December 27, 2025 Kangaroo Island, Australia a no go
Today was supposed to be a visit to Kangaroo Island from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kangaroo Island is located less than 100 nautical miles from Adelaide by the Backstairs Passage, which separates Kangaroo Island from the Fleurieu Peninsula on the mainland.
Around 6:30 a.m. the captain anchored the ship. Conditions were three metre high waves, wind of ESE 26 kph, temperature 16°C, humidity 60%, under a clear sky. We could see the village of Penneshaw. This port requires the tender boats to ferry people about ten minutes to the pier. We had an excursion booked to travel to another town, Kingscote, on Nepean Bay then see Reeves Point where Europeans first settled in South Australia in 1802.
Almost half the island remains bushland or national park, sheltering koalas, echidnas and a million or so tammar wallabies.
We had breakfast on Deck 9 since the dining room didn’t open until 7:30 and we needed to get our excursion stickers by 7 a.m. Passengers with early tours filled the World Stage audience seats waiting for their sticker number to be called. Shortly after 7 a.m., the captain announced that the conditions did not look good for tendering, but a tender with staff would be sent to Penneshaw to confirm whether conditions were safe for tendering. He would report again at 8 a.m., so we could stay in the theatre or come back later.
Just before 8 a.m., the captain announced that it was not safe to run a tender operation due to the tunnelling effect of the wind and that the day at Kangaroo Island was cancelled. People with ship tours would have the cost of their tour credited to their accounts automatically.
By 9 a.m. as we walked on the Promenade Deck on deck 3, the ship had lifted her anchor and we were heading east through Backstairs Passage. Later we passed the Sponge Gardens Sanctuary Zone and The Pages group of small islands.
A supplementary daily program was delivered to the staterooms and the ship’s app was updated with added activities including Line Dance at 11 a.m. in the Rolling Stone Lounge. There were more than 50 people there to line dance for half an hour. We danced Electric Slide with Robbie, the cruise director/instructor, and a dozen others before the lesson began. The final line dance taught was Jerusalema which we had learned in November.
The captain again repeated that due to the safety concerns he had cancelled today at Kangaroo Island during his noon announcement. It was still blowing at 35 knots (66 kpm). It was 666 nautical miles to Hobart, Tasmania. For tomorrow’s scheduled sea day to Hobart the captain is expecting calmer seas than the voyage from Burnie to Adelaide. He has arranged with the Hobart harbour authorities to arrive two hours earlier, now 8 a.m., than previously scheduled on Monday. There will be plenty of time in Hobart - until 10:30 p.m. since it is only a short voyage to Port Arthur on Tuesday.
The dining room was opened for lunch. We sat with Roz and Albert from the Australian state of New South Wales. They live near the Blue Mountains. A second couple were shown to the table with us, but they wanted a table closer to the windows, so there were only four people instead of six at the table. The arranging of shared tables does not always provide a full table of 6 or 8, in our experience this cruise. After lunch we went to the Library Café for fancy coffees and played a couple of games of Five Crowns.
At 3 p.m. in the World Stage, the presentation was titled “Tech for Travellers: iOS Tips”. Bernie spoke about Notifications and how to see them on Apple and Android phones. He emphasized that if you have an iPhone with your photos on the Apple cloud, you should make sure that the photos are saved somewhere else as well, because once deleted from the iPhone they are also deleted on the Apple cloud, the photos cannot be retrieved.
After Happy Hour in the Billboard Onboard Lounge we joined Elizabeth and Colin in the dining room for a Dutch Dinner theme. The four of us were each given a complimentary glass of sparkling wine to enjoy with our dinner. Dutch entrées were Bami Goreng - Indonesian stir-fried noodles, chicken and shrimp sate peanut sauce, krupuk shrimp crackers; or Hodge Podge Klapstuk - braised beed brisket, carrots, potatoes, onions, butter gravy. Also on the menu was Beef Tenderloin with mushrooms, chateau potatoes and sautéed vegetables or Pan Fried Dover Sole lemon butter, parsley potatoes, asparagus and onions. Desserts were Boschebol, a whipped cream filled pastry or Tompouce, a puff pastry, vanilla custard and royal icing or Apple Pie.
This evening is Orange Party, where passengers are encouraged to wear orange clothing. Orange is the colour of the Dutch Royalty House of Orange.
The show tonight was the return of pianist Joel Bowerman, accompanied by the ship’s band. He played a different selection of familiar classical and show tunes.
The Rolling Stone Lounge was packed for the kick-off of the Orange Dance Party at 9 p.m. The ship’s dancers and singers performed a 15 minute set, followed by dancing to the Rolling Stone house band. The servers were all wearing orange wigs of varying lengths as they squeezed through the throng carrying mini sausage rolls and other finger food. The people doing the Orange Night bar crawl were given orange cocktails as they congaed out of the Lounge to the next bar. The dance floor remained crowded with party goers. The official dance party ended with 15 minutes of line dancing led by Robbie, the cruise director. People could stay and dance to recorded music and a DJ.
Overnight, clocks are to be advanced 30 minutes to get back to Tasmania/New South Wales time.
Total steps. 11,936
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