Went cruising with my friend from Canada, Peggy, who also wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand. We arrived in Sydney on Friday, 01/23 and we met at the shuttle bus stop at Sydney airport. Ah, hot and humid Sydney (it was snowy and cold in Albuquerque). Fell in love with the city and very friendly people.

Pros: Ease of embarkation. Lots of assistance from the time we got off the taxi until we boarded the ship, less than 30 min. Fastest I’ve ever been on board a cruise ship. Of course, stateroom is not ready, too early, so decided to sun bathe first in the Solarium area then around 1:30 PM ate a light lunch in the Windjammer. No problem with seating. Flow around the food stations was good. Food was average with salad, hot dishes, desserts, etc.

Dining, Sapphire MDR: We had My Time Dining. I usually opt for Traditional Early Dining so wasn’t sure how this would work out. Peggy and I like to be at a large table so we could meet other cruisers. One plus about MTD was that you did not have to rush to be at the MDR. Hosts were quite efficient at seating us promptly because we were both very flexible. Only one time they goofed and placed us at a table for 2; not good. We were virtually ignored by the wait staff. People all around us getting served and we were left hanging. I waited for about 10 min then flagged the wait staff and told them, politely, to get on the stick and start serving us. We did meet a couple of nice ladies also seated at a table for 2 next to us. Incidentally, they were seated after us and were promptly taken care of. Read more