Rhapsody of the Seas Review ...it's an epic..lol

[badgerbill]

For those of you who asked as promised here is the link to my review of our Honolulu - Sydney cruise on the ROS....its long so suggest comfy chair and perhaps a cuppa or glass of wine to read this one...lol......cheers shiona

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=12186616#post12186616

[S&D]

Thanks for taking the time to write that wonderful review.....our friends Shirley and John - and family were on the same sailing. They loved the ship too.

Sounds like you all had a fabulous time.

We would definately love to cruise on Royal Caribbean one day .... it all sounds great!!

Much appreciated...

S&D

[badgerbill]

Hi S&D
We met and spent some time with Shirley and John and the family what a great bunch they are....shirley emailed us the other day saying my john and i should join you all on the Sun Princess...would have loved to but having a holiday from holidays till September......lol....bet we don't......cheers shiona

[i_love_cruising]

Badgerbill,

Thank you for a great review and lovely photos. It sounds like you both had a lovely cruise. Maybe another one to add to the list of cruises to do in the future!!

Sarah

[Skyrules]

From Shiona's review

LAUTOKA - FIJI
This is a port town only it is not the prettiest place we have seen and if calling there on a cruise would definitely suggest a day tour...... It was very very hot and the closest shops to the port were a good 30min walk. were told not much to see.... We paired up with a great couple from our dinner table and the four of us hopped a taxi to Denarau Island to spend the day at the Sofitel resort..they are Accor members so we were welcomed with open arms....... Great place for a land based holiday.........and the local beer is fantastic, specially on a hot day.... The landscape is no where near as stunning as French Polynesia and i found the locals lacked pride in how there properties looked....bit dumpy and smelly for me.....




Nice to hear about this port, we've just been told we'll be going there on our Pacific Dawn cruise next year (it's replacing Levuka), but I haven't really been able to find out much about it.

Thanks for a wonderful review!! Pleased to hear you had such a wonderful time!

[cheznandy]

I put a rely here but dont know where it got to:confused:

Thanks Shiona, great review, we are visiting these ports in June. As kym said, we have been changed from levuka to Lautoka too, we have decided to hire a car and not reboard in Suva and drive around to Lautoka, staying at the Sofitel, we are Accor members too:D glad to hear it was nice!!
Been to Lautoka twice, its a good jumping point for the islands, and is close to Nadi thats about it!!
The lady who was your guide on Moorea, was she with a P&O tour? I have some details of a lady, just wondering if its the same one.

Chez
xx

[badgerbill]

Hi Chez ....trying to remember name on side of bus in Moorea and ladies name to no avail ...but who knows i might remember some time soon..probably in the middle of the night..lol...our shipping line was Royal Caribbean not P & O and there tours were keenly priced so we decided to book with them....here is the link for the dolphin experience at the intercontinental...it works our to approx $260.00AU per person.....plus tax in French Polynesia all the taxes add up to about 28% on top of purchase prices....... i going to start saving now...i watched when we were there and i want to be part of it........lol...

http://www.mooreadolphincenter.com/index_en.php

on our return voyage in 2009 we aren't going to Lautoka.....hooray.......we are going to my fav place for a landbased holly Rarotonga........ cheers shiona

[cheznandy]

Shiona, sorry bout the slip up, yes realised you wernt on P&O;)
here is the link I have for the lady in moorea, it was Juliennes, http://www.tahiti1.com/safari/index.htm

I have already booked Damien for Bora Bora and Bruno for Raiatea:D so excited!! and we had our land based Fiji section approved by P&O so all good there!!

In Rarotonga Geri and i wanted to hire a fun car:) and zip around, although I think we will be laughing so much.......won't see much, just wanted to circle the island, go to Muri beach, swim at fruits of Rarotonga, any suggestions here Shiona??

Chez
xx

[badgerbill]

I have already booked Damien for Bora Bora and Bruno for Raiatea:D so excited!! and we had our land based Fiji section approved by P&O so all good there!!

In Rarotonga Geri and i wanted to hire a fun car:) and zip around, although I think we will be laughing so much.......won't see much, just wanted to circle the island, go to Muri beach, swim at fruits of Rarotonga, any suggestions here Shiona??

Chez
xx

Hi Chez Had a look at the link for the safari....isnt the one we did...we old fogeys ...lol....were in an airconditioned bus...it sounds great and covers everything you will need to see.......and is reasonably priced.... Fantastic that P&O have approved your sleepover in Fiji....great idea.... Raro...John and I spent 10 days there in 2000....we loved it and keep trying to get back...we want to spend a week on Aitutaki.....which is about an hours flight from Raro....we will get there...lol..... when we were on Raro the olympic torch was arriving it was an all day event finishing at the Stadium where the torch lit the flame there....people came from far and wide in the Cooks and the music was fantastic...they had the biggest conga line we have ever seen and it went for ages...anyway enough of that... Before you hire a car you will have to go to the Police Station in the main street and purchase for $10NZ a Cook Is. license...takes 5 mins just present your Aussie one.....stick to the speed limits and road rules.. they are tough on tourists as well as locals disobeying......Island is only 32 klms around so you have plenty of time to see lots..... Some places to go....Muri Lagoon you mentioned is beautiful great place to swim...... Perfume Factory i guess its still there its not far out of main town Avarua ....my John said to tell you to remember when you see it that he modelled for the statue out the front......lol.... Edgewater Resort has a bar Mals Bar named after Mal Meninga...of Canberra and Qld rugby league fame....great for morning tea.....beer is cold and local brew great........ Waterfall - Papua or Wigmores think thats what they call it.....at Vaimaanga.......Sheraton Skeleton is also in the Vaimaanga area......hotel started by them but they angered the chiefs so all building stopped and they were kicked off island....that was in the early 90's when you get back to Avarua and are all finished for the day a nice cold beer or wine at Trader Jacks right at the harbour is a great way to finish the day.. Off to hunt out the fotos and watch our Raro home movie now..lol...cheers shiona:D

[cheznandy]

Wow thanks Shiona!! Loving all the info:)

I have wanted to go to the Cook Islands forever but never got there, so looking forward to it, Aitutaki looks amazing too!!

Ok now only have Nukualofa, Vavau, Papeete, Moorea, Pago Pago, Apia, Savu Savu to go!! any other suggestions anyone???

[MsMinx]

Shiona, thanks so much for the review! Sounds like you had a wonderful time!! Your photos look so beautiful too! What amazing places you saw! :D

Gotta say that I just love the photo of your Sofie cat too :D Looks very cute and cuddly :D

[badgerbill]

Spent 14 days in Tonga...in 2001.. honest......nothing much too see on mainland Tongatapu...we stayed at the International Dateline Hotel which in its hey day had some of the more famous movie stars holidaying there....now its just an average hotel....not the cleanest....sent us home with a great souvenier....giardia.....lol....out and about the blowholes are awesome..surf beaches are nice..cove where Captain Cook came ashore was interesting, dead kings palace is pretty, the graves in the graveyards are interesting decorated with bedspreads and beer bottles..:confused:.....not sure if they have rebuilt the main street as the rebels burnt it to the ground.. last year i think that was...we then had 9 days at the Royal Sunset Island Resort...no tv no newspapers no radio no john rehearsals...it was fantastic...did nothing...... if they do a day tour to FaFa Island it should be great fun...nice swimming nice resort....i would love to go to Pago Pago and Apia one day....................
Thanks Jo...thought u might like to see her face this time...lol....Sophie is a spoilt spoilt girl..... but then again she like your gorgeous cat is worth it...... everytime we go away we add $100 a week to our costs to cover her suite at the Pusa Palace..... cheers shiona

[karmac]

That's such a cute pic Shiona. Will have to try & attatch one of our cat, Brocky.

Karen

[badgerbill]

Thanks Karen....Brocky most definately needs to make a foto debut too:D..... i love the photos of the Rhapsody you took they are great...i found and marked with x one of yours to show where i was standing to take one of mine...it felt like i was actually off the ship.....hope you don't mind.....cheers shiona

[karmac]

Thanks Shiona, I was very happy with them. I've tried posting a pic of Brocky but having trouble uploading one for some resaon. Will keep trying though.

Karen

[karmac]

Just trying to get my post to show up. Having a few problems tonight....very slow:rolleyes:

Karen

[badgerbill]

I just had to wrestle these two fotos on....foto gremlins are working overtime.......

[badgerbill]

I just had to wrestle these two fotos on....foto gremlins are working overtime.......

[MsMinx]

...thought u might like to see her face this time...lol....Sophie is a spoilt spoilt girl..... but then again she like your gorgeous cat is worth it...... everytime we go away we add $100 a week to our costs to cover her suite at the Pusa Palace..... cheers shiona

Pusa Palace! I love it!! Minxy goes off to "Granny's" house whenever we go away LOL! Not sure who enjoys it more, Minx or my Mum.

Sofie is beautiful :D:D

[SouthAussie100]

Loved your review Shiona ! Certainly makes me want to look at further away ports for our next cruise.

Fabulous photos too. I'm not a cat person but I thought Sebastian was very cute :D Fancy "exposing" yourself like that on the www !! :eek:
Nice little black dress by the way :cool:

cheers
nessie

[badgerbill]

Loved your review Shiona ! Certainly makes me want to look at further away ports for our next cruise.

Fabulous photos too. I'm not a cat person but I thought Sebastian was very cute :D Fancy "exposing" yourself like that on the www !! :eek:
Nice little black dress by the way :cool:

cheers
nessie

I never was a cat person either i thought..but one day on our way into the hardware shop for some paint....don't know what happened but voila...a four week old pusa was sitting on my knee on the way home in the car instead of a paint can......:eek: and the rest is history.....lol..... Sebastian looks just like his dad.. we were between Lahaina and Bora Bora when we got the email and fotos....we celebrated that night.... As for exposing myself:o....now i'm granny to 6.8 grandchildren its time to be bold ...;)..Fanks for the compliments....loved your land based review too..... cheers

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Many thanks for the review.
If you want to catch Rhapsody on a cam,
she is in Tauranga today.
Click on

http://www.citynews.co.nz/webcams/

and select Harbour cam.
You can take control and pan around.

[LouLou28]

Thanks for a great review! Just spent some enjoyable time reading it all.

My T/A has suggested a cruise on this ship in 2009 for us - so was thoroughly enjoying hearing all about it!

[badgerbill]

Many thanks for the review.
If you want to catch Rhapsody on a cam,
she is in Tauranga today.


Hi David
Thanks for that wasnt sure where she was headed to today ..looks like rain ..... I saw her head out to sea via the Wellington Harbour Heads webcam the other day and the day before i watched her depart from Cashin Quay Lyttelton.. not that i am following her or anything ...lol.....:D just online at the right time..... cheers shiona

Linda come join us on the 2009 Sydney - Honolulu cruise....:cool: