Off we go again!

I found this file. It's a blog I wrote while we were away in January 2013 and I realised I never uploaded it, so, here goes.

Saturday 19^th January, 2013. 

Who can believe we're going on another South Pacific cruise? We were offered a 'Godfather' deal - the sort you can't refuse, so after quickly arranging leave from work, we're off!

Boarding went very smoothly. We caught the train to Wynyard and walked down the hill, after dropping into a supermarket to pick up a few last minute things. A 1.5 litre bottle of water on board is $4.95, which is a bit rich, luckily we had room in our suitcase for 2 x 2 litre bottles that we got at the supermarket. In the small park at Wynyard station there is a glass and metal dome. Directly below is a Coles supermarket, so now we know it’s there, I think we’ll stop in there again if we ever do another cruise.

At 3.30pm we were all expected to attend the safety drill where the Captain addressed us over the P.A. His name is Stefano Ravera and he is Italian. I thought we were on a P & O cruise, but according to the Captain we are on a Pi-a-no cruise. Even though he is Italian, he must come from a different part of the country to our captain on the last cruise – their accents are so different. 

After suffering through the hottest day on Friday, 44+ C or something, today is around 20 degrees cooler and overcast and by the time we cast off, it’s drizzly rain. Doesn’t stop everyone from going up on deck and enjoying sailing out of Sydney Harbour. It’s beautiful in any weather.  We’re on the Pacific Jewel this trip and the bad thing is that the best vantage points on the ship aren’t public lounge areas, but the day spa (forward) and the kid’s club (aft). The adult’s only area is on deck 10, aft, and is called Oasis, just like on the Pearl, but there are no spas. At least we could go into the outside deck area of the kid’s club for sail out because the club wasn’t functioning.

A treasure hunt is a fun way of finding different locations on board. We have to get 10 stamps on a card and have the card into the ‘treasure chest’ before 8.45pm. The draw is at 9pm. I wouldn’t have minded winning many of the prizes but it looks like we’re not going to be lucky tonight. The final prize is a double pass for the duration of the cruise to the “Thermal Suite” in the day spa and just as I say to Trevor, ‘well, they can keep that one’, my name is called!! It’s valued at $200, so I guess we’ll just have to go and check it out. I’m not into saunas or steam rooms, but there’s a ‘relaxation’ room and a ‘meditation’ room, who knows, maybe there’ll be a good view out!