Oct 26 - Sydney

 Oct 26 - Sydney, AU

It’s Saturday, October 26!  We’ve arrived!

It’s truly mixed emotions being here in Sydney!  We are so happy to be back and ready to set out on another cruise from this beautiful city, but also sad to think we will probably never return.  It was a beautiful morning as we entered the harbour.

This is the first time the Crown Princess has been here, so we had a wonderful welcome as we sailed into the harbour this morning.  The fire tugs were out with full spray, water skiers were holding flags and waving to us as they skied past, and another boat welcomed us with a puppet up in the air on a huge water spout!

After we were docked we went up for breakfast and when we came back Sumeth was ready to move us next door!  We left the ship about 10:30 to stroll around outside.  We walked to an area called ‘The Rocks’  where we found a pharmacy to pick up a couple of things.

We wandered around for an hour or so, taking in the beautiful scene as we put in time until we could reboard. 

We made our way back to the ship where hundreds of people were arriving and waiting to board.  Once the ship was ready to accept passengers, we whisked by the long snaking lines to security as we had an ‘In Transit’ card that allowed us to bypass the check in and go straight to security.

We are back onboard again, so thankful to be here, anxiously awaiting our departure on our long-awaited Around Australia cruise!

We’ll keep you posted - tomorrow (Sunday) on our sea day, and then from Hobart, Tasmania on Monday.

The Happy Wanderers

Sep 12

Sep 12 - Let the adventure begin!

4:45 AM!  Ring! Ring!  Time to get up and start the day!

We got the 5:30 AM shuttle over to Pearson and checked in with Special Assistance.  A few minutes later the wheelchairs arrived and we were whisked in the fast lane past the snaking lines for immigration to an officer who asked a couple of questions and then on through security.   Gotta love Special Assistance.

We grabbed a quick ‘breakfast’ and coffee and then the electric cart took us to our gate.  It was a good flight to Seattle with some minor turbulence south of Regina and Calgary.  Once again, thank goodness for Special Assistance!!  OMG!  The Seattle Airport is something else!  It’s kind of dimly lit with many corridors.  We arrived on one level, had to go to another level and then a train to get to baggage claim, then to yet another level to get a cab!!  The wheelchair attendants were great and got us to the cabs with a smile.

Weather in Seattle was sunny when we arrived! Our hotel, the Belltown Inn,  is in an old timey building at the intersection of two fairly busy streets.  Rooms are clean and not the same as every other hotel chain in the world!

 

Complete with a nice desk and many outlets and charging ports for our devices!

We have a little fridge, a microwave and a coffeemaker!

Their motto is ‘walk everywhere from here!’  Yeah, right!  It seems very popular judging by the number of people checking in. When we arrived, our rooms weren’t ready yet so we took a quick stroll around the corner to Rocco’s for lunch.  The pizza slices were huge!  

So we brought some back to the hotel for dinner!  

Later in the afternoon we ventured up to the rooftop garden!  What a lovely spot with comfortable seating and great views of the interesting architecture.

It will be a quiet night for these tired old dames! (well…. For Mary and this tired old dame!!)

We are so ready to head to the Celebrity Edge tomorrow! We are on the list for the 11:00 AM shuttle!  More tomorrow when we are settled in our ‘Infinite Balcony’ cabin!  This will be a new experience for both of us!

Night! Night!