A Review - R732 Week Fantastique

[Skyrules]

Now that I've caught up on some sleep, I thought I would make a start on a review.... Will do it in stages, as we also have to fit in shopping today, since Dono & Philson aren't here to bring us our food, and the fridge and cupboards are alarmingly empty.

I've put some photo's up, I'll put some more up when I've sorted the photo's out.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/560714058dVnnlw


Embarkation
This was our first experience with actually using Portside Wharf instead of just visiting ships down there. And it was a much better experience than using Roma St and Pinkenba wharf. Having said that, while all well inside the terminal, I think a bit of work could be done on improving the arrangements outside the terminal. There's not a lot of space for mixing arriving and departing passengers.


The Ship
I have to say the ship was looking much fresher than the last time we'd seen her, a couple of weeks prior. They're obvioiusly working hard on painting and cleaning after the NZ storm. Once good thing we did notice too, the infamous 'odour' seems to have been nearly eliminated. Occasionaly you would get a whiff of it, but not as frequently as our previous cruise.

Not a lot had changed in the 18 months since we'd last cruised. We were in a cabin only 5 cabins away from the one we were in last time, so for the first day or two we had to remember not to try and open the door to cabin 5065, but to go further up the hallway!


The Passengers
As I mentioned in my teaser, there were only 955 passengers on board for this cruise, including a contingent of travel agents. Not a lot of young party groups on this one, mostly families, groups of adults and lots of older couples. The teen club only had 27 kids in it - and they were mostly well behaved.

The Enteratinment
The cruise director, Adam Goder, did a wonderful job. It was a pleasure to see a cruise director who was good at his job, was funny but serious when he needed to be, and made sure you knew when he was being serious. He also wasn't afraid to 'share the glory' with his entertainment staff, unlike other cruise directors who believe it's all about them. They certainly put a lot into the 7 night cruise;

All four standard production shows; G'day G'day, Love the Nightlife, Dance and Shake Rattle & Roll
Two Celebrity Showtimes with the gues entertainers Ashley Puriri and Kel Ann Brandt
Pacific Star (Australian Idol at Sea)
Passenger talent show
Adam's Pub Night
Island Night, Country & Western night, Rock & Roll Night
Coming soon - Part 2, The Cruise

[sweet_successes]

Thanks fpr Part 1 - reading your review is getting me really excited as ours in less than 2 weeks away now.

Just a question - what was Adam's Pub Night?? and did you have the 2 formal nights as well?

Thanks Rach

[LouLou28]

Thanks for starting your review Skyrules .... will be checking back often for the next installment!:D

[Skyrules]

Thanks fpr Part 1 - reading your review is getting me really excited as ours in less than 2 weeks away now.

Just a question - what was Adam's Pub Night?? and did you have the 2 formal nights as well?

Thanks Rach

Adam's Pub Night was a bit of fun, some singing, some party games and a wonderful performance of the YMCA by the entertainment staff.

Yes, 2 formal nights, Sunday and Thursday.

[MsMinx]

Hi Guys! Welcome back! Thanks for Part 1 of the review :D Looking forward to the rest when you've settled back in to the daily grind :)

[chaz cruiser]

Pub Night is a new passenger involvement show. I believe that Chris Nichol started it on the Star. They do a few old style songs like Long way to tipperary (as a round) and play a heap of the games they used to do in the nightclub (or so I've been told!).

It was a lot of fun. But I hope they have extended it a little. We found it to be a little short.

Cheers,
Charmain:)

[Skyrules]

Ok, now for The Cruise

The Cruise
This cruise was a different experience for us, as it was the first cruise that we hadn't travelled with a group of people - it was just the two of us, making it easy to do our own thing and not have to work in with others plans or expectations. So we spent a lot of time at sea just relaxing. We attended only a few of the daily activities, we didn't feel like we had to attend everything as we'd seen and done most of it before.

We were fortunate and shared our dinner with a lovely group - an older couple who were regular cruises and a family (2 adults, 1 teen and 1 almost teen) who were first time cruisers. So dinner was about sharing cruise experiences and answering the 'newbies' questions, as of course they had lots. I think by the end of the cruise we had another bunch of cruise addicts in that lot - I don't think it will be their last cruise.

We got to see back stage in the Showlounge, amazing that they can do their costume changes etc so effectively in such a small space. We did the galley tour again, always good to see where the lovely food has been prepared.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to do a Bridge Tour with Captain Ivan Jerman (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2856917820078909071CGQNvE) and First Officer (Navigator) Vincenzo Pigna.... As the Captain says, it's certainly the best view on the ship.

This happened on my birthday (but not because of it - we weren't the only ones invited), and helped add to the excitement of the day, along with my birthday cake (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2074784490078909071kOhqZi), and birthday suprise (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2226564280078909071ERADOU) in the cabin

The Ports of Call
Noumea was just Noumea... At least we arrived on time this trip, instead of 3hrs late as we'd done on the previous cruises out of Brisbane. On time arrival meant we could finally make it up the hill at the back of the city for the stunning view of harbour, seen here (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2921128810078909071yMPzsk). The view is worth the walk and climb to get there.

After Noumea we called at Lifou, this was my first visit to this port. We did the Cliffs of Jokin tour, which included a visit to a Vanilla Bean plantation. The talk there gave me a new appreciation of the work that goes into producing the beans, a lot of work for something we take for granted when we go to the shop. Then onto the tiny village of Jokin, and a walk down the 200 steps to the waters edge. Well worth it. In the afteroon we walked up to the Chapelle Notre Dame de Lourdes (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2543392970078909071OCoUlg) then went for a swim.

In Vila we did the Lagoon Cruise, followed by a sea plane flight over Vila. I'd recommend the sea plane flight. Wayne, the company owner and pilot, takes you on amazing 10 or 20 min flight over Vila, and points out lots of the hightlights of Vila including Cascade Waterfalls, Hideaway Island, the Lagoon, etc, etc.

This company needs passengers support, as they've only been operating for 5 months, and had signed a contract with P&O to offer the flight as a shore tour. However 1 week before this was supposed to start, Carnival Corp made the decision to cancel all avaiton based shore tours, world wide, following a crash in the Caribbean (sp?) that claimed some passengers lives, and so P&O had to cancel that contract.... Losing one of his main sources of business as a result. He does, however, offer cheaper rates to P&O passengers on cruise days, we paid $125 each for the 20min flight (and that's 20 mins in the air, plus the taxi time on the water). He's based at the Irririki Resort, jump on the free ferry boat to Irririki Island, and turn left of the jetty and follow the signs.

Make this do for now, dinner needs to be got.

Kym

[qld cruiser]

Hi Skyrules, so glad you both had a great cruise.
love reading your review..

regarding the flights now being cancelled , that was because of 2 tragic flights in Alaska , killing passengers from Princess .

kind regards, Lorraine:) :)

[relate2]

Thanks Skyrules for the review and you have some very nice photos there as well. Those panoramas really give a better idea of the view.

You know I can cruise, at least in spirit, from now till next year right here on Cruise critic, as long as the reviews keep coming, I don't even have to leave my house. :)

[Skyrules]

Hi Skyrules, so glad you both had a great cruise.
love reading your review..

regarding the flights now being cancelled , that was because of 2 tragic flights in Alaska , killing passengers from Princess .

kind regards, Lorraine:) :)


Wayne was told the Carribean, but you could be right Lorraine, I do recall at least one in Alaska

[Skyrules]

Thanks Skyrules for the review and you have some very nice photos there as well. Those panoramas really give a better idea of the view.

You know I can cruise, at least in spirit, from now till next year right here on Cruise critic, as long as the reviews keep coming, I don't even have to leave my house. :)

The panoramic one is a combination of 4 shots I took using the tripod to make sure I kept it lined up. Robert, I used the stitcher program you recommended to put them together.

[karmac]

Wayne was told the Carribean, but you could be right Lorraine, I do recall at least one in Alaska

Definately both Alaska. One on July 24th (Sun Princess) & the other on August 16th (Zuiderdam).

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/events.html

I went on a sea plane from Daydream Island out to the reef about 23 years ago and it was FANTASTIC.


Karen

[kaseyoz]

Definately both Alaska. One on July 24th (Sun Princess) & the other on August 16th (Zuiderdam).

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/events.html

I went on a sea plane from Daydream Island out to the reef about 23 years ago and it was FANTASTIC.


Karen

i think that is one cruise website i wont be adding to my favourites:D :D

A plane trip around the barrier reef would be an amazing experience although i am now interested in the one at vila also

[MsMinx]

Thanks for the continuing review Kym :D

And thanks for the tip on the sea plane tour. DH and I have done just about all there is to do in Vila tour wise, so i'm really keen to give the plane a go next feb :D

Is he set up in that area near the watersports on Iririki? Near the Watermark Cafe?

[Carlz]

Thanks for your really informative review...sounds like you had a nice birthday!

[Skyrules]

Thanks for the continuing review Kym :D

And thanks for the tip on the sea plane tour. DH and I have done just about all there is to do in Vila tour wise, so i'm really keen to give the plane a go next feb :D

Is he set up in that area near the watersports on Iririki? Near the Watermark Cafe?

Yes, I believe that's where he is. Look out for the yellow plane.

More info can be found here; www.vanuatuseaplanes.com (http://www.vanuatuseaplanes.com)

We paid $125 pp for the 20 minute flight - special rate because we were P&O passengers. It's normally $145pp (slightly cheaper if there's 3 of you).

[Skyrules]

Well, since Martin did such a good job with his review there's not much left for me to say, other than to say that we had a wonderful relaxing cruise and that I was very pleased to see that the drama of the last 18 months hasn't affected the cruising experince at all.

A few final observations;

There's a noticable increase in security on board, but I dídn't see it as being intrusive in any way, and there certainly wasn't any trouble on our cruise
There''s a noticeable 'Americanisation/Carnvialisation' of the ship.
There were lots of familar faces from our previous cruises on Pacific Sky, Pacific Sun and Pacific Star... Almost feels like coming home.
A lot more attention is paid to enforcing the alcohol bans on under 18s. We were talking to some girls at afternoon tea early in the cruise, and they were saying they'd already been asked for id on several occassions (despite having blue cruise cards). And they didn't really look that young.
For once the afternoon tea was actually quite nice - the biscuits, cakes and scones were actually fresh.It was interesting to hear the Captain talk, when we did the bridge tour, about the Auckland storm cruise. The weather forcast was for a Force 9 to 10 storm, which the ship can safely handle, and so he was comfortable in sailing from Auckland as per the itinerary. However by the time the storm had developed into the unforecast Force 12 storm, he was committed to riding it out. He sought the shelter of Great Barrier Island, but run out of room for safe manouvering, so had to venture further north seeking shelter. At one stage they were moving at full power and making no headway, and green waves were crashing against the bridge windows (Deck 9 height).

He also told the story of one time hiring tugs at $10,000 an hour to keep a ship (not Star) safely berthed in Osaka harbour duing a typhoon, and how some ports (noteably Hong Kong) kick ships out of the harbour if there is a severe storm forecast.

It was nice to get off the ship knowing that we'd be going again in March, alebeit only for 2 nights, and with thoughts of our NZ cruise in Jan 2009 already swirling.


Kym

[Skyrules]

Two final thoughts.......

1. Just because you know the letters YMCA, it doesn't mean you can sing the song in Karaoke, no matter how little clothes you wear or how drunk you are.

2. An Asian 'ships band' isn't the best choice of band to sing 'Achy Breaky Heart', particularly when people are trying to line dance to it.

[DucknChook]

Thanks heaps for the read Kym, and I thought anyone could sing YMCA ;)

[Skyrules]

Thanks heaps for the read Kym, and I thought anyone could sing YMCA ;)


well this particular person could sing Y-M-C-A and that was about her limit. The rest of the bard did feel sorry for her though, and turned it into a sing along.

[arxcards]

Thanks for your review Kym - I much appreciate your insights. Glad you found time to enjoy yourselves too.

Is there anything specific in carnivoreation that is changing the cruises?
Is it a good or bad thing?

Cheers
Geoff

[Skyrules]

Thanks for your review Kym - I much appreciate your insights. Glad you found time to enjoy yourselves too.

Is there anything specific in carnivoreation that is changing the cruises?
Is it a good or bad thing?

Cheers
Geoff

There's a lot more 'generic' stuff around the ship... It's just a P&O ship, it's not Pacific Star. And there's a tinge of the 'protecting ourselves from being sued' to things, like warnings at the start of the shows about strobe lighting and smoke affects, and that neither are harmful.

There's not a lot of specifics, it was just a general feeling I had that there was something different about this cruise to previuos ones.