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South Pacific Cruise
February, March 2002
Our South Pacific Cruise started in
Sydney, Australia . To get there, however, we had to
leave Maryland on the 26th. We left Dulles Airport at
6:00 pm to arrive in Los Angeles 5 hours and 45 minutes
later. After a 2-½ hour layover, we boarded a Qantas
flight to Sydney. You know you have been flying too long
when you have more than enough time to view 4
full-length feature films. It took about 14-½ hours. We
crossed the International Date Line, losing a day, so
arrived in Sydney about 9:00 am on the 28th. We waited
until 1:00 to check into the ship, have lunch, and then
were able to get off and walk a short bit in Sydney. As
we left Sydney at 6:00 pm, we cruised under the Sydney
Harbor Bridge and past the Sydney Opera House.
With Norwegian Cruise Lines new Freestyle Dining, we could
choose to eat anytime the restaurants were open, and could
choose to join a large table, or at a table for just the two
of us. There was an Italian restaurant, a French restaurant,
a Sports Bar & Grill, a Pizzeria, and two other
restaurants which usually had the same menu.
The first full day of the cruise was “At
Sea”, meaning that we did not stop at any port. We
cruised the Tasman Sea en route to Melbourne. There were
the typical ship activities available: shopping in the
duty free shops, playing bingo, attending an art
auction, listening to the shore excursion talks,
gambling in the casino, trying karaoke, attending the
variety show in the evening, and, of course, eating,
eating, eating. By the way, did I mention "eating". We
brought lots of reading material as we both like to
relax and read while at sea. There were also board games
for people to play, and an organized contract bridge
group. Glenda saw some women starting a Mahjong game and
asked if she could watch. They generously offered to
teach her how to play, and so started a cruise-long
tradition. Every day we were at sea, there were five or
six who would get together and play Mahjong for a couple
of hours in the morning.
At an adjacent table an American family of Chinese origin
also played Mahjong on a regular basis. One day while Glenda
was "guarding" the table during lunch time, one of the men at
the other table sat down with her and taught her the Chinese
style.
This was also the day that Glenda tried out the hot rock
massage. It was an interesting variation on a massage. The
rocks were very smooth and soaked in oil. They maintained the
heat well and felt very good on some tired muscles.