We flew from Los Angeles to Sydney on Qantas Airlines two days before departure to allow some recuperation time before boarding the Statendam. It also gave us time to reacquaint ourselves with Sydney since our last visit in December 1999.

EMBARKATION

We arrived at the ocean terminal about 11:00 AM. Our initial impression was one of complete disorganization. We had pre-registered to save time, but still were presented with more paperwork to fill out. They had one small table outside the formal embarkation center with 5 people trying to distribute handouts to meet the varying needs of the guests (non-registered/pre-registered). It was mayhem. Once we got through that area into the formal center, the operation smoothed out with multiple stations to process the guests. Once we cleared that area we were directed to the Lido for lunch and await our cabins. We finally got into our cabin about 2:00 PM with our baggage not being completely delivered until after the emergency drill and departure. We never did hear the emergency drill warning in our cabin, finally walking up to our assembly station after waiting about five minutes past the published time. It was not until a day later that we found out you had to have your TV tuned to channel 40 or 44 to hear any announcements. The PA system could not be heard in the rooms with the door closed. During the emergency drill, I noted that a significant number of people were not wearing their life preservers properly, yet no effort was made by the crew to correct the situation. Read more