Friday 21st May –Ship Ahoy!!!

Thought this day would never arrive. We checked in at the Airport at 8.30am. Others must have arranged their seat allocations online because we couldn’t sit together – I hadn’t thought about that....but its such a short flight, it didn’t matter.Warning: Packing our luggage within the limits allowed for our flight to Sydney with Qantas, became a horror exercise. I tried to book excess baggage online to save 30% but Princess couldn’t provide a Booking Number. Qantas provided all the Booking Numbers, but the booking was simply listed as a group booking for 38 people – no names attached. In the end we were 5kgs over but we weren’t charged. We were warned not to do too much shopping while we were away.



In Sydney we were met by Princess staff and directed to our bus. Before we knew it, we arrived at Darling Harbour Wharf 8 and were looking at the awesome Dawn Princess from our bus window...... We hadn’t labelled one of bags with a Princess tag so had to organise that while the rest of our luggage stayed on the bus to be unloaded directly onto the ship. Following a quick lunch with rellies, Mike and Mary, we checked in at 2.45pm and literally flew through Immigration but I was still feeling hesitant until I put my first foot on that Deck – what a relief......... this is really happening.......

We found our Cabin easily (Deck 9, C505) – squishy but with plenty of cupboard space and drawers. Bathroom is roomier than usual. Our luggage had already arrived in our room and we met Ricco, our Cabin Boy for the next 104 days.. lucky him!!!!!!

Gosh no time to spare – almost as soon as we arrived in our cabin they announced our first compulsory Safety Muster. No time for unpacking – when the alarms rang, we grabbed our lifejackets and headed to our allocated Muster Area.
Then a quick change of clothes and off to the top Deck for our departure from Sydney at 5pm. Sailaway Champagne Party begins at 4.30pm – can’t possibly describe our feelings here – so exciting but at the same time some sadness that we will not be seeing our family or our home for such a long time.
On deck, the Band, ‘’Derringer’’ was playing but as well, a Brass Band was playing on the Wharf. The Captain sounded the Ship’s horn (sends shivers down your spine) and all of a sudden we realised we had pulled away from the dock. We could see the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and this would the first time we had sailed under it. We make it with inches to spare - a very BIG AAARRRRRR!!!!! moment. As we continued past the Opera House, typical Sydney rain poured down.
Dawn Princess Dining
This is the first cruise where we have been allocated a specific dining preference -1st Sitting at 5.30pm in the Venetian Restaurant, Table 126. We prefer Freestyle Anytime Dining. Tonight we will have no chance of making that 5.30pm schedule. Instead we head to the buffet area, Horizons Court. We have already decided only to use our dedicated Dining Time occasionally although the people at our table are good company – all doing the entire 104 day cruise – 2 couples from Sydney and one couple from WA - all about our age. After dinner we headed to the Princess Theatre to see the Trevor Knight Show – Instrumentalist, Singer, SongWriter, Horse Whisperer.

Seas are remarkably smooth –Capt Todd McBain is managing well because we wouldn’t know we are moving. Now we have 5 days at sea to settle into our new home.......

Time to leave Melbourne.....

And loving my tidy pantry – No food = No Cooking


It is not easy to leave you home for such a long time but the anticipation of what awaits us over the next 104 days is almost too much to imagine. We booked in March/April 2009 so we have had a long time to plan and research the 42 ports we will be visiting. Information sharing has been the name of the game for so many months. Through the Cruise Critic website and Sheree’s blog, we have learnt much, not only about the exciting ports we will be visiting, but also about our new life aboard the wonderful Dawn Princes
Ray booked the 1.30pm Airport Bus and our neighbour very generously, offered to take us to the bus stop. A huge relief because the taxi service here can be unreliable.
Our flight to Sydney departed at 10am so we decided to stay at the Mantra, near the Airport, on Thursday night. Very happy with our choice here – the Mantra is located about 5-10 mins from the Airport but they have a great shuttle service and it is quieter than the hustle and bustle of the airport.. Our room was very comfortable – big King bed and pillows to match. We ate in the Restaurant – huge servings, and our deal included a buffet breakfast – not that we would need that with 104 days of gluttony ahead. The Bar area was popular with guests as well as locals.