With the events taking place in the world, fuel prices have sky-rocketed and are becoming scarce. At least in Asia and Australia, fuel is getting hard to find. Australia imposed a restriction on providing fuel to "foreign" vessels. They're giving priority to domestic ships, which caused the Odyssey to re-evaluate our travel plans. Since fuel wasn't going to be available in Darwin, we didn't have enough fuel to go from Melbourne to Adelaide, Fremantle, Broome, Darwin, and on to Indonesia. Australia is a big country to sail around. Villa Vie has had to constantly access the various variables and make new plans. They had to remove Broome and Darwin from our itinerary, partly because of the storms and partly due to the fuel shortage. In place, they added an extra day in port in Adelaide. We then slowly went to Fremantle (outside of Perth) and added an extra day there also. Luckily, they got confirmed refueling and provisioning in Fremantle. From Fremantle, the Odyssey would go to Dili in Indonesia.
While these plans are regrettable, I see how they are necessary. But this also caused Connie and I to change some of our flight plans. Connie was originally going to fly back to Los Angeles on April 20th from Darwin. With Darwin being removed from the itinerary and the ship going to Dili in Timor Leste, we found a flight for Connie to fly from Dili to Darwin on April 20th. This allowed us to keep her original flights, just adding an extra short hop from Dili. All looked good, until ...
The issues in the Strait of Hormuz are creating havoc with many cruise lines and itineraries. Unlike traditional cruising, we don't have to stick by a set schedule or timeline. We're sailing forever and can adjust plans according to the situation. Fuel prices for the ship have gone up over 400% in just a couple weeks. Plans also had to be adjusted, trying to insure we'll be able to even "get" fuel. Since we're now "chasing fuel", the itinerary had to be slightly changed again. This latest change has us going from Fremantle, Australia to the Port of Benoa in Bali, Indonesia.
This required a major change on Connie's flight plans. We had to cancel her flight from Dili and completely change her flight from Darwin. She's now scheduled to return from Bali to Hong Kong, then on to Los Angeles on April 13th (a week earlier that the original plan). Since we were changing an existing international flight with American Airlines, we got flight credit. This meant she still needed to fly back using American Airlines (to use the credit). Connie's real upset at this, since she now has to fly business class. She's actually happy about this, but our checkbook isn't. We feel pretty confident that this plan will stick.
Travel Log for March 25th to March 31st, 2026
After leaving Melbourne, the Odyssey sailed slowly to Adelaide. We arrived in Adelaide the morning of March 25th. The port wasn't in Adelaide, but the city train station was right by the port. We took the train into the central business district to walk around. Since this part of Australia is known for their Opals, we went to an Opal store that had a free museum on Opals. Connie enjoyed learning about the various types of Opals. We walked around the shopping area enjoying a chance to stretch our legs on land. I also bought an Australian Bush Hat. It may be a tourist thing, but I've always liked this style of hat.
The next day, we took the train again back to the central business district to visit the "City Market". This was a large indoor market full of booths selling vegetables, meat, cheese, wines etc. It was hard passing up many of the stalls, since we can't cook our own food. But that didn't stop me from getting some good cheeses to bring back to our cabin. We also had lunch in the market. I had to have Fish & Chips in Australia while Connie enjoyed a bucket of Mussels.
The next six days were "sea days" as we slowly made our way Northwest to the town of Fremantle. Fremantle is where the port is located for neighboring Perth. I keep busy on sea days working on the computer, playing video games, soaking in the hot tub, and Connie is working on an embroidery project. The ship also has tons of activities going on. We attended a few presentations and the monthly awards ceremony for the crew. Our crew is fantastic and very friendly. The food servers and bartenders know us. I just walk up to a bar, and the bar tender automatically knows what my drink is. Usually, I'm just getting a glass of Coke Zero, which is free to residents. I have my own bottle of rum in our room, even though it's only $3 for a rum and coke drink.
Travel Log for April 1st to April 8th, 2026
We arrived in Fremantle on April 4th. The ship was going to be here for 3 days. After arrival, Connie and I walked to the nearby shopping stores. We had lunch at a wonderful Mexican restaurant. Going to a grocery store, we stocked back up on snacks and a replacement bottle of rum. It's been sort of strange we visit grocery stores and just purchase snacks. Groceries aren't needed.
The food on board has been good. Like many other people, we bought a few of our own spices that we enjoy. I also like hot chocolate in the morning, which the ship doesn't have. I just bring my own canned powder to the dining room. The ship also doesn't have pickle relish for hot dogs. No problem, we bring our own!
Easter was on April 5th, our second day in Fremantle. The ship had baskets of Easter eggs and chocolates in the dining and guest areas. The residents on board put on a small production of the Passion Play. Connie and I will remember this day for this is the day we both went to prison!
Here's a video of the Passion Play Villa Vie Odyssey Easter 2026 (SD 480p)
We took an Uber to the Fremantle Prison. This prison operated from 1850 until 1991. Many people know that the United Kingdom sent many convicts to Australia in the mid 1800's This is one of those convict prisons. We visited the Port Arthur Historic Site on Tasmania back in 2004. We enjoyed that visit of a convict prison so much that we wanted to see another one in Australia. We took two tours of the prison, back-to-back.
The first tour was of the prison from the 1850's to the end of the convict era in 1886. We learned why almost 10,000 men were transported from Great Britain and Ireland, how they built their own prison and helped shape the future of Western Australia. It was interesting to learn of about their treatment, their living conditions, and their attempted escapes. After this 75-minute tour, we started the next tour to explore Fremantle Prison's history as a maximum-security prison from 1887 to 1991. Again, it was interesting to see how the treatment and living conditions of the prisoner's changed over time. 44 prisoners were executed by hanging here during this time.
After the tour's it was back to the stores. This time for a new pair of sandals for Larry and for some last-minute items. We're leaving Australia tomorrow morning, so I wanted to spend the last of our Australian cash. We did good. We left with less than $2 in Aussie coins.
Currently, we're making a 6-day voyage to reach the Port of Benoa, Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia. We already have a day-long tour planned for Bali. But that's for the next Blog, in about 2-weeks.
Happy and Safe Travels!
