April 3, 2018 Airlie Beach- ship cannot tender us ashore due to rough seas

April 3, 2018

Airlie Beach is our second  cruise port. All during this cruise the Captain has been updating us on the weather. It seems that cyclone Iris (category 2)  further south has caught up to us and is causing rough seas.
The harbormaster will not allow the Captain to tender us ashore because it is not safe to travel in the rough seas.

So we have another sea day.
We booked an excursion to a platform  in the Great Barrier Reef so we can go and see the sea life and coral.

Fortunately there are excursions available in the next port, Cairns, and we were able to get on the one tomorrow.

April 2, 2018 sea day

Today is our second sea day.

We spent it wandering on the ship, attending activities and meeting the couple we met on boarding for lunch.

Before dinner the Captain had a reception for Captains' Club members.
We went up to the Skyview lounge and met the Captain and the officers and mingled with other passengers at the cocktail party.

Spent the rest of the day attending activities.

April 1, 2018 first of two sea days- Easter today

April 1, 2018

Happy Easter. Today is Easter and the chef and crew put together a super lunch buffet.

It was so  festive. Next Sunday is Greek Orthodox Easter and hopefully there will be another celebration.

Basket of Greek Easter Breads with eggs

Roast Lamb

When we started cruising with Celebrity in 2006 there was at least one buffet on a sea day. Now the buffets are few and far between.
It was really special to have such a festive Easter on the ship.

Since it is a sea day we attended a few events and just chilled out and rested. We had a hectic schedule since we debarked from the Princess cruise and then the four days in Melbourne.

March 31, 2018 Our first cruise port Newcastle, Australia

March 31, 2018

Newcastle is our first cruise port. We arranged to take an excursion tour -Newcastle sights-of the city today.

Our first stop was the Newcastle Museum. We had an hour to explore the 3 sections of the museum. We went to the historical section and spent most of our time was spent viewing the exhibits which included a restored street car.

http://www.newcastlemuseum.com.au/Home

It was interesting to see the different years of immigration to Australia and the ethnic groups that settled in Newcastle.
Greeks were among the Europeans who settled here in amongst the ones who were affected by WW II.

There was also an exhibit dedicated to the history of the steel industry in Newcastle. The steel factory closed in 1999 and now the main industry is coal and other exports.

Our next stop is the Blackforest Nature Reserve.

It is a small park with native animals on display similar to a zoo. Some of the exhibits were closed.
Only comment I have on this place is lack of signage-no directions nor signs indicating what birds/animals were in the enclosures.

Across the park was a fenced area with kangaroos and wallabies.

Our last stop was at Fort Scratchley which is now a historic site.

https://www.fortscratchley.org.au/
It has a commanding view of the bay.
We have 45 mins to walk around and take photos and see the exhibits in the fort.

Our bus ride back to the ship took us along the bay where there were many restaurants.

Back in time for lunch.

Free time until dinner, evening show and then bed.

The next two days are sea days which will be good- we can rest and be ready for the rest of the ports.