Day 1 Embarkation Day.

Excitement or nerves, not sure which has been keeping me awake the last few nights.  Was it the actual cruise or pleasing 200 cruise critic members at the first meet and greet.

The time between 3.30 am and 7 am ticked by.  After checking the Sydney Ports Vessel movements, the temptation to head down to the water’s edge to watch the Sun Princess sail in at 4.45 was just not an option….

So instead we headed down at 8 am to Pyrmont Point park where we couldn’t believe how close the ship we were… We could have swum across, but I don’t think the bags would float!!

So just like everyone else we caught a taxi to White Bay…  We counted the bags off as we loaded them into the Cab. Made ourselves comfortable and off we went.  Just as we drove out the driveway Garry turns to me and says “Have you got my camera”.  Round the block we went back into the drive way and out jumped Garry.  Our good hearted taxi driver must of felt sorry for us and paused his meter.  Now those of you who cruised with us in 2014 may have remembered that Garry nearly left his camera behind that time too ….. it was déjà vu

After depositing all the luggage with porters, we along with our two cases of wine headed into the terminal and straight into the check-in lines.

Boarding times were staggered, but as the queue was non-existent they allowed us through…  Except for the check-in agent adamant that we would not be able to debark in Vladivostok for we had no visa (amateur’s) the rest went smoothly.

Now to all my fellow co-workers, you know at debark that there is always that one person who breaks their bottle of alcohol… how embarrassing, that was us at embark.  We zigged zagged around those dreaded bollards and  as the edge of one of the boxes clipped one it dislodged the strap and like humpty dumpty the box went tumbling down. The fruity aroma of our sauvignon blanc  wafted through the terminal and we prayed that only one bottle broke, but we were too scared to check inside the box.  Buckets, mops and red faces were the order of the day and with a giggle from our immigration officer she commented “what a waste, but it smells nice”

Apart from us, the Apass photo’s was causing a delay in embarkation. To keep the Koreans happy all photos were taken in front of a white screen with rules that made getting our passport photo’s easy.

Any way it was a great opportunity to get to know the people in line.  This caused a knock on effect as the terminal got busier and the queue got longer and  some didn’t board till after muster.

Sail away from Sydney was as magical as it always is.  Apart from the melodic sounds of the sail away party, the ship glided out from the pier and the silence was only broken when we neared the harbour bridge and the Captain sounded the horn not once, not twice but as with tradition, three times.

And so it is “Sea La Vie” from the beautiful Sun Princess.