Day 20/76: Friday, March 20, 2020: Sydney and Home?

Today we head home. Sarah left the ship early for a 11:50 am flight. Maria and I are scheduled to fly out at 9:45 pm this evening. We will have a 16 hour flight to Doha, Qatar with a three hour layover before the second 15 hour leg, arriving in Houston around 4:00 pm Saturday....well, that was the original plan. 

While at breakfast this morning, I overheard another guest say that their flights had been canceled. I went on-line and was able to obtain my boarding pass for the first leg of our trip from SDY to DOH. I got a message from Sarah around 8:30 am saying her flights had been canceled and asked if we could book her on a United flight through SFO leaving at 1:00 pm. We got that done and she successfully made that flight! I suggested to Maria that she should go ahead and check-in and get her boarding pass. We also decided to upgrade the first leg from business class to first class. When Maria went on-line to check-in, she noticed that the second leg of our flight, from DOH to IAH on March 21, had been canceled. They had rebooked us on the same flight on the following day, March 22. 

Bottom line is that we did upgrade our first leg to First Class and we booked a room at the Oryx Airport Hotel in Doha for the 21st. 

We had left our checked baggage outside the cabin last night. Over night, the baggage was taken to the pier. This morning around 9:30 am, we took our passports and immigration form to the pier. There we found our checked bags, handed our forms to an Australian official and handed our luggage to another official before going back on the ship. In other words, a lot of inconsequential processes. We expect to be called to disembark the ship around 4:30 pm at which time we will again collect our checked luggage to put on the bus to take to the airport.

Sarah's new flight arrangements.

As I knew he would, BJ showed up to collect a hug from Maria. Maria promised him a hug last night when she returned from the gym and was sweaty. BJ is staying on-board the ship. They don't know yet where they are going, but BJ will be going with them.

We departed the ship at 4:30 pm and took the 30 minute bus ride to the airport. Upon arrival, we had to wait for the check-in counters to open. It took about an hour. We finally got the counter and the really nice lady, after some work, declared that the booking, that Qatar Airline made for us after canceling the second leg of our trip from Doha to Houston, was invalid!! The reason was that they booked us on the same flight 24 hours later. Well, Qatar will not permit any "transit" travelers to remain in the country for more than 24 hours. Since we were scheduled to arrive at 5:10 am and depart at 8:30 am, the 24 our delay meant we would be in-country for almost 27 hours. YOU CANNOT DO THAT! You would have thought Qatar would have know that before booking us. Anyway, it took another hour for them to change our flights so that we would essentially stay on our original flight schedule, but instead of landing in IAH, we would land in Dallas (DFW). We would then either catch a commuter flight to IAH or drive down to Houston. We took that option and decided we would drive.

Day 19/75: Thursday, March 19, 2020: Sydney dock

We made it to the dock yesterday evening. The only highlight of the day was the trip from the outer harbor to the dock. We ate at La Dame tonight as a bon voyage treat.

We bid a farewell to our Butler, Summit, from India. He was very patient with us.

Tomorrow Sarah will leave early so she can catch her 11:50 am flight. Maria and my flight isn't until 9:45 pm so we will not leave the ship until about 4:30 pm. We have to have our checked luggage out in the hall tonight before 11:00 pm. They will take the luggage down for inspection by the Australian authorities in the morning. We are to report to Immigration at 9:00 am and then return to the ship and wait until we leave for the airport.

Day 18/74: Wednesday, March 18, 2020: Sydney Harbor

As expected, not much happening today. Waiting for tomorrow. I got up and went to the gym, there was no one else there, so I felt safe. It is a nice sunny day.

This afternoon, Sarah has a massage appointment. Tonight we have a last dinner reservation at the La Dame.

Right after lunch, a different Royal Caribbean ship left the dock and sailed out of the harbor.

During the afternoon, they had a sail boat race near us.

At 4:00 pm, Maria and I did three miles around Deck 9 and during that time, a Princess Cruise liner left the dock and harbor. The Captain came on the Pa at 5:00 pm to say that we would begin heading to the dock at 6:00 pm and should be there at 7:00 pm.

Day 17/73: Tuesday, March 17, 2020: Sydney

We should be arriving in Sydney harbor today. We will not dock until perhaps Thursday due to congestion in the port.

We were told that we would probably arrive in the harbor around 1:00 pm.

We saw land for the first time in a week before noon.

The Pilot came out to guide us to our anchorage.

My first view of Sydney. So close, yet...

There was a Royal Caribbean ship already at anchorage. It is the Spectrum of the Seas. It accommodates up to 5,000 guests.

Around 3:00 pm, after we had anchored, our tenders brought a contingent of Australian Immigration officers on board. They screened each of us and collected a questionnaire attesting to our health and compared our appearance to our passports. My agent told me I was making her job difficult due to my beard, new hair style and glasses. I took off my glasses and smiled, that convinced her I was the same old, gray guy shown on the passport photo.

In the evening, a MSC ship passed out of the harbor. It appeared to have guests on board. Don't know where they were docked or where they are headed.

This afternoon, Maria went to the gym. I decided to maintain separation between me and my fellow guests and walked Deck 9 for about 4.5 miles. Maria joined me for the last mile after finishing in the gym.

Our expectation is that we will remain at anchor until Thursday when we will actually dock. We will not be allow to leave the ship until Friday when we are taken to the airport.