Vangrizz

After stopping at my hotel to retrieve my good camera from the safe I walked over to the Sydney Opera House for my 10am tour.

With such an iconic landmark within walking distance I had to check it out even though I am not an opera person.  
I booked the tour on their website and chose an earlier time thinking it might not be as hot at 10am.   It was pretty hot at 10am.
Next to the water and down one level are some bars and restaurants available to the public.

After picking up my ticket at the welcome center we met our guide who gave out wireless headphones so we could listen to his commentary.  

Everything about the Opera House is striking in its form.  These long concrete beams are massive and supported internally by a cable system that wraps around underground and back up to form a loop.  The use of lighting creates an artistic effect that is more than just concrete holding stuff up.

The Opera House contains a number of venues that can be utilized depending on the nature of the performance and size of the audience.  We were led into one of the theaters where photography is not permitted so no pictures.  There a video was played that explained the history and construction of Opera House.  Our guide answered some questions and we moved on.
There is a story involving the architect Jørn Utzon from Denmark.  That's best explored on your own but they had a room dedicated to his memory.  

Despite the hard concrete surfaces this room is acoustically tuned to minimize reverb and is ideal for small live performances where sound quality is important.

The views aren't bad either.


While this looks like a painting it is a woolen wall hanging that is very heavy and one of the primary features that deadens the reverb so it's highly functional as well as decorative.  

Miami has never looked this bad!?. I have more pictures and some thoughts to share. I might do some at the airport but will post more when I’m home. Breakfast in CK and then off to deal with Super Bowl Sunday in Miami!

Those are for everyone at beach club. The towels were very nice too.
 
Cabana came with 8 or so of them and we had 8 more delivered since the mother in law was cold and taking them all 

Getting use out of that slide. Dont care how windy or cold the water is!
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Mini fridge had lots of goodies. Only the champagne on the top was extra.

 
There was also a water cooler that lifted up.

I took pics of everything lol, just haven't had time to post everything... damn voom is still slow.

Here are the menus and book that came in the cabana.
 
 

I spotted a couple of the divers from fine line . Really cool people. Yeah that's a chicken sammich in my hand. Felt pretty chonky next to them

Here are the menus

My in law from florida freezing in 75 degree weather:

 
Me:

Last few for now

Did the comedy show last night with Taylor and Kaitlyn. As usual Allan had our seats ready and our drinks on the table.  The two comedians, I don’t remember either of their names?, were ok. Not great but funny. But the best thing was the lady who sat to my right.  Silver hair, impeccably dressed and radiated beauty.  She is older than me.  And that’s saying something because I’m like Georgie Burns kind of old.  And he’s dead I think.  She was maybe 80.  And she laughed with tears in her eyes the entire time. It was such a joy for me to watch her enjoy the evening.  I watched her more than the show.
Breakfast this morning was in the Solarium Bistro.  It was good.  Crowded and it’s the same food as the Windjammer but presented differently. Taylor, Katie and Shari did the laser tag.  Stacy and I went to the Promenade and picked up a shirt for me and one for the great guy back home that is taking care of our home and pets.  (I pay him too..I’m not that cheap). We all joined up again on the boardwalk to see Djuro and watch the LAST DAY fun!  Lunch at Portside. Take your appetite when you go there. After all of that I went off solo to do the bridge tour.  I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I think it’s very similar to the Harmony and the Allure?

Friendly reminder, please don't quote photos and repeat them.  Thank you!
With just my camera around my neck it felt great walking around.  With a fresh batch of sunscreen on I wandered back down to the cruise terminal to see how it was going.
2:18pm:

A few guests still arriving but it appears the majority are already on board.



Photographers note - the sun has come around from this morning.  Earlier the sun was on the Opera House side of Circular Quay but in the afternoon it is on the bridge side of the Quay.

I had visions of watching Voyager sail away from the bridge but I could feel the time zones starting to weigh on me so I decided this park would suffice.

I spotted some bridge climbers beginning their ascent.  Good lord people, could you pick a hotter time of the day to climb the bridge?

My stomach knew what time it was so I went back to James Squires right beside the ship.

Fish and Chips:

From my air conditioned and beer laden bar seat I noted the group had made it to the summit. 

Voyager was supposed to sail at 4:30pm so I went back to the park near the base of the bridge and waited.  And waited.  Maybe if I just rest my eyes for a minute.  Maybe falling asleep in a public park with my camera wasn't a great idea.  Half hour overdue I gave up and wandered back to my hotel.  
The Rocks area was decorated for the Lunar Festival.

Street vendors along the back side of my hotel.




From my hotel Campbells Cove is just down that road to the right about 100m.

The hotel has a rooftop pool so I thought I'd check it out while I was sticky and hot from walking around.


With that a long cold shower was in order and time for a nap.  I later learned that Voyager didn't leave until after 7pm.  She's on a cruise to nowhere I think.  Absent of the PVSA they can do those cruises down under.  I suspect that's why she took her time departing.   I'm glad I didn't hang around the park for her departure.

They are moving with the water but only so much. Seems like they are floating to me.
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It's a raft you can hang on or sit on.
 
Here are some pics of the beach club.

Day 5 - Sint Maarten 
After room service breakfast, we headed out for a shore excursion: St Maarten Beach Rendezvous. This included a bus ride to Kim Sha beach, the use of a lounge chair, and lunch. It was $5 extra for a beach umbrella, which was totally worth it. 



Lunch tickets were provided for the Greenhouse Restaurant. The choices were baked grouper in creole sauce, bang bang shrimp sandwich, beef kebab, chicken in lemon sauce. Here are photos of the grouper and shrimp sandwich: 


 


After getting back on the ship, we quickly got ready for dinner at Jamie’s Italian. 
Our waiter told us that he has been working for RCI for 11 years in specialty dining. That’s pretty amazing! We’re trying to be smarter about our choices, so the Tagliatelle Bolognese and Penne Carbonara are smaller portions. Still couldn’t finish everything. Had to split a dessert: tiramisu. 









After dinner we stopped at the Bionic Bar for a cherry coke for our son. It’s become a bit of a thing. ? Show tonight was a ventriloquist. I’m pretty sure that we saw his show on DCL. Really funny. 


 
Day 6 is Antigua. We have another excursion planned: Catamaran Sail, Snorkel, and Beach Cruise. North Star is reserved again at 5 PM. Followed by dinner at CK. Spectra Cabaret at 830PM. 

Some more pictures as I walked around with my backpack loaded with camera stuff and my valuables while I waited for my hotel room to be ready.
Did I mention it's hot here and with the sun rising higher in the sky it was getting hotter before noon when many of these pictures were taken.

I had a 4:35am bridge climb booked so I wanted to find the meeting place in the daylight today.

I had also learned you can walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge so I then set off to find that path.




Looking back and down to the Campbells Cove area I walked around before.



Great views of the Sydney Opera House from here.


If you look through the mesh of the fence you will some bridge climbers getting ready for their ascent.   I'm not sure I'd want to do the bridge climb in the heat of the day so make sure you plan your booking times carefully if you are thinking about doing this in the summer.





Constant ferry traffic into and out of Circular Quay.

This is really hard for me to say but it’s day..S....I...X.  Always goes by way too fast!  This morning Taylor and we’re up and out at around 650 for our excursion. We ate a bite at the Jammer.  The others were having breakfast delivered to the suite at 8. We went down to Studio B. At this point both of us were going through Star Class withdrawals. We had to sit with people we didn’t even know!,??. After about 30 minutes we walked down the pier to the nice guides holding the various excursion signs. We only chose our tour yesterday and really picked it at random. Sounded like fun. Dune Buggy and snorkeling. Not at the same time though?. I had visions of being loaded onto a bus or van and being taken to a place where we would chug along in cool dune buggies down sandy roads lined with palm trees. Nope. We walked about three blocks from the pier to find our buggy parking lot. Each is a four seater. Taylor and I got two passengers, a Bf and Gf in their 20’s. They rode with us because they couldn’t drive a stick shift. Youth.  They were reassured after I told them I haven’t been involved in an auto accident since we left Miami. And off we went. About 15-18 little buggies filled with tourists. Driving through town. Around horses, trucks, busses, motorcycles.  Through traffic circles. I’m amazed this tour even exists. During our lunch stop folks were eating chicken tacos and slamming tequila. Before driving back!  It was awesome?. Our snorkel stop was at beautiful little beach area. Taylor had never snorkeled before. I had done it years ago before God made fish. But we pressed on. Donned the vests, masks and fins that I’m sure were sanitized in a bucket of tequila or something. We saw some beautiful fish and amazing coral. We spent about an hour there before we took the buggy brigade back on the road to our lunch stop. You basically drive around the entire island before you get back to the port. We made a memory and that’s what this is all about. 
Tonight dinner is in CK. Then we have the comedy show. I’m hearing rumors of laser tag, we shall see. 
I hear that our friend Djuro just might have been reading this blog. If that’s true Taylor and I missed you today!  I’ll see you tonight my friend. 

Day -4 (or is it -2?)
I booked my flights on Delta using Skymiles.  Then as we got closer and with the thought of 14 hours in one airplane seat on my mind I upgraded to Premium Select.  This gets you more legroom, more space between seats, a larger TV and an upgraded meal service.

The menu:



Somewhere around the equator the pilot couldn't line up with the equatorial gate so we had to run along near the equator until he found it.

We crossed a few time zones along the way.

With 90 minutes left it was time for our breakfast so last map photo, I promise.
While boarding I spotted some Royal luggage tags on some carry on bags.  The couple across the isle where boarding HAL on Saturday and the lady next to me was taking a sampler cruise on Voyager next. 
Coming off the plane... smack.  There's that summer heat and humidity that Australia if famous for. 
Walking through the duty shops towards immigration I spotted a passport kiosk just after the shops on the right that was empty so I did the passport scan thing and got my ticket.  That got me through to luggage where 10 minutes later our luggage started flowing.  
I queued up to leave and handed my ticket and passenger record I filled out in flight and that was it.  My passport already had the eTA so it was all very easy.  
This morning I would take the train to downtown.  The train was packed with morning commuters but I managed with my suitcase and backpack.  No opportunity to take pictures when you are a sardine in a sardine can.
Coming off the train at the Circular Quay station and low and behold... Voyager of the Seas!

I walked towards my hotel in the direction of the ship spotting a very good doggie.

I’m sitting in the suite lounge posting about the day in Cozumel. And suddenly I realize that something has been missing on this trip. I’ve now sat through 5 performances in the main theater. There is no popcorn!!!  I’m on a mission now to find out why. Maybe the Cats eat it...

Well that sounds like an activity that had the potential to go horribly wrong. Obviously you did well though since she said yes again. Congrats on the renewal, and thanks so much for all the great pictures. Enjoying them greatly.

We are into single digit days!
I booked our flights quite some time ago.  Not sure why I bothered, because there have been two schedule changes made by the airline, which now prevents us from the first world problem of not having first class (booked because my hubster is 6’6” and is not fond of being folded accordion style).  
I am actually all packed already, except for last minute items!  This is unprecedented.  I don’t know what to do with myself now...

Day 4 - Dinner at Izumi
We totally overdid it. I keep thinking of that South Park episode when Cartman sings, “I’m a little piggie, here’s my snout. Oink, oink, oink. Oink, oink, oink.” I AM that little piggie. ?
So, of course the meal starts with edamame. Then we had pork gyoza dumplings. I also started with the first of 3 “She’s A Geisha” cocktails. 



We ordered several rolls: champagne lobster in yuzu wrap, spicy crispy shrimp, spider roll, truffle creamy lobster tempura, and baked snow crab & salmon dynamite. My husband also asked for “something with octopus.” I had some trouble with the photos since the lighting in the esplanade kept casting a blue hue over everything. 






 
We ordered Tonkotsu Ramen with just noodles and broth for our son. We thought it tasted pretty good, but he did not. He was not a great fan of Izumi overall, so we ended up getting him Johnny Rockets after our meal. But now I’m off on a tangent. Redirecting... 
So, after feeling quite accomplished that we finished all of the above, here comes Julius with an extra “surprise” roll. Futomaki. Why????? ? How can we possibly eat more?? Oh, but we did. 

 
We had 2 little mochi ice cream balls each for dessert , then waddled over to Johnny Rockets for our son’s second bacon cheeseburger, fries, and shake of the day. 

Today is day 5. Yen has arranged room service breakfast from CK. We are doing a beach excursion on St. Maarten. This involves a bathing suit. It won’t be pretty. The SC food coma is real. Beware! ?
Dinner will be Jamie’s tonight. Followed by a ventriloquist show. 

The headliner Stephanie Parker. She put on a good show of Whitney Houston tunes. 

Well that sounds like an activity that had the potential to go horribly wrong. Obviously you did well though since she said yes again. Congrats on the renewal, and thanks so much for all the great pictures. Enjoying them greatly.

We decided to stop by Playmakers to visit with one of our absolute favorite people on this ship! If you’re cruising on Oasis don’t miss the opportunity to meet Djuro.