WE'RE BACK.. Pacific Sun N518- Paradise Daydream

[Kazza1]

Hi everyone

 

We are back from our cruise and trip to Surfers Paradise.

Just a quick hello and to say "The cruise was the best holiday we have ever had".:D

 

Regards

Kazza

[kaseyoz]

a very warm welcome back to you and your family. so glad you managed to have the best holiday ever in spite of the rocky start. will you be doing a review or can i ask another couple of questions.

now do your kids go back to school for a week before the holidays begin or are they still on holidays....lol.

cheers karon

[Kazza1]

Hi Kaseyoz

 

I will be doing some sort of review (when I get the chance), but you can ask any question you want.

Brought home menu's, kids club daily activities, Sun daily newsletter etc.....

My boys go to a Private School and they started 3 weeks holidays today. They were so occupied on the cruise that they will find the next 3 weeks boring.

 

Kazza

[olympin]

Hi

So glad to hear you had an excellent time. I enjoyed your postings when I was trying to find out anything about the fate of the Pacific Sky.

What did you miss out on Island wise with the re scheduled cruise.

I presume you got a couple of extra days with cold weather before hitting NZ.

Did you find your kids tired of the onboard activities or were they occupied almost every minute.

Were there many kids on board with a pre school holiday cruise.

Was there any mass sickness like flu amongst the passengers.

I am now hanging out for our 28th of July sailing on Pacific Sky ex Auckland now its out on the ocean not tied up any more.

They even started advertising again on the Radio again today so maybe the bad news is behind us. God I hope so.

 

Bye All

[olympin]

Oh yes how do you add that countdown to your postings.

Thanks

[Whoey]

Welcome back Kazza :) :) :)

 

So the boys loved it - excellent...

 

please please do a review when you get the time... dying to hear about it all !

[Mike085]

hey kazza!

 

I was on the same cruise =) how beautiful is Isle of pines!

 

Did you spend any time in Auckland?

[Kazza1]

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in returning your questions, but I have had a problem with the internet for the past 3 days.

 

Olympin

The ports we missed out on were :( Mystery Island, Villa, Lifou and Emerald Bay. We stopped a Noumea and the beautiful Isle of Pines. My husband took our 10yr old snorkeling for the first time at Isle of Pines. He couldnt believe how white and powder soft the sand was, how the water was such a beautiful colour and all the fish. He said "that was the best day EVER".

The kids were never tired of the activities onboard. They received a Shark Shack and Pelican Bay activity sheet every night to see what was on for the next day and they also had theme days the same as the adult theme nights (PJ, Island and superhero). On the days at sea they have so much for the kids to do. The kids club has a limited amount of positions for each age group and Im sure they were all full.

There was no mass FLU sickness on board (they are very hygenic) but, there was a lot of SEA sickness (I know because my son and I were two of the many people down at the doctors getting an injection and medicine).

If you do get sea sick and start vomiting, the injection is a wonder needle.

HINT: If you have kids take a bottle of Phenergan. If a child vomits in the kids club you MUST take them to the doctors ($95.00) and the doctor will give them Phenergan (which astranauts use to stop motion sickness) and the child is not allowed back to the club untill the doctor send an "all clear" email. 5ml every morning will prevent sickness and a costly doctors visit.

The site were I got the countdown is not available at the moment as it has been "SPAMMED". There is some people on cruise critic that use a picture countdown from www.tickerfactory.com

Hope everything goes well for your cruise on the 28th. Was disappointed when we got back to hear that the people on N519 not only had their cruise shortened, got changed to the Pacific Sky after booking on the Pacific Sun, but then had their trip cancelled at the last minute. Hope it doesnt put them off cruising on the Pacific Sun.

 

Whoey,

Will do a review when I get everything together. Might get my brother to help me put a site together. If your boys are anything like mine, they will love the cruise. The two youngest were very upset on the way to Auckland Airport and kept asking "can we go back to the ship now?" The 4yr old didnt understand and started crying. Even when we were leaving Surfers Paradise he said "are we leaving this Island now and going back on the boat?". My 10yr old made lots of friends and by the time we got home he already had Emails from the girls:D .

 

Mike085,

Isle of Pines was gorgeous. Forgot to take an underwater camera though:rolleyes: We didnt stay in NZ. We used the refund money to fly to Gold Coast, stay in a kids resort for 5 nights and take them to Sea World and Dream World.

One of the girls at our dinner table went bungie jumping in NZ. The bungie people miscalculated her weight and instead of stopping 1m short of the water, she went into the water and hit her hands on the rocks and broke her hand.

 

Suuz,

Dont know about you, but we were so busy the night before and the morning of disembarking (We were the first group to get off) that we didnt get that photo of the boys together. I did get a photo of you in the show (a bit blury because of movement). Hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.

Speak to you soon

 

 

Regards

Kazza

[kaseyoz]

thanks for the info kazza.

here are my questions, but as we dont leave until sept,please dont feel you have to reply straight away.we did actually look at sailing this holidays instead of sept as my kids also have 3 weeks off now but decided the weather may be warmer in sept. In some ways i am glad we did wait with all the stress you all have faced with this cruise.

 

1. My kids drink a lot of water, is that available free of charge or do you have to pay.

 

2. i love my early morning cup of tea. Can i get "room service" for early breakfast and then still go down for the main breakfast with my family, or is it one or the other. i can take my little burco boiler if necessary.

 

3.i think the pacific sun/sky are a lot less formal than the american cruises, what did you dress your kids in for night time. I have a 12 nearly 13 year old tomboy who hates dresses.

again thanks for any help.

cheers karon

[carlabruno]

Hi guys, so glad to hear these positive accounts of the cruise on the Pacific Sun. My family were booked for our 1st cruise-the N519 which was shortened and then cancelled with not much notice. My son was going to have his birthday onboard and cried his eyes out when he found out it was cancelled. :( I was able to rebook for the 14th July N521, but I have to admit I was feeling a bit "over it all". So much excitement and so much let down!

But now after reading your postings I am beginning to get excited again. Thanks guys!

[suuz]

Sorry I have been a bit slow in getting back on I have been having trouble getting out of holiday mode with the kids being on school holidays as soon as we got back.

Kazza when I was going through my photo's I discovered I had a photo of Jake & Blake from the coketail party so Jake has one to remember blake from he would like to keep in touch with Blake if he likes by email. Josh and Adam enjoyed themselves so much Josh has already decided we are going on another one next year. It would have been nice to get a photo of all of you but I was busy the night before and morning as well.

Our first day in New Zealand didn't go to well after checking into our hotel we went to get our hire car and they tried to charge us again for it thankfully I got that sorted out but it put a bit of a downer on the day. Rotorua was absolutely wonderful I am glad I got to see it we also ran into anither family there from the ship. Unfortunately the sulphur air did'nt agree with Josh and he had an allergic reaction it knocked him around for a couple of days.

Even with the change from 11 days to 7 days I still enjoyed the cruise the 11 days would have been wonderful I loved Isle of Pines and so did the kids I wish I had known you could go on a tour of the village before we got there as I would have bought some money with me to do it the kids thought swimming at the beach was wonderful.

I better get going now

regards

Suuz

[Kazza1]

Kaseyoz

 

There is free water, ice, OJ and coffee/tea available from machines in the outback grill where the self serve buffet breakfast and lunch is.You can have room service and go to the main breakfast with family aswell. We didnt go to the restaurant for breakfast or lunch so Im unable to tell you what it was like. Coffee, tea and pasteries are available from 6.00am till 7.00am then breakfast buffet is also available from 7.00am till 11.00am. Open sitting breakfast in the Bordeaux restuarant is from 7.30am till 9.30am.We went to the buffet because variety was huge and it didnt matter what time you went. We also met "Latif" who is a really nice waiter that absolutly adored the kids. Every day for breakfast and lunch he would come and find the kids to talk to them, see how they were, show them tricks and teach them how to make things out of napkins. He knew all our names and remembered everything they liked. Lunch start 30min after breakfast finishes. Outback buffet lunch is from 11.30am till 3.00pm, Pizza corner (no charge at lunch) is from 11.30am till 2.00pm and Hamburgers out by the back pool (no charge at lunch) is from 11.30am till 2.00pm. Open sitting lunch in the Bordeaux restuarant is from 12.00noon till 4.00pm. Afternoon tea in the Burgundy restaurant is from 3.30pm till 4.00pm. Childrens dinner is at 5.00pm in the Bordeaux restaurant. My boys had another waiter (Dodi) who adored them. Every night when we took the boys to dinner, a glass of milk was waiting for my 5yr old. Dodi had overheard him say that he didnt like the juice. He would also come and sit down with the boys to talk to them and show them tricks. The matre de showed them how to make a rose from a paper serviette. Not sure if teenagers go to childrens dinner or have dinner with parents. We saw a few teenagers at first sitting with parents (6.15pm).

The kids didnt really get dressed up for dinner because they were in the kids club till dinner time and went straight back to the kids club so we could get ready for dinner. The kids have the same theme nights as the adults (except Formal).They would go to the kids clubs in PJs for PJ party night, tropical shirt for Island night and they made masks during the day to wear for super hero night. On formal nights (if your "tomboy" daughter dines with you) she doesnt have to wear a dress. Its not that formal and some people just came in smart casual.

I was told the other day that you can get Phenergan tablets for adults and teenagers. As I mentioned the other day, if you think you might get sea sick, go to the chemist and buy some.

 

Regards

Kazza

[Kazza1]

Carlabruno

 

So glad you rebooked on N521. You lose 1 night and 1 port but you will now be going to Isle of Pines:D It is sooo beautiful. You will have a fantastic time.

How old is your son? He must have been heart broken that he wasnt going to be onboard for his birthday. My sons cried when they couldnt get back on the ship at Auckland.

 

regards

Kazza

[Kazza1]

Hi Suuz

 

I also have photos from the coketail party (not very good ones though). When they were doing the limbo, Josh was behind Reiley and Adam was behind Joel in line, so they are in the photos together. Jake can email Blake at ozcoast1@bigpond.net.au . Blake had 3 girls that said they liked him and he has already received emails. Our boys got on really well. Which beach at Isle of Pines were you swimming at? We went to the sacred rock and Rob taught Blake how to snorkel. It didnt take long and Blake was out near the back of the rock. He said it was the best day ever and that it was like swimming in an aquarium. He also liked the powder soft sand. I didnt know about the tours on Isle of Pines either. On the way back in the tender boat a couple of ladies were talking to us and they had been on the tour. They said the drivers didnt speek english but the tour to the village was fantastic and it was the best money they had spent. (will remember that for next time)

Before we left we had picked a cruise next April to go again for Robs birthday and used this cruise as a test run. As soon as we got back we went and saw our travel agent and talked about going on the longer Fiji cruise in August:D . Our transfer and flight from NZ was run very smoothly by P&O. They chartered a Quantas plane and we got in business class. The kids loved it. Fully remote control seats, TV screens that came out of the armrests, kids travel packs, yummy lunches and magnum icecreams. They were so spoilt.

Its a pitty Josh took a reaction to the sulfur. Its not nice when you have had a great holiday and it has ended with you not feeling well.

Did you get to see Lisa Crouch perform? We missed the first performance but caught the end of her second performance. She had a beautiful voice. Tried to buy her CD for my mum but she had sold out the day before. She told us that we could purchase her CD through her websit www.lisacrouch.com.au . I looked at her tour dates and she is doing a cabara show at one of the local clubs on 8th Aug. Im going to take my mum to see her.

 

Better go. Talk to you soon. Let me know when/if you have picked a cruise for next year.

 

Regards

Kazza

[kaseyoz]

thanks so much kazza for all the infornation you have given me. I seem to get more excited the more info i find out.

sounds like you and suuz had an amazing time.

enjoy the rest of the holidays. Have you got your land legs back yet?

cheers karon

[Kazza1]

Kaseyoz

 

After having the phenergan injection I didnt even feel like I was on a ship. The boys and I didnt get the wobbly boot feeling on the ship or when we got to land. My husband (who went on for a year about how he was GOING to be sick) didnt get sick, but felt the ship moving and walked from side to side down the hallways. He didnt have his land legs at Noumea and when we were at Surfers Paradise I would always walk behind him down the long hallway to our room laughing at the way he would swayed from one side of the hallway to the other:p . Just tonight he said he was feeling a little bit dizzy.

 

Regards

Kazza

[Whoey]

Kazaa1,

 

I cant email you at the moment, keeps failing for some reason..?

 

Can you please supply your current email again...

 

thanks,

 

Whoey.

[Kazza1]

Hi whoey

 

Thanks, I thought something was wrong with my email as messages have just stopped.

email address is ozcoast1@bigpond.net.au

If you have trouble again please let me know.

I have taken a copy of the kids club newsletters for you.

 

Will go now and investigate WHAT is going wrong....:confused:

 

Regards

Karen

[carlabruno]

Carlabruno

 

So glad you rebooked on N521. You lose 1 night and 1 port but you will now be going to Isle of Pines:D It is sooo beautiful. You will have a fantastic time.

How old is your son? He must have been heart broken that he wasnt going to be onboard for his birthday. My sons cried when they couldnt get back on the ship at Auckland.

 

regards

Kazza

 

Hi Kazza,

my son turned 7...the folks at P&O said that they were happy to have a birthday cake for him on the new cruise, even though it will be two weeks after his birthday, which I thought was nice. He's very excited again!

I have a 4 year old girl as well, on our original cruise they could both be in the same kid's club, but now because my son turned 7 I think they have to be in seperate kid's clubs.

Are the kids well looked after in the clubs? I know from your posts that it sounds like your kids had such a great time, but if you have any little tips I'd love to hear them!

Oh do we have to bring our own beach towels for the island trips?

8 days to go:)

thanks and best regs,

Carla

[girl05]

Hi Kazza,

Sounds like you and your family had a nice time on your cruise:)

Did you go on any shore tours? if so would you recommend going on them?

Also do you have any other tips?

I'm a first time cruiser and will be going on a cruise next Feburary.

Thanks:)

[Kazza1]

Carla

 

The kids are well looked after in the kids clubs. We found that most of the crew just adore kids (probably because they dont see thier family for 12 months at a time). There was one staff member that has not seen his newborn baby and wont till she is nearly 1. Just turning 7, your son will be best suited in the shark shack (7-12yr olds). Shark shack is also split into age activities (7-9 and 10-12yr olds).

Below is a sample of the days activities for 16/6/05

 

Shark Shack - 7-9yr olds kids club activities

PIRATES DAY

9.00am - c'mon mates up to the shack! Prizes for the best pirates hat & eye patch

Playstation - soccer 2005, Crash bandicoot and Athens 2004

Face painting - Buccaneer or funky

10.30am - Autograph hunt - find someone who has been to U.K …etc...first team back with most signatures wins

11.00am - Dodgeball out on the deck - girls V's boys

12.00md - CLOSED FOR LUNCH

2.00pm - T-shirt painting - come and paint a shirt to take home ($10.00) OR

Cartoon classics, Playstation & table hockey

3.30pm - Ship wreck hunt - lets do the HOKEY POKEY before your clue melts

4.15pm - Bridge tour

5.00pm - CLOSED FOR DINNER

PJ EVENING

5.30pm - Put on your PJs & c'mon up to the shack. Get ready for an action packed evening

6.15pm - Lets all go to the OZ bar for a disco party - prizes for the best PJs & for the limbo champion

MOVIE TIME

7.00pm - "The Incredibles" showing in the Oz nightclub

8.30pm - Beach burris, sing star, playstation, poison ball, Hockey, skip bo, gizmos gears & trouble

10.00pm - CLOSED

Childminding service - 10.00pm to 1.00am (charges apply)

 

 

 

 

Pelican Bay - 3-6yr olds kids club activities

 

PIRATES DAY

9.00am - Decorate your very own pirates hat with the pirates parrot

Pirates treasure chest

Face painting

10.30am - musical chairs

pirate statues

11.00am - Lets paint the pirates back deck - loads of fun outside

11.30amCaptain feathersword & the wiggles - dancing

12.00md - CLOSED FOR LUNCH

2.00pm - T-shirt painting - come and paint a shirt to take home ($10.00) OR

Pirates playdough

3.15pm - Cartoon crack-ups - lets kick back & relax

3.30pm - Deck play - c'mon pirates lets head on out to the back deck

Water canal, balls, Hula hoops & more will be out for loads more fun

5.00pm - CLOSED FOR DINNER

PJ EVENING

5.30pm - Its PJ night - come dressed in your pyjamas

create a bananas in pyjamas door hanger

tools out on workbench & cook up a feast on the BBQ

6.15pm - Circle time

MOVIE TIME

7.00pm - "sharks tale"

8.30pm - relax and sweet dreams to soft music

10.00pm - CLOSED

Childminding service - 10.00pm to 1.00am (charges apply)

 

 

On port days the kids clubs dont open till 5.30pm after dinner. (these are the more relaxing days).

 

Breakfast

Boys wanted to go straight to clubs after breakfast

3 hours to do as you pleased

2 hours to have lunch with the kids, let them have a sleep or go for a swim

2.00pm the boys wanted to go back to the clubs

3 hours to do as you pleased - just be aware that when childrens dinner time comes at 5.00pm it gets very hectic to shower the kids, dine with the kids and get them back to the clubs so you can get ready for dinner at 5.45pm or 6.15pm (first sitting). After dinner we would go to the Atlantis lounge at 8.15pm to see the show and pick the boys up at 10.00pm (the 4 & 5yr olds would be asleep in stretcher beds with music playing). If there was something that started later (for eg: Island night party around the pool) that we wanted to go to, you can register (before 8.00pm) your child for childminding and a charge will apply after 10.00pm.

 

You dont have to take beach towels, they are provided for the pool and shore tours. You just ask your cabin steward.

 

Better go now

Have a great cruise and if you have any more questions, just ask.:)

 

Regards

Kazza

[Kazza1]

girl05

 

We only went to 2 ports (Noumea and Isle of Pines) as our cruise was shortened from 11 nights 6 ports to 7 nights 2 ports.

At Noumea we picked the "Country, City and Aquarium" tour for the boys. It was good. Like people have already told me, Noumea is a bit scummy in the city. The two couples that we sat with for dinner, went on the jetski's (which they raved about) and the trike bike (which they really enjoyed aswell).

Isle of Pines is such a beautiful island. Ashore is some locals that will take you for a tour to the village in a minivan (dont know how much they charged). They dont speak English, but I was told the tour was well worth it. My husband and son went snorkeling around the "Sacred rock". They recommend taking snorkel equipment and a disposable underwater camera. You can purchase disposable underwater cameras on the ship. We took our own snorkel equipment and I did hear that they ran out at the ships Snorkel Hut.

 

Are you traveling by yourself?

 

Go to bingo. When bingo was on the ship looked empty. We walked into the multi level Atlantis lounge to find all seats taken, people sitting on the stairs and standing in the doorways. "Demo" is the man that runs bingo and he is so funny. I think all the lounge was there to listen to him and half to play bingo aswell. Bingo has good cash prizes ($300.00, $350.00 & $400.00) and on the last day someone won a jackpot of $5000.00 (I would have put that straight down on another cruise).

 

Regards

Kazza

[Whoey]

Kazaa1,

 

Bingo sounds like great fun... Thanks for that post of the Shark Shack and Pelican Bay. My kids will love ALL of those activities, I can see my 5 year old boy going off his head doing all those cool things.

 

One Question, a lot of people say the younger room (pelican bay) is VERY small, did you see it? What do you think?

 

thanks again Kazaa,

 

Whoey.

[Kazza1]

Hi whoey

 

I think the small room people are talking about is the "Turtle cove" room. I think this room use to be used for the 12mths to 2yrs 11mths. Not sure what the turtle cove room is used for now, as P&O dont look after children of that age group anymore.

I didnt find the "Pelican Bay" room to be VERY small. It was never over crowded and they have a netted off area outside to play chess, basketball,ride bikes and play in cubby houses. I have a (bad) photo from outside, but you can get an idea of the size. I cant work out how to put the photo on this site, so I will email it to you if you like.

 

Regards

Kazza

[carlabruno]

Hi Kazza,

 

wow number 1:

the kid's activities sound great...so much to do! I think my kidlets are going to have a ball!

 

wow number 2:

you are so great to take the time to post all that information for us! Thankyou so much!!!!!!!:) :) :)

Carla.

 

PS-I'm glad I don't have to bring beach towels...they take up so much room in the luggage!!!