Honolulu to Sydney -- Embarkation Day

The Anthem sailed into the port about 6:00 a.m. today (Monday).  Charlie was out on the balcony to get some photos.


We quickly finished our packing and enjoyed one last breakfast in Coastal Kitchen.  The continuing cruisers (over 500 of us) then reported to the top deck to get our new Sea Pass cards.  They were very organized, thank goodness, and it didn't take too long to navigate the maze of lines.  We had to show photos of our passports, then get into another line for the Sea Passes.

From there, we went to the Solarium and found some shady lounge chairs.  When the bar opened, we celebrated the beginning of a new cruise with appropriate beverages.

Charlie walked around the ship and took some pics of Honolulu. You can see that the port is right downtown, surrounded by tall buildings and hotels.



We had lunch reservations at Jamie's Italian, so we headed there about 11:30. We shared the arancini as a starter, then both had the rocket salad.  For my main course, I had the prawn linguine, and Charlie chose Penne Carbonara.  They were both very good!  

Prawn linguine

Penne Carbonara

We've noticed lots of Aussies have joined us for this cruise. There were quite a few on the first one, but there are many more now. I'd love to see the data on nationalities aboard! We've also noticed more school-age kids, so perhaps they're home-schooled.

When we finished lunch, we went to our new room, and thankfully, our suitcases and hanging clothes were waiting for us.  We have now unpacked and feel ready for the next 19 days!  It was easy to unpack, because this room is identical to our previous one, so we knew where to put everything.

When we leave Honolulu, we have five sea days in a row, followed by three port days in various places in French Polynesia. Then there are five more sea days before we get to New Zealand. And, surprisingly (at least to me), there are then THREE sea days to get to Sydney. I somehow thought Australia and New Zealand were near neighbors. We didn't learn much, if anything, about them in school!

More later!


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