Jim_Iain - B2B Sydney - Honolulu - Vancouver

[upwarduk]

Are you on the ship?
I’ve just seen that the Captain of Royal Princess has just announced that they will be 4 hours late into port due to the weather.

[juanrod]

Glad you made it , hope your back settles down, and you two dry out. @Jim_Iain  if you were home we are getting another storm again  and there was an earthquake above Sacramento.  Mother Nature definitely making herself known 

Edited April 5 by juanrod

[hcat]

Jim 

try the spa for massage &  physical relief for pulled muscles and a  muscle gel  

 

Sorry for bad weather ..hope it stops..We have had days of rain here in NY.  and.......

 

We just had an earthquake this a.m est 4.8  Epicenter was  in N.J..due west of  Long Island, NY where we are..house shook back and forth... very un-nerving but no damage we can see..never experienced anytjing like that before!

[juanrod]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

Jim 

try the spa for massage &  physical relief for pulled muscles and a  muscle gel  

 

Sorry for bad weather ..hope it stops..We have had days of rain here in NY.  and.......

 

We just had an earthquake this a.m est 4.8  Epicenter was  in N.J..due west of  Long Island, NY where we are..house shook back and forth... very un-nerving but no damage we can see..never experienced anytjing like that before!

Just saw that earthquake for you. Hope you are all safe 

[mauimary]

1 hour ago, countess5 said:

 

He looked at the car and asked is this a rental? I said yes…he asked if I read my rental agreement? NO! He responded that you are not covered if you have an accident on Saddle Road, your contract is void! 🙀. I looked at my DW and said I guess we may be buying a car. We went across and the drive was beautiful. Driving between the two Volcanos! Amazing!

 

Safe Travels

 

Cheers! 

 

You must have done this trek quite some time ago because the road has been greatly improved and is an easy drive now.  It is no longer a breach of your rental car contract to drive this beautiful road.   We have been over this road many times because we drive this road from Waikaloa on the Kona side just to go over to a smoothie shop called “what’s Shakin!  We also love the Botanical Gardens as well.  It can be an eerie drive in the fog. 

[kwokpot]

52 minutes ago, hcat said:

Jim 

try the spa for massage &  physical relief for pulled muscles and a  muscle gel  

 

Sorry for bad weather ..hope it stops..We have had days of rain here in NY.  and.......

 

We just had an earthquake this a.m est 4.8  Epicenter was  in N.J..due west of  Long Island, NY where we are..house shook back and forth... very un-nerving but no damage we can see..never experienced anytjing like that before!

Felt it here in Center City, Philadelphia. It was scary as Sh*t!

[countess5]

1 hour ago, mauimary said:

You must have done this trek quite some time ago because the road has been greatly improved and is an easy drive now.  It is no longer a breach of your rental car contract to drive this beautiful road.   We have been over this road many times because we drive this road from Waikaloa on the Kona side just to go over to a smoothie shop called “what’s Shakin!  We also love the Botanical Gardens as well.  It can be an eerie drive in the fog. 

Oh it was in the late 80's, was just a funny story for the times. It was very foggy the first time, but I have to say the road was in great shape for back then.  Glad we made the trip.

 

Cheers! 

[champagnecruiser]

2 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Are you on the ship?
I’ve just seen that the Captain of Royal Princess has just announced that they will be 4 hours late into port due to the weather.

I think Jim mentioned that he and Iain have some time in Sydney before sailing on April 9th  - think I read this somewhere but can’t find it 🙄😂

[mauimary]

26 minutes ago, champagnecruiser said:

I think Jim mentioned that he and Iain have some time in Sydney before sailing on April 9th  - think I read this somewhere but can’t find it 🙄😂

It can be hard to find things as this novel has many pages to go through before they begin the actual cruise!   

[mac_tlc]

3 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Felt it here in Center City, Philadelphia. It was scary as Sh*t!

Also felt it here is CT. Windows shook a bit, felt like a low flying plane was nearby. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Also felt it here is CT. Windows shook a bit, felt like a low flying plane was nearby. 

Felt it in Brooklyn! I was in the middle of the floor doing a lesson with my kiddos and just stopped, then my para and I looked at each other and were like "WHAT was that??"

[hcat]

We had no damage ..we are in  center of Long Island (halfway between Manhattan and Montauk) .. way  east of the  NJ  epicenter. 

 

Almost all of our wall art and photos need to be straightened.  Local TV is  showing damage closer to where it hit!   And they say there were a few aftershocks.   But nothing being  shown looks like Taiwan.

 

*******

So there will be pre cruise posts from Jim before  sail away,?

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 minutes ago, hcat said:

But nothing being  shown looks like Taiwan.

It was like half the force of the quake in Taiwan. I wouldn't expect them to look similar.

[hcat]

7 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

It was like half the force of the quake in Taiwan. I wouldn't expect them to look similar.

yes..much weaker event ,  but we were  in a bit of what the...? shock at the time!  Next up. The Eclipse is coming!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

4 minutes ago, hcat said:

yes..much weaker event ,  but we were  in a bit of what the...? shock at the time!  Next up. The Eclipse is coming!

Yup. We were all a bit nuts at school. Thankfully the eclipse will be starting during bussing and peaking once we're home.

[cruisetonowhere10]

4 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Yup. We were all a bit nuts at school. Thankfully the eclipse will be starting during bussing and peaking once we're home.

Ha ha.  Only felt it because I was on the second floor of my building.  Other teachers had no idea…pretty cool though.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, champagnecruiser said:

I think Jim mentioned that he and Iain have some time in Sydney before sailing on April 9th  - think I read this somewhere but can’t find it 🙄😂

Yes, boarding the Celebrity Solstice.

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Are you on the ship?
I’ve just seen that the Captain of Royal Princess has just announced that they will be 4 hours late into port due to the weather.

Torrential rain all across the East coast for the last few days, planes and transport delays and cancellations yesterday. Sydney's weather is set to clear today though, hopefully they can get some sightseeing in before Tuesday.

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, juanrod said:

Just saw that earthquake for you. Hope you are all safe 

Hope people are safe and damage is minimal.

[Jim_Iain]

 

I usually check both Uber and Lyft for rates as they can vary quite a bit when surge pricing pops up.    For this trip is was a  no-brainer.   Not sure if it was I had earlier checked Uber and didn't close out, but--- I got an e-mail offering 20% off my next 4 trips.    Sure enough -  I booked with them with a big savings.

 

Cars were plentiful and even though they indicated wait time was 3 minutes the car pulled up before we got from our front door to the curb.

 

 

 

 

We left a bit early because I wanted to have dinner at the Polaris Lounge before boarding.   Nice menu

 

 

Iain was going to wait and eat on board but finally agreed to have a cheese platter.   The waiter was like Luminae and said I brought you a Salmon so you can nibble.   It was incredible.     I had a the Polaris Burger --- Yum

 

 

Once on board the Flight Attendant brought us Pajamas and bed topper.  -  It is so much easier to relax in you Pajamas.

 

 

We had pre-ordered meal -  All I can say was with the exception of the Ice Cream Sunday -- I was happy I ate pre-flight.   Looks good BUT... Ugh

 

 

I had Seat 1A  - Favorite for 2 reason --- One is you are the first to be served

 

Since the seat is a bulkhead the foot well is 2X the width of a normal due to now head well from a seat in front of you.

 

Edited April 5 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

ue to the huge storm approaching from the East we flew in over Brisbane. 

 

 

 

Incredible Sunrise

 

 

After arrival immigration was really quick using automated passport and facial recognition 

 

 

Doesn't capture the intensity of the raid but we were soaked

 

 

 

Edited April 5 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Right after Sunrise -  I used an app called Bounce to make a reservation for Luggage Drop off.   We got in at 8:00 AM and our AirBnB was not available until 2PM

 

Bounce offers luggage Storage Worldwide -  This one is located on Circular Quay and very popular.   It is located at City Extra Restaurant -  There were 4 in line when we arrived.   Very efficient and thank goodness we didn't have to carry our bags with us all day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edge is in port today. 

 

 

 

Free of Luggage we walked down to the Opera House and had a Cappuccino and sweet. 

 

Edited April 5 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Now we have 5 hours to kill.  

 

First of my agenda was to find a Pharmacy.  My back was still dodgy but feeling better.   Last time we were here our friends told us the best Chemist (Pharmacy) is Chemist Warehouse on Pitt Street -  about 1/2 mile away.    They did not disappoint.

 

I found a really good back brace and got some Advil.   We ripped open the box outside and I took the Advil Liquid Pills and put on the Brace.   Perfect and no more pain. 

 

 

[upwarduk]

If you don’t know what to do due to the rain,the indoor market is interesting.

It’s a Victorian building.

A friend was showing us round Sydney and she had never been and was very impressed.

[Jim_Iain]

You might notice we have "Slicker's" on-     A Scot word for rain gear.   They are fantastic and 100% waterproof.

 

We next decided to check out Overseas Passenger Terminal.   By now it is 12:00 and boarding is just beginning.

 

Right out front and to the left is passenger drop off and Ride Share area.  The Rideshare is just infront of the Big Rubber Tree.
 

 

Plenty of porters available to assist with luggage.   You just take your bags to the agents in Black and Red T-shirts. 

 

 

I heard from another CC members that they open around 9:00 AM and like the sign says.   Just drop off and enjoy yourself until checkin opens.

 

Edited April 5 by Jim_Iain