(8) Back on Board: My Second Contract Cruising Down Under

My second contract on board Down Under

I had two months of vacation and it was nice to spend time with the family at home. Now it is time to go back to the ship and this time I will join her in Auckland New Zealand. It means I had to travel 30 hours to arrive there. My flight schedule was Amsterdam-Washington, Washington-Los Angeles and Los Angeles-Auckland what was a 13 hour flight. I arrived finally there and was completely exhausted. The last flight don't remember much, only that there were some guests in the plane next to me who were joining the Legend also in Auckland the next day.

Arriving in Auckland

I remember checking in at the hotel in the center of Auckland and decided after dropping my luggage and shower, to go for a walk and discover this beautiful city on the other side of the world. The ship was already in port, because it was the last day of the cruise and tomorrow it is embarkation day and I will join her.

During my walk soon enough I ran into some crewmembers and met my Cruise Staff collegues. I was so ready to go back onboard, this time I knew what it was like. You go onboard on the crew gangway, make your way to the crew office, a kind of check in and get your keys to your cabin. Go to the Cruise Staff office and meet your fellow Cruise Staff or Assistent Cruise Director. Find your cabin and upack and get a work schedule. This time I was sharing my cabin with my Cruise Staff collegue Isabelle.

The Legend was going Down Under: making nice long cruises from Auckland to Sydney and back and visited some beautiful ports: Tauranga, Napier, Christchurch, Dunedin, inside passage Dusky-,Doubtful- and Milford Sound, Hobart and Melbourne. In Auckland and Sydney the guests stayed onboard one extra day, meaning the crew had multiple days in those ports. I was super excited and felt really lucky, because I have never been so far from home and had a chance to see the all of those beautiful places on the other side of the world. Will give you tips of what to see in those ports from my experience.

Ports of call

Tauranga was a tiny little town with basically one main street called "The Strand" it was a lovely surfers place. The ship docked near Mount Maunganui and it was a short ride to get to town. This place is also very famous for the hotsprings almost everybody was going there, a must do in this place. Here we took always a good coffee at the mainstreet and eat some lunch around here and some shopping. One time we decided with some Shore Excursion collegues to go for a Skydive. We finished gangway duties and went with our group to Tauranga Skydive centre. Afcourse super nervous and never thought we would do it, but we did it anyway. See this amazing picture of me, what a memory we made there and during the actual skydive you could see the ship. Ones in a lifetime!

Napier famous for it's wineries, we managed to go with some Cruise Staff to one of the wineries and enjoy the wines from Marlboroug and and local cheeses and the views. On time after departing Napier we had to experience really rough seas, never seen this before. Nobody was around the ship anymore, guests were seasick and staying in the cabin. While the Cruise Staff had a diner planned at the Windjammer Buffet on deck 9 that night. Literally the plates were flying and you had to hold yourself on the railing where normally you put the trays on at the buffet. Walking was almost impossible. Christchurch was more like a city, the weather was not that great usually. One time we went with some Shore excursion colleagues to the Orana Wildlife park and here you could meet really close with some animals. I was a tour leader one time on a tour by Tranzalpine train to Arthurs pass in the Southern Alps and here you had breathtaking views. The movie of Lord of the Rings was recorded here.

In Dunedin I was able to be a tour leader for the guests to do the Otago Peninsula tour and see the penguins and the Albatros. One time I was a tour leader for a tour to a sheep sheering farm, which was really cute. The inside passages where always seadays and you feel like your in Norway between the mountains and some spectacular views waterfalls. Hobart was in Tasmania, here we had always late night sailings, meaning there was time for a diner out every time ,we came into this port. Close to the ship was Ball & Chain the diners were fantastic here. Let me tell you one secret of working on a ship: all crew members try to eat ashore as much as they can because the food on the ship is ok, but not memorable. If you can eat local food and share these experiences with your fellow crewmembers, that was one of the main things the crew will do in port. In Hobart you had to see some wildlifd: kangaroos, Koala's and afcourse the Tasmanian Devil. We went to Richmond the petting zoo and you get to see all of the above mentioned animals. Petting a kangaroo in the yard, what an amazing experiences. I really recommend it to anyone cruising there. Melbourne is a lovely city second best place next to Sydney, there are beaches if you go to St. Kilda area. We use to go shopping and eat lunch in the center. We had late night sailings out of this port and had usually time for an early diner out. Here are the tours going to Philips Island about 1,5 hr drive to see the penguins living in their own habitat. I never made it to this place as I have seen them already in Dunedin. Next port is Sydney

Want to read more blogs? Check out:Cruise crew life: docked in Auckland and Sydney

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