Pacific Star R715 Review

[stretts]

We are back from our "Week Fantastique" cruuise and thought I would write a review from my point of view.

Friday 13.4.07

O.M.G 24 hrs before sailing. Busy packing for myself and two teenage sons. Alex 17yo and Stuart 14yo. Husband can pack for himself.

Last dash to buy batteries and seasickness tablets.(which I now have a srious variety of)

Have triple checked packing list (thanks to the forum). Really hard not to over pack for myself- "JICC" just in case clothes.

Couldn't find bottom half of bathers so shorts and a t-shirt may have to do!

Everyone has signed their paperwork, bank phoned to alert them to possible charges from overseas,and walk on luggage checked.

Will we sleep tonight?

Cab booked for 4.45am for Adelaide airport and fight to Brisbane.

Saturday 14.4.07

Well the day has finally arrived. The taxi has arrived on time at 4.45am to take us to the airport where we arrived at 5.15am. The airport was packed and I guess it is school holidays, the line extending out the door. uckily we advances quickly in the Qantas Club line, giving us time to get some breakfast.

Unfortunately we could not get a direct flight to Brisbane instead a stop in Melbourne. Some how I always seem to have problems with my ears on these flights on landing, and I was not dissappointed!!

On landing in Brisbane we headed to the taxi stand.

Arrived at Portside dock at 11.15.The line to the baggage check-in can be alittle confusing and was concerned how they threw your suitcase into the budget van.:(

When we arrived they were calling "D" boarding we had been allocated "G" boarding so had a wait. There were not enough shady places to sit and wait, but even so we were keen to board as you can see the ship from dockside. We did have to wait about 1 1/4 hrs before we were called to board.

Woo Hoo through the terminal and across the walkway to our first photo "the embarktion photo"

Then up two decks to our cabin on Aloha Deck inside cabin- we were waitlisted for an utside cabin but unfortunately no luck. In the terminal we were told that the cruise was oversold and that 65 people were offered another cruise. I also see that this has been discussed in the forum aready.

The cabin was neat and tidy and basic for our needs. After a quick read of the Pacific Daily the newsletter that tels of all the who, what where, and happenings on the ship, we were of to explore and take in the sail-away party. The sound of the ships horn at sailaway was music to my ears after so much planning and waiting.

We found it best to unpack and then put away all suicases under the beds as has been suggested. You must understand that with two teenagers a close watch was needed when it came to just dropping their clothes on the floor

Once we had finished unpacking we went up to the ido deck and the sandwich bar and had a quick couple of small rolls then off to the pursers desk. We had decided to take off the aoto tipping on the kids account but kept ours on.

There was sufficient room in the wardrobes to hang clothes, for women thee length of the wardrobes do not accomadate longer dresses that well. There are four wardrobes a good number of hangers. Only two of the four safe boxes worked, this was ok! as we are a family but if you are separate people sharing a cabin this may not be satisfactory.

Our cabin steward 'Evelyn' appears fairly elusive and had to page her to secure four more pillows as there are only one on each bed. I was dissappointed she was not particularly chatty or jovial but more clinical but helpful.

4pm had us doing the muster drill assembling in the Casino, Muster Station B with life jacket in tow. Our Captain Stefano Revera called the exercise exercise exercise. Standing around seemed to go on for ever, but necessary and only a minor inconvenience.

We had taken enough motion sickness tablets but by day 2 lost interest in taking them and no one had problems (so have many left over!!)

Teenager hunger pains started at 5pm, so up to the Pizzaria and Pie station on Lido Deck. Alex really enjoyed his Margarita pizza and the tin base was fabulous.:D

At 6.30pm Hb, Stuart and myself went tot he Welcome Aboard Showtime to meet the Cruise Director Chris Nicol and other cruise staff. Followed by 50 minsentertainment by John Campbell ( impressionist, instrumentalist and vocalist) Some really old and used jokes and some ok! old time songs which Hb and I sang along to with the audience, while 14yo son had a total look of disbelief on his face- one that we would sing and secondly that we knew the words to the songs.

Had my first coctail for the cruise an "Illusion" which I and my eldest son became quite fond of:D

8pm saw us head off to 2nd sitting dinner in the Boreaux restaurant. It was the first night and there was a significant wait outside the restauran t and in the stairwell etc. We were assured that it would be quicker once everyone got to know their table. We had table 114 the last table beforeeeeeee the used plates headed out to the kitchen. We felt a little stuck out the back:mad: It was an 8 seater tablehowever no-one joined us tonight. Lets hpoe we have company at some time, the kids enjoyed eating all the bread rolls on the table.

After dinner we had a quick walk around on deck then back to the cabin to watch the WCE v Freo AFL match, yes the boys were happy for Sky TV.

E ventually all settled to bed at 11pm after a huge day.

The ship is speeding along- I love the rock, sway and lurch of the ship and slept like a baby until 8am next morning.

 

 

Will post further info on our cruise soon.

 

Sue

[chaz cruiser]

Thanks Sue... Great review!! Look forward to hearing more.. Keep it coming! A question for you below in blue and some other general comments!!

 

In the terminal we were told that the cruise was oversold and that 65 people were offered another cruise. I also see that this has been discussed in the forum aready.

 

Who was discussing this? Was it staff, crew or other passengers? We understand that the 65 who "missed the boat" all accepted the offer from P&O for a full refund, free cruise + $500 onboard credit. Is this also what you heard?

 

We found it best to unpack and then put away all suicases under the beds as has been suggested. You must understand that with two teenagers a close watch was needed when it came to just dropping their clothes on the floor

 

Another tip I thought I would share... Each day I would slip my dirty clothes into my suitcase. Two fold benefit, 1. I didn't wear dirty clothes, 2. I had more room in the wardrobe!!

 

We had taken enough motion sickness tablets but by day 2 lost interest in taking them and no one had problems (so have many left over!!)

 

We also have heaps of Kwells left. Partly because we didn't need too many of them but mostly because we oversupplied. We also have a full packet of Phenergen just in case someone in our party needed it. Maybe we should start a second hand motion sickness tablets sale... Then again wouldn't that make us "drug traders" and therefore likely to be kicked off the boat... Better to just wait and use them on the next cruise!

[Star-Man]

We had table 114 the last table beforeeeeeee the used plates headed out to the kitchen. We felt a little stuck out the back:mad:

 

Im pretty sure thats the table my GF was at. Was it the last one on the left hand side as you walk in the dining room?

[stretts]

Chaz Cruiser-1. We heard this from a passenger in the terminal as we were being processed. Then read more on the forum when we were back.

2. Good idea about the dirty clothes, but still hard keeping teenagers in check without nagging on a holiday like I can do at home.

3. Kwells, Phenergan and Travelcalm Original. On a brighter side at least we did not have to use them.

 

Star Man- Yes sounds the one, last table on the left at the back of the dining room! I probably not that happy with this table?

 

Will continue my review over the next few days.

 

cheers Sue

[karmac]

When you queue at Brisbane terminal, is it outside? Many people seem to comment on the fact that there is no shade. I assumed it would be undercover like Sydney.

 

Karen

[Star-Man]

When you queue at Brisbane terminal, is it outside? Many people seem to comment on the fact that there is no shade. I assumed it would be undercover like Sydney.

 

Karen

 

You only have to queue when they call your boarding group and even then the queue only just pokes out of the terminal building. Everyone seems to be quite nicely squeezed inside.

 

There is also a lot of room to wait for your group to be called. Mostly shady spots too.

[chaz cruiser]

When you queue at Brisbane terminal, is it outside? Many people seem to comment on the fact that there is no shade. I assumed it would be undercover like Sydney.

 

Karen

 

The queue to drop off bags is only partly undercover. Depending on how long the queue is you could be standing in the sun!

 

I believe the terminal design leaves a little to be desired. Remember it is a residential and shopping precinct as well. I think they have definitely short changed the space in the embarkation/disembarkation hall. Nothing like the one in Sydney which is roomy and relatively easy to get your bags and move through. But I guess the cost of land & space is at a premium now days!

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

[stretts]

Sunday 15.4.07

The inside cabins are quite dark so we were not aware it was 8.15am (yes we have always been early risers) when we awoke.

 

Went to the Lido breakfast buffet for a full cooked breakfast. Fabuluos scrambled eggs, grilled tomato, bacon and sausage folowed by awful, awful ,awful instant coffee:eek: , but sensational cherry danish. Stuat found a great fondness for the pancakes with maple syrup.Alex aways had cereal and got stuck into the fresh fruit.

 

Unfortunately we were too late for todays Bingo. Jim went and checked out the horse racing which he thought was a hoot!

 

Alex and I went to the first Champagne Art auction (yes complimentary champers and orange are offered). This was he first of three plus a bonus auction and was pretty slow going, we assume that it gets more exciting? Only four pieces sold. The auctioneer Amy appearsvery knowledgable and certainly interesting to listen to. They talk about the pieces being original and there cerainly were some lovely pieces. There were only a handful of original painted pieces valued in the thousands one being $48000! I woulld have considered a P&O budget cruise as this is a 48000 piece was not going to sell on this cruise and it did not.There were however limited edition pieces that sold ie. lithograms/ giclee. there were no posters in the collection.

 

I was lucky enough to be one of three to win a raffle prize, a lithograph which was said to be worth $700 there were five to choose from. You still had to pay the shipping cost of $65 as it is sent from P&Os head office in Florida. One of the other raffle winners declined the prize as she did not want to pay the shipping cost.

 

There were several prints by an artist called "Goddard" which Alex and I really liked but at $1100 had not factored into our budget.

 

I have come to realize the cruise card leaves my visa card fairly exposed with the kids to spend. One had four chocolate bars yesterday:mad: so I have now limited him to two per day.

 

Alex is eyeing off a necklace for his girlfriend and I can see I may well be paying for that as well.

 

Tonight was the "Captains Welcome Party". We had decided to skip it and headed off to The Dukes Piano Bar. Eric Carroll the pianist was great and played some great tunes. We had guessing games as to the tune he was playing. Once again cocktails were the best Illusion $7.50/ Fruit Tingle $8.50 and a Marguarita which was just to potent even I could not get through it!!

 

The other thing we did was to check out the menu for the evening dinner which is outside the Bordeaux Restaurant. There was not anything on the menu that suited everyone today so we decided to book into the Club Bahia Bar and Steakhouse. This was a very pleasant surprise, the kids loves their Caesar salad, Jim and I had the Blooming Onion that we had heard about on the forum and it did not dissappoint. This is an onion cut to lok like a flower blooming it is lightly battered and fried with a lovely dipping sauce yum!

The steaks were tender and you can actually taste the beef! Alex doesn't eat cream,yougart, custard so the desserts did not suit him however they offered to get him icecream which was great.

The $20 cover charge per person is reall worth it to have a superb meal.

 

10 pm the kids went to bed. Jim went to the Casino and won again. I checked out the show in the Pacific Lounge "Love The Night life" I really enjoyed this full of action. All productions were hosted by the cruise director Chris Nicol who I thought did a great job the whle cruise.

 

 

Monday 16.4.07

Unfortunately I have woken with a cold and very sore throat. I obviously have caught this from my son who had it a week before we left. Without mentioning it again but it continued to get worse and in fact when we arrived home had to go to the doctor as it hit me chest so I am on antibiotics and a puffer which I have never had to use before.Needless to say this did put a damoner on my holiday.

 

Breakfast at the Kido Buffet. Have cut down to cereal, fruit and a danish. I now go to the bar and buy a decent coffee to have with my breakfast.

 

Went to the pursers desk to change money for our stop in Noumea today and lifou tomorrow. Really hard to know how much money to change, as you do not know what there maybe to buy. Parhaps it is important to remember if you see sonething you may want to buy remember that they do take Visa etc. I say this because the exchange rate is not that good. We changed $100 but did not spend half. At Lifou they took aust dollars.

 

While at the pursers desk put in the form to get a shuttle bus back to airport when we disembarked. Also put in the form for the Captains Club as I had sailed years ago with P&O 1978 on one of the riginal Arcadia cruises.

 

After brekfast the kids went back to the cabin to tidy up their clothes, and rest. Yes it can catch up with you if you do not pace yourself!

 

At this stage both kids are reluctant to go to the Teen Lounge.Stuart poked his head in to play arcade games but said everyone turned to look at him so he left, a little shy!

 

Alex and I played cards for awhile.

 

I am thinking of buying myself a gold chain- on the Star they sell various designs and sizes of gold and silver chains by the cms. They are 18crt gold mixed with jewelers metal coated so it will not tarnish or discolour. I wll see if it goes on special later this week.

 

Lunch on the Lido deck- burgers, hot dogs for the kids on the ship and there were quite a few being a school holiday cruise. They were obviously entaertained well in the kids area as I was not aware of manu around. Down in the Lido Buffet area they were serving mexican food, enchiladas, re fried beans, salsa etc. This was really good.

 

Berthed in Noumea on time at 3pm. We had a little time before the "Le Petite Train Tour' we had booked on. We in the meantime headed off to Coconut Square to look around. I loved practicing the little french I could remember from school and the kids were fairly impressed. W ewent looking for the Chocolate Fountain shop and found it just off Coconut Square. Bought some chocolate which when I later tried was as good as the premium chocolate you can buy in Aust. Yum! Then headed off to have a coffeee at a cafe before joining our tour at 5.45pm

 

Le Petit Train tour is a comprehnsive guided tour around Noumea and stopped at a look out for Fench Champagne and mini pastries. Driving through Lemen Bay was my highlight and I can see why many people come back to holiday hear. There really is not alot you can do in Noumea when you arrive at this time so our tour was a good overview.

 

My kids were not happy to walk around coconut square by themselves as they felt a "hood element" and saw what they described as one of these "hoods" kicking what appeared to be a "old homeless man" on the ground. Now this I reakise is a very subjective view from my kids but they were obviously uncomfortable with this.

 

I found the people we experienced in Noumea friendly and helpful.

 

We returned to the ship and the theme for the show tonight was

shake, attle and roll" high energy and entertaining' This is probably the show I keast enjoyed but it is all good entertainment.

 

Once again we had to wait outside the Bordeaux restaurant before the doors were opened. Spoke to a gentleman while waiting to go in , he was the father of one of the 'scrapping ladies' on board. He was saying two ladies had had their cruise cards cancelled for 24 hrs as they had maxed out their liqiuor qouta. When they went retrieve their cards the next day were given a stern lecture. Do not know how authentic this story is but makes for a good one. Late again and everyone cheered when the doors were opened 15mins late. Dinner was pleasant and I did not have to cook it but nothing to special.

 

When dinner was finished we headed up to the Lido deck o watch the sailaway from Noumea. On the Lido deck was the "Rock and Roll Party, Elis impersonators etc great to watch.

 

Returned to cabin and bed.

 

More to come. Sue

[Skyrules]

There were several prints by an artist called "Goddard" which Alex and I really liked but at $1100 had not factored into our budget.

 

Ah yes, Michael Goddard. They obviously didn't have any of the $300 (approx) lithographs on board this time hey Sue?? We bought a Goddard on our Pacific Sun cruise. On our next cruise, on Star, they didn't have any of these ones, just the expensive ones like you saw, which are a bit bigger, too big for the space we had to put them, and a bit beyond our budget as well.

 

If you want to check out more of his works go to

 

http://www.michaelgodard.com/

 

 

Great review Sue, looking forward to hearing more.

[frog cruiser]

Hi!!

Glad we left the ship clean for you:D

Thank you for your review it is like having a back to back cruise.

I would say that your boys did see the hoods as I have noted this change over the years, I would walk about alone but not now.

But it used to be rare the ship stayed late but now we from Brisbane stay late I have seen the change or was it not seen because we left about 6pm.

I would not walk alone at night in several places, that are nice in day light.

 

I find most the jokes are passed from on to another and re-hashed on cruises.

looking forward to the rest of your review

[chardonnaykmw]

Hi Sue

 

Really enjoying your review....as Frog said it's like being on back to back cruises as we (hubby and I) were also on the cruise before yours. (I also had the blooming onion..loved it!! Had to take a photo of it!)

 

Keep the review coming...loving it!!

 

 

cheers!!

 

karen;)

[stretts]

Tuesday 17.4.07

Slept in until 8.30am, then up to Lido deck for breakfast. Have found the best soft yolk fried eggs ever:p which I had on toast, folowed by the best lemon danish.

 

Back to cabin to pack to go onto Lifou Island via tender.

We had to gather in the Starlight lounge to collect tender tickets. Hb and youngest son and myself went across. We had only a 20min wait and were off. lex could not be persuaded to go snorkelling so he stayed and caught up on some school work (he is in his final year at school).

Once we arrived on the Island we headed for Jinek Bay to snorkel. There is a good map that will give you directions to intereseting spots on the island. WE had not organized a tour here.When we arrived at Jinek Bay there were lots of people already there snorkelling. I had bought our own snorkel gear and flippers as I did not fancy using hired ones. I was also pleased with the forums advice to wear rock socks as there are some hard seed pods on the grass as you walk down to the steps. The steps are quite step down to the water but can be managed by those of all ages.

Also down at the water were a few kayaks which people coud hire, some were pretty poor at steering so you had to keep an eye out!!

Had bought a waterproof pouch of Ebay to put me camera in, this was good and did not leak but will reserve judgement until I print pictures off.

Lovely coloured coral and fish, if you can picture a 'lifesaver' ice bock on a stick imagine the a fish the exact same colour. There were little cavans of coral deeper out and an arch you could snorkel through. We did however see someone with a large craze on her back who had obviously not judged it right.

We snorkelled out reasonably far and Hb saw a gren sea snake which took off when it saw him.

 

Once we returned to the beach Jim ordered a beer called ? 'Number One'.

Let me first say my husband has been working for SA Brewery for many years making beer so knows a lot about it, and enjoys trying different beers. It was very called and enjoyed.

 

Stuart and I returned to the ship while Jim decided to walk up to the white church on top of the hill. He took some good looking photos and also those of the ship moored off Lifou. He was also asked to take photos for others while there which he obliged with.He then returned to the ship.

 

We had a late lunch once again in the Lido buffet which we found most suitable for the different tastes in our family.Kids had fries and burgers, Jim and I had cold cuts and salad, and yes another Illusion.

 

Alex then decided he wanted to go onto the island to have his hair braided. So back onto the tender, we did not have to obtain a tender passs instead went straight to deck 3 to board the tender as the rush had died down. Alex had his hair braided which cost $20 Aust.

 

Back to the ship in time to go to "Entertainment Trivia" quiz.Had a good time but did not know many of the answers.

 

6.30pm was second sitting show. In the Pacific lounge was Comedien show - Martin Rlaph stand up comedy. He was also especially skilled with yo-yo and spinning tops. Very skilled and ha spent alot of time precticing. I was able to catch up with him a couple of days later and talked about his show and travelling on P&o cruises. He was leaving the ship after this his second cruise to spend some time at home.

 

Off to dinner at Bordeaux Rest and started with marinated seafood anti-pasto, followed by scallopni then cheese and crackers. Tonight we met our table buddies an american couple who live in New Zealand south island. They had two younger kids in the kids centre that night. Dinner Ok!

 

Played cards after dinner with my eldest son, so I could buy a decent coffee... Later lost $20 on the pokies, but did not go over my limit.

 

Did not attend the Country nad Western hoe down, but saw a few cowboys and girls around. Not into C&W but also not feeling the best with my cold.

 

Off to bed as tommorrow is our last Port.. Vila for a day of tours and shopping.

[stretts]

Wednesday 18.4.07

 

Jim was up early as he had booked the Reef Fishing Trip which left at 8.15 and returned at 12.15.

He says there were 5 others on the trip and he caught 8 fish ~ 1-1 1/2 feet ong. It is a catch and release trip however he says any red snapper caught were kept by the boat. He says he had a good time.

 

The kids went on the Jet Boat ride which was rated by them as 8 out of 10. It was lucky that they were on the first tour as the Jet bOat broke down after the tour and the others were cancelled that day with money refunded.The kids said the operator was caool giving high fives etc.

 

While they were out I went into town to do my duty free shopping. A van taxi would share the $10 fee so was $2 each. Or you could pay $10 yourself. I went to Fung Kues?? and did my Liquor quota buy.

1lt Midori

1lt Sapphire Gin

350ml Grand Marnier

carton of Winfield Blue (for Jims friend)

 

Total $78.00

The alcohol is dispatched to the ship and put in storage and delivered the day before disembarktion.

 

I had been speaking with one of the security guards (Julian). He is a NZ and has signed up for a six month contract.This was his second cruise and he was saying that there has been no big issues aboard. Once again the only issue was cards being cacelled for 24hrs for have booked too much alcohol.

 

Returned from shopping and Stuart and I went on the "Glass Bottom Boat tour" and snorkel. Overall we thought this was a fairly dissappointing tour. The snokelling was in water not that deep, the fish were ok but not as colourful as Lifou and the coral had no colour which I am assuming was not aive. The highlight of this tour is when you feed the fish with bread and tey all storm up and nibble at the bread and your arm.

The tour described having refreshments of a drink and fresh fruit, unfortunately there was no fresh fruit but instead a couple of packets of very ordinary biscuits. It is probably a good tour for those with young kids as it is in quiet waters and there are fish around, tour operators were helpfulwith the young kids. I would not go again as I had heard of others on more interesting tours.

 

Had a quick lunch on deck when we got back, lovely curries,lamb, dahl,vegatable with raita,pappadms and rice. I really like curries but could understand if some people were not as enthusiastic.

 

Jim and I then went off on the "Taste of Vila tour" 4 different bars where you can try the local beer. or you may have a wine or soft drink.

The bus was the best airconditioned vehickle I have been in all holiday. The tour guide was great.We were with a great groupand enjoyed a few beers and singing on the way back on the bus.:) The beers we tried were Tusker/Boots/Vanuata Premium Bitter.

It just happened to be a fun tour, with the group we were with. Not rushed.

Headed back to the ship for a nana nap!, feeling pretty tired after the tours and shopping and did not feel like going to the dining room. Jim and I went to the pizzaria for tea and Stuart went to the dining room looking for us and ended up eating alone. He says the drink waiter was good and chatted with him, although he says he felt a little embarrassed.

 

Island night was all set up on Lido Deck and looked special with all the palms tied to the poles around the pool etc.Most people havemade a real effort to dress for island night, even guys in coconut bras.Unfortunately we could not handle the pace and had to go to bed at 11.00pm

[stretts]

Thursday 19.4.07

 

Up at 8.15am for a lido buffet breakfast and a day at sea.

 

Booked into the hairdresser for a "Frangipani," head ,shoulder and neck massage. This was some thing special. Marketa has absolutely magic hands. The product they use smell fantastic. The oils nourish the hair and it is so relaxing. I was sitting there working out if I had enough time to book in the next day for another......The only down side to the massage is that it too 2-3 serious shampoos to get the oil totally out of my hair. This was the only reason I did not book a second treatment.

 

Went to the duty free shop and bought some "Guess" earrings. Alex bought the necklace for his girlfriend, which was quite pretty.

 

At 11am kids and I went to the "Useless Knowledge Quiz" which was well run and fun.

 

Lunch again at the Lido deck and lucky for me they had curries again. Down in the buffet was cooked prawns and they were very popular. In fact for some people embarressingly popular as they really had masive plates of them!!

 

2pm we went down to the 3rd Art Auction .

This time it was more serious with a dozen or so pieces being sold. Alex this time won one of the raffle prizes, so we have two Lithographs!! Alex really enjoyed the process of auctioning.

 

3.30 Jim and Alex went to bingo and once again the jackpot did not go off. Obviously will go off tommorrow as there will be no magic number. It was good to see people winning some serios money though.

 

I have recieved an invitation to the Captains Club- I believe having been on a cruise before you gey an invitation.!

Had a brief chat and my photo taken with the Cpt. Cocktails and hor d'ouvres were served for about 45mins which was very pleasant. The Cpt. gave a short speech and spoke of the future of the Pacific Star and what he will do when the ship heads to Asia. It was really lovely the whole cruise hear him refer to the ship as a "Beautiful White Lady" I felt that he really does love his command.

 

Did not go to the show tonight which was "G'day G'day",as we were quit tired. In fact Jim was too tired to go to dinner at all so the kids and I went alone. It was a formal night so we got dressed up and went to have a formal photo taken.This was good as I have not any decent photos of the kids and myself of recent times.

 

Dinner was pleasant. Once again our table buddies were not there so the kids enjoyed their roles as well?? It was the Bombe Alaska parade tonight.The slices of Bombe Alaska were served before the parade which made you realize those for the parade were rubber ones. As we were seated way down the back of the dining room we could see how long the waiters waited to assemble before the parade so even more obvious they were rubber ones. ha ha ha

A parade of the chefs followed and this was very spectacular with everyone swinging their serviettes in hte air as they paraded past.

 

Then later that night we killed some time playing cards before heading to the Starlight Lounge for the "Champagne WAterfall" This was pretty clever and spectacular with hthe champagne cascading down. We did not personally have our photos taken but certainly took photos ourselves. Once again enjoying an Illusion or two with Alex.

 

Bed about 12.30am and about 2am seas quite rough with lots of banging and crashing.

 

Friday 20.4.07

 

Last breakfast and had to turn the clocks back an hour. Once again sensational danish pastries, they had both my favourites cherry and lemon.

 

Went and had a look at the photos from last night and picked out a couple to consider later. I was able to put them away in a plastic sleeve to consider later whether I would buy them.

 

Disembarktion papers have arrived at the cabin abd I am pleased to say we are scheduled to be 2nd group off the ship.

 

We then went to" Meet the Cast" in the Pacific Lounge. This was really interesting as they all spoke about what they had worked at previously, and where they were headed now the cruise was over. Questions were taken from the audience. To finish off the session there was a chance to have a look backstage. It really is quite small , so a lot of action happens in a small space. We really enjoyed all shows we attended.

 

Went to the second last bingo. A lady called out bingo early and was singled out with the audience giving her the loser sign. I felt very sorry for her as I would not have coped with being singled out.

Finally the jackpot bingo did go off at $3840 which was great for the person who won.

 

6.30pm was the "Farewell Caberet" where went for a quick look. Once again Martin Ralph comedian we thought he was just as good as the first time we saw him.

 

Went to the Club Bahia Bar and Grill Steakhouse for dinner. Again excellent food and service. This time had the seafood cocktail which was succulent follwed by a filet mignon superb, finally the tirimisu,yum! Yes, I took a photo of the blooming onion as well.

 

Comment cards were sent around to the cabins as well as nomination forms for a person who gave good service. We nominated "Dazza" who was the junior waiter at our table in the Bordeaux Rest. We really did not think our cabin staff were anything special, did their work but nothing else. I would have like aa animal folded towel for the kids to see. Was a bit disconcerted when the wardrobes were restocked with fresh beach towels that night before we had even vacated the cabin.

 

We all went to bed by 10.30pm as we had to be up early and vacate our cabins by 6am. I went for a last stroll around the ship and checked out the "70s" night on the Lido deck as I could not sleep. Really great misic for my age group again. and great to see younger people bopping along to the music. It was on this night that Isaw the greatest presence of security guards.

 

 

Saturday 21.4.07

 

Up and out of cabin by 6am. Picked up pastries and coffee from Lido deck and took them back to the Pacific Lounge where we had assembled to wait for our disembarktion call, which is by colour and number. The disembarktion went alot more smoothly than embarktion and we were through quite quickly.

 

Arrived at the airport and were able to get on an earlier flight home.

 

 

----------------------

Addits : Unfortunate to see a gentleman being taken off the ship to a waiting ambulance. Hope he is ok! and insured.

 

The Captain had called for anyone with type "O" blood to go to the medical centre. I hope the recipient is also ok!

 

Positives: The violet/ ink colour of the water. We did not see it this colour when we cruised in Asia a couple of years ago so lovely to see it again.

Club Bahia Bar and Steakhouse.

"Illusion" cocktail.

Always had beds made!!!

Won two raffles at the "Art Auctions"

No motion sickness for any of the family.

 

Not so good: Often long lines at the Lido Buffet.

Terrible instant coffee on Lido deck.

Shower gel did not work....ahhhh had taken a bar of soap:)

 

 

Well that is my review thanks to all who enjoy reading.

 

Cheers Sue

[Publicans]

Hi Sue, thoroughly enjoyed your review.

Did Alex or Stuart end up joining in on any of the kids sessions?

Glad you all had a great time.

Cheers,Margo.

[stretts]

Hi Sue, thoroughly enjoyed your review.

Did Alex or Stuart end up joining in on any of the kids sessions?

Glad you all had a great time.

Cheers,Margo.

 

 

Margo, no they did not join in any of the kids sessions. They have never been kids to join in group activities once they were old enough not to have to go to after school care . They are very happy to hang with us or amuse themselves.

 

Sue

[suexxx]

Hi Stretts and family. Thanks for a GREAT REVIEW. I felt I was with you all the way. Will you go again? Which of your tours did you enjoy the most? Suexxx

[epal]

What a wonderful review, I was refreshing to read and made me remember our last cruise (be it a long time ago) regards Elaine

[Justgottago]

Found a lot of useful info in reading abut your cruise. We'll take it all into account in planning and packing - like the idea of putting the dirty clothes back in the case.

Derek

[Skyrules]

like the idea of putting the dirty clothes back in the case.

Derek

 

That's a good idea and work well. We normally go away with 1 suit case each, unpacking them both on board, and use one to collect the dirty washing in. Then, when we pack to disembark, we leave all the dirty washing in one suitcase, and combine what's left and anything else we've picked up along the way in the other. of dirty clothes and one with clean clothes and all the extra's it.

[karmac]

That's a good idea and work well. We normally go away with 1 suit case each, unpacking them both on board, and use one to collect the dirty washing in. Then, when we pack to disembark, we leave all the dirty washing in one suitcase, and combine what's left and anything else we've picked up along the way in the other. of dirty clothes and one with clean clothes and all the extra's it.

 

That's what we do when we go away. However, when we went on our Sun cruise last year, after 11 days of not washing, EVERYTHING was dirty.

 

Karen

[chaz cruiser]

That's what we do when we go away. However, when we went on our Sun cruise last year, after 11 days of not washing, EVERYTHING was dirty.

 

Karen

 

I agree Karen!! I have to admit I was a good girl last cruise and only had one pair of pants and a couple of pairs of knickers I didn't wear. Everything else was worn!! The only packing problem I had (now remember this is a secret between just us!) is that on the last night my sister & I got back to the cabin late and realised there were still bags in the corridor. So we decided to pack one of the overnight bag with all the clothes we had all worn that day. One less thing to carry off which I am sure you will all agree is a good idea! The only problem was I packed ALL of the clothes I had worn, yes including my bra!:eek: Therefore when I got up the next morning to get dressed for disembarkation no bag, and no bra! Had to create one with some duct tape!! Lots of fun!:D

 

BTW with the changes in no smoking areas in the ship (i.e. the casino is 100% smoke free!) there was no real need to febreeze our clothes each night!!

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

[LizCruising2007]

Sunday 15.4.07

Once again we had to wait outside the Bordeaux restaurant before the doors were opened. Spoke to a gentleman while waiting to go in , he was the father of one of the 'scrapping ladies' on board. He was saying two ladies had had their cruise cards cancelled for 24 hrs as they had maxed out their liqiuor qouta. When they went retrieve their cards the next day were given a stern lecture. Do not know how authentic this story is but makes for a good one.

 

 

Does this really happen? Has it happened to you or anybody you know? How much are you 'allowed' to drink before they decide you have had enough?:confused:

[bellamare]

What did Captain Ravera say he would be doing when the ship is sold?

[cheznandy]

Does this really happen? Has it happened to you or anybody you know? How much are you 'allowed' to drink before they decide you have had enough?:confused:

 

Liz, there is no quota as to how much you can drink. I believe the girls in question had their cruise cards confiscated as they were intoxicated and refused further service of alcohol. On a cruise ship, unlike a night club where there is one bar, if you are refused service, you could go to another of many bars on the ship. By taking the card you would be unable to purchase alcohol, unless someone purchased it for you. I would assume the lecture the next day was a warning........

 

The amount you are "allowed to drink" depends on your behaviour as with any other licensed premises. Well I hope so........cos if they are measuring alcohol consumed I wouldn't have possession of my card very often:eek:

 

Chez

xx