Sydney, Australia – Sunday, 10/28/18
We woke up around 7am without an alarm! Our bodies already adjusting to life on this
side of the dateline. It was dark and drizzly
outside with a good, stiff breeze. We took
our time this morning – leisurely watching Daffy Duck Cartoons and sipping our coffee/tea
in bed while we lazed about like pampered tourists. We took our time getting ready and got our checkout
time moved to 1pm and arranged for an Uber to the cruise port as we realized
that our ship will NOT be docked where we walked yesterday – but on the OTHER
side of the harbor about 50 minutes away – so we won’t be able to walk it. the nice lady at the hotel desk got us a
fixed price taxi for $21 AD from the front door of the hotel to the front door
of the port- NO schlepping for miles pulling 2 suitcases and sweating on dying
feet. Whew! So then, a we were all set for later, we set
out to find our breakfast place, called Social Brew – that we had passed the night
before. We found it easily and found the
perfect seat outside on the sidewalk. I had
something called a “double-double” which was a sandwich made with black forest
ham and cheese on sourdough with Dijon and Steve had a sandwich with a fried
egg and bacon with tomato jam and I got a latte with a pretty feathered pattern
on top! Just like I’ve ALWAYS
wanted!! It was perfect! After getting our tummies full, we came back to
our hotel to pack up and wait for our 1pm trip to the cruise port. We packed, read, watched TV, wrote, and had
more coffee/soda.
The taxi was right on time and had us to the port, dropped off at the front
door. Our luggage was checked in right
on the sidewalk and we walked through registration and security and were on the
ship in less than 10 minutes flat! Easiest
embarkation we’ve ever had! Our cabin was ready too, so we dropped off our
carryons and went up to Deck 14 for lunch.
Ever mindful of fitting into my formal dress, I had salad and fish
only. This dang dress better fit. Surely all this walking burned some calories
too! We explored the ship after lunch –
this ship has amuch different floor plan that any of the other Princess ships
we’ve been on- we will have a learning curve.
Things seem kind of shipped up as far as locations, but the ship is very
beautiful and clean and was refurbished just last year. We walked all over the top decks and photographed
Sydney from just about every imaginable angle.
It really is a spectacular city!
We got our luggage right way and even had time to unpack
before the muster drill. We were assigned
to Muster Station C in the Vista lounge and not having to take the Life Vests
is SOOO much better! We went back up tot
eh top decks to watch us sail away – passing under the giant historical bridge
with barely enough clearance~! I had to
hold my breath because it looked like we would hit it for sure! We sailed past the Opera House and marinas
full of yachts and sailboats; we sailed
past light houses and rocky cliffs until we hit the open sea! And BOY, did we start rocking and rolling
right way. We ended up taking our Dramamine
immediately and we had to hold onto the hand rails in the hallways as we stumbled
around like drunken sailors.
We went down to our cabin to change for dinner and found our
dining room. We are assigned to table
#91 and there are at least 3 other couples (and one set of empty chairs) and they are all
from Australia. We are the odd ones out,
being from the US. We are the youngest
at the table as well. Our waitress is
funny and sunny and sings to us! Her
name is Philippina from the Philippines and our assistant waiter is Ecker from
Indonesia. We had a lovely dinner and
tea and afterwards , Steve ironed a couple of his shirts in the laundry and we
went to the internet café and had our devices set up. My user name is Amanda and my password is
123456. These were assigned to me. How imaginative. We decided to go to the library and
read/write because our cabin steward had not turned down our room yet . looking out the window, I can see the whitecap
waves and we are rocking and rolling. I will sleep well tonight being rocked to
sleep. In the distance, I can see the
Royal Caribbean Ship keeping pace – but through the sea mist and darkness, the
other ship looks ghostly and spooky all light up and sparkling across the
water. Fitting, I suppose, since it’s almost Halloween.
Sitting here in the library, I hear loud snoring and looked
over beside me – poor Steve was zonked out.
Reading put him right to sleep. Hopefully
our room will be ready soon and we can head to bed. We have to set our clocks ahead by 1 hour
tonight. Tomorrow will be a sea day – I am
actually looking forward to a lazy day! Sweet dreams being rocked by the
waves!
Crossing “The Big Ditch” – Monday, 10/29/18 (Sea Day)
Our bed was soft as a cloud and so comfortable! We both slept well, awakened occasionally by
a giant rocking wave and the contents of our closet shifting back and forth as
we rocked along through the night. This is
likely the deepest water we’ve ever sailed – over what is called “The big Ditch”
between Australia and New Zealand. Much more “motion of the ocean” than we are
used to, for sure! We are thankful for our Dramamine. We woke up around 4am and talked for a while,
then dozed off and on until our 7am wakeup call. We got ready for our breakfast in the dining
room where we were seated with a sweet couple from Melbourne who had done this
cruise 10 times. They shared their
favorite places to go/see and sights not to miss. If I remember half of it, I will
be lucky! We lingered over coffee/tea,
swapping travel stories. It was a lovely
breakfast. Then we browsed in the ships on board in the atrium and went and got
our books and found comfy deck chairs along the promenade on Deck 7 and enjoyed
the fresh air and tried to focus on the horizon as the ship continues to rock
and reel. I noticed that sea-sickness
bags are strategically being placed at every stair case now. Back at our room, they decorated our door
with a congratulations poster for Steve’s Graduation celebration! 😊 I
took his photo standing by it, proudly grinning! He worked very hard for his
degree and his graduation gift. And thankfully
he allows me to tag along for the ride. We
browsed the Princess Patter and decided to attend the destination talk for Port
Chalmers and Steve decided he may join the pop choir this afternoon. I’m considering an art class for box making,
but I’m not quite sure. I will play it
by ear. Tonight is the formal night and I
will wear my dress! Then much of the pressure will be off and I can enjoy the
rest of the trip with dessert and tea in the afternoons. We plan to attend the champagne waterfall
patty and watch the show “Star Dust” in the Princess theater tonight! Such grand
plans later – but for now! A short nap
in the sunshine!
What is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and
men? Even though our weather is
beautiful, the waves and ocean motion have been relentless and sea-sickness +
jet-lag = YUCKY YUCK. We both got sea
sick before dinner – so we were sweaty and nauseous putting on our fancy
duds. Our pictures are sad because we
are both pale and diaphoretic and fake-smiling for the pictures. We ordered ginger ale before dinner, which helped
me, but not poor Steve. It was a
difficult dinner. No show for us tonight.
I snagged a glass of champagne at the Captain’s welcome party on our way
back to our cabin where we got out of our party clothes and into bed to try to
be flat and still and keep the nausea at bay.
Sea Sickness is miserable. And yet
– we are still rocking along like a hobby-horse. A hobby horse hopped up on crystal meth! Surely we will hit calmer water soon! This is crazy enough!
Second Sea Day – Tuesday 10/30/18 – still crossing the Ditch
What a night on the rough sea. We had to put our wine bottles in drawers and
separate the glasses in different drawers to keep them from banging into each
other and breaking. Poor steve was up and down all night with what we think was
a kidney stone? Sharp and severe pain
and urinary urgency in addition to sea sickness. From the constant rolling of the
ship. Several times during the night we
felt the ship going up and then quickly falling back down – taking our stomachs
along for the ride. We are exhausted this
morning, feeling like we rode a runaway rollercoaster all night. Add in my hot flashes and you have a sweaty, nauseated
mess. Sometime around 4am, we both
managed to sleep and the wake-up call at 7am jarred us from exhausted
slumber. Faces washed, teeth brushed,
contacts in, I feel 100% better and at least Steve’s acute pain was gone – but he
still has a scary shade of gray to his skin as we stumbled along the corridors
to get breakfast in the dining room. We were
seated with a couple from Oklahoma and another couple from Australia. We had
lovely conversation and Steve’s color started to return after his second cup of
tea. We both opted for a light breakfast
of fresh fruit and muesli with tea. After
breakfast, we found window-front chairs with foot rests in the library looking
out over the boiling, roiling sea waves.
It’s partly sunny and 60 degrees, but the wind is whipping as we sail
along. I’m praying for calmer seas the closer
we get to land. We spent our day between
meals lounging, reading, dozing, watching TV, and chatting. A perfect lazy sea day. we got dressed for dinner and were feeling
some better, even though walking in a straight line continues to be impossible.
And we swagger back and forth like drunk sailers on holiday but we haven’t had
a drop to drink- don’t dare risk even a
sip of wine- we’ve been too miserable sick and afraid to risk it. before dinner tonight we have the Elite and
Platinum passenger lounge for h’ Ordures and we stayed for only a few minutes
and a few bites of cheese and crackers. Then we went to have dinner and we were
able to enjoy it w/o feeling too sick. After
dinner, we decided we felt okay to catch a show tonight – the Harvey and
Pearson Comedy Duo – it was decided LAME.
We were still n bed by 8:30pm and too sleepy to stay awake and read
despite all our naps tonight. Maybe tomorrow
we will be more awake and less sick. Early
wake up for Fjord sailing tomorrow morning!
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