Day 4 (Thursday 20th December 2024) at sea and heading to Napier NZ

 We woke up to find the ship at sea and moving in the right direction for New Zealand. 

The Captain informed us over the public address system that we had been delayed out of Sydney due to the Sydney harbour master closing the port due heavy swells at the heads leading out to the ocean. He also added that two passengers had been evacuated due to medical emergencies which further delayed the ship while ambulances took the two separate medical emergencies to further medical care. As a consequence, the ship had cancelled our scheduled stop at Picton. This was disappointing but can’t be helped given circumstances and we got refund for our excursion to the Aviation Museum. Cos will need to return to New Zealand another time to visit the museum.(Ahh shucks)We also gain another sea day, which makes us a little sad as we enjoy cruising for the port visits not so much the ship experience. Fortunately the ship is huge, so plenty to explore and enjoy. 

Fortunately plenty to see and eat, so for lunch we tried speciality Japanese restaurant which was very enjoyable.

 We spent most of afternoon resting after such large lunch. At dinner time we tried to catch up with some of Facebook group that we have been linked to. No luck, when we were there they were not and vice versa. We then went to the theatre to enjoy comedian and singing act of “Mercury rising” by a Freddie Mercury impersonator. Very entertaining!

We then attended Dinner at the speciality restaurant (an American steakhouse) called Chops Grilled. Amazing and tasty food, well worth the visit and extra dollars. We then walked off our dinner before ending our day at the Vintage wines bar. A restful and pleasant day.

Finally we discovered that the ship handles rough seas well. You can tell drunks on the ship because they walk in straight line while the rest of us zigzag and stagger around as the ship ploughs onto towards New Zealand.