Destinations

My wife and I recently took a 15 day cruise on the Costa Allegra on Costa Cruise Lines. The cruise started in Hong Kong and visited Manila, Kota Kinabalu, Brunei, Singapore, Saigon, Danang, Sanya, and back to Hong Kong. We chose this line because of the expansive itinerary and wanted to celebrate our Christmas and New Year’s at sea. However, the experience left much to be desired.

Port of Call - I would not recommend Sanya, China. It is touted as a beach resort where most of the Chinese locals visit, but when we arrived it was clearly not well maintained and the sidewalks did not look clean.

The Ship - I was told the ship had no stabilizers. I don’t know if this is true or not, but the stretch from Hong Kong to Manila is supposed to be the worst. It was very calm seas and smooth going. All the other times we were at open sea - which was about 5 days - were bad. There was a stretch of about 70+ hours where my wife and I were taking Dramamine every 8 hours. I believe everyone was on Dramamine, so much demand in fact, that by about the 60th hour, the ship ran out of it. I was fortunate I had some extra pills.

For about 3 full days, the ship was moving all over the place. Lying in bed at night was no relief. The ship seemed to be moving in all directions, and, it became worst because the springs in the mattress made you bounce up and down like you were on a trampoline! There was one night at dinner where the ship was moving so bad that dishes, glasses, wine bottles were crashing and falling over.

The Menu - On paper, the menu looked excellent. In reality, it turned out to be rather poor quality and hit or miss on the taste. I had shrimp scampi once and lobster twice. All three times the food tasted like it was previously cooked/frozen/cooked mushy/or powdery. Even their pasta was not consistent in quality and taste.

The only saving grace on food was their pizza bar which served fresh pizza from 10pm to 1am. Costa is an Italian cruise line, so I’m glad they got this one right. In addition, their service from the dining and bar personnel was also to a high standard.

Sydney, the gateway to Australia, is a dynamic and vibrant city. There you will be find restaurants, shops and so many possible diversions that you will return many times and still find new opportunities for exploration.

The Australian Wine Center is located at Circular Quay. They also have a wine bar next door where you can enjoy tasting a fantastic selection of Australian Wine and Champagnes. The Sparkling Shiraz is a must to experience.
A good way to see Sydney is to take a Captain Cook Sydney Harbor seafood lunch buffet cruise. It may look like chaos on the wharf when you queue up for you cruise, but the wait is worth it. Instead of a free for all once boarding, they are quite organized. When you purchase your tickets, you are preassigned a table for the number in your party. The tables are arranged so that all dinners are able to have a good view of the harbor.

To see Sydney by night, dine at the Sydney Tower Restaurant. The restaurant revolves around the tower so you can see all of Sydney by night. The view is spectacular and you can see out miles on a clear night.

As Australia is well known for its opals, you would be quite correct in assuming that you will find many shops with exquisite opals available to adorn yourself or your loved ones. The National Opal Collection has exhibits regarding the creation of opals, and the various kinds of opals. There is a lovely pair of black opal earrings set in gold there that I will just have to go back and visit.

In addition to the many walking tours, bridge climbs, and Opera House tours, there are lots of options for day tours in the area surrounding Sydney. Day trips are available to the Hunter Valley wine district, the World Heritage Blue Mountains and many other destinations.