Clay Clayton

This is very cruise dependent. On Sky now and a line is a rarity and we are close to full. Unlike previous cruises, getting into Manfredi’s before 8pm has been a little difficult. Thankfully, we prefer Chef’s Table if we want something different. Regarding overall quality of food, we have noticed a lowering of quality and variety since the pandemic. It’s still well above mainstream cruiselines, but not as good as it used to be. Best examples being the steaks-thinner, poorer quality and cold seafood. In the past, the dishes served in the Restaurant and the World Cafe were similar but not the same-a turkey tenderloin in the Restaurant and carving roast turkey at the buffet for example. In this cruise at least, the menus are usually exactly the same, merely the plating is different. These changes are not a deal breakers for us, but does make us think about trying Oceana given all the good things we hear about their food.

Currently on Sky, possibilities are: Coke Diet Coke Coke zero Sprite Sprite zero (sometimes) Tonic Water Club Soda Ginger Ale

Probably

On all three of Sky’s days in Sydney, we were docked at White Bay and Captain Cook operated the ferry shuttle between it and Captain Cook’s berthing positions at King’s Wharf in Darling Harbour. The ferry left on the hour from Sky and on the half hour from King’s Wharf. Please note that while it is only a 20 minute or so walk to Circular Quay, it is up a pretty steep hill only some of which has an escalator. We walked over in the morning to catch the Ferry to Watson’s Bay but after our death march, road the ferry from CQ back to the stop at Kings Wharf (Boolabola?). The ferry, bus, and tram system are all very easy to use and it isn’t necessary to buy anything ahead of time. Just make sure to “tap” on and “tap” off using a credit card or a digital wallet. The distance between the bow of Sky and the stern of the ferry wasn’t very much, but due to security protocols, passengers had to walk around the piers and come back into the secure area.

Correct, but I prefer the Prosecco to Jaccquard, the house champagne.

We were scheduled to port in Mooloolaba Australia today, but a few moments ago the Captain announced even though the weather looks beautiful, it was too choppy in the channel for the tenders to get us ashore safely so….😢. Worse part is our friend Margarete from Brisbane had driven an hour to meet us. She said, “no worries, there are two nice Sunday markets so I’ll go shopping”….and then sent the picture of us🤬

Beautiful sea day today as we head to Moolaboola. New captain and lots of other new guests and crew all settling in. Best news, the roof is open!

Seems like a recipe for a good fight!

You should do it!

#neptunegetseverything including a berth at Circular Quay

We had a low turnout for our informal pub crawl-just four of us, but it was great to experience both Fortune of War and Glenmore Hotel. Unfortunately, Carnival blocked the view from the rooftop bar. After visiting both, we returned to the ferry shuttle and then back to the ship. Hot, worn out, and sweaty but glad we had the extra day last week in Sydney and that the forecasted rain never materialized!

We revisited several sites from our first visit to Sydney today. We took the included ferry and then walked (death-marched?) to Oxford Street via the Queen Victoria Building, this is an old beautiful shopping arcade. Oxford Street is the locale of the Sydney LGBT MardiGras parade. The festival opened today but the parade isn’t until next week (#NeptuneGetsEverything). After walking a few blocks and reminiscing, (there is the parking garage we watched the parade from, there is the bar where we drank and danced too much, etc) we grabbed a bus back to Circular Quay and walked into the Rocks (the original site of Sydney) and into The Fortune of War, the oldest pub where we had invited others to join us for an informal pub crawl. more on that later.

Pics-gosh I love a pub with wifi!

I didn’t have to get up because we were docking, I HAD to get up cuz my body was calling for the toilet….and we had been told the pilot was boarding about 2am so I looked out …et voila!

Had a great day today independently in Sydney. We took the ferry shuttle to Kings Wharf and then walked over to Circular Key to catch the Ferry out to Watsons Bay. Once we arrived we walked a portion of the Cliffs Trail-this follows the cliffs we saw as we left Sydney the other day and eventually gets to Bondi Beach. We didn’t go that far-once the trail started downhill we turned around and headed back into Watson’s Bay. We had lunch at Doyle’s on the Wharf, the less expensive outpost of the well known seafood place on the beach here. We shared a salad with lobster and prawns and Fish & Chips. Very tasty. We rode the ferry back to Circular Quay and then wandered over to the Opera House. We had hoped to visit the Botanical Garden again (doesn’t look like much has changed in the 30 years since we were here) but by then my knee was starting to ache (which made sense when I checked and we had walked 4.5 miles) so we decided to head back to the Ferry and ride (rather than walk back) back to Viking’s ferry shuttle stop. Had a great dinner tonight at Chef’s Table -really enjoyed the Mexican Menu and the company! After which we stopped by to say goodbye to our favorite server Christian who is leaving us tomorrow😢 We lucked out and it never really rained today-it’s forecasted that won’t be the case tomorrow so not sure how much of our planned day will actually happen🤞 so again, tried three times unsuccessfully to upload pictutes….

#NeptuneGetsEverything😂

If anyone was climbing the bridge at 2:03, you’re welcome😂

A reminder that anyone is welcome to join our pub crawl tomorrow (Friday 16 February) at Fortune of War 137 George Street The Rocks We will gather between 1 and 1:30 pm and plan on leaving there no earlier than 1:45 pm to crawl elsewhere. We will plan on taking the next to last shuttle back to White Bay, so hopefully we will be able to enjoy three or maybe four pubs. Any questions, feel free to reach out to me - Stateroom. 5054 or via email BigNCBear@aol.com

Nope, we will be diverted and then the hooties will decide “love is all around” and yall will stick with the original itinerary and Sky will end up calling at Hood City (that’s the secondary port near Cape Town😂) and White House (the secondary port for Casablanca)

Damn, again Neptune gets all the good stuff. We anchored at 5:30 pm so we didn’t get to go ashore unless you were going to the penguins. Mike just said Neptune will probably “get to go through the Suez Canal” 😂

Some of us have private overnight excursions planned for which final payment is due next week. If we aren’t making it to Mumbai I would like to know now rather than have to deal with insurance company/credit card to get my money back.

Pictures….maybe? So after 20 minutes only two loaded. I give up. See Instagram for all the photos

So Geelong is a nice little beach community that we enjoyed walking around but boy was our included excursion a waste. We drove through beautiful countryside, into and immediately out of some precious little vacation towns, and saw from a moving vehicle a great fort, interesting lighthouses, and lots of black swans. Our only stop was a comfort one where I was finally able to take two pictures-one of the lighthouse and one of the roof of a Victorian hotel. Apparently other folks had a better guide who took it upon herself to force stops, take them to see some interesting sights, etc. #group14👎 Affer getting off the bus back at the tender dock, we wandered along the seaside where lots of folks were enjoying the ocean. It was a very hot and VERY sunny day so our plans to walk “up there” to the Botanical Garden were quickly replaced with the idea of let’s get into some shade after we made it to the end of the seaside promenade. They have placed painted bollards along the walkway and they are very entertaining! We walked through town and saw some interesting architecture. We then headed back towards the bay to find some lunch. We found some great mussels and Fish&Chips at a food boat. After enjoying our mean and showing @TwoLeosTravels that mussels don’t have be be like chewing an earlobe, we returned to the ship. Ahhh, Air Conditioning! pictures won’t load at the moment, so will try again #damnskylink

Jim In private conversations on Sky, many managers are as frustrated as we are. It appears that they realize that the longer until we learn of Viking’s plan the harder their jobs are going to be.

Patrick was energetic and put on a great show! Not sure most performers could have been up for so few spectators but he was enjoying himself and brought everyone along for the ride.