Let's go on a virtual NZ and Australia cruise

[possum52]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

You are most welcome to bring as much of your favourite wines onboard - our sommelier team will tag them, store them, and deliver them to you cabin or one of the restaurants as required.

 

However this is a fully inclusive ship - all drinks (even the top shelf ones), high speed internet, all excursions, all restaurants. 

I hope we can afford this wonderful cruise!

[OzKiwiJJ]

44 minutes ago, possum52 said:

I hope we can afford this wonderful cruise!

Of course you can. It's a virtual cruise so the only fees are your time, sharing your cruising experiences, and your imagination.

 

I thought it would be a fun way to fill in the lock down time and share about various aspects of cruising.

Edited April 17, 2020 by OzKiwiJJ

[Chiliburn]

From numerous stories of people that have been on this ship. You can run into famous people.

 Apparently a lot of big names just want to get away from the paparazzi .  On You’re ship you are no one better than the person next to you and that’s what they love.

One story of a friend drinking at the bar with a new Texan friend and karaoke come on.

The new friend pulled out a guitar and said  we are on,let’s go .

Glen Campbell I think he said his name was.

 

[Bubbeh]

Oh crikey, this is gonna be fun.  Thank you OzkiwiJJ so much for coming up with the idea.

 

We leave home around 4:30am to travel to Perth to catch our Qantas flight to Sydney.  Gotta get the right flight so we go on the big plane with the 2 4 2 configuration.  I spend my bottle tops on seats in row 18-25 along the side of the plane.  Arriving early afternoon we are whisked away by taxi to the Amora on Jamison where are 'deluxe double room' has morphed into a 'club double'.  We're here for 4 days before sailing.

 

We spend a day getting the ferry to Manly where we visit our favourite pub NSW, The New Brighton, for a couple of cleansing ales before grabbing a picnic table spot (complimentary gull poo) along the foreshore.  We get fish and chips and think of my late parents who always did this whenever they were in Sydney.  

 

Our days before embarkation are spent visiting places of interest including the Powerhouse, Jewish and Crime Museums.  Fingers crossed this time we'll have time to take tours of the SCG and hopefully more than just a couple of walking tours of the migration / heritage history.  Over the days, we'll eat food we rarely get to try in our neck of the woods and listen to quality acoustic live pub musos.

 

Before we know it, the time has arrived to embark.  Our standard balcony mid-ships cabin has metamorphosed into a mini-suite and we have so much more room to store things.  I'm busy putting up the family photos on the walls of the m-s using the magnets I brought from home.  We've met our Cabin Assistant and requested two extra towels and no ice.  Next to explore before the beeps calling us to the Safety Briefing.

 

This is a lovely ship and the people seem so friendly and interesting, as cruisers mostly do.  Looking forward to a great cruise making new friends and reconnecting with old ones.

[cheznandy]

2 hours ago, possum52 said:

I hope we can afford this wonderful cruise!

Leigh, we would love to meet up for a drink before dinner, let me know if you find a great bar that does good martini's.

Since we won't meet on a Sapphire cruise boohoo, we can catch up on this one😉

[Blackduck59]

OzKiwiJJ, what a lovely cruise. I would like to follow along if that's okay. I'll be the quiet one people watching.

[possum52]

Sounds a great idea Cheryl. We’ll have to check out the bars and find the best barman!

[Chiliburn]

2 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

OzKiwiJJ, what a lovely cruise. I would like to follow along if that's okay. I'll be the quiet one people watching.

Come on Lyle tell us about you boarding this ship .

The ship leaves from Sydney, there’s a monkey ,a fight in the bar and security just saves you as you board the ship 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Chiliburn

[OzKiwiJJ]

6 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

OzKiwiJJ, what a lovely cruise. I would like to follow along if that's okay. I'll be the quiet one people watching.

You're most welcome but you are expected to join in with the various discussions.

[OzKiwiJJ]

6 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Sounds a great idea Cheryl. We’ll have to check out the bars and find the best barman!

We'll be discussing bars in a few days. Meanwhile do a bit of exploring and remembering the bars you've liked best on your cruises. Then you can tell us all about them during the bar and lounge discussion.

[Blackduck59]

Well we would be flying in 2 days before which means leaving home 3 days before. Short hop flight from Victoria to Vancouver, then direct flight to embarkation city. That gives us 2 days to acclimatize. We will board as early as possible drop our gear and do the orientation walk around the public spaces. Lunch in the MDR we have booked concierge class.

[kent05]

Woo Hoo, our cruise didn’t get cancelled after all……..We're be joining you as well.

We’ll be travelling one day prior to departure………can't risk delays or being left behind. We will stay overnight in the City area and dine at one of expensive Wharf restaurants sharing a romantic, indulgent crayfish seafood platter – how decadent!!! All while watching the sun set over the Harbour and the lights reflecting off the water.

The next morning we will be up early, bags tagged, flashing our Black Elite cards and on-board in time for lunch.

Edited April 17, 2020 by kent05

[dizzy1948]

Never been to Sydney, so flying in from Perth, staying overnight in a hotel near the quay. Dropping the cases at the terminal at 11.30 ish in the morning and go to the Opera house and Circular Quay where we have heard there is a fabulous fish and chip shop. Gather up tourist information stuff for our 3 day stopover on the way back. Back to the cruise terminal for boarding 3.00 and off to the bar for a Baileys banana colada on lotsa ice, hubby with Jim Beam and coke. Grab the daily ship news, sit on the deck and read and discuss to see what's what and where the sail away is being held. Down to our balcony cabin, check it all out, unpack and get ready for the safety drill. Then sail away party. Casual for us on the first night, stroll around the decks checking everything out. Stopping at the bars on the way of course. Gotta keep the fluids up.

Edited April 17, 2020 by dizzy1948

[OzKiwiJJ]

27 minutes ago, kent05 said:

Woo Hoo, our cruise didn’t get cancelled after all……..We're be joining you as well.

We’ll be travelling one day prior to departure………can't risk delays or being left behind. We will stay overnight in the City area and dine at one of expensive Wharf restaurants sharing a romantic, indulgent crayfish seafood platter – how decadent!!! All while watching the sun set over the Harbour and the lights reflecting off the water.

The next morning we will be up early, bags tagged, flashing our Black Elite cards and on-board in time for lunch.

We've all got Black Elite cards, but don't worry, you'll find you'll be able to go straight through check-in, passport control and security with no hold-ups. This isn't a big ship, in terms of the number of passengers.

[LC1950]

We are flying up to Sydney the day prior to the cruise and staying overnight at .... oh, the Shangri La?  That's $$$$ right?  We're flying business class on Virgin - thought they could do with the business at this point of time?  Check in, and a breeze through security and into the Virgin Lounge for a double shot espresso.  We board out flight (bulkhead seats with ooodles of leg room) and enjoy a very nice Australian sparkling wine prior to take off.  Lunch is served shortly after we are in the air - very nice chicken satay and a cheese platter with another glass of sparkling wine.

 

Arrive in Sydney, collect bags .... they both arrived with us!!!!  Then into a taxi to the hotel.  Check in and our suite is ready.

 

Uuummmm, this is a 'virtual' trip and won't be costing us a cent, right?  Yeah, go for broke LC!

 

We head out for a wander around Sydney and decide to head to Darling Harbour for a light dinner then back to the hotel to gaze out the floor to ceiling windows watching the sun go down while sipping a glass of Veuve.  Well, it's daylight saving so still very light at 9PM.

 

Up with the birds and first look out the window ... our beautiful, gorgeous ship is at the OPT!  Such excitement and so much anticipation. 

 

We hurry to shower, throw on some slap (me), dress and head to the lounge for a morning coffee.  Too excited to actually eat anything, so a second coffee and we're wired and ready to rock and roll.

 

Beautiful Queen of the Seas ... here we come!

 

Errrr, some poetic licence here with the name of our gorgeous virtual ship.  Can anyone suggest a better name????

[OzKiwiJJ]

Sorry, I already chose a name - see the first post. She's called the Ocean Pearl which has no links to any current cruise line that I can find. However you can imagine it looking any way you like.

Edited April 17, 2020 by OzKiwiJJ

[LC1950]

Oooops, my apologies OzKiwiJJ.  I got a little bit carried away with my precruise ultra-luxury preamble. 🤩

 

Correction ....

 

The magnificent Ocean Pearl ... here we come!

 

Incidentally, do we know at this stage who our Captain will be?

Edited April 17, 2020 by LC1950
typo

[dizzy1948]

1 hour ago, LC1950 said:

sorry - got muddled up - didn't mean to post.

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by dizzy1948

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, dizzy1948 said:

Probably OzKiwiJJ - he's set it all up so I would think  he's the boss IMHO 😜

She, please. I'm female.

 

No, I'm not the Captain, I don't want to do too much work on this cruise, and I want to enjoy my luxurious suite - which I'll describe to you tomorrow.

 

Hmmm, there are so many great cruise ship captains. I can't make up my mind. Captain Tasos Kafetzis from Celebrity was great, especially in Fiordland - I'll tell you about that when we get there. 

[dizzy1948]

15 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

She, please. I'm female.

 

No, I'm not the Captain, I don't want to do too much work on this cruise, and I want to enjoy my luxurious suite - which I'll describe to you tomorrow.

 

Hmmm, there are so many great cruise ship captains. I can't make up my mind. Captain Tasos Kafetzis from Celebrity was great, especially in Fiordland - I'll tell you about that when we get there. 

Apologies OzKiwiJJ……………….. I did try to correct it, and it all got muddled up, and I thought I'd lost the post, please don't send me to the brig, I promise to behave on the cruise. 🥴

Edited April 17, 2020 by dizzy1948

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 minutes ago, dizzy1948 said:

Apologies OzKiwiJJ……………….. I did try to correct it, and it all got muddled up, and I thought I'd lost the post, please don't send me to the brig, I promise to behave on the cruise. 🥴

No worries. My forum name doesn't give much away other than my dual nationality. But my avatar is wearing lipstick so that's a clue. 🤣

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, LC1950 said:

Incidentally, do we know at this stage who our Captain will be?

 

I'll be disappointed if it's not Captain Stubing. 🤩

[SinbadThePorter]

39 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But my avatar is wearing lipstick so that's a clue. 

 

Not nowadays. 🧐

[OzKiwiJJ]

Itinerary Item 2 – At Sea for two days crossing the Tasman Sea

 

Topic for discussion – Cabins

 

Here is your chance to design your ultimate cabin. You can make it as luxurious as you like and have it anywhere on the ship that you prefer. If you don’t feel like designing your own, you can borrow my design which I’ll post next, modifying it to suit yourself.

 

Also tell us about what you like and dislike about the various cabins on the ships you have cruised on.

 

If you’ve just joined us please read the first post which contains the rules for this thread.

 

P.S. I’ve decided to give you a bit of notice about the next Itinerary Item so you can start thinking about what you’d like to do and see there, but don’t post about it until we get there. Our first port stop will be in the Bay of Islands, NZ.

[OzKiwiJJ]

My cabin is a large suite, midships on the port side. There is no need to worry about noise from outside the cabin, this is a magical ship so all outside noise is suppressed, so you don’t need to worry about having cabins above and below you as a noise buffer.

 

The entrance to the suite is into the lounge area. Immediately inside there is a door leading to the bathroom area, and another door further down leading to the bedroom. Between the two doors is a full length mirror and a small shelf attached to the wall where we can put our cruise cards and other small items.

 

On the wall behind the opening door there are a series of useful hooks, great for hanging hats, day packs and so on. Along from that is a hutch containing a decent-sized bar fridge, an electric kettle and an espresso pod machine, a drawer containing tea bags of various types (excellent quality), coffee pods, hot chocolate sachets and sachets of various types of sweetener. Fresh milk is the fridge and is replenished daily. Coffee mugs, plates, cutlery, and glasses of various types are secured in a cupboard. There are also plenty of power and USB ports for charging devices. There is also a docking station / connection units so phones and iPods can be connected into the speaker system.

 

There is a small dining table against the wall with two chairs. This can be pulled out from the wall and extended so it seats four – the butler will provide the extra chairs on request. There is a large, comfortable sofa with a side table at each end. The sofa has electric recliners at each end and there is a coffee table that fits between the foot rests.Opposite the sofa is a large flat screen TV. Hanging next to it is a set of cordless headphones on their charger unit. This allows one person to watch TV without disturbing the other person.Finally there is a sliding door onto the balcony.

 

The bedroom contains a large, very comfortable bed, with decent sized bedside units, each containing a shelf and two drawers. The bed faces towards the windows so you can enjoy the sea views without getting out of bed. There is a desk along the wall from the entrance door, also with plenty of power points and USB ports tucked under a lid- this means lights from the devices and chargers don’t light up the room at night.  There is a firm but comfortable chair by the window – ideal for sitting on to put on shoes etc, and a sliding door onto the balcony. The curtains are electronically controlled from the bedside units. Note: there is a button marked “Sea Sounds”. This sends the sound of the bow wave creaming away from the ship into your bedroom, to soothe you to sleep, so you don’t need to leave the balcony door open.

 

A door at one side of the bed leads into the dressing area. This contains a dressing table on the far wall with excellent lighting, a walk-in wardrobe with ample hanging space, cupboards with shelves, and a vertical rack of shoe cubbies with a glass door – no more tripping over wayward shoes.  There is a spacious bathroom containing a large multi-jet shower, a hand basin that doesn’t splash water everywhere, and plenty of drawer and cupboard space for toiletries and cosmetics. A range of toiletries is provided, with a choice of scents. The shower contains a pull-out line for hanging wet swimsuits. The toilet is separate and is fitted with a Japanese-style bidet toilet seat and, of course, there is a handbasin in there as well.

 

The air-conditioning is excellent. It brings in totally fresh air which passes over heating/cooling units so that the temperature is always perfect. The lounge area, bedroom, and dressing areas can be set to different temperatures. There are excellent exhaust fans in both the bathroom and toilet.

 

The balcony is large and deep. It is partly shaded, which also stops too much sun beaming into the cabin when it’s on that side of the ship, and allows you to choose whether to sit in the sun or in the shade. At the back corner of the balcony, on the bedroom side, there is a small but deep Japanese-style hot tub. Push the button near the sliding door and the tub will instantly fill, at the temperature you have set and lightly infused with mineral salts. No chlorine – fresh water every time. There are two sunloungers, covered with thick cushions, and with a small table between them, plus a larger table and two comfortable chairs in case you want to enjoy a meal on your balcony.

 

Again, since this is a magical ship, you will never be disturbed by the sound of other guests from nearby balconies. All you can hear are the sounds of the ship moving through the water. Also the windows are one-way only so no-one can see into your cabin from outside.