Stayed at Shangri-la Sydney the night before cruising. A beautiful hotel especially the Horizon Club rooms , on high floors with great views of the harbour , Opera House and the CBD.Only a $13 taxi ride from the hotel to Wharf 5 Barangaroo.

Embarkation was at 1 pm for Riviera Deck . Arrived at large tent used as the terminal building. Handed over the large bags and was directed to the check in kiosks. Check in was fast and cruise cards and numbered embarkation ticket issued promptly. Embarkation ticket was number 16 , entry gate showed now boarding number 11. That gave us time to look around the terminal , lost count of the number of push walkers and wheelchairs. The friends we were travelling with also commented on the apparent average age of our fellow cruisers.

It took just on 1 hour to board the ship from receiving our embarkation ticket number. The actual passing through immigration , quarantine etc was swift and well organised. Read more