Semi Live Ovation 16th Nov b2b Our Trip to a Land Down Under

[kernow]

Don't see many reviews from this part of the world on here so thought I'd try one. Not sure how good the internet will be plus we never buy a package, just use our 4 free 24 hours and whatever we can find in port, hence the 'semi' live bit😀.

 

We (myself Julie and DH Mark) leave home on Friday to start our journey. We'll overnight in Bristol to catch up with family and then onto Heathrow where we fly out to Sydney on Saturday night. We have a direct flight with one brief stop in Singapore and should arrive in Sydney Monday morning local time. Mark loves flying but I'm definitely not looking forward to 22 hours in Economy😲. I'm sure it will be worth it once we've arrived.

 

We'll board Ovation on Wed 16th for 2 cruises, 21 nights in total then stop off for 3 nights in Singapore on our way home. Wow, writing it down it sounds a lot but I'm sure it will fly by.

 

Our itinerary

 

[bigeck]

Looks good Julie and Mark. I'm following as I'ts on my list

[kernow]

This trip seems to have been a long time in the planning.

 

Apart from Singapore all these places are new to us, we've always said that we'd do a trip like this when we retire but during the first lock down we decided life is short why wait a few more years. We originally booked a repositioning cruise from Sydney to Singapore on Serenade for Feb 22 in the summer of 2020. Fast forward nearly a year and it looked like that was going to be cancelled. Our TA was advertising some b2b packages for Radiance in Nov/Dec22 at great prices so I called and switched to a South Pacific cruise followed by a Queensland one. Earlier this year Radiance got pulled from Sydney and these Ovation cruises seemed like the best thing to switch to so here we are finally about to start our adventure.....

[TRUEBLUE66]

We are doing some of these South Pacific ports in 2024 and did N.Z. on the Radiance a while back so looking forward to following along!

Thanks 

David 

[kernow]

The cases are down and the packing has begun. In this post covid era there seems to be so much paperwork to be printed off for a trip like this. I keep checking and double checking that I haven't forgotten anything. Can you tell already that I'm the planner, Mark just throws some clothes in a case and is ready to go😁

 

Our cat Lily is already wondering where we are off to now.

[kernow]

12 minutes ago, bigeck said:

Looks good Julie and Mark. I'm following as I'ts on my list

Great to have you following along.

[kernow]

7 minutes ago, TRUEBLUE66 said:

We are doing some of these South Pacific ports in 2024 and did N.Z. on the Radiance a while back so looking forward to following along!

Thanks 

David 

Thanks for following.

[Ozark_Kid]

This adventure sounds nice.  Have a safe trip. Thanks for sharing. 

[kernow]

52 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

This adventure sounds nice.  Have a safe trip. Thanks for sharing. 

Thanks, I enjoyed your Ovation review earlier in the year.

[clochette]

what a wonderful trip, thank you for sharing, I really look forward to reading about your adventure, and how the 22 hour flight goes.

[scottygirl]

Following as I am on the Ovation for the 11 night NZ January 24, 2023.  I too am dreading  the 20+ hour journey from Michigan.  5 hours to LAX and another 15 to Sydney in Premium Select on Delta.

[kernow]

25 minutes ago, scottygirl said:

Following as I am on the Ovation for the 11 night NZ January 24, 2023.  I too am dreading  the 20+ hour journey from Michigan.  5 hours to LAX and another 15 to Sydney in Premium Select on Delta.

I keep telling myself I can watch a couple of films, read a book, try to sleep for a few hours and it won't be too bad. Just hope I'm right.🤞

[FionaMG]

Sounds amazing. Have a fabulous time! 😊

[graciekelli]

Following.  My DH and I also want to take trips like this when we retire and have all the time in the world.  Unfortunately it's going to be another 3 years before we are both retired.  I will truly enjoy your trip review and be dreaming of our local cruise to the caribbean in April. Thank you for posting this.  

[kernow]

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.

[bretts173]

6 hours ago, kernow said:

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.

As an Australian gin drinker, definitely try the Four Pillars. 

[crzndeb]

Thanks for doing the report. I love the Ovation. I will be boarding on March 27 for a B5B. It will be my first time to NZ, so anxious to hear your report from there.

[cruzin-again]

Following as we fly to Sydney on 1st December, where our son lives. Will be on Ovation 4th Feb for an 8 day version of your 1st cruise, then 3 day later will fly back to UK. OH is from Hayle and were in St Ives visiting relatives over last weekend.

[kernow]

9 hours ago, bretts173 said:

As an Australian gin drinker, definitely try the Four Pillars. 

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

[kernow]

Cases packed and ready to go.

[little britain]

@kernow - we are doing these two in 2024 so thanks for being our Guinea pigs!! Following with interest xx

[kernow]

45 minutes ago, little britain said:

@kernow - we are doing these two in 2024 so thanks for being our Guinea pigs!! Following with interest xx

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

[kernow]

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.

 

[TRUEBLUE66]

I'll keep my 🤞 for you! We did 3 cruises from Barcelona in May on different ships and it was so nerve wracking waiting for the test results before each one. 

Glad to see the Majestic Princess story has reported only mild to no symtoms so far, just a shame that the media love a good cruise ship story when this is obviously occuring in all walks of life and something we now have to live with. Enjoy your flight!😴

[kernow]

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