We made it to the Dawn Princess and through the first night. Our last day in Melbourne did provide a few surprises. Friday began with rain, as had the previous few, but we had some early sunshine and a bit of blue sky. It didn’t last long but we required no umbrella for our morning coffee walk. For the rest of the morning we dodged the raindrops again.
The rain stopped again just before noon. We checked out of the hotel and stored our luggage then quickly went to “Kenny’s”, a little sandwich shop we found. It appealed to Gail because they would build her a sandwich on nice, thin, square, white bread. Their meat pies were pretty good too. Since it had not begun raining again we grabbed the opportunity to wander through a few of the gardens bordering Spring St. Clearly, they were not as floral as they would have been earlier in the year. I managed a few photos of the greenery, fountains and buildings before we headed west along Flinders St. As we approached the Flinders Street Station there was an inordinately large police presence on every corner. It was only later we found out the reason.
It was about this time that the rain began again and we ran to catch a very fully loaded “City Circle Tram”. It was on the short tram ride we encountered a New York traveler who had been displaced from the Dawn Princess for the day of cleaning. We dodged a few more raindrops and returned to the hotel for a few minutes then caught another dry period to explore a bit more.
About 2:30 PM we collected our luggage anticipating arrival of our taxi at 3 PM. Another couple departing the hotel were having no success ordering a taxi through the hotel’s requesting system. It was at this point I became suspicious and asked when our cab might arrive and we discovered the cab company had not even acknowledged the request made early in the morning. The hotel staff were very surprised and began tandem attempts to get transportation for us and the other couple. I walked a block to the nearest taxi waiting area to see if I could engage a ride but was flatly refused three times. While the hotel staff tried to find a ride I was twice more refused by passing cabbies.
Finally, a limo operator was engaged for the couple waiting with us and the driver agreed to return for us a bit later. While he was away the company, Premium Taxis and Limousines, responded with a second vehicle and by shortly after 4 PM we were on our way and relieved to say the least. Felix, a hotel employee, offered to drive us to the port and just as we were about to put luggage into his car the limo arrived. Our driver, Amit, was quite amazing. He seemed to know and anticipate all the traffic choke points and had the ability to circumvent all but the last half kilometre into the port.
By 5 PM we were weaving through the throng of would be passengers waiting to be checked in. This is when loyalty status becomes an advantage. We found ourselves in a queue of about 25 couples while most who arrived at the same time as we did found themselves with hundreds waiting in front of them. We were in our cabin with one of our two checked bags by shortly after 5 PM. We unpacked most of my suitcase then went to the buffet for a bite to eat. The second checked bag arrived while we were at dinner. There was, of course, the obligatory muster station drill.
A few minutes later we had almost everything stowed and it was time to explore the Dawn Princess. She is a very pleasant vessel, not so large as the Grand class ships we have frequently sailed and not as small as the little Ocean Princess. We stopped to dance for a few minutes in the Wheelhouse lounge. It felt great to work out some of the kinks. There is a disco where we will probably spend little if any time. We saw evidence of a string quartet and found a young chap entertaining with piano and vocals in the ship’s Atrium. There was the traditional “Welcome Aboard” show in the theatre which we missed twice. Funny how that is.
While the entertainment changed we grabbed a coffee and cookies in the buffet. We were planning to purchase a “coffee card.” This is essentially a flat rate for as much coffee as one could drink combined with a generous but limited number of specialty coffee purchases. However, upon discovering that filtered coffee was not available on this ship the coffee card was of less interest. Australia is very much an espresso zone and so is the Dawn Princess. Gail has found that a limited amount of diluted restaurant coffee will have to suffice.
The seas were very quiet until we left the Phillip Bay then they seemed to build gradually overnight. As our course became north-easterly we were sailing directly into both the 3.5 metre seas and 23 knot winds. This least desirable point of sail has been our lot for most of the day. As evening approaches we see a more northerly course, lighter winds and lessening seas. This, at least, was the Captain’s noon prediction.
We have been advised that everyone will be expected to leave the ship tomorrow in Sydney for continued sanitation precautions. This was our plan so we will not be inconvenienced except, perhaps, for the enforced duration. The good news is that Princess has instituted a continuous shuttle service between the White Bay Terminal and Darling Harbour. The bad news must be that not everyone can return simultaneously at day’s end. I hope there will be some where to relax at the terminal for early returnees.
An amusing aside. As I am writing this it seems that the technical crew is re-booting the computer system responsible for displaying our journey information on stateroom TV. Apparently, Microsoft’s discontinuation of Windows XP is of no concern. The whole boot process was displayed.
