We're on our way

I’d tried last night and then again this morning, Friday, March 31, but still couldn’t get a blog to upload from the hotel.  CRAP!!!  My work isn’t done.  And I’m way behind.  We got the car returned, and I had a luggage malfunction when the handle broke on my small bag.  I was still dragging it along although it was a bit more difficult.  I’ll have to find a replacement somewhere.  But we got a shuttle to the port, and being that we’re now Platinum travelers, we got boarded pretty fast.  We figured we were probably about in the first 10 people to board.  Woo hoo.  Walked around and checked some things out, we had our first bite to eat at Horizon Court and then went topside to watch the sail off. 

How could I not take another photo of the Sydney Harbour Bridge?

We’d received an e-mail a few weeks prior asking if we’d want to upgrade from a balcony room to a mini-suite and decided to take the plunge.  It didn’t cost much, and we figured it would be nice for the first two weeks.  Oh yes, it was.

It seemed like we had about twice the space; we had a couch with decorative throw pillows, two flat-screen televisions, a larger balcony, nice robes to wear and even a tub so we could take a bath. I decided to check. 

Looking from the balcony toward the door to the hallway.  So much space is awesome.

 

It was nice to have a larger bathroom.  A tub was pure luxury.

A balcony room is approximately 279 square feet at the largest while a mini-suite with a balcony is at its largest about 323 square feet.  Believe it or not, those extra square feet make a huge difference.  We were loving this already.  And the price had been very right.  Now we were getting spoiled and probably wouldn’t want to just have balcony cabins anymore.  Smart of Princess.

The pilot and the crew are amazing.  They get the ship out of some pretty tight harbors.  This one was no easy task.  The ship was backed out from the dock, and then swung around.  We had spectacular views of both the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, as if I hadn’t taken enough photos of them already.  It all had to be done with lots of other traffic around, some waiting, some darting about the ship.  That could be a not-so-great prospect as we’d already watched one ferry try and try and try to get into his slip to offload and onload passengers.  It was interesting to watch as he just didn’t have quite enough power and made about five tries to finally slip in.

We seemed to come awfully close to the opera house and I had visions of knocking down the architectural wonder.

It was a great exit from the harbor, and our captain sounded the horn as we left, a deep bass that let everyone know we were the biggest, baddest ship around. 

And sailing out gave us the most wonderful view of the opera house.

And there's the rain.

But in the distance you could see rain clouds and they were moving our way.  The wind was increasing and finally the storm caught up with us.  It was a rough night, tossing back and forth.  I slept like a baby.

The seas are still rough this cloudy day of Saturday, April 1.  Hard rain.  Clouds.  We spent most of the day in the cabin, reading, napping.  We came out for coffee, a short walk on a rolling and pitching deck, and food.  Then back to the cabin.  It was a pleasant and relaxing day, wearing the bathrobes we got for being in a mini-suite and drinking water from wine glasses.

Nice and comfortable these robes are.

The day began gray again on Sunday, April 2, but cleared later.  Then fog moved in and out … and our ship sounded the fog horn.  It was a comforting sound, hearing the deep bass to let others know we were out there. 

We walked some, went to a Maori cultural lecture, a couple of port lectures.  We went to one of the shows and met a couple that have done 127 cruises.  And they’re not the ones on this ship that have done the most.  They’re second best.  Wow.  I don’t expect to ever get there.

Back at the cabin, the ship continued to go in and out of fog, and the fog horn continued on and off.  It’s still comforting to hear.  And I’m still sleeping like a baby being rocked to sleep in its cradle.