(Almost) Noon Sighting
30°49′11″ S 153°18′19″ E

Oooops, I forgot my sextant at home so I had to resort to my backup technologies – good old iPhone compass, GPS & Google Maps.

It’s just as well as I really have no clue about how to properly use a sextant.

The ship was at sea all day today so we had lots of time to explore some more.

There were some fun graphics painted on the exterior walls on the upper deck & many people were posing with them.

Tonight was a formal dinner evening so there was lots going on. We got dressed up for a “night on the town” ….

Our first stop was to see Scott Williams, an Australian comedian. He promotes himself as “the laugh doctor” & he was very funny.

He used a lot of graphics (like the one below) to point out that there can be humour just about anywhere & in any profession.

Maybe I could get a graphic like this for Santosha’s flybridge. I have a feeling that Catherine would exercise a veto on that idea.

Next on the agenda was to go to the ship’s main gathering area where the Cruise Director introduced the Captain & all of the executive members of the crew.

This was followed by the champagne waterfall. The area was packed with people so we took a pass on getting a glass of bubbly & headed for the dining room – time to eat – again!

I wonder if one of these towers has ever fell over. What a mess that would be! 🙀

After dinner we went to the main theater to see the special show “Encore” put on by the cruise ship troupe featuring musical theatre songs, opera arias, dance plus an amazing violinist. It was really good – probably the best one we have seen on any cruise we’ve taken.

After such a busy day we were ready for bed. The ship docks in Brisbane early in the morning.

Tonight we pass through a time zone so we will set our clocks back 1 hour. That means we will have to wait an extra hour before the breakfast buffet opens. I hope I can last that long.

Cheers!

Sydney Cruise Terminal
33°51′28″ S 151°12′37″ E

We were up early this morning to pack our bags & check out of the hotel (Novotel Darling Square).

The past 5 days have just flown by. We saw a lot of Sydney but we also just scratched the surface of what the city has to offer. I’d love to come back & spend a month exploring more of it!

A shuttle bus took us to the cruise terminal which is located in between the Harbour Bridge & the Opera House. We arrived at the very beginning of check-in time & were able to get on board right away. It was the fastest boarding we’ve ever had.

Photo below copied from the internet: The Majestic Princess – our home for the next 10 days while we cruise from Sydney along Australia’s east coast up to the northern edge of the Great Barrier Reef.

We thought the ship was mostly empty until we arrived at the main dining area – it was packed & it looks like it will stay that way until we disembark back in Sydney 10 days from now 🙀. Better sharpen my elbows.

We joined the buffet line & picked up a light lunch. Thankfully the ship’s dining areas are very efficient at handling large crowds.

After lunch we explored the rest of the ship & found some of the quiet & out of the way spots where there are far less people around you.

The trick is to get to them early in the day & stay parked. As soon as you get up someone else is there to take your place.

Our luggage was delivered to our cabin early in the afternoon so we unpacked everything & then had a short rest while enjoying the fantastic view from the port side of the ship. We could get very used to this!

We spent more time getting oriented to the ship and wandered around like deer in the headlights. Fortunately the staff are used to this behavior and are very helpful in directing lost souls. They are from all over the world – Eastern Europe, Australasia and the cruise director is from Vancouver.

We cast off at 6:45pm & the ship’s horn played a few notes from the musical theme for “The Love Boat” TV show. It was pretty loud, but fun to hear. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough to record it. Hopefully the Captain will play it again when we leave our next port (Brisbane). I’ll have a chat with him about that tomorrow.

The ship’s departure from Sydney was very exciting, with spectacular views all around just as the sun was starting to set.

We stayed on the top deck for as long as we could before having to go to the dining room for our appointed dinner hour at 7:45.

Can’t miss a meal on this voyage – you never know when there will be another chance to eat!

After dinner we went to the Princess Theater to see a performance by Australian solo singer Thomas Armstrong-Robley. He’s an aspiring younger version of Michael Buble & he gave a great show based on songs by Frank Sinatra & Frankie Valli. Photo below copied from the internet.

Time for bed! We will spend the entire day at sea tomorrow. That will give us lots of time to get to know our way around the ship & to meet our 3,560 fellow passengers.

The breakfast buffet opens at 5:30am!

Cheers!