My Review - Week Fantastique 25/11 - 02/12

Hi guys,

sorry this won't be a great review, I meant to keep a diary whilst on board but only wrote in it on the first night

So now I have sat down to write this my mind has gone blank lol.

Saturday 25/11

We arrived Portside pretty early (8:40am) and checked in our bags before dropping the car off at Priority Parking. It was a little unclear as to where you should check your bags in but that was probably our fault for being there so early and running into the crowd getting off the ship

At Priority Parking they are running the P&O side of things out of a foyer in an unused building so they didn't have eftpos facilities and kept running out of forms and having to run back to the real building, but we were too excited at that point to care. We then got shuttled back to Portside where we had a coffee and a bite to eat before getting called to board at about 10:30am. Didn't take too long to get through the line, although this was our first taste of people older than us pushing in (sorry if that offends anyone, but as polite respectful 21yo it is annoying to hear 'real adults' complain about our age group all the time when they are rude enough to expect that they should be before us all the time even if we have been lining up for ages and they just arrived - this happened at most meals on board). Going through security my other half managed to drop everything he was holding (ticket, passport, forms etc), good laugh from everyone around us lol. We then got to our room 7086 on Aloha deck and met our cabin steward (Tushar). We claimed bottom bunks, which we later moved together and our friends were left with top bunks. One of our friends was in a later boarding group so he didn't get on for a while, and was further delayed by a bag search as they thought he had alcohol (it was actually my partner that had insisted on bringing rum, just to see if he could succeed, he then didn't drink it until the last few nights when he realised he had to as it couldn't go back through customs lol, they must have put the computer flag on the cabin not the bag). We then went and had our first taste of the food that was to continue coming at regular intervals throughout the next 7 days, and cocktails. We then spent sailaway on the back deck.

We were in the late dinner so we went to the early show (wasn't that impressed, where was the storyline???) then dinner (were supposed to be on a table of 4 but it was a table of 8 with two numbers on it lol, some schoolies aged apprentices from Melbourne, as the only girl on the table I was renamed 'a cool guy with long hair') then bed (excitement of the day caught up to us pretty early lol)

Sunday 26/11

Can't really remember that much about sunday (seems so long ago now), but we played bingo (were meant to go to ballroom dancing lessons but Dean conveniently lost track of the time :rolleyes: ) spent a fair bit of time in the Casablanca Bar (our main haunt of the trip, had an awesome waiter Elizabeth who remembered all our drinks and would cut our orders ahead of others (just realised that sounds hypocritical re my earlier comment :o ). It was formal night so got ready for dinner early so we could have our photos taken before dinner.

Monday 27/11

Today we had buffet breakfast, bingo again, then I had the frangipani head, neck and shoulder massage in the salon (bliss for $32, if you can handle the persistant sales speech, tried to convince me my two or three pimples were full blown acne that required $150 capsules of rose oil to save my face from caving in, or something to that effect), buffet lunch then horse racing until we got to Noumea. Here we went for a walk around town by ourselves (our two friends went to find a bar!) did some shopping (found a different Lipton Ice Tea flavour which I loved enough to bring back 3 bottles lol) before our 4:45 Le Petit Train. We were a bit late to depart but still got back before full sunset. I was pleasantly surprised by Noumea (had read less than favourable reviews on the forum), I thought the people were quite friendly, sure they weren’t overly enthusiastic like in Vila but they were never rude, and the city was quite nice. Dean also bought some beer here which they x-rayed going back on the ship but didn’t say anything about it. We also saw Tequila and Whisky flavoured beers (YUK!).

Tuesday 28/11

In Lifou, was quite windy but once we got to the other side for snorkelling it was sheltered and calm. Had heard some people on the tender talking about how they had heard you couldn’t go over the other side with small kids as it was steep and a long walk, I though this was a shame as it really isn’t far and although the stairs are steep and a bit slippery they are certainly doable, even with little kids, and quite a few people were. I had some issues with the snorkelling, felt a bit claustrophobic so didn’t do it for long, but Dean loves it. Didn’t go out very far though, and we are told the best snorkelling is a 10min swim out. Most of the coral is bleached and not that many fish, but comparable to Great Keppel Island, still lots of fun. Although beware of how high the coral is, Dean cut his ankle on it and my flippers were very scratched up just from swimming (was trying really hard not to touch it), when you have your mask on it makes it seem like it is further away than it is. We then went back to the other side and bought some souvenirs before doing the $11 tour offered by the locals, in a van. This was a good tour to see a bit more of the island but without much commentary. Was also disappointed by how rude people were when we got to the hut where they meet to make decisions. We had just been told that only the Chief enters the left door but everyone jumped out of the van and headed straight for the hut and crowded in both doors regardless. Some people even jumped into the garden around the hut to have there photos taken next to it (no problem with photos but they could have stood 1m away rather than in a garden). Oh well, I guess there are idiots no matter where you go :rolleyes: . It was quite rough that night and I didn’t make it to dinner (Dean brought me back breadrolls, but turns out our friends got drunk and missed dinner as they were having too much fun upstairs and the younger boys went to the steakhouse so poor Dean ate dinner all alone!!!).

Wednesday 29/11

Up bright and early as we had a 8:30 tour booked. Was drizzling a bit, and very very hot and humid, even the locals said it was ridiculously hot and sticky. We went on the Club Hipique Horse Riding Tour which was sooo much fun! Nobody put there hand up when they asked if anyone could ride (except for one young girl who said she had ridden ponies at the Ekka :p , she was serious!!!), I didn’t either as I haven’t ridden in years so didn’t have the confidence. We only went at a walk the whole way which normally would have bored me but it was such beautiful landscape and we went up a really steep hill which was just mud and rocks and the horses were slipping and tripping, they bunny hopped the whole way up, looking for rocks to get a grip on, so that was a bit hair raising, and a few young girls screamed the whole way up lol. They told them they could drop their reins if they had to and hold on to the saddle. I was holding a camera in one hand (was one of the waterproof ones from on board, but had taken off the casing so no strap) and reins in the other so bounced around a fair bit. Then at the top it was a great view of the landscape. From this point on I ended up about 50m ahead of the group, with the guide which was great as I got to talk to him and he pointed out the different types of plants etc. When we got back they took our saddles off and we rode bareback into the lagoon (a massive lake) for a swim. As I was the only one that could ride I was the only one that got my horse out to swim (the others all turned back regardless of what the riders wanted, don’t think they are as in to the swimming as the owner made out lol), was really cool when we got out to where Delta couldn’t touch bottom anymore, had to lie down and hold onto mane so didn’t float off. We then got driven back to the boat where we changed out of our wet joggers and jeans and had a shower and lunch before going into town to do some shopping. I was always interested to know what you could buy so here is my shopping list lol:

1L Absolut Vodka (Peach) $15

1L Glenfiddick 12yo Scotch $32

1.125L OP Captain Morgan Rum $20

1.125L Black Douglas Scotch $16

1.2kg Toblerone $25 (not actually cheaper than Aus, but wanted it just for the fact that it was so huge!!!)

Billabong Cap $10

Roxy Cap $15

Quicksilver Shirt $15

Coffee, random souvenirs, survivor Vanuatu cap for a friend who is a survivor addict.

Would have liked to buy myself some clothes but by this time it was already 3:30pm and we still had to do the markets back at the ship!!!

Got back to the markets and bought sooo many souvenirs, you don’t realise how many family members you have until you start buying something for everyone (the perils of going on a holiday just before a big family Christmas lol)

Thursday 30/11

Pretty lazy day today the usual bingo, watched marriage match (wow, they really dig deep!, one guy said he wished his wife hadn’t put on weight when she had their daughter!!! I think he was lucky half the crowd didn’t kill him! Another guy when asked what attracted him to his wife said “didn’t you see them!” meaning his wife was quite buxom lol). Also went to the casino (throughout the cruise we would play blackjack and lose, then win it back on roulette playing thirds, then put some in the pokies, many hours of entertainment for about $100 for the two of us for the entire cruise, pretty good I thought). Today they had a 25% discount for 3 or more 100ml bottles of fragrance so bought my Beyond Paradise (ended up being $73 for 100ml) and a bottle of Jlo Glow for mum (ended up being $52, but is $49 at priceline this week doh!) and one of our friends got a bottle of something for his girlfriend (can’t remember what). It was formal night again and I got my hair done at the salon (a bit of an expensive disaster). Wanted curls but the guy curled it nicely but left the top straight and flat then ran his fingers through the curls turning them into a poodlesque do. So it looked crap and I asked him if he could pull the front back to sort of hide the flatness on top, but he started doing this stupid updo whereby he teased the hell out of the front and boofed it up about 10cm from my head then pinned most of the curls behind that leaving just enough to look like a mullet. And he charged me $55 for the curls then another $55 for an updo!!! Got back to the cabin and pulled it all out, was going to wash it and leave it straight but managed to play with it for a while and the curls relaxed a bit and I pinned it back off my face like I had asked him to do, wasn’t thrilled with it but hated it slightly less lol. Lesson is be firm about what you want and confirm price before they do anything. We went and had more formal photos taken, another lesson here is that the black background photos are only printed in black and white, they don’t have a sign about this and don’t tell you so it was a bit of a shock when we went to get them the next day that they were all black and white :). Went to the steakhouse tonight as I wasn’t a fan of the menu (don’t really like seafood, and the chicken dish had pate), steakhouse was wonderful! And the boys from our table were there too, so our waiter Cornelius had an easy night!

Friday 01/12

Really really rough on Friday!!! Spent the whole time in bed as whenever I sat up I spewed lol. Should have gotten the Jab but as it was the last day and I was tired I never got around to it, then it got a bit better that evening and I made it to dinner and the casino. Was still a bit of a shame as I think the rough weather being on the last night day made my landsickness (swaying on land) worse on sat and sun. Didn’t take too long to disembark (we were about the 7th group called), I had put all of our souvenirs in one bag for customs but it didn’t get flagged for searching so I told them it was full of wooden items, food etc and they sheepishly searched it and sure enough there was one wooden item that had to be confiscated (only cost $2 though). I then waited with all the bags while Dean caught the bus back to Priority Parking then came and picked me up. This was a good idea as everyone else was catching the bus with their luggage so even though they seat a lot of people they weren’t filling them up as there wasn’t enough room for the bags so Dean managed to skip the line and get on the first bus.

Sorry guys about the really really long review. Hope it isn’t too crappy J Will eventually post photos, but are going to Newcastle tomorrow for an early Christmas with my extended family then up to Gladstone for the real Christmas (and my birthday on Christmas eve) with our parents, then we are moving up to Gladstone for our graduate jobs in the first week of January so will be a while before I get the chance I am afraid. But will still be checking in here from time to time

Sarah

Great review! Brought back (recent) memories of our cruise...

I bought the last 400gm bar of Toblerone for $4 at Fung Kuei's.We are still eating it!!

Great review Sarze! Have to say I agree with you about some of the 'older' folk on cruise ships, particularly where a buffet meal is involved. :)

That's a new one with the Black & White formal photo's haven't seen them done before, other than by request.

Kym

Great review, thanks Sarze. Some really good tips. 5 more sleeps to go before we sail away....

Great review. I agree about Lifou. We had never been over the other side before as I imagined this hair raising trip. Now I know better. The best thing we did was take the floaty pool hammock, then we could just float above the coral and didn't have to worry about damage to us or coral.

Thanks for a wonderful review, Sarze! 12 more sleeps for me!

Thanks guys,

Dean just saw the review for the first time and immediately copied it into word to check the word count. He is amazed that I managed to write 2500 words in 30min when it took me about 10hr to write my last 6000 word assignment last semester :)

Are we able to edit our posts? I couldn't find a link anywhere, just wanted to add the saturday heading where it should be half way through the friday summary :)

-EDIT-

Just found it on this post, and looked up FAQ, it says there is a time limit to editing so I guess that is why I can't find it on the original, oh well.

Thanks sarze, a good read, I agree about the 'pushy oldies', (I'm 53) I hope I don't get like that! Politeness shouldn't be age specific. Hope you have a great time in Newcastle and Gladstone. Happy Birthday too for Christmas eve.

Great review Sarz. There's nothing worse than rudy "oldies". I'm 49 and they annoy the crap out of me when they push in without even muttering "excuse me!!".

Happy birthday for Xmas eve, my daughters the day before yours and another on NY eve!! Blahh.

We are mid 40's and don't push in front of others, but God help anyone who tries to push in front of us!

If my m-i-l (late 80's) is anything to go by, I think they just focus on their "target" and don't even see that there're others around or in front. Also. because they move with more difficulty, they don't want to miss out by being slow...I think!

Good review Sarz, shows us things to look forward to.

We are going on the same cruise this Saturday. Only 3 more sleeps.

Hate que jumpers, the older ones are definitely worse (We are in the older age group, unless you are talking about the over 60s, in which case we are in the middle group):D

Sarz you or others on the forum might be able to help supply answers to the following :-

1 What theme nights can we expect.

2 How formal are the formals, do all the men wear suits (Don't worry about answering how dressed up the women get, they always get dressed up and spend a small fortune on getting their hair done):)

3 We have a 16 year old and a 12 year old (both boys), what activities do they have for them, do they have formals.

4 What's the chance of the 12 year old be placed into the 13 age group as he is only a week off 13.

5 Where is the best place in Lifou for snorkelling.

There are lots more questions, but by the time I've finished listing them we will be boarding the ship. (wished I found this forum sooner)

Hi Sarze,

thank you for a great revue, and an honest one...

I agree with you (some older people do push in)....but not me.... being part of the older set, my husband and I wait until last because I lose balance easily, I require a walking stick . .. .. I have experienced the pushing in myself, mainly waiting in the long line at the purser's desk, they are like the Phantom, they come from behind working their way forward, smiling, talking to everyone, all the time edging that little bit closer to the front.and before you know it they are 5 in front of you.

Also the saving of seats for the shows. I am sure some people miss dinner just so they get seats for all their relatives.

Husband smiled about your hair disaster...I have experienced the same thing.. I went back to cabin, washed it out and styled it myself...

the thing that makes you mad is, it is so much dearer than a hairdresser at home who do a far better job.

but I don't let any of that get me down because I enjoy cruising, and you take the good with the bad. ... better a bad cruise day than a week at home.

kindest regards, Lorraine:) :)

Hi Ianqld,

You will have so much fun! Must be tomorrow now!!!

In reply to your questions (although you may not get the answers in time now, sorry i haven't been on for a few days).

1. Island, Retro (Rock n Roll) and Western night. Although people only really get into Island, which is after Vila so you can buy stuff for it there. The other two have some cheap accessories at the onboard shops the morning of the theme day if you want to dress up. I personally didn't really do the theme nights as I'm not much of a party on deck person (I am a bit weird in that I am 21 but hate clubs etc, would much rather cook dinner at home for some friends).

2. The men do wear suits but if they don't they aren't excluded (one of our friends left his pants at home so wore jeans and suit jacket and nobody said anything, and our formal portraits were waist up so it was fine). Some women also go casualish with some just wearing summer dresses.

3 and 4. No idea, no kids yet, but all the staff seem happy to help in any way possible. So I am sure the pursers desk would be happy to try to help

5. The opposite side of the island to where you get tendered to, but it is only a 5-10min walk, and any P&O staff will be happy to point you in right direction, up the hill turn left and walk until a fork in the road and take the right.

My favourite bit of your post was hearing they do ballroom dancing lessons. Had great delight in telling hubby as have always wanted to do them. Thanks for making my night

Thanks Sarze.

We are just about to run out the front door as the taxi is loaded.

Couldn't resist one last look at the forum.:)

Up the hill - turn left - take the fork to the right ....got it

and (mental note to self) don't forget to take the snorkelling gear or it is .... left fork.....turn right.....down the hill.....on the ship......up the hill.....turn left.....take the fork to the right :rolleyes:

Thanks sarze, a good read, I agree about the 'pushy oldies', (I'm 53) I hope I don't get like that! Politeness shouldn't be age specific.

Tell me about it. A friend and myself were trying to catch a lift on the Star and when the doors opened there were 5 older passengers in it and they were so rude to us. They just kept saying "no room" while bashing the close doors button. It happened about 3 times after that too.