Australia & Asia Adventure
So of course we’re already back from this adventure but I’m going to try and do the blog as best I can after the fact. Using the ship’s extremely slow and very expensive internet kept me away from the computer except for the most important business matters. I also admit I enjoyed laying on my lounge chair sipping the drink of the day and generally doing nothing while on the cruise. So much to report so I’m going to do it in segments and here is the first installment written while on the plane on the way to Sydney.
Entry 1 March 13, 2015 6:10 AM Australia Time
We’re off to a bumpy start after having our short one hour flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles delayed then finally canceled causing us to miss our international connection to Sydney. After a three hour delay Delta did get us to LA and rescheduled us on Qantas Airlines but the connection was so tight they had to escort us through security all the way to the gate in order for us to make the flight on time. Whew! As they say in Aussie lingo, “No Worries Mate” and we’re now just a couple of hours out from Sydney and excited for our first visit down under and our 20 day cruise adventure of Australia and Asia.
Side note: Qantas seats actually recline more than the two inch industry standard and the flight has been very comfortable. Actually slept the first five hours or so and I think we’ll feel relatively refreshed when we arrive in Sydney. Not what we expected at all after a thirteen hour flight.
Side note 2: We passed the International Date Line and totally skipped Thursday so after leaving Las Vegas on Wednesday night we’ll arrive in Sydney on Friday morning at about 8:30 am. That’s kind of weird to think about, huh?
Entry 2
Before even getting off the plane we were paged and asked to contact the Qantas ground staff as soon as got off the aircraft. Of course after all the delays and cancellations mentioned above our luggage did not make it to Sydney and their best guess was that one piece of of our luggage was on a delta flight and the other on another Qantas flight both scheduled for arrival the next day. Of course our cruise was leaving the next day and we were now just a little concerned. We were given an emergency kit consisting of one size fits all tee shirts, shorts and basic toiletries, a prepaid credit card for $240 Australian, a pat on the back and the now all too familiar “no worries mate” and sent on our way. As we had a reservation for the Sydney Tower Restaurant that evening we checked into the Sydney Marriot Harbor then promptly set about the task of purchasing something to wear to dinner.
Unfortunately we learned quickly that clothing in Sydney is very expensive and $240 AUD only got me a polo shirt, 2 pairs of underwear, a pack of socks and a dress for Sue but that was all we really needed and our evening at the Sydney Tower turned out to be spectacular even if we were a little under-dressed. We didn’t really get to see much of Sydney other than the downtown shopping district but what we did see was clean, safe and comfortable. We spent the next morning on the phone with Qantas and the hotel let us extend our stay until our luggage finally arrived at about 1:00 PM. Whew! After a quick cab ride to the cruise terminal we were happy to see the beautiful Ocean Princess waiting for us and eager to start our 20 day cruise of the eastern Australia coastline and southeast Asia.
VIVERE TRAVEL 