Truebliss72*Virgin cruiser* REVIEW..PACIFIC SUN

Well hello hello! Yes it is me Anissa finally home!

We arrived home at lunch time so I am a little beet and the little man screamed the plane down the whole way home from Sydney this morning. I will try to comment as much as I can and be back on tomorrow when my little brain works a little more..hehe

Well what can I say! I loved the cruise. It was amazing and it would have to be the best holiday I have ever had. I would admit that the rest of the family thought so as well.

Before I begin I would have to say that I would *never* recommend travelling with any child under 3. It was just to hard. We didnt get to spend any time together and we ran after him the whole time bar one night we got the girls to watch him while he slept so we could go to "Hoe down" country and western night and we even made the video many times. ( Yuk for me!)

Anyway so here goes with some of my thoughts. We were 3 hours late leaving Sydney so we didnt leave till 8pm but the good side was we got to go through the harbour at night and this was spectacular in itself.

We had already spent alsmot 2 days in Sydney at this point so we had a great family reunion! Awesome!

We were amazed at the size it was massive bigger than we thought! Wow I am still on awe! We were 1st sitting for dinner at 5.45pm but will tell you we only got to eat there the 1st 2 nights and we had to go to kids dinner as our son was booked into kids tea with his sister. Adults must go and we couldnt get Thomas to sit and eat with us for 2 hours afterwards so we had to give it a miss. Bummer..really dampened the trip but not much can be done.

We did however have the occasional meal in the Bourdeaux room for breaky and lunch.

• Food was fantastic except thought the kids meals were to full of junk and high in fat so made this comment on the comment card.
  
• Resturants and staff in them were lovely and it was nothing for the Philippino ladies to take him away and have a little play even if it was for 5 minutes.
  
• Rooms were a little small but cant complain.
  
• Beds...well sleeping in a single bed which the sheets always ended up at my feet and my hubbies bed was the same was funny.
  
• Sleep...didnt sleep well as I was anxious for the first few nights but all 4 others slept well.
  
• Main deck...great being near the pursers desk. Good for disembarkment and tender days.
  
• Photos..well photos for every occasion. I was amamzed.
  
• Formal night..was great but we didnt to the last one as we had a VERY bad night with the weather and will tell you about that one later.
  
• Island night...All dressed up this was a good night.
  
• Fancy dress..didnt do as not many did
  
• Country and western..FANTASTIC!!! Would recommend..the staff were so funny with the games etc and we got on the video to many times on this night!
  
• Rock n Roll night..didnt go as son was to roudy.

Forgive me if I am forgetting anything. Now ports of call.

• Isle of Pines- The most beautiful place. We loved it and snorkelling was good there. Not much shopping but our first port and the tender ride was good. Loved to see us pull away from the ship.One poor lady left the ship that day after a snorkelling accident and ended up in the hospital and her holiday ended.
  
• Yasawa-I-Rara- The best water ever. Really warm and the people awesome. Wuold recommend. My favourite and our son was on the video alot solo this day swimming..

Must go will be back soon.....Keep on the look out

Anissa, great to have you back. Tried looking for you on the cam but missed you.

I believe we told you you'd love the cruise. It's a shame about your 3 y.o. Our kids were older so didn't realise how hard it would be with a 3 and under and it's a shame you couldn't eat at your dinner time.

Your next cruise will be so different without the kids.

Look forward to hearing more from you, especially about the weather coming home. Sounds like it may have been pretty bad...

We loved Isle pines also, beautiful sand. What did you think of Suva?

I was there in 1976, be interesting to see if it's changed much.

We were in the County and Western on our first cruise and we had an absolute blast. We were the chickens, my husband was the rooster. (it was the first time they had ever had a male so he was their first ever rooster). OMG it was so funny.

How'd you go with the photos, buy lots. You could go crazy couldn't you.

I've made 2 walls at home of our holidays and I love looking at it when I'm sitting on the computers in from of them.

Look forward to hearing more and welcome home.

Kerri

Back again. Ports of call

My favourite by far was Yasawa. Gosh I cant spell. It was fabulous and so pretty.

• Druvuni Island...very pretty once again. A must to see. There were no tours on Isle of pines, Yasawa and Druvuni so we swam and met the local people and had a ball. Lots of swimming. Very hot at these places or should I say humid.
  
• Suva..Very smelly but we went on the tour 1 hr drive to Nausori and took a water taxi to see the Nalilili church and Rewa aecondary school where they sung and danced and we had morning tea. This was my favourite tour. The local school boys got our pretty blonde girls up to dance and they all went "oooooh" it was funny. They are lovely people and all swapped addresses so the children can have pen pals.
  
• Lifou.. This would have to be our least favourite place. Went to Lecila beach which was really pretty as well. The people werent as friendly and they didnt like to give change out. They said" We dont know what you say"
  
• Vila, Vanuatu...This was good for shopping. Hubby and the kids done the Jetboat adventure and loved it. We also dont the Botanical gardens but it wasnt worth the money.

I would have to say this cruise was wonderful and there is so much to tell. This will suprise you I took 350 PHOTOS so imagine when I have to put them online for you all to see. Where do I start?

I will mention if anyone has the chance to go through the Havannah Boulari passage which is the way through to Isle of Pines, New Caledonia. I got up at 3am to wait for the sunrise at 5am and this was gorgeous! A must to see. You will see from the photos I will put online this week sometime.

As for the Pacific Sun. I loved it. Some of the parts where old fashioned and needed a revamp. Loved the staff. Child staff were fantastic. Didnt see our 11 yr old. She had privileges to sign herself in and out but usually came to the 8.15pm shows with us. Loved the Entertainers! They were great. Favourite show "G'Day G"day"

I am so tired and i know I have so much else to tell of my experiences but will have to do it tomorrow. It is good to be home as well. We had a really bad night on the way home they had to close most things off! Will tell you about this tomorrow

Take care

Hi Anissa, glad you had a wonderful time. I looked for you too but who knows whether I saw you. I was "in school" when the ship finally left. the other people in my class wondered what on earth I was doing when I was watching the webcam while trying to pretend to be listening to the "teacher".

Can't wait to see the photos. We took a lot more than 350 but that did include all the terrible ones.

Annissa,

Sounds like you had a wonderful time....

Could you please tell us more about Yasawa when you get a chance - we are going there in March.

Also, did P&O put on shore tours in Suva? If so could you give us an indication of what they were and prices etc.

I can easily believe you took 350 photos - it's very easy to do as it's al so photogenic out there.

Welcome Back!

Kym

Back again. Ports of call

 

My favourite by far was Yasawa. Gosh I cant spell. It was fabulous and so pretty.

• Druvuni Island...very pretty once again. A must to see. There were no tours on Isle of pines, Yasawa and Druvuni so we swam and met the local people and had a ball. Lots of swimming. Very hot at these places or should I say humid.
  
• Suva..Very smelly but we went on the tour 1 hr drive to Nausori and took a water taxi to see the Nalilili church and Rewa aecondary school where they sung and danced and we had morning tea. This was my favourite tour. The local school boys got our pretty blonde girls up to dance and they all went "oooooh" it was funny. They are lovely people and all swapped addresses so the children can have pen pals.
  
• Lifou.. This would have to be our least favourite place. Went to Lecila beach which was really pretty as well. The people werent as friendly and they didnt like to give change out. They said" We dont know what you say"
  
• Vila, Vanuatu...This was good for shopping. Hubby and the kids done the Jetboat adventure and loved it. We also dont the Botanical gardens but it wasnt worth the money.

I would have to say this cruise was wonderful and there is so much to tell. This will suprise you I took 350 PHOTOS so imagine when I have to put them online for you all to see. Where do I start?

 

I will mention if anyone has the chance to go through the Havannah Boulari passage which is the way through to Isle of Pines, New Caledonia. I got up at 3am to wait for the sunrise at 5am and this was gorgeous! A must to see. You will see from the photos I will put online this week sometime.

 

As for the Pacific Sun. I loved it. Some of the parts where old fashioned and needed a revamp. Loved the staff. Child staff were fantastic. Didnt see our 11 yr old. She had privileges to sign herself in and out but usually came to the 8.15pm shows with us. Loved the Entertainers! They were great. Favourite show "G'Day G"day"

 

I am so tired and i know I have so much else to tell of my experiences but will have to do it tomorrow. It is good to be home as well. We had a really bad night on the way home they had to close most things off! Will tell you about this tomorrow

 

Take care

Isn't the passage beautiful. We went through it mid morning and it was sunny hot and beautiful the first time and mid afternoon the 2nd cruise and it was wet and not blue seas at all. A lot of people who hadn't been thru the passage before were so disappointed.:(

Had a laugh when you mention 350 photos, I thought i was the only one who went mad with the cameras and video. I took 500 odd photos on both our cruises and they weren't the bad ones ( i deleted them beforehand) I was amazed most of them all turned out. (we were in LA and vegas this Sept and I took 650 odd photos and 2 DVD discs in the video!!!:eek: :eek: . I'm onto my third album:D . I love my photos!!!!

Look forward to hearing more from you tomorrow.

Kerri.

Hi Anissa & welcome back.

Sounds like you had a great time. Now you know we will wait for every bit of review.

We missed you but we knew you were having a great time and a well deserved break.

Photos....I had a feeling you'd take 1 or 2!!!

Looking forward to hearing more when you get settled.

Welcome back from me too,I watched you do the sailaway.I followed the ship out on the cam.It was lovely at night.I have never watched it at night,never had reason too.Did you get the emails I sent from the cam? Just wondering if they were of you? It takes a while to get your landlegs,so take it easy for a few days .....Brenda

welcome back aniissa.

I too kept updating the webcam when you left and then went and missed ypur sailaway!!!

It sounds like you had a wonderful time except for thr return journey. Will await the story about that.

yes i can iamgine the amount of photos, there just is so much to take pictures of, and with digital i think you tend to take more because of they are no good you can just delete them. Of course because i also do scrapbooking i take some ususual shots as well.

Your girls will have a lot of stories to tell when they go back to school.

So, anissa, glad you made it safely home, take it easy for a few days but do keep us posted on any more thoughts that crop up you know we alll devour them.Also look forward to seeing your photos. (webshots is pretty easy to use, even i managed it!!)

karon

ps see you still one cruise on your countdown.....

Welcome back Anissa!!!!! Sounds like you had a great time but I must say I'm not at all surprised about that. Shame about the little fella. If he had been old enough to go to kids club he would have had a great time too. Thankfully mine are older (they'll be 10, 11 & 15) so we'll probably never see them. Can't wait to hear more reviews and certainly can't wait for the photos.

Karen

I have really bad sea legs. Coming home we had bad weather for 24 hours. All of a sudden no matter where you walked there was people throwing up everywhere. They had to close of certain areas. They had to QUARANTINE the kids club Pelican Bay (3-6yr olds) as there was so much vomit.

The ship started at 2.5 metre swells which 12 hours later reached 5 metre swells and we even got to 7 mt swells at some point. My son fell out of bed. Things fell everywhere in the ship and someone required urgent blood trasnfusions and 14 people donated.

Funny though some people didnt even feel the swells must travel alot.

I am so tired today went to work this morning. I have found some more film etc and more photos so the count is on for the amount I took way past the 350 mark I thought. I have lost my XD card with 168 photos on it! So I am in search.

Miss the times of being lazy though. Wish we were there still.

Suva- they have tours on but they do not send them to you until you board. Well this was what they done on our cruise. We had paid for all the tours beforehand and than found out there were some in Suva and you really need to do them at Suva as it isnt the prettiest place but the islands are! Will find my book with the tours in it. Would you like to email me and It will remind me to send them to you! Thanks I am a little slow today! My son is asleep he is getting back to normality as well.

We spent so much money without realising it! Our mortgage has been cleaned out~ oh well we have learnt for next time.

Hi Anissa

Welcome back. I was on the 3 day cruise before yours and my review is posted somewhere down the list, check it out when you have time.

That last night sounded dreadful! We also had a rough night coming home but nothing compared to yours. I've read a few times people have their roughest nights coming back into Sydney, I wonder why? I actually managed fine on the boat considering I get really bad motion sickness, having only taken 1 tablet on that last night. Though I had more trouble the 5 days after getting off, the dizzyness and headaches were awful and my left inner ear was aching away, thankfully that all stopped.

Your comments about taking the younger ones onboard really confirmed it for me (I went with 3 other mums to check out cruising for our families). I had the same opinion. My 4 yo would be a nightmare, with all the stairs and deck areas I would be continually watching out for her, and from what I saw and heard about the kids club for the younger ones I was not all that impressed.

We've been to Suva a few times and yes it is a bit of a dump, though the rest of Fiji is gorgeous and we also found that with Noumea, I was not at all impressed but the Isle de Pines we stayed on for 1 week and it was heaven so you can't really judge a place by their major towns.

Anyways, glad to read you had a great time, now time for all that unpacking and washing..... :(

I think the reason that the night coming back into Sydney is the roughest is probably because The Tasman Sea is supposed to be one of the roughest crossings. When we sailed to UK in '75 our first stop was Auckland and those first couple of days were not a great introductioon to cruising!!!

Karen

Annissa,

when you get a chance, and there's no rush as we have until March to decide what we want to do, could you email me a list of the shore tours, times & prices to columbik@bigpond.net.au

Thanks

Kym

We got told on our last cruise that coming back from say Noumea, the waters are always for the first 12-24 hours choppier than when you leave. They did say why (something about the direction the ship was going into the water??)but not too sure. (not a very good explanation, sorry)

I understand about your son falling out of bed. On my first cruise in 76, we caught the tail end of a cyclone before we got the Suva and I was the only one in our cabin that wasn't throwing up or falling out of bed. (maybe the amount of alcohol helped!!) They had pillars on the dance floor and whilst dancing you ran down one way and had to grab a pillar then ran down the other way and did the same again.. Was so funny.. Sat down to tea earlier and our chairs were sliding backwards!!!! Again funny as heck.

It's theses sorts of things you always remember, you may be worried at the time, but later on you look back and have a laugh.

(my niece got caught on the Sky that ran into a sand bar at Isle Pines and she wasn't laughing at the time, thought she was going to drown "out in the middle of the ocean", not thinking that she was a short distance away from a tropical island!!!. She's laughing now.

I imagine there are a lot of funny stories to be told.

PS. sea legs are shocking aren't they. My hubby took over a week to get over his. Funny watching going to grab for a rail when his balance was off.

lol lol

Kerri

I will second that the alcohol helps with sea sickness. I was feeling a little off one night on ours heading to Auckland and the casino dealer told me, to go and eat something and have 2 quick drinks. I did and felt 100% 5 mins later.

Apparently the alcohol (not lots, just a drink or two) will balance out the motion..

In fact my brother and I were the only ones walking straight up the corridor!! Everyone esle was swaying side to side...

very funny.

Dan

My hubbys father told him to take a paper bag and place on his tummy under his T's and that will help with sea sickness. It worked. That and Dry Ginger Ale.

Kerri

Annissa,

when you get a chance can you email me this info about the shore tours in Suva, to columbik@bigpond.net.au

Ta

Kym

Suva- they have tours on but they do not send them to you until you board. Well this was what they done on our cruise. We had paid for all the tours beforehand and than found out there were some in Suva and you really need to do them at Suva as it isnt the prettiest place but the islands are! Will find my book with the tours in it. Would you like to email me and It will remind me to send them to you! Thanks I am a little slow today! My son is asleep he is getting back to normality as well.

Shall do. Will have to wait till Wed when my son is in daycare. Thanks and i will try download some photos as well