 |
| The view from my balcony on Level 4 |
The hiccup was a phone call from my daughter's school at 10:30am Wednesday. If you're a parent, I don't have to describe that sheer moment of panic when you see "SCHOOL" show up on the caller ID. Invariably, I answer on the first ring and I yell "WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY GIRLS?" in a hysterical shrill.
To make a long story short, Miss 11, Eden, had a headache and was feeling ill in the tummy. There had been a nasty gastro bug making its evil tour around the school and I was hoping it hadn't made its way to my Eden. It wasn't gastro but I watched her like a hawk. She bounced back by the next morning, and it was only then that I packed our bags. Phew.
As an aside though, despite the stress, I nearly burst into tears of mumma-pride. When I broke the news to the other two (Misses 12 and 9), that we might have to cancel our cruise, they reacted in such a beautiful way.
Me:
"Girls, your sister isn't feeling well, we might have to miss the
cruise. If she vomits, we can't get on. It's not fair to the other
cruisers or staff." (Read my experience with Norovirus here)
Miss 12: "Ohh poor Eden! Oh mum, I hope she feels better soon."
Me: "Well, you and Hope can go with Daddy, and I will stay with Eden"
Miss 9 "NO NO NO MUMMY, we all go together, Plus Daddy is boring"
Miss 12: "Exactly. There is NO way I will even think about going without both my sisters or you!"
Anyway, as there's a city bus virtually around the corner from our house, we jumped on it, paid a few bucks and were in the city in 25 mins and at Circular Quay in 30. NEVER again will I take a shuttle bus. This was cheap and very fast. Plus the bus was virtually empty due to it being past peak hour.
Arriving at the Quay, every feeling of nervousness melted away. There's something about Sydney Harbour that is magical. Every single time, I am blown away by its beauty. After a few snaps, we dropped our bags off and proceeded to check-in. It was busy, but I only had to yell at the kids twice and threaten to go back home once if they didn't stop bickering. I think we waited about 35 mins (however, it was only after we checked in that I realised we had PRIORITY CHECK IN and could have waltzed right past the queuing hoard aboard).
With our Sail & Sign Cards in hand and $400 on-board credit (thank you Wayne from I Love Cruising) we basically ran on board. Now, this was my third time on the Spirit. You see, when my two eldest daughters turned 10, (one year apart) I took each on a surprise holiday - a 3 night cruise. But, my husband and the youngest (Miss 9) had never been on the Spirit. Tara, Eden and I were bursting to show them the Atrium, the Great Glass Elevators and the slides. As I hadn't been on her since the refurb, I was excited to see the upgrades.
We made our way to our rooms, side-by-side balcony rooms on Level 4 - a triple and a double (yes, I got the sofa as usual) and dumped our carry on. We were greeted with an adorable plate of macarons, choc dipped strawberries and rice-crispy thingies. I wolfed down about half of these before the kids spied them. Yes, I am a pig. As the last cruise I went on was the Eden, I did notice the rooms were smaller on the Spirit - well, narrower I think? - but it didn't bother me as we really spend very little time in the room. The balcony was great and the steward assured me that tomorrow he would unlock the partition between my husband's balcony and mine for easy access. Yes, I just wrote "easy access".
As you can see by my photos, Sydney really turned it on! It was a glorious day and I felt so incredibly lucky to be alive. You can check out my Live Facebook videos on my page here and here and here
The first upgrade I noticed was Guy's Burger Joint. My husband loves Burgers. We all sat down and ate a burger. They were great burgers. So that was a big FAT tick of approval from the whole family. What I especially loved was the 'toppings' bar which allows you to customise your burger. (Can I write 'buger' one more time?) So, so good! We all then smashed down an ice-cream from the 24hr soft serve. I could hear the calories jumping onto my hips. Bounce, bounce, bounce...
 |
| View from the Lido Deck. Aren't I creative? |
With a full tummy, we decided to explore. On our first lap of the Sun Deck (10) I virtually ran into George Kapiniaris. Poor guy, he was on the phone with his wife and I literally screamed out, "OH MY GOD! IT IS MEMO" in a very Effie-ish manner. I'm not sure if he was about to run, but it's a cruise ship and there really isn't anywhere to run to. He graciously listened to this mad purple-haired woman who was re-living Acropolis Now flashbacks. I gushed, "I HAVE THE ACROPOLIS NOW BOX SET!" he replied, "So do I" and backed away slowly....
It was time to set sail and we all lined up at the back of Spirit and reveled in the majesty of creation. Taking a deep breath, I looked around at my family and said a silent prayer of gratitude.
Goodbye Sydney. If only for a few days.
