Hong Kong

Well here we are in a wet, muggy (30 degrees) Hong Kong @ 8.30 am after an 11 hour flight from Auckland. Have a couple of hours until our onward flight to Heathrow.

It was a very full flight, with many staying in Hong Kong or otherwise in China.  I can see how Air New Zealand made a record profit - limited service/food.  However it was a generally smooth flight and we both got some sleep, which is unusual for me.  I am still feeling pretty good, and attribute that to my natural No Jet Lag pills.

Sitting in the airport, TV is showing the US armed forces presumably preparing for an attack on Syria.  We certainly hope not, as both of our cruises are in the general vicinity.  Fingers firmly crossed.

Going back to yesterday, we stopped at Columbus Cafe in Mitre10, Albany (which we usually do when in the area), and the security alarm went off as we entered - and again as we exited.  One of the staff observed "a Kathmandu jacket".  Correct, Vivian had her new weatherproof jacket on.  Apparently they have a microchip embedded in them, which is supposed to be deactivated when sold - but sometimes they turn themselves on again, so although Mitre10 deactivated it again, we'll see if we have any further issues with all the security checks we'll be going through.

Updated itinerary

To be expected - this today from Princess:

ITINERARY CHANGE

Please be advised that due to continuing security concerns and the potential
for them to disrupt our calls to Sharm el Sheikh on September 23, 2013, and
Safaga on September 25, we have decided to cancel these calls and extend our
call to Dubai to an overnight call. Ocean Princess will now arrive in Dubai on
October 1 at 1:00 p.m. and depart on October 2 at 5:00 p.m. The revised
itinerary displays in full at the end of this notification.

Pre-reserved shore excursions in Sharm el Sheikh and Safaga have been
cancelled. Additional tours in Dubai on October 1 will be available to book
online via the Cruise Personalizer at www.princess.com shortly or at the Shore
Excursion Desk once onboard. Tours may be pre-reserved through September 7.

We are sorry for any disappointment this change may cause; however, the safety
of our passengers and crew remains our highest priority. Thank you for your
attention to this notification.

Certainly better to be safe, BUT.  Anyway we still get to Petra and now looking at what to do with an extra day in Dubai - looks like a trip into the desert.  After 6 consecutive sea-days this will be a welcome change.  I see mirages already.

Pleased to report that we are in serious training for the trip.  Out for dinner last night with our friends at The Stables in Matakana (Steak night!).  Usual Friday breakfast at the Dragonfly this morning followed by lunch at Mahurangi River Estate - this was a special "Grab One" I bought 3 months ago & needed to be used! (I had venison & Vivian had rabbit).  Needless to say, there will be nothing to eat tonight.  - All good so far, but we are not planning any further gastronomic delights for a week or so.

All set to go

Countdown = 1 week tomorrow we depart on our 9.5 week adventure.  Pleased that we have got the suitcases packed (& within limits).  Tiger is suspicious and slept with the bags yesterday :-)

To watch our progress, click this link for the Royal Princess
http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/rp/royal_bridgecam.html

and later for the Ocean Princess
http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/op/ocean_bridgecam.html

OK, so here is our itinerary:

			Arrive	Depart
Thu	29/08/13	Auckland		23.59
Fri	30/08/13	Barcelona (arrive)	22.30
Sat	31/08/13	Barcelona (own time)
Sun	01/09/13	Barcelona (own time)
Mon	02/09/13	Barcelona (own time)
Tue	03/09/13	Barcelona		19.00	ROYAL PRINCESS
Wed	04/09/13	Toulon	7.00	18.00
Thu	05/09/13	Livorno	7.00	19.00
Fri	06/09/13	Rome (Civitavecchia)	7.00	19.00
Sat	07/09/13	Naples	7.00	19.00
Sun	08/09/13	At Sea
Mon	09/09/13	Mykonos	7.00	14.00
Tue	10/09/13	Istanbul	8.00	18.00
Wed	11/09/13	Kusadasi (Ephesus)	12.00	19.00
Thu	12/09/13	Athens	9.00	17.45
Fri	13/09/13	At Sea
Sat	14/09/13	Venice	13.00	0.00
Sun	15/09/13	Venice (own time)	8.00
Mon	16/09/13	Assisi			BY TRAIN FROM VENICE via FLORENCE
Tue	17/09/13	Rome (Civitavecchia)		18.00	OCEAN PRINCESS
Wed	18/09/13	Sorrento	7.00	16.00
Thu	19/09/13	At Sea
Fri	20/09/13	Santorini	9.00	18.00
Sat	21/09/13	At Sea
Sun	22/09/13	Suez Canal	1.00	17.00
Mon	23/09/13	Sharm El Sheikh	7.00	19.00
Tue	24/09/13	Aqaba	7.00	19.00
Wed	25/09/13	Luxor & Karnak (Safaga)	7.00	23.00
Thu	26/09/13	At Sea
Fri	27/09/13	At Sea
Sat	28/09/13	At Sea
Sun	29/09/13	At Sea
Mon	30/09/13	At Sea
Tue	01/10/13	At Sea
Wed	02/10/13	Dubai	7.00	17.00
Thu	03/10/13	Muscat	13.00	19.00
Fri	04/10/13	At Sea
Sat	05/10/13	At Sea
Sun	06/10/13	Mumbai	7.00	18.00
Mon	07/10/13	At Sea
Tue	08/10/13	Cochin	8.00	17.00
Wed	09/10/13	At Sea
Thu	10/10/13	Colombo	7.00	20.00
Fri	11/10/13	At Sea
Sat	12/10/13	At Sea
Sun	13/10/13	At Sea
Mon	14/10/13	Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang)	7.00	18.00
Tue	15/10/13	Singapore	7.00	17.00
Wed	16/10/13	At Sea
Thu	17/10/13	Koh Samui	8.00	17.00
Fri	18/10/13	At Sea
Sat	19/10/13	Ho Chi Minh City	7.00	16.00
Sun	20/10/13	At Sea
Mon	21/10/13	At Sea
Tue	22/10/13	At Sea
Wed	23/10/13	At Sea
Thu	24/10/13	Komodo Island - Indonesia	7.00	18.00
Fri	25/10/13	At Sea
Sat	26/10/13	At Sea
Sun	27/10/13	Darwin	7.00	16.00
Mon	28/10/13	At Sea
Tue	29/10/13	At Sea
Wed	30/10/13	At Sea
Thu	31/10/13	Airlie Beach	7.00	18.00
Fri	01/11/13	At Sea
Sat	02/11/13	Brisbane	8.00	17.00
Sun	03/11/13	At Sea
Mon	04/11/13	Sydney	7.00	15.30	FLY HOME

The excursions in Egypt & Jordan are looking a bit doubtful, but fingers are crossed that things may settle down in the next month (you know, wishing for world peace!).

The scene is set, the players are packed and ready, let the show commence!!