Well, it’s not far down to paradise, at least it’s not for me…Late posting unavoidable when having too much fun…

This morning we attended the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet, and then each took off for our plans for the rest of the morning. But, of course, I got sidetracked with people stopping by to chat, and by noon when Tom returned, it was time to go to lunch.

Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We do most activities together. This morning, realizing how late it was getting after breakfast in the Epernay Dining Room, engaging in interesting and diverse conversations with other passengers, and afterward attending the Cruise Critic event, I suggested that I hang out in the cafe preparing and uploading today’s post.

The bars were all packed with passengers getting their drinks on embarkation day.

This month on March 15th, we’ll have been posting for a total of five years. Once we transitioned to posting daily on March 1, 2013, we’ve never missed a day except when we had no WiFi signal or a power outage. In most cases, we could get back online and post later in the day, the evening, or a day or two later, even posting on travel days from the airport.

Last night, the Solstice embarked from Sydney Harbour at 6:30 pm as soon as we were settled at our shared table for 10 in the dining room. We were so busy having fun. We hardly noticed we were headed out of the Sydney Harbour to the Tasman Sea. 

There are several of these unique benches on the upper decks.

It’s no wonder we love cruising. The commonalities that cruise passengers possess are astounding. At times, we meet people who’ve been traveling all of their lives, resulting in as many, if not more, experiences as we’ve had to date.

The flight from Hobart to Sydney was quick and easy, arriving in 90 minutes. The cab ride from the airport to the cruise terminal took less than 30 minutes. Our bags were whisked away (we always keep the carry-on bags with us), and we found no queue required to check-in for the cruise.

Packed ocean-front buildings on the Sydney Harbour.

From the time we arrived at the cruise terminal to be entering our cabin was only 45 minutes, one of the quicker check-ins we’ve had. We were pleasantly reminded of the value of the upgrade when we entered our cabin on the 10th deck. We purchased the upgraded Concierge category on this particular cruise since it was priced better than our usual veranda category. 

With this category, we received several perks, which we’ll share in a future post. But, for now, we love every moment. I’m eating small meals twice a day and my protein smoothie in place of breakfast.  

Visitors walking toward the Sydney Opera House.

This plan seems to help, although I’m not as free of symptoms as I’d expect after nine days of taking two types of antibiotics and the PPI. Maybe I’ll have “safari luck,” and this medical issue will be resolved by the end of the cruise. If not, more doctor appointments may be required during the 40 nights in Sydney. 

I was almost finished with the post when heading to the dining room for a light lunch. After getting wrapped up with more fabulous people, we only recently returned at 2:00 pm to our favorite spot in the cafe on this ship, and I was able to complete today’s post. Sorry for the delay. Please expect our posts to be available three or four later than usual. Once we’re on land after March 14th, we’ll return to our usual time.

Sydney Opera House. We’re thrilled to have reservations for an opera on March 18th, only weeks away.

We’ll have more to share as we cruise along, including many photos at ports of call we’d yet to visit.

Have a great day, “sailing” with us on this latest journey!