Monday, November 25th ....

It's Day 3 and we're well into the Cruise. After a very stressful beginning to our holiday it's great to feel so relaxed. We had booked to fly to Sydney on the 9.25am flight from Launceston, arrive in Sydney by 11, short train trip the Quay and book in by lunchtime for a 7pm departure. I just ignored the gentle whispers from Marilyn that she would rather travel the night before and stay overnight in Sydney. What could go wrong?

It was the 6am text from Jetstar which set the cat among the pigeons. Your flight has been delayed until 1.10pm, arriving in Sydney about 3pm. All of a sudden, we were cutting it fine. I rang Jetstar, spoke to a nice girl in Manila who booked us on a flight at 11.20. This wasn't on the schedule but she assured me it was genuine and that was that. Not good enough, said Marilyn, we need to go the airport, now.

As you can imagine, the airport was packed with delayed passengers trying to get organised, but we did manage to discover we were still booked on the 1.10, which was now 1.50 and could even be later. The 11.20 is only going to Melbourne, anyway. Blood pressure is rising. Marilyn is saying: We should have .... Doesn't help.

However, here we are. Everything was all right in the end; there was an earlier flight and we were in our cabin by 4.30. The ship didn't leave until nearly 9 so we had nothing to worry about.

The ship is spectacular. I was ready not to like it - too big, too brash, too American but my fears were unjustified. The indoor promenade is wonderful, the atmosphere is great and all is good. We are booked in to the Carmen dining room which is the bottom level of a three-tier dining complex. The food is great, drinks not too expensive and plenty of things to do.

Last night, we saw one of the best shows we've ever seen. The Boys in the Band sing songs from the Four Seasons, Beatles, Bee Gees and any other boy groups you can imagine. It is fantastic, reminiscent of The Jersey Boys show, with the extra benefit of the other groups. I particularly loved the tight choreography, very stylised and slick.

After that, we ended up in the Schooner Bar and listened to a pianist, Katia, until the early hours. I thought she was Russian but she was as Australian as you or me, or maybe even more than me. She took requests and played Khe San and It's a Long Way to the Top with no trouble. I requested Piano Man and something from Adele. Wow! Her versions were unbelievable. She played Skyfall brilliantly and had to play it again, so many people enjoyed it. She's already getting a regular following and we certainly intend to spend our evenings in that bar.

It's raining outside but we are reclining in comfort, enjoying the lack of responsibility. Life is good.