Christmas Eve and Embarkation on Celebrity Century.
After waking about 4am and dozing until 5.30am, we got up after watching the 6am news in TV. We were able to get more news on Christchurch
For breakfast we decided to give the hotel restaurant a big miss and a cooked breakfast was $34 each. We left the hotel at 7.15 (had to ask to get the ramped access door open!!!) and wander out to front and turned right towards Margaret Street . I had spotted a place the night before which had a sign advertising breakfast and lunch, so we thought we would see if they were open. The great Organic Café we discovered last year does not open at the weekends.
Sure enough “The Met Café” was open. A lovely Asian couple were just opening, and quickly opened the ramped access and welcomed us in. We had a lovely coffee and breakfast for $33 total! I had scrambled eggs with spinach and mushrooms while Pete had scrambled eggs with chorizo sausages - both extremely nice and very well priced. A great alternative to the Organic Café.
We took the long route back to the Hotel as Peter had seen a sign for Woolworth's Supermarket so went to check that out. What we found (and didn’t find last year) was the underground shopping area to Wynyard Station complete with supermarket. But of course being Christmas Eve NOTHING WAS OPEN!
Once back at the hotel we finished rearranging the packing and called the Porter to take our bags to the lobby. Fortunately just down the road from the Hotel was a pharmacy as I needed a couple of things, and this did OPEN at 10am - spot on. By the time we walked back the front Taxi in the rank was a Station Wagon - perfect for our entire luggage. The traffic was quiet and we headed for the Overseas Passengers Terminal at Circular Quay, as we had been told they would be accepting luggage from 10.30am. It transpired the taxi driver had been sitting outside the Hotel for 2 hours, and we were giving him a fare of less than $10!! As Pete is an ex- Corporate Cab driver we felt awful, so paid him $15 for his trouble, after all it was Christmas Eve. There were already quite a large number of people assembled and handing in luggage.
I was being paranoid about our luggage as we had been told on Cruise Critic Forum of gangs of thieves operating at the terminal and not to let any of the bags to be out of sight. Not easy when you have three bags, a power chair in three pieces which has to be assembled and a walker (and no luggage trolleys!!) But we managed. I trundled the small bag and Pete man handled to two bags and walker. Pete had already tagged the bags, so it was just a matter of handing them in!
As the queue to board seemed quite large and a bit disorganised we decided to go for a walk around Circular Quay as the sun was out and there was plenty of activity. We wanted to find somewhere to get water and a couple of bottles of wine. We found the liquor store which was tiny and we could just get the chair inside!
Photos from Circular Quay
Our cabin window is top row third from the left
We continued around the Quay to where all the cafes were so we could take photos of the Century, and that side was in the shade as the sun was quite intense. There was a chap from A.W.A.R.E. with four assistance dogs raising money for the organisation, which of course we were compelled to check out. One small dog - a long haired Pekingese decided he wanted to be with me! The others were just relaxing on their blankets.
Later while standing under a palm tree and suddenly started getting debris showered onto me - even down the front of my shirt. Moving back out from under we discovered a couple of rainbow lorikeets digging for grubs in the trees and making a real mess. I then noticed a gentleman taking a photo of his wife with the ship in the background so I suggested to Pete he offer to take a photo of them both. He did this and we then stuck up conversation with them. One thing about travelling - be it at home or overseas we enjoy the opportunity to engage with strangers which adds to the flavour of a trip. It transpired he would love to cruise but the attraction of all the food would be his downfall (and he didn’t seem to have an ounce of excess on him) and they were happy to spend the English winters in sunny Sydney
We walked back to the ship and found the queue was much shorter, so we located one of the staff with the departure cards and medical forms to complete so we could embark. As we had been through embarkation before we went up the lift on our own, and through to customs and immigration without a hitch. In fact there was no queue for immigration at all, but when we got to registration there was a bit of a back log, but as I was in the chair we had our own queue. While standing there a lady came up to me and asked if I was Margo - and it was Myra from Sweden with her husband Louie, (From http://www.cruisecritic.com/ a Cruise Critic which I will refer to as CCer’s throughout this Blog) who had joined the Roll Call only a couple of days ago. There must have been 20 plus check-in staff, and the process of checking in and getting our Seas Pass
As it was only 12 noon and the cabins were not ready we headed for the buffet. We were very impressed with the Buffet as it was much nicer and better laid out than on the Diamond. The floors were mostly carpet, so much quieter and genteel. As we were looking where to sit Myra
As the cabins were not to be ready for some time we decided to check the whole ship out, because on the Diamond we never actually did that! We checked out all levels and got our bearings. We found that although the cabin was on Deck 5 we were close to both the forward and central elevators meaning access to most places was easy and quick, especially for dining.
When they announced all the ’Staterooms’ were ready we headed down to check it out and unload the water bottles and wine which was starting to become a pain. So far no bags had arrived. We eventually found the safe - it was a mystery hunt as it was located behind the large desk mirror!
Muster was at 4pm in the Celebrity Theatre at 4, so we wandered along early and listened to the tale end of the Ports Talk. As everyone filed in for Muster we had to identify our cabin and be seated where directed, and being disabled we were at the back of the theatre. This meant we managed to meet up with more CCer’s. Steve and Beth walked down the aisle and I saw Steve say to Beth “that’s Margaret’, and shortly after another couple came up and asked if I was Margaret - it was Bronnie and Stewart from Oamaru. They nearly didn’t make it because of the two earthquakes in Christchurch
Once Muster was completed the theatre was to be dismissed row by row. BUT as we were disabled we were given an early run! So we were off, back to our cabin to see if any bags had arrive. One turned up after about 20 minutes, so we unpacked that. We found the packing cubes fitted nicely into the draws - of which there were plenty. Pete’s nicely folded shirts stayed folded and straight into a draw, as there were not actually that many hangers. TIP If you are set on hanging clothes pack hangers.
As 5pm Sailaway was fast approaching we headed for the meeting place for CC - Sunset Bar on Deck 11. We didn’t have our Santa Hats, as that bag had not arrived, so went without. At the bar we found a lot of the chairs were already ‘taken’. We went over to the smokers’ side and found Beth and Steve had snared a table.
Over the next wee while a good crowd of CCer’s were found and stopped at the table, despite the lack of chairs. There was new members arriving every few minutes, most of us without our Santa Hats or Reindeer Ears, as most had not got their luggage in time. A number of us had put up photos on http://www.cruisefellows.com/, which meant easy identification.
Sailaway Photos
Karen's grandson Chase in full outfit
Sailaway went really well even without the identifying hats and ears! There was lots of laughter and drinking. Amidst this a very distressed Gwyneth and Reg arrived, announcing they had a disaster on their hands as they had lost a video bag containing the video, a camera, all their documents and Spanish money (they are an English couple living in Spain in their retirement). Patty thinking quickly said have you rung the hotel and as Gwyneth didn’t have the number Patty pulled out her Iphone and searched for the hotel and phone number and dialled. Gwyneth spoke to them and asked should they find it would they come back to her. Probably less than half an hour later Patty’s phone rang and they Hotel advised they had found the bag, but Gwyneth and Reg had gone. I had my ship plan with everyone’s cabin numbers, so Patty found a phone and rang them, much to their delight.
Meanwhile Pete had disappeared to see if our bags had arrived. He was gone ages and when he eventually returned he announced he had been called to the "Naughty Room” as he had side cutters ( to cut cable ties) and a spanner and Allen key in case he needed to adjust my chair. The side cutters were confiscated but he managed to let them keep the others. While he was down there, he was actually with Sandra (which he found out later) as she had been summoned. They were having a good laugh as one woman was denying any restricted items, then it turned out she had handcuffs (and she was not young!!!!)
After all the laughter and comparing of stories it was time to disperse for dinner and the evenings activities. There was a mixture of people on Early Late and Select dining, some heading for shows etc. At a little after 7 we headed for dinner and were assigned a table for two, in a good spot, quite close to the entrance.
We had a lovely dinner served by Jimmy Luz and his assistant, whose name I didn’t quite get. They were both very cheerful and attentive without intruding. The meal sizes are good, not too large at all. We both had lamb shanks in filo pastry for a main and banana & blueberry crepes for dessert.
After dinner we decided not to attend any shows. We bumped onto Colin and Patty who had been to the main show and were rather nonplus about it, and they were off to dinner. After such a reaction we decided to return to our cabin to finish unpacking and organising ourselves.
Once completed we turned in for the night, as neither of us had a decent sleep the night before.
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