Sunday, February 14

There's a lot of smoke around this morning and the Tas Fire Service has warned us that there will be three large water-bombers around to try and get the fires under control.  One of the hydrants for the local Rural Fire Brigade is on the corner of our property so we often see the tankers filling up when an alert is on.  At first I thought they were pinching the water from our supply but it seems it is a dedicated outlet.

I'm writing this while watching Insiders and the current screen view has the Sydney Harbour Bridge in it with an enormous ship in the background tied up at Circular Quay.  I assume it's the Anthem of the Seas preparing for its departure this afternoon.   I notice that Royal Caribbean is advertising cruises from $72 per day on its other ships.  The catch, of course, is that they have increased on-board costs.  On the Rhapsody last year, we were paying $12 US for a glass of ordinary wine.  That's about twice the price of Princess.  Many of the activities also came at a cost: Learn to Mix a martini $20, wine-tasting $40, and so on.  It's hard to find a bargain nowadays.

From time to time, we meet people on cruises who chase the bargains and are satisfied with the cheapest cabin and water with meals.  The bonus is that you can travel more and I suppose that's worth considering.