12+ hours in the air!

This trip will set some records for us. Longest flight at 12 hours and 40 minutes. Farthest south, Farthest east and farthest west (oddly, you are able to go either way to get to the other). Largest number of days on a single ship (this trip will make it 35 days on the Mercury). Our first (and second) crossing of the Equator. And, of course, first (and second) time crossing the Date Line.

Time flies when you’re having fun! Sitting in a butt-hugging seat with two inches of free space in front of your knees for over 12 hours is not fun and time didn’t fly. It wasn’t as bad as imagined, but it was not a commute one would like to repeat daily. Qantas has the on-demand video in the seat backs, which probably saved our sanity. The food was more than adequate as well. Not five-star by any means, but light-years ahead of pretzels and peanuts. Three movies, a BBC special on the Galapagos, an hour’s sleep and two meals later, we were there!

After a brief and relatively uneventful trip through New Zealand customs, we were met by a cheerful Celebrity Cruise Lines rep who led us to a waiting box truck. We were pretty disappointed with the accommodations until we realized the truck was for our luggage! We dropped off the main mass of our luggage and proceeded to the large and very comfortable motor coach awaiting our arrival. Keep in mind that all of this has taken place before 8:00AM local time…cheerful rep and all! We weren’t going to be able to board before noon and were wondering where they were going to drop us off, but the answer was far better than expected. Celebrity, realizing that US flights land at dark o’clock , had arranged a series of stops on the way to the ship that included a trip to the top of a local peak for a view of the city, a visit to an indoor garden with tea, coffee and snacks and a visit to a very impressive museum. After all that, we were dropped off at the pier and were on board shortly with a minimum of fuss. Sailaway and dinner were pleasant and we turned in early after 30 hours without more than a fitful nap on the plane.

Oblivion.