We left our cabin this morning about 5:45, knowing the morning was going to be interesting. All of the passengers leaving early had very different experiences. It felt like because we didn’t book the excursion with Viking, that we were now chopped liver. The exceptional customer service we experienced on the ship abruptly ended. We rolled our luggage down a flight of stairs, went into the cruise ship terminal, where they told us we had to ensure our names were on the list. And thank god they were. There weren’t any taxis, so we found someone to call one for us.

What are your thoughts on when good customer service ends? Nordstrom uses the power of its fantastic customer service to remain a strong competitor in the retail space. They accepted a return for tires. They don’t sell tires. Maybe I’m expecting too much of Viking Ocean, holding them to Nordstrom’s standards. There were too many bumps in this cruise that I will not do another Viking Ocean cruise. River Cruised is a different animal.

We checked our bags, and I went through security without any trouble. But poor MyLisa had scissors in her carry on causing her to check it. We ran into Ruth and mom, and the three hour flight went well.

When getting off the flight, we could feel the hot and humid air. MyLisa said it reminded her of Louisiana. Cairns is located on the east coast in North Queensland. They have 2 seasons here – wet and dry. We are here in the rainy season, which lasts for January to April. It rained multiple times today. It felt odd for north to be hotter. It would be like driving from New York to Miami, just in another hemisphere.

Our Airbnb was not far from the airport. We couldn’t access it yet because of the cleaners. We hung out in the reception lounge, looked at flyers for more snorkeling tours, and planned our afternoon. The apt is lovely. Check it out if you want to see the listing. We are right next to the Cairns Botanical Gardens and a new Chinese Friendship Garden.

This is feeling like a rather boring post, and well our day was uneventful. We had a delicious lunch at a seafood market within walking distance. We didn’t eat the “bugs” in the photo. At first I thought they were crabs but they called them Moreton Bay Bugs, which made them much less appealing. But they are more like a flathead lobster, so now I’m disappointed I didn’t try it. We went to IGA to buy a few things. Tomorrow we leave early for an all day catamaran reef tour. Wish us luck with the weather.