Fri 2/5/10 Mobbed by Roos We arrived in Melbourne while we were finishing up breakfast in the Lido. Our tour didn’t meet until 11 so we had an easy morning listening to the announcements for the Emergency Drill the ship was doing with the local emergency squads as we uploaded the previous days blogs. There were fire engines etc on the pier and at one point we were evacuated from the lounge. There were 2 buses for our tour and probably several for the earlier one as this was a sold out tour. It was called “In the Wild - Kangaroos and Koalas”. We were glad we had chosen the later tour since the weather was not great when arrived. Very foggy and rainy but by the time we left it was just a bit overcast ... read more

Wed 2/3/20 Bon Voyage Here’s our first post from the ship. We started the morning by repacking to get our bags outside the door by 7:30. Then headed to breakfast a French Baguette shop around the corner. I had a chocolate croissant and John had a Buffalo Milk Mozzarella Balsamic vinegar and prosciutto Baguette. Both were good and then we headed back to get our Shuttle ticket which was for the 2nd bus scheduled to leave about 11:30 for the ship. We did a quick trip to the Souvenir shop to get postcards etc. We headed down to the lobby about 10:30 and the line to check out was very long because those that just got off the ship were now checking into the hotel. Finally decided to fill out the Express Checkout so that saved ... read more

We arrived in Sydney at 7:30 about an hour earlier than scheduled this morning. The fliht was long but didn't seem as bad as expected but as usual I didn't sleep on the plane. John dosed off a bit but didn't sleep much either. They did feed us 3 times but it was airplane food. John thought his stuffed shells and tortalini was pretty good but the meatoaf I was not. John said he followed his uncle's advice to never have the beef on an airplane but pasta with tomatoes/cheese wouldn't work for me. Then we had turkey sandwiches and finally breakfast (omelet for John Pancakes for me) and both were definitely airline food. We actually got thru the immigration line pretty quickly and found our luggage and were lucky to get selcted for the express ... read more

Our last day of the cruise was spent at Half Moon Cay, HALs private island and one of my favorite beaches. When we were here last year we booked a cabana and enjoyed it so much booked one again this year. We had the purple one. So after breakfast (about 9:15) we headed down to the tender and over to the island. There was actually a line for checking in but it moved quickly and the shuttle for the cabanas showed up right away and dropped us off right by ours. Last year we had to walk to it and Lin had trouble getting thru the sand so the ride was much appreciated. The sun wasn’t out but it was warm (enough for me anyway)and we settled in. I took a quick dip in the beautiful ... read more

Today we were in St. Thomas. We’d originally planned to do some shopping (Lin’s plan not mine) and then maybe take a cab to Megan’s Bay. But we ended up just relaxing most of the morning and then headed over to the shops at the dock after lunch. I bought someone a Christmas present and Lin bought herself a ring and maybe a few other things. The ring had to be sized and they said it would be done by 4. We stopped at a bar for coke/tea and French fries. Then I headed back to the ship while she watched the iguana’s and waited for her ring. After the ship left port it was time for Bingo so I headed up there. Still didn’t win Bingo but did win the drawing (well sort of I ... read more