Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Because we were not arriving at the port of Sydney until 11:00, the ship offered a variety of things to do this morning. Most people were planning to go to the “Ask the Captain” seminar in the World Stage. They are interesting presentations but I was more interested in going to the Future Cruise Consultant’s presentation on … wait for it … future cruises.
Once I watched her presentation, I went down to her desk to sign up for a consultation for that afternoon.
When I went back to the cabin, I saw a sign in the hallway indicating the bow was open. I had heard no announcement about it, but I got my camera and headed out.
The Captain doesn’t open the bow often. However, today was a beautiful day and it would be nice to see Sydney come into view. I was shocked when I went out and realized I was the only person out there. I maintained that status for about 15 minutes when others started to arrive. I know there must not have been any loudspeaker announcement because other times (especially in the Panama Canal) the bow is very crowded if it gets opened.
Once I had finished taking photos, I went inside and found Chuck at the Sea View area and we got a Lido lunch. We let the big rush of people disembark before we made our way off the ship.
The last time we were in Sydney our walk was interrupted by a big protest march by some union workers.
Today we finished that walk in the historic district. We spent about an hour walking the few blocks and admiring the architecture and yard art.
When we came back to the ship, Chuck decided he would like to try the hot tubs and pool. I needed to get to my appointment with the Future Cruise Consultant. I was a little early but the couple in front of me finished up and she called me next. We talked for a while, and I ended up booking two cruises for 2026. Yay!
Wasn’t long before it was time to get ready for our Canaletto dinner. We both stuck to our favorites – Chuck with the meatball appetizer and ossobuco for the main course and me with tiger shrimp appetizer and rack of lamb. We split some gelato for dessert. As always, we enjoyed our meal there.
By the time we finished the meal, we had sailed away from Sydney and the Casino was opened. Some people are so ready for it to open; they will go sit in front of their favorite machine 30 minutes before just to be sure no one else gets it. We’ve not done that, but we might if we ever won really big on one of the machines.
We went to the 9:00 show of the comedian John Wing. We both thought he had a very funny show. I described it to people as PG.
Once it was over, I called it a night and Chuck went back to the Casino to play some cards.
Tomorrow – Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
