New Years Pacific Sun Review

Hey everyone...... as you know we're back and now am finally settling down to start on my review.

In the meantime, my daughter has put together some pics at http://girlscruisingpacificsun.piczo.com and if you click on each 'title' it will take you to more pics.

I'll be back soon with the first part of my review.....

xx ;)

Good to see you back around Liz. Was getting concerned that you may have been a stowaway!!:p

PS Wonderful photos too!!

Here goes....

Ok, so after an early night (;) Lesson well learnt) I woke up at around 4.30am totally beside my self with excitement. Before I knew it everyone was up jumping around and screaming. We just couldn't believe that our day had finally arrived. We had our limo booked for 9.00am and it seemed it would take forever but the time flew and before we knew it our beautiful 'ride' arrived. Armed with a bottle of champers we jumped in and had a great trip up (probably the only time I wished for a traffic jam on the way to Brisbane!). As we rounded the bend we got our first glimpse of the Pacific Sun - screams of joy were probably heard for miles as we headed towards her.

We honestly thought we were going to be wayyyyy early (we arrived at around 10ish) and thought we would have plenty of time to grab a coffee and look around the port but NOPE, first queue was checking our luggage in, then told to join another queue to go through the customs area - even though the queue was really long, once you got there it was a VERY straight forward procedure. We all had our sea sickness meds first thing that morning and my friend (Bel) and I were feeling no pain having had a couple of glasses of champers on the way and my youngest daughter Tayla who I had given Phernergon was having trouble staying awake through the whole process - funny now but at the time it wasn't. We were in the queue getting more and more excited and all she wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep. But she soon got her energy back!!!!

Anyways it just seemed like we were being pushed through all of these queues and totally not knowing what the heck was going on and whether or not we would be going back out to have a look around the Port of Brisbane, so it was a huge surprise to us when we were told 'nope you're on your way to the ship!'. In all the excitement I almost missed claiming my GST ($300) from the teeny weeny desk that is just before you get on the ship but got that done and then we were in the final queue with the beautiful Pacific Sun in our sights.

When you go through Customs they take your credit card details and give you your cruise cards (your life line for the entire cruise) and then as you board the ship you have to insert it into this machine and they take your photo - this is how they identify you for the rest of the cruise when you get on and off going to each of the ports.

More soon...

haha your girls are such posers! Reminds me of myself when i was younger actually lol

When you board you enter the lobby area and from there you are directed to your cabins.... let me tell you (in my opinion) photos do not do this beautiful cruise ship justice! It was so beautiful - no it wasn't perfect but to me that just gave it a wonderful character. Anyways, we found our cabin and were pleasantly surprised. It was bigger than I had imagined, not huge by any stretch of the imagination but not totally cramped. We met our cabin stewards - nice guys. They informed us that P&O don't allow children under the age of 9 to sleep on the top bunk and I had to sign a piece of paper to validate that I understood. He then went on to tell me (wink wink nudge nudge) that the rule is not enforced it is just a precaution. So of course she slept in the top bunk.

After checking out every nook and cranny of the cabin and yes ladies there is plenty of hanging space - we didn't have any trouble fitting ALL of our clothes in and storing our suitcases under the beds, we were off to explore the ship - oh my gosh what fun. I seriously thought we would NEVER be able to find our way around - it seemed so HUGE. I found the Shark Shack and registered my daughter - she wanted to stay there immediately it looked like so much fun but at that stage it was registration only. So after that we got our first drink and found our way to the top deck - before we knew it, it was time for sail away - where on earth had the day gone!!!!! So there we were, leaving the Port of Brisbane on the adventure of a lifetime - my eldest daughter Paige just couldn't believe that we were moving and wasn't convinced until she (politely) managed to push through all of the people and see everyone waving from port side and yep it was confirmed we were definitely moving and then the sound that we had been waiting for ............ the wonderful sound of the horn! It gave me goosebumps and we were jumping up and down still unable to believe that we were on board and leaving.

After a bit more exploring it was back down to the cabin to quickly unpack and freshen up to get ready for our first dining experience. Ok, so for those of you who haven't been on the Sun, finding the way to your dining room is a bit of an experience first off - especially when you have no clue how to get around - you have to go up the the level above and then walk across and then go back down the stairs - this took us many days to get the hang off hahahaha anyways, we found it and had our 'squirt squirt' of hand disenfectant and were shown to our table. We had a great table (just the four of us) and our waiters were sooooo wonderful and so very very funny - we loved them and wanted to bring them both home with us. The food was great - good size portions so that you can have a taste of entree, main and desert without feeling overly full. They were great and served Tayla (my youngest) quickly so I was able to run her up to the Shark Shack for play time and then came back to enjoy my main course. After dinner we found our way to the Terrace Lounge where they had the band playing - they were terrific the whole entire cruise and there we learnt that my 14 year old daughter was going to be a bit out of her depth in regards to all of the attention from all of the guys that were on board. Let me tell you ...... this cruise ship was PACKED with guys aged between 18 - 25 and if you were a single girl in that age group, you would have had a blast - apparantly the ratio was 11 guys to every 1 girl!!!!!

We had only been sitting down for a few minutes (waiting for teen registration) when a guy came and sat down next to Paige - we asked how old he was (23) and we quickly informed him that Paige was only 14! He couldn't believe it and neither could half the male population on board (oh my gosh - what have I got ahead of me!!!!!) anyway, we thought it was pretty funny and she's a good girl and saw the funny side of it - in fact it was an ongoing joke the whole entire cruise with many of these young guys!

Anyways, we soon scuttle her off and registered her in teen club - I was so proud at how she handled it. I would have been pretty intimidated walking in there (knowing how everyone checks each other out in that sort of situation) but she just held her head high and walked in and was quickly making friends and telling me to leave hahahaha. So off Bel and I went to explore some of the night life which was great and then I was off to pick up Tayla and go back to the cabin for a good nights sleep - although I didn't sleep until Paige got back - she had a midnight curfew and wasn't late once!

Welcome home Liz!! love your photos, you all look gorgeous and loving the review so far:)

Chez

xx

Hi Liz,

Loving your review and the way you write!! Also loved your photos. It certainly looks like you had a fabulous time, as did your daughters!!

Sarah

Hi Liz,

Welcome home!! I was wondering when we would hear from you. Sounds like you had a ball. Keep it coming.

Karen

Welcome home Liz!

Loving your review so far!

Your website and photos look great :D:D

Great reading Liz

Im so glad you and your daughters had a great time.

You were lucky your eldest returned on time every night!

That brought back fond memories of me lecturing my miss 15 that if she didnt stop nagging me about being able to stay out till 2am like all her other new mates- I would leave her at home on the next cruise!

WELL GUESS WHAT ! :eek:

I have just booked cruise number 2 and its just DH and I! :D

The look on her face was priceless when she was told we were going without her and soon to be miss 4.

Hey liz,

glad you had a good time. we looked for you- not that we knew who to look for ;) , but went through your pics and do remember seeing you around the ship. Also we defiantly remember the blue and white stripped bikini- cause we loved it:) . looking forward to more of your review.

Hi, just read all that, great stuff. One thing I was worried about was having my 14 yo return 'home' alone to the cabin at night, after teen stuff.

what do you all think? (especially in light of what you said about all those guys!!) tonip

Im a bit worried now... I have the responsibility of my friends 14 year old (aswell as my own) well I suppose she will be responsible for her..but she is sharing our cabin... I hadnt thought of needing to give a curfew until I started reading on here all the teen activities go way past my bedtime!!!

I think though mine would run a mile if a boy actually spoke to her (she goes to a girls school) am a bit worried mine might be a bit ÿoung"for the teens on the cruise now...

LIZ!!! Absolutely loving the review - and the photos look great too!:D

Can't wait to hear more .... keep it coming!

Liz enjoying the review and photos.

Your daughter done a good job of putting the photos together, nice setup.

Don't keep us in suspense, where is the next installment :D

Ian