Living Nerdy in Sydney

The Voyager of the Seas first maiden journey was in 1999. The ship then underwent extensive refurbishment in 2014. During this refurbishment, the 3 old dining rooms were combined and renamed into the Sapphire Dining Room. We had the pleasure of sailing on her during her 2015 Christmas cruise - 18 - 29 December 2015. We sailed from Sydney, Australia to New Zealand. The Sapphire Main Dining Room is a 3-storey dining room located on decks 3 to 5 aft of the vessel. The dining room is beautifully decorated with a chandler in the middle. There is a beautiful cascading staircase in the middle too. There are tables ranging from 2 seats to a large oval 10-seater table. Tables are covered with beautiful white linen table cloth and leather upholstered chairs. Sapphire Dining Room - Christmas Lunch The Sapphire Dining Room serves all 3 main meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast Breakfast time varies depending on the time the ship ports for on-shore days and at-sea days. ...

I work in a place where someone dies almost everyday. It can be the old grand mother, or be the brother who have fought a long hard battle with cancer, or be the young school girl killed by a errant motorist or be the baby born stillborn. I do admit that I get a little numb by it. But once in a while when someone I know dies, it does hit me like truck. Death. This can mean so many things to different people at different times. When losing a loved one, death = the painful separation, knowing that you won't see them any longer in this world. When a young person dies, death = lots of unanswered questions of why this had to happen. When someone is murdered, death = a very unfair situation. When someone who killed your kin you is put to death, death = just retribution. When that molester/ rapist who has haunted you for years dies, death = a huge relief. When someone you have cared for painfully for many years dies, death = a big bag of mixed emotions. When s...