Voyager of the Seas Australia New Zealand Dec 2012 Embarkation Day

This was our first ever 14 Night cruise, on the Voyager of the Seas (Royal Caribbean), out of Sydney.  Prior to this cruise, we had never been on a 14 Night cruise.  So we were very excited.

Ports and sights we would be seeing included:

i) Hobart (Tasmania)
ii) New Zealand Sounds,
iii) Dunedin (New Zealand)
iv) Port of Tauranga (Rotorua, Thermal Wonderland)
v) Wellington (New Zealand)

We flew to Sydney from Singapore with Scoot (low cost carrier).  Here is the link to the flight review.

This was Embarkation Day.  The ship was docked downtown and would depart that night at 11pm.  Our flight from Singapore was delayed by a couple of hours but we managed to get to the ship in good time.

A slight jam once we got to downtown Sydney.  Took a picture of this fire truck.

Here we are, at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.  It was a beautiful day and the Voyager was waiting for us!

The 138,000 GT Voyager of the Seas is 311m (1,020 feet) long, with 15 decks.  She certainly dwarfed the cruise terminal!

Boarding times were staggered.  However, we got there late, so we breezed through boarding.  We arrived at about 4:30pm.

Here we go!!

8 Dec 2012 sailing date.  This was to be an absolute blast of a cruise.

The gorgeous view from our aft JS balcony.

Look at the size of that balcony!  It would certainly come in very useful during this cruise.

Our Junior Suite.  Home for the next 14 nights.

Day 1 - Cruise Compass.

Captain and senior officers.  Gordon Whatman was a real fun Cruise Director.

Instructions for the Ice Show.

This would be converted to a sofa bed.

After putting down our stuff, it was time to explore the deck and to enjoy the views!

Beautiful views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Lots of sunlight.

The pool area.  The hot tub would be very popular this cruise.

This is towards the front of the ship.

The very famous Sydney Opera House.  She would looked much better at night.

A very iconic building.

The Solarium pool.

It was a Saturday!  What a way to start the weekend.  Yippeee!!

Casino Royale!  Happy to report that I spent zero dollars in the Casino.

Walking through the Casino was fun though.

The casino can't start operations till we get into international waters.

Check out all the cameras, on the ceiling.

I assume these are 25cent machines?

Time for the compulsory drill!

At least we get a great view while waiting!!

Main Dining Room - Dinner Menu on Day 1.

Decided to get some wine to go with my dinner.

We must have ordered this for the kids.

Mac & Cheese for the girl.

Ah, the beef.. for me!

This looks like a hearty piece of fish.

Some chicken salad?

It was time for desserts.  We love Royal Caribbean desserts.

Yummy!  Chocolate Cherry Cake.

We headed to the welcome show after dinner.

Waiting for the show to start.

There is the Cruise Director.

Took a walk outside after the show.  There was still light.  Very pretty.

Oh gorgeous!

Circular Quay.

The Overseas Passenger Terminal.

We had stomach space for some Windjammer supper!

Royal Caribbean allows you to bring on board two bottles of wine per stateroom, to be consumed in your stateroom only.  If you bring the bottle(s) to dinner, there will be corkage fees.  I got this from Sydney airport upon arrival.

It was almost 9pm.  Ship was scheduled to sail at 11pm.

Yes, this was our stateroom - 1394.

On Deck 10.

Went back on deck for a walk.  It was fully dark now.

There is the Harbour Bridge.

There, the Opera House looked so much better at night.

That was Embarkation Day.  Now, we sail!!