kernow

Last night we watched Pixels Cabaret in 270. It's the only show on this ship that you need reservations for. It was quite similar to Spectras on Anthem except that there were no aerialists in this one( apparently there have been in the past). The performers were very good and we enjoyed it although we couldn't really follow the theme. Dinner was in Wonderland, a first for us. It's certainly very clever and the food was good especially the desserts. Of course we had to try the cocktails, a Cheshire Cat Cosmo for me and a Smoke Rings for Mark.

Hi, We bought our own self tests from the UK and did them at the hotel, we took a photo on our phone to show them and I also put the negative tests in a plastic bag and took them along. There was a lady in the terminal checking for tests, Mark had his photo already called up and showed her, I went to get my photo and I also had the bag with tests in hand but she just waved me through. They were quite casual about it all, you won't have any problems. About the boarding times in Sydney, I don't know yet but will find out on turnaround day as we plan to go into Sydney ourselves.😀

The ship was rocking a bit in the night and we woke up to my favourite kind of seas with white caps on the waves. There's a bit of movement but not enough to bother us (although the barf bags are out). We had the top tier party this morning, 300 and something D, 180 D+ and 13 Pins. Can't remember the other tiers but Haffnar did tell us around 4000 guests in total. The weather has been getting sunnier throughout the day and we now have mostly blue skies. Currently sitting out on the Promenade deck with a Goombay Smash ( as the Internet signal was rubbish on the pool deck but not bad here!)

When we got onboard they gave us a paper saying Mystery Island has been cancelled due to problems with the tender pier. We will now just have an extra sea day with scenic cruising so just 2 ports on a 10 day cruise. Luckily we like sea days! We checked out our dining table, we always request a large table at late seating. We have a nice window table in the corner of The Grande but only a 4 top. We spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering around the ship and enjoying rhe feeling of being back onboard. We called into the Diamond lounge about 6pm, the concierge is Haffnar who remembered us from a TA on Jewel in 2018. I'm always amazed how they see so many people and yet remember you years later. The lounge was packed and there must have been a bit of an issue with the service as the bar manager was in there giving an apology about wait times and lack of servers. More had been bought from elsewhere and we got our cocktails quickly. It seems like having to sign for the free drinks wastes a lot of time and paper😮. We chatted with some Australians, there seems to be very few international guests on this cruise. Also lots of younger people onboard, many in groups of friends, it's a really nice mix of people. Dinner was good, both food and service although it was just the 2 of us at our table, infact lots of empty seats in the dining room. Our waitress seemed to have lots of tables but still did a good job and was friendly. She said they still have staff shortages, like everywhere else I guess. We went to Boleros after dinner and managed to stay up until 11.45, I think we've finally got over the time change. All in all a great first day and it really does feel like we're on holiday now.

Embarkation was actually very smooth. We noticed the line was starting to move around 11.30 so we went and joined the back. Someone checked our set sail passes and we followed everyone into the terminal. They were not checking times ( the people in front of were 2pm and asked and were waved through). We then just kept moving through, someone looked at photos of our negative tests, someone else checked our passports, they took the security photos and finally scanned our bags. At 11.55 we were walking onto the ship. Once onoard we headed straight for Cafe Two70. Mark had a beef Kummelweck and I had a panini, of course I forgot photos🤣. I promise to do better! Cabins were supposed to be ready at 2 but we wandered up at 1.30 and the doors were open so we headed to the cabin. There was a pile of cases in the corridor which includes ours so we went and unpacked. Never had this happen before but unfortunately both of our cases had been damaged. Mine was smashed by the wheel on one corner and Mark's had a split in the hard casing along the bottom. We reported it and the front desk manager filled in a form. We've been told the cases will be collected and they will replace them so I'll keep you updated.

See you next week, the ship is in great shape😁.

There are still free sessions and there are also extended sessions that are charged. In general I think the pay sessions are on sea days, I know today North Star has been out over the side of the ship and those trips are charged, 16 minutes are 19 dollars pp. On port days the straight up and down trips are free. I fly has free one minute trial rides on port days for free, just checked the app and today it's 29 dollars for an hour, presumably that's a lesson. The free slots were available on the app as soon as we boarded.

We're at the terminal.Doors not open yet and there is already a big queue. Hopefully they will stick to the allocated times once they start letting people in. It's a lovely sunny day but very windy, think the ship may be rocking tonight.

It's Wednesday, it's 6.30 am and it's cruise day🎉. We're very excited to be boarding Ovation in a few hours. We have a very big FB group for this cruise (over 900) and lots of people are staying at hotels overlooking Circular Quay and have been posting photos and videos of the ship arriving. We're planning to check out of the hotel at 11 and get a taxi, it's only about a 5 minute journey but a bit too far to walk with luggage. We have the earliest check in time of 12 but not sure if they may be delayed. They are starting to panic in Australia a bit as they have a new wave of covid and the ships have been reporting cases. Not sure if there is Internet in the terminal but if not I won't have any until sometime tomorrow when I'll start my first 24 hours. I'll update with photos and ship info then. If anyone has anything they want me to find out let me know. We have two and a half seadays until we arrive in Vanatu on Saturday so planning a nice relaxing time to get over the remaining jetlag😁

We had a long walk today, nearly 20,000 steps. We started out going to the Royal Botanic Gardens which are beautiful then walked right around the waterfront to Darling Harbour. We then had some well deserved cocktails at a waterfront bar😄🍹. Some random pics.

Just been over to Vintage Cellars and purchased our wine, nice shop, thanks for the tip. Mark had a good chat with the man in there about English Cider😁 Now back at the hotel doing our covid tests, all looking clear so we're good to go.

Yes, we were just reading the plaque, didn't realise the site was where the original Opera house was built. It's nice to see so many of the old buildings have been kept in Sydney, feels a bit like home. Loving the feel of the city so far. Do you know where is the best place to buy our bottles of wine to take on the ship? Don't want anything fancy, just something for a glass on the balcony.

We landed in Sydney at 7am this morning, flight was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. Very impressed with Sydney Airport, plane touched down at 7, we were in a taxi on our way to the hotel at 7.40. We are staying at the Grace Hotel which is in the centre of Sydney, just a short walk from both Darling Harbour and Circular Quay surrounded by shops and restaurants. After a few hours sleep when we arrived we've been out exploring this afternoon.

Feeling very tired at Changi airport Singapore. We've had to get off and wait at the gate while they clean the plane. Very strange meal service on the plane, we had dinner just after take off from Heathrow and then another dinner 11 hours later just before landing. We were expecting breakfast but it's 8 pm here. Only another 8 hours to go until Sydney😀

At the gate waiting to board, see you on the other side😁.

All checked in and sitting in the lounge at Heathrow enjoying the first drink of the holiday.

Having breakfast in Bristol before driving up to Heathrow. We've been reading about the Princess ship that has just arrived back to Sydney with 800 cases of covid onboard😯 Hoping we can stay covid free. I've packed plenty of masks and a box of tests. In Australia we still have to test 24 hours before boarding but just a self certified test which we will do on Tuesday. Fingers crossed we will be negative. No idea what happens with the b2b, presumably they will test us onboard.

We are flying to Sydney later today to embark Ovation on Wednesday. From what I've read there is no mandatory isolation in NSW anymore, things are similar to how they are currently in the UK. We are doing b2b and have not heard anything about testing for the second cruise, I assume they will test us onboard especially as second cruise is NZ one. Not really too worried, I suspect all of the 3 cruises we've done in the last 18 months have had multiple cases onboard, probably a few hundred if they had tested everyone at disembarkation, thankfully we managed to avoid it. We had our second boosters a few weeks ago but I know we could still catch it, if we do so be it.

Nice to have you along, hope you are enjoying the TA. x

Cases packed and ready to go.

Ooh yes, I'll try it. I was googling them all last night.

I've finished work and now I'm officially on holiday🍾🌞. Got my nails done on the way home, packing nearly finished, just a few bits to put in tomorrow morning. I've just been looking through the bar and restaurant menus on the app and dreaming about what I'm going to have! I always pick out lots of fab sounding cocktails but when the bar tender asks what I want I forget what they are called and end up with the ones I always order. Looks like there are a few different wines and spirits on this ship, I guess because it's being stocked in Australia. I'm a gin drinker and there are a couple I've never heard of, hope they have the Squealing Pig Rose gin in stock as that's one I certainly want to try. It also looks like the MDR serves similar menus to the UK ones with the pies and curries everyday. I dread to think how much weight we're going to put on.

For all those with cruises booked on Ovation, if you look on the app you will find bar menus with prices.Go to dining, then bars and lounges then select the bar and you will be able to see the menu. I assume prices include grats as they are the same as the prices when the ships sail from the UK where they are always included.