To some extent it seems like yesterday  when we began this adventure  with our family get-together at Disney World.   At the same time lots have taken place since the start of this adventure including the impact from Coronavirus.

Our original plan  was to fly home on  Monday and visit  with  family over  the  weekend.   However, with  the  ever changing  events from the virus  we adjusted our plans  and  travel home today.  

We enjoyed our final day and also got ready  to travel home.  

We have to say the Coronavirus did overtake the close of this adventure.  We made some adjustments and that included pulling up our travel date to return home.  We fly home in a few hours.  At the airport now.

We hope you enjoyed following our Blog and feeling part of our adventure.   We have created memories which will last a lifetime.

In  the end it is the people who make our adventures very special.  This included our time at Disney World with  family, visiting with friends and family on the land portion of this trip, and traveling at sea with friends and making new friendships.  

We thank the wonderful Hotel  and Park team at Walt Disney World who made our family get-away an amazing experience  for the entire family.  

Many  thanks to our Travel Specialist Gerri and to her outstanding team and to the folks on land at Crystal Cruises for all of the assistance they provided  before the start of the adventure.

Special  thanks  to the amazing Crystal  Serenity  team which includes people who  we have known since  our first Crystal Cruise, or on any  number of prior cruises  or those we met for the first time on this voyage.  

Crystal is our favorite cruise line for many reasons with  the top reason being the amazing on-board team on each Crystal Vessel we have sailed.  They are clearly part of our extended family and we adore them.

Let us close with a toast.

Until next time.

​Cheers,

Anne Marie &  Keith

As we mentioned we  are staying at a hotel which is part of the venue where we got married.   The hotel was built  almost 25 years after we married.

After dinner at the hotel, on Wednesday evening  we walked over to where we were married.  We spoke with someone at the facility  and  walked the patio area where  we were married  and where cocktails/canapés were served following the ceremony.   The reception was held inside afterwards.  

Although we  have aged since the wedding our love for one another and for life has only grown with  each passing year.

The ceremony was closer to where the white wall is located.  Although it rained earlier in  the week we were fortunate to have moderate temperatures and  clear skies on our Wedding Day.  

After having breakfast at the hotel and freshening up we took Uber over to a nearby rental car location to pick up a Rental Car.

After picking up the car we drove to the town where Keith grew up.   This included stops at  his childhood house, the  elementary school  he attended, (five minutes walk from his childhood home), his best friends home, the synagogue he and his family attended which is also in walking distance from his childhood home, his Junior and Senior High School connected by adjoining doors, some nearby stores and a neighboring town.   

Certain times of the day we were reminded of the Coronavirus between the Uber driver on the way back from the hotel wearing a mask and the two clerks at a wine shop who were each wearing masks.  

If the weather was warmer we would have spent additional time outside.  Originally we planned to visit some beaches which Keith went to during summer months.  However, with overcast skies it felt too cool to beach hop.  We will save this for another time.

While there has been change since our last visit in the late 1990's and from Keith's childhood, many items do remain the same.   This is true everywhere.  

It was fun going down memory lane.

Cheers,

Anne Marie  &  Keith

After our last post we covered a lot of ground.  Well air  is a better description.

We  were driven from the hotel by  a private service which Emirates arranged for us.   It  is included  with the service  air category we booked.

The driver  was very nice.    We asked him if  the  Coronavirus had impacted the business and he said most definitely.  Today alone there were 40+ cancellations.     When we got inside the airport  and getting closer to the international terminal the  driver said normally  there would be  a major  backup and there were no vehicles ahead of us.  The  airport  seemed strange as it was very quiet and unlike our experience when we flew to and from Sydney in 2017 and flew to Sydney in  2018.

There was no line at the airport  counter and  the person who  checked us in said things were relatively quiet.

Although  we had  priority for  immigration it was probably not  needed.  There was no one ahead of us and the security line was all of two people in front of us.

We  walked to the  Emirates Club Lounge and hydrated with water and had a light snack.  

We took Emirates flights from Sydney to Dubai where we changed flights and flew to JFK Airport in New York.  Our original plan was to spend six days  on Long Island  where  Keith lived before attending University and  we  were married.  We've  revised our plans to return home in a few days.

This was our  first time flying Emirates and we flew first class.  

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These are photos from our first flight.   They use a 380.   We each had our own pod.   The bathrooms were enormous and they include a shower but we didn't reserve it.

A couple of photos from the second flight from Dubai to JFK.

The first flight was full and the second flight was half full with about 90% of the coach seats occupied and 10% of the first and business class seats occupied.

We arrived to the hotel a little while ago.  It is on property adjacent to where we were married and has the same name of the property.  We visited the place where we were married with our own children around 1998 and the hotel did not exist at that point in time.

More tomorrow.

Cheers,

Keith

Before dinner last evening Keith went out on another walk from the hotel,  over  to Circular Quay,  over to the Opera House,  over to  the Royal Botanic  Gardens  and back to the Shangri  La Hotel.  The  Queen Elizabeth was  still in port.

The hotel  provided us with a plate of cheese, crackers,  nuts  and  grapes  and some sparkling Australian Chardonnay.

We enjoyed our  final dinner in Sydney.

After breakfast, we took a walk over to Darling Harbour.  Anne Marie hadn't visited this area.  Keith did on a prior trip to Sydney.  It was a nice walk.   

Today is our last full day  in Sydney although we  don't fly until tomorrow evening.

We enjoyed breakfast at the Club Lounge.

We took Uber over to our family.  This time our driver was from France.   He has lived in Sydney for thirty years.  After a short time as a Pastry Chef in France he worked in this role in England before moving to Australia.  He  was  mainly in this position at  a variety of luxury hotels before retiring.  He  married  twenty years ago a woman from South Korea.  You do learn lots taking Uber.  LOL.

It was raining hard on the way to Mosman.  When we arrived there was a mist and the weather continued to change for the rest of the day from cool to warm, from overcast to sunny, from rain to a mist to nothing.  

When when we arrived  Emma  and Andre were getting  ready to go to school.  Emma drew a face of her Nana on one side of the balloon.  This became apparent when she drew Nana's bangs.  Then  it was Grandad's turn and Emma was generous with the amount of hair she drew.

Then it was off to school.  Jennifer attended an early meeting with other Mother's about the instruments each 3rd grader is learning to play.   

Afterwards we went to a shopping mall since it was rainy. We had lunch  over near Manly Beach and we walked along the beach.   There was a World Surf League competition taking place.  Afterwards,  we walked into some local shops.

All in all it has been a great day.

Cheers,

Anne Marie &  Keith

After returning to the hotel we enjoyed a nice dinner and a  relaxing evening.  

We awoke to rain and after getting back from Breakfast it looked foggy outside.  An hour later the fog cleared and  although cloudy it was much brighter outside.  From our room we could see the Holland Amsterdam and the Seabourn Encore at White Bay.

We didn't  take a photo but we could see the  Ruby Princess  at Circular Quay from the hotel  lounge.

Emma had a birthday party to attend and  Andre and  Gui were going to a morning movie so we stayed in the city and walked to various  areas.  The weather was overcast with some drizzle.

We  had  a  terrific day.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith