mahdnc

I doubt anyone has a camera as nice as your D500 either (cropped or full size).

I would not have survived such a comment.

Lol--that is everyone's worst fear (did your wife make the same error? If yes--very funny. If no--hey, she didn't have your back, so to speak). I supposed there's no disembarkation photo to commemorate the event?

If you forget to set anything aside while packing, you are also likely to be wearing the clothing that you will be walking off the ship with!

Get a different TA

We usually have our luggage out by about 11p to midnight. During the sailings that we did the self walk-off, we skipped all that.

Awesome summary and photos. Good night. May you have an excellent day tomorrow.

They are probably as relieved as you are.

Razor sharp. Very nice.

It will be released sometime this week.

Thank you for your suggestions. We have been leaning towards doing Mindo. However the point of getting in a day early was because we won't be getting to the hotel until midnight the day before. Not sure if I am I want to get up early for a long drive.

Thanks. I was asking about your accommodations! Nice. I can post photos of the lowly XS next week.

When the specialty dining packages came out for our 14 night Panama Canal cruise (Summit, Apr 2024), packages for as little as 3 nights and as much as 12 nights were available.

The restaurant at the Opera House, Bennelong, is excellent. The awesome architecture of the Opera House extends into the restaurant. Bennelong has soaring wood beamed ceilings with very nice views of the bridge, harbor, and the Sydney skyline. We ate there for dinner after our guided tour.

This was offered during the Memorial Day flash sale this year:

Wow—to find that out at 51? Super kidney.

How are your accommodations? If you plan on addressing that at another time, I can wait.

That’s awesome. I’m going to be spoiled.

Very nice writing. I take it that Xpedition’s WiFi is pretty good?

Take a guided tour of the iconic Sydney Opera House or better yet, attend a performance there. If you’re adventurous, do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb for the amazing views. If you don’t want to put in that kind of effort (or pay that much), you can get very impressive views from the observation deck of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon. Take a passenger ferry across Sydney Harbour and visit the Taronga Zoo Sydney to see kangaroos, wombats, koalas, Tasmanian devils, and of course the amazing platypus. If you prefer to see them naturally in the wild, you can book a tour with companies that do that. Or you can even book a hotel room at the zoo if you’re interested in seeing koalas from your balcony or you’d like an after hours tour of the zoo. The Botanical Gardens of Sydney are very nice. Great place to do some walking and located near Sydney Harbour. My wife and I enjoyed strolling, shopping, and eating at the Rocks Market which is open only on Saturdays and Sundays. It is located right next to the bridge and the Rydges Sydney Harbour hotel (another reason to stay there). For astronomy geeks, the Sydney Observatory has tours and viewing through their telescopes in the evening. Everything I mentioned above is very close to Sydney Harbour. However a popular place to visit that is outside of Sydney are the Blue Mountains. Also be sure to enjoy formal Afternoon Tea at one of the many locations in Sydney. The Park Hyatt has a very nice one if you want views of the Opera House and harbor (with prices to match). The Tea Room at the Queen Victoria Building has marvelous ambience and will make you feel that you are in London even though it is located in the Central Business District of Sydney which means you’ll also have shopping opportunities. There are many other outstanding Afternoon Tea places in Sydney, those were the two that we have experience with. During our next visit, we may try out The Tea Cosy located at The Rocks.

Rydges Sydney Harbour is recommended by many. Its pricing is pretty good and it is located almost right next to the pier. The Park Hyatt Sydney is the nicest and closest hotel to the pier if price is no object. We’ve stayed at the Sydney Harbour Marriott the last time we took a cruise from there on 2019. We are thinking of staying at Sebel Quay West when we sail out of Sydney in 2025

The iLounge rarely has the current generation models for sale. 2 years old is a bit much.

That’s why you have two of them. Good luck.

A year ago we were on her for the westbound TA. No iPads or much of anything back then other than accessories. Hopefully things have improved.