's Nest for happy hour and Sonny and the Station Band played several Willie Nelson songs,  Sonny can sound just like Willie.  After dinner, we went to the aft deck and talked with Harold and Jill until 10 when we went to the show.  The ventriloquist was pretty good but the Queen cover band played songs that we didn't know.  We got to the cabin at 11.

 

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Tuesday, November 28 – At Sea

We woke up at 8:20 and it was 63 degrees under cloudy skies and the seas were a little less calm.  We ordered coffee and dressed while I attempted to update the blog but could not get a good connection.  We went to breakfast at  9:15 and ate on the aft deck.  I worked the crossword and then then went to the cabin to update the blog.  The laundry was back so I put up my things and returned to the aft deck at 11:15.  We read until the clocks were set forward one hour at 2 when we went inside to escape the cool, rainy weather.  We bought a few things in the stores and went to the casino for 30 minutes where I lost $10 and Glenda lost $20.  We returned to the cabin at 4.  We had a Cruise Specialist cocktail party at 7.  After dinner, we went to the casino for 30 minutes where I won $10 and Glenda lost $40.  We got to the cabin at 9:45.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Monday, November 27 – At Sea

We woke up at 8:50 and it was 64 degrees under partly cloudy skies and some minor rocking of the ship.  We ordered coffee and dressed for the cooler weather while I updated the blog.  We sent to breakfast at 9:45 and ate on the aft deck.  I worked the crossword and we read until 4:10 when we went to the cabin.  This evening was a Gala night with the theme of the White Dinner, so we wore as much white as we had and Glenda went as Chloe.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and as we left there for dinner, we had another wheelchair dance.  After dinner, we went to the casino and played the slots for 70 minutes.  I won $10 while Glenda won $100.  We got to the cabin at 10:20.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Sunday, November 26 – At Sea

We woke up at 8:15 and it was 70 degrees under partly cloudy skies and fairly calm seas.   We ordered coffee and dressed while I updated the blog.  We went to breakfast at 9:30 and ate on the aft deck.  I worked on the crossword and we read.  Glenda saw some dolphins off the side of the ship while I was away from the table.  At 12, John and Kathryn joined us at our table and we talked for almost 1 1/2 hours.  They left for lunch and we had to set the clocks forward one hour at 2.  We read until 3:20 when we went to watch the waltz dance lessons before bingo where we did not win.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest for happy hour.  After dinner, we went to the casino where I won $11.29 and Glenda lost $35.  We got to the cabin at 10:25.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Saturday, November 25 – Sydney, Australia Day 2

We woke up at 8:25 and it was 70 degrees under sunny skies.  We had a new view as the ship had relocated about 100 yards to the regular terminal instead of the tent we were at.  The P&O ship had departed yesterday afternoon, freeing up this location.  We ordered  coffee and dressed while I updated the blog.  We went to breakfast at 9:30 and ate on the aft deck.  I worked on the crossword and we read until 12:30 when we had sandwiches.  We read until 2 when we had ice cream and cookies.  We stayed on the aft deck until 4:15 when we went to the cabin.  I went down to iron the shirt that Made had given me for Glenda to wear since it was too small for me.  During the sail away, I took pictures from our verandah of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House which we couldn't see from our dock.  We went to the Crow's Nest before dinner and after dinner, we went to the casino for 75 minutes where I won $70.29 and Glenda lost $20.  We got to the cabin at 10:20.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Friday, November 24 – Sydney, Australia Day 1

We woke up at 8:15 to the cruise director's clearance announcement.  It was 68 degrees and sunny.  We ordered coffee and dressed while trying to figure out where this cruise terminal was in relation to anything.  It appears to not be near anything.  I updated the blog and we went to breakfast at 9:15 and ate on the aft deck.  I worked on the crossword until 11 when we went to the shuttle bus to Darling Harbor.  We ran into Alan and Sandra boarding for the remainder of the cruise as we were leaving.  We got on the bus and got to Darling Harbor at 11:40.  We walked around but there were mostly restaurants and bars around the harbor so we returned to the shuttle bus at 12:40 and were back aboard at 1:10.  I took Glenda to the aft deck and the bags back down to the cabin.  I returned the apology bottle of wine to the front desk and expressed my displeasure that this was not an acceptable compensation for the shower problems.  They said that they would tell their supervisor.  I returned to the aft deck and we read until 4:45 when we went to the cabin to get ready for the evening.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest with the usual group.  They were having a cocktail party for local travel agents, so the bar staff were very busy.  After dinner, we went to the aft deck until 9:45 when we returned to the cabin.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Thursday, November 23 – Thanksgiving At Sea

We woke up at 8:05 and it was 73 degrees under partly cloudy skies with calm seas.  I updated the blog while we dressed and drank our coffee.  We went to breakfast at 9:10 and ate on the aft deck.  I worked the crossword and we read until 1:40 when we went to see if we were still on the slot tournament board.  I was still in 2nd, but Glenda had been bumped.  Since the clocks were to be set forward one hour at 2, the tournament finals were going to be at 4, the same time that bingo starts.  Glenda decided that she would go to bingo and I could join her after the finals.  I came in 4th and got another Club 21 t-shirt instead of the $400 1st prize.  I joined Glenda at bingo and won $59.50 on the third game.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and saw Vicki, Jack & Carolyn and John & Kathryn.  As we left for dinner, we had another wheelchair dance.  After dinner, we went to the casino for an hour and lost.  We got the cabin at 10:15 and found a bottle of wine for Mrs. Elmore and Mr. Sellars as an apology for the water problems.  We were shocked to find out that I was sharing a cabin with Mrs. Elmore.  The wine, which we do not drink, was not sufficient compensation for the lack of a properly operating shower for 4 days.

2017 Grand Asia Pacific Wednesday, November 22 – Brisbane, Australia

We woke up at 8:15 when the cruise director made his clearance announcement.  It was 68 degrees under partly cloudy skies and we ordered coffee while dressing for somewhat cooler weather with a possibility of rain.  We went to breakfast at 9:25 and ate on the aft deck while I worked the crossword and we read the paper.  At 10:30, we went down to catch the shuttle bus to town.  It came about 10:40 and we got downtown at 11:05.  We walked around and looked at the buildings and Christmas decorations until 12:45 when we  went to the bus stop.  The shuttle arrived at 1:15 and we got back on board at 2.  We stopped by the Lido and got sandwiches.  At 3, I took the bags to the cabin and downloaded our pictures.  We had a message inquiring about the shower and I called back to tell them that it was still too hot when turned down all the way.  I returned to the aft deck at 3:20 and read for an hour before returning to the cabin.  At 4:35, a repairman came and adjusted the temperature control on the tub which took him about 5 minutes.  It was perfect when we showered.  Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and saw Vicki, Jack & Carolyn, John & Kathryn and Manny who had been working in the Pinnacle for a couple of nights.  After dinner, we went to the aft deck until 10:10 and watched the lights of Brisbane along the river.