Legend of the Seas review

[Nelie]

Legend of the Seas

9 day South Pacific Cruise

Noumea, New Caledonia. Mystery Island , Vanuatu. Port Vila, Vanuatu

Then amened due to Tropical cyclone Winston

Noumea, New Caledonia. Extra day at sea, Champagne Bay, (Espiritu Santo,) Vanuatu

 

The players in this tale.

Me. 30 ish. Married. Husband who doesn’t travel much (and has difficulty due his job) so I travel with friends and family. Three cruises under my belt. Hawaiian islands (which its thanks to everyone on cruise critic that I actually went. I had the whole wrong impression on who cruises. I am so glad I found this site.) South Pacific, Noumea, Lifou Port Vila. And Alaska. Made a quick decision I was going on a cruise because, A it had been ages since my last cruise. And B when I got back from my last holiday in July to the USA I was exhausted, I tried to cram so much in and I wanted a trip where I could just sit back relax and read Mission accomplished. Just wished I had realised it was Cyclone season when I booked. However I wanted to do the trip asap and it took 7 months so who knows if that would have made a difference.

 

My Mum, 60 ish. Married. Husband who doesn’t travel much (because my dad is a fuddy duddy) so she travels with family. 2 cruises under her belt with me to South Pacific and Alaska. She got sick on our South Pacific cruise in 2011. Not vomiting sick although she did feel nauseas. It’s more like a Vertigo thing. So I figured there goes my cruising adventures but she insisted on going to Alaska and was fine. So here we are going to South Pacific again

 

My Aunt, about to be 60. First ever cruise (And possibly her last)

 

 

Okay here we go people.

 

So our tale begins at 3 am on Thursday the 18th. Yep 3 am. We live in Adelaide and had a 6 am flight to Brisbane and I live an hour away from the airport. And of course I couldn’t sleep. So we got to the airport, checked in and got on the plane fine. The two and a half hour flight went fine, until we went to land. We were maybe a 2 story house in height above the ground. Waiting for the wheels of the plane to touch ground when suddenly we were going back up again. What the! Pilot came on straight away to apologize but there was still a plane on the runway. Rightio. You think they would have known that before we got closer to the ground but hey no probs. We swung around and landed. Collected our bags and then looked for a way to get to the wharf. We saw a shuttle company and my mum went and asked if they went to the wharf. They did and worked out so much cheaper than a taxi. It was Con x ion (no I am not affiliated but wanted to mention them to help others cruises get a great deal) and for $55 for 3 people return. Great. And they were just outside the Virgin terminal.

 

So we got he the wharf pretty quickly but we were obviously there a bit too early as departure wasn’t until 430pm. There were still people milling around as the last stragglers off the ship when it had docked that morning. To be honest more signage should be up as it was a little confusing on what we had to do and where to go, especially if you were a first time cruiser. There wasn’t much staff around but there was hard working baggage handler dealing with us early birds. He took our bags and handing out outgoing passenger cards and advised us where we could go and wait before check in officially started. If you walk down the length of the building then go left and walk out of the gates and keep following the road around you then come across shops and restaurants. There is a supermarket to pick up last minute items including lanyards, a subway and a few coffee shops and eateries. There is also part where you can get close to ship where you can take photos. We sat near the ship and filled out our passengers cards and just relaxed for a bit. Due to the early start we were already hungry at 10 am so got ourselves a huge plate of chips to keep our bellies full. Num Num nums.

 

We were told to come back between 11 and 3 to check in. We went back at about 1130 thinking it would be packed. But it wasn’t. A bit more staff would have been helpful but we managed to get through the check in process fine. And in no time we were one the ship.

 

Now what!

 

We went straight up to the 9th/ 10th deck and started to look around at the harbour and look around the ship Found the ice cream machine and my years at McDonalds came in handy making perfect ice-cream cones for my mum and aunty the whole trip. Also found that there were more free drinks available on the ship than I had experienced on other ships. Free ice tea which could have been a bit sweeter. Lemonade (actual lemonade not Sprite for the Aussies out there). Two flavoured waters. Strawberry Kiwi which was really nice and didn’t have that artificial sweetener after taste. Then a tropical one which wasn’t always available and I think I tried it once.

 

 

 

We took photos and walked around the ship a bit. Our room was available quite early so we went to check it out and drop off our carry on. We were on deck 2. Room 2070 to be specific. Close to the lifts although we didn’t really hear any noise from lift or passengers which was great. It was an outside room for 3. I was really surprised at how big the window was. The room itself was great too. Myself mum and aunt are all just under average height and of slim to medium build and found it wasn’t too claustrophobic. And all of us do have our moments of claustrophobia my mum worse of the three and she was fine. There was a small couch in the room not big enough for a person to sleep on but it was great for me to nap on in the afternoon on an angle. Bathroom as usual small but adequate. I only had one case of attack of the shower curtain. Beware when turning on the shower, make sure the shower head is facing down and to the wall. More than once I forgot and got a mouth full of water while fully clothed and often wet my clothes waiting for me on the sink. Just a handy tip.

 

 

 

 

So we continued our exploration of the ship. We went to the main dining room and it was pretty cool looking and I loved it. we went out to the desk to check on our dinner time When I had logged on to the Royal Caribbean website to look at the restaurants I saw that even though we had my time dining we could book a time for one night at a time. I had done that but couldn’t remember what time. I was told 5:45 and was assigned a table and was asked if we would like to keep that time and table for the whole cruise. Our other option was a 745 time which was too late even though I felt 545 to early. I asked if it was a good table and told yes. So I went and looked. It was terrible!!!! It was under the staircase and a serving station blocked any view of anywhere else. It was more claustrophobic than the cabin. So I went out and spoke to a different person and apologized and said it wasn’t a good spot for my mum and aunty and that it was claustrophobic and could we be moved. I was really nice about it and they seemed okay. This was where our dining dramas started, but more on that later .

 

We spent the rest of our time exploring the ship before going and getting changed for dinner. We went to dinner and our location was better ish. I noticed that the serving stations were everywhere and were a bit intrusive on the diner. Not just our table but almost all were effected somehow . I basically had waiter’s butts in my face the whole time as they were constantly coming up to the computer system. It was a table for 4 but they seated no one else with us. The waiter seemed confused that there was only 3 on the table. I had met one or two single travellers on the cruise who had admitted that they had asked to be seated with a group but had been seated on their own. Mmm unusual. The waiter Putu may have been nervous as he kept stumbling over himself. His English could have been better and that combined with his fast talking and mumbling and low voice made it hard for my Mum and Aunty to understand. I often had to repeat what he said. My mum admitted if I hadn’t been there they would have had no idea what he was saying. Putu was nice don’t get me wrong but this could be a safety issue especially in regards to diet or allergy concerns. About 95% of my family English is there 2nd language. Some speak perfect English, others have a thick accent or speak a combo of English and another language. I also work on the phone and deal with many different nationalities. So I have had a lot of experience deciphering or figuring out what someone is saying. I am sure others would have had difficulties and did witness some of this at guest services. Its great that there are so many nationalites on the ship but….

 

We also found that the waiters seem to be over servicing. I know we must be crazy right complaining about too much service. But it was just too in your face. We got given our menu which was a bit of a confusing mess then Putu went through and explained how the soups on the menu worked. How many hot and cold were offered each day, blah blah blah. then went through the menu piece by piece. Then asked us what we wanted. No chance to look at the menu at all. So we asked for some time. We then got offered bread which we took and then straight back to ask if we were ready. We hastily ordered feeling like they were trying to rush us. Then offered bread again. I ordered a prawn cocktail which came out in a very prison like metal container. Offered pepper. Despite its appearance it was nice. Offered more bread Within a seconds of our entrée or appetiser as its referred to in the US was taken away our main/entrée was in front of us. I ordered the chicken. Offered more pepper. Once meal taken away dessert menu offered to you which I would have preferred to have seen the menu with main meal. Dessert came and then we were hustles out of the main dining room. Seriously. The photo on my phone of my entree to my main was 12 minutes. And to be honest the food was just okay. Like nice but nothing special.

 

After dinner we went off to the Entertainment theatre to watch a juggling act that started of with some weird and creepy dancing and acts of strength. But it did get better once the guy lost the mask. Turned out really good. After that we walked to Centrum area/ R bar(which I kept calling the Atrium) to listen to a live band Music Motion. They were really good and we often went to this area. I do question the decision to have this set up there. It was a popular area so seats were staked out for what seemed like days. Haa haa. Also the floor above had guest services and it was really hard to hear them if the band was playing. I think this should have been set up in the Anchors Aweigh Lounge. More room for people to sit. Some events with Music Motion were held there and it was so much better.

 

It got a bit late so my mum and aunt decided to go back to the cabin as it was a long day. It was dark and my mum looked out our window and saw land and lights. Uttered the words that were said in jest the entire trip and probably for the rest of our lives. “Are we still in Australia?”

 

I decided to do some partying and headed up to the Viking Crown. Where all I could smell was Meat! It’s the location of the two restaurants Chops and Izumi. Yum a meat night club. : ( Again maybe Anchors Aweigh might have been a better location for a night club. I know cruise lines put night clubs up and away from everything I am guessing for the noise. Was the decision to put the other restaurants up there too really wise. It was pretty quiet but it was early. I asked if there was a drinks menu and got confused look before the server walked off but eventually came back with one. I ordered a drink. Cant remember what it was a Californian something. For like $8. Drank some. Got hit on by a guy who informed me if I was bored I could go and speak to his friend. I informed I was married(ran into this guy and his friend so many times on the ship. Sometimes they said something other times just smiled) and then shortly left when the music wasn’t really pumping and the meat smell got to me.

 

Went back to the room and literally crawled into bed. Hit my head on the roof and had trouble sleeping but I usually do on the first night of a cruise.

 

Whoa day 1 over. The rest of my report will be shorter I promise  Feel free to ask questions. Review is written just editing and uploading photos

[drops of jupiter]

Great review Nellie, looking forward to reading more...

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review.

[tazaria]

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your cruise!

[Keith1010]

I am enjoying your review.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[grace#11]

Looking forward to more of your review! :)

[cruise love]

So am i.

Can't wait for more

[Sue_B]

Enjoying your review... we were on the cruise before yours that got back to Bris on Thurs 18th Feb :)

 

Definitely agree with your thoughts on Centrum. We enjoyed the atmosphere of that area, but thought the shows would be enjoyed by more if there was more seating. Anchors Aweigh is a bit of a white elephant - nothing much went on there. We watched karaoke a couple of times, but it was never very busy.

 

We tried the dining room, but found it too 'stuffy'. Meals came out with covers which reminded me of hospital food :confused: We ate mostly at the buffet, but also tried each of the speciality restaurants which were both first class.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review as I believe you were a bit knocked around by cyclone Winston...

 

Suz

[PCWalton1]

Thanks for posting your report. Looking forward to the rest. :)

[CoopColbie]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are on Legend in 3 weeks time.

[Nelie]

Sorry everyone for not posting sooner . Busy busy busy. Also been so tired after my trip even though I relaxed a lot. Suffering from post-cruise depression I think Oh well on with the show

 

 

Day 2 .

 

So I actually woke up early. I figured I’d sleep in due to being up so early the day before but nope up at sunrise. Went to the buffet and had breakfast. Scrambled eggs, bacon, potato gems, toast. Yum. I am a picky eater and I ate everything. The toast station did seem to take awhile and there was always a line up for toast. Also Aussies out there. If you are after “real bacon” as I heard another Aussie call it, then head to the Gluten free section. There was a sign saying it was English bacon but it’s basically the bacon we are used to. Not the streaky strips severed at the other breakfast stations. Although that was still yummy.

 

So after breakfast went out to the pool deck. It was beautiful and warm so I went to change into my swim suit. When I got to my room the door was open and they were doing maintenance on the toilet. I never saw anything wrong with the toilet but later once they were done there was a new toilet seat. So I had to grab my clothes and then go and change in another bathroom before heading to the pool. No biggie.

 

The pool was quite deep, beware that in mind if your kids aren’t good swimmers. However there is the shallow section that was separated from the deep end and the kids seemed to love it. The water was weird. Like a chlorine salt water mix. I was wearing my silver ring and it turned black but has now turned back to silver. My eyes also got affected by the water or possible sunscreen in my eyes. But recovered as soon I was out of the pool. Not like the full on red eyes in pain type of thing I get when I swim in a chlorine pool all day. There were quite a few people in the pool but it never seemed packed. There is another pool in the Solarium. It is an adult only area. We went in there once to take a look around. Although this area would be fantastic for a colder climate cruise as it was warm we never actually went back. It had a swimming complex feel to it. bit hot and muggy and chlorine smell. But when up on the jogging track on a few days where you can look down into the area we noticed it was used a lot.

 

 

 

Lunch at the buffet with an ice cream by the pool after. Then a shower and off to bingo.

 

Bingo was really good. The prize money was pretty decent. I think the top amount was around $800. Plus they also drew out random names for other prizes too. Like bracelets. Even though we got close no wins for us. But hey we are on a cruises that’s a win.

 

 

At this point we were all feeling a bit tired. To much sun and good food so it was back to the cabin for a nap. On the walls near our room art work was displayed. It helped us find out room, that was until they changed the artwork on us haa haa.

 

After our nap we got ready for formal night. We went to the dining room where we were then led to a different table. We were like umm okay. We had been told that we would be on the same table every night same time. We did have my time dining but had been informed the night before if we were happy with the time and table then it could be ours all week. We agreed to that and the waiters aid as we left the night before see you tomorrow night. So we questioned why we were elsewhere. This table was also the mirror of the table we had originally assigned. Under the left stair case not the right one but very claustrophobic and crammed behind a serving station. We were told that was our table for the night by the person who seated us. Then the waiters came up and we hadn’t sat down yet. We explained to them that we were told we were at the other table all week. There was a lot of confusion. We pointed out the table we were at and told we couldn’t sit there as someone was already there. We explained that was fine but why weren’t we put there, why was or table given to someone else. We were told it wasn’t our table that we would be seated somewhere different each night. At this point we were like okay that’s fine. We were like hey If that’s the way it’s done fine, however we were told differently . So anyway we settled in and then another person came and spoke to us. I am not sure what you call them. The maître d'? I am not sure on the correct name. He was actually very rude. Said that we didn’t have booked dining we had my dining. We would be changing seats and he was the one who organised the seating. I kind of wanted to point out I was sure he was the person from the day before (that booked us into the terrible table) that told us we were had table and time booked all week. but ……I let it go. Pick you battles. I again explained that if it was procedure that was fine except we were told differently. He then walked off in a huff but returned again. H informed us it was all fixed and we would be seated at our other table for the rest of the cruise. I told him we didn’t mean to make a fuss were just questioning the process. Told it was fine and he walked off. Kind of rudely too

 

On the up side the waiters were nice. Still did the whole over servicing hovering thing but maybe not as much. Dinner itself was nice but nothing memorable.

 

We went back to our room and my room sea pass didn’t work. I must have demagnetised it when I put it in my clutch with my phone which is in a thick case. I did ask when we were given the sea pass card if I could keep it with my phone and told yes. Just not to put it inside my phone case. Guess not.

 

After that we hung out in the Centrum until my mum decided she had enough. She wasn’t feeling well. Even though I felt fine my mum was suffering from dizzy spells. Felt a little nauseous. I wouldn’t say sea sickness as she never vomited just couldn’t really get her sea legs. She found lying down in our lower cabin helped. So she went off to bed. Went back with her and nope my card didn’t work. So I had to go back and get a new one. My aunt was feeling okay and wanted to stay up. So we went to the entertainment theatre to watch the comedian Kelly Monteith. Oh my wow. He was so funny. Usual cruise ship humour. Being a true cruiser as he took the elevator one floor. So good. If I had gone to a comedy festival and paid for the ticket I would have been very happy with my purchase. After that we were still up for more entertainment especially considering we had a nap so we went to the Anchor Aweigh lounge. There was a game show called Majority Rules. We were going to just sit and watch but decided to play. 4 random people joined us and we had out team of 6. We were asked random questions liked. What do woman do better than men? We then had to write down the answer take it up to the front and then wait and see what everyone else wrote down. It didn’t matter if our answer was right or wrong it just mattered if the majority wrote down the same answer. Our answer for this one was “Everything” and yes we got that right. LOL. In the end we won! Well shared the win with another team and got a royal Caribbean medal. LOL.

 

Hung out again in the centrum before decided to go to bed for the night.

[Nelie]

 

We tried the dining room, but found it too 'stuffy'. Meals came out with covers which reminded me of hospital food :confused: We ate mostly at the buffet, but also tried each of the speciality restaurants which were both first class.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review as I believe you were a bit knocked around by cyclone Winston...

 

Suz

 

Yeah a few dramas with the dining room.

 

And yep a little rough with Winston

[SpainAlien]

I am thoroughly enjoying your review and looking forward to the rest of it.

 

Thanks for posting

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Nelie]

Sorry the photos are so big. I dont know how to make them smaller. I only just figured out photo bucket . :confused:

 

Day 3

 

Slept in a little then off to breakfast.

 

Today was a very lazy day by the pool for the first part. We were just sitting having a chat. It been awhile since I have really sat and had a decent chat with my mum and aunty so it was nice. Watched the fried rice eating competition before having lunch ourselves. And of course ice cream.

 

 

Spent a lot of time reading either by the pool or in the Centrum.

 

 

 

Went and played bingo again. No wins again. Mum and Aunty were feeling a bit sea sick so back to the cabin where I lounged on the couched and possible napped while reading. I couldn’t use my sea pass card again this time I kept it away from everything!!!! They apologized at the desk when I told them it was the 3rd time. Spoke to quite a few people who had the same issue. Something really needs to be done about it. Some were like me and didn’t have it near anything just around their neck and still had issues

 

 

 

We were told today that Tropical Cyclone Winston which had already hit Fiji was making its way towards Vanuatu and there was a good chance we would miss our 2nd port Mystery Island. Safety first!

 

Went off to dinner and were told we didn’t need to line up we could just go to our table as it was now our table. The asked where we were the night before. And the waiters were smothering again. Bread, more bread. Asked if I wanted pepper on my entree/ appetizers. I said no and he put it on anyway. When our main came out we were asked by our waiter if we wanted any sour cream on our baked potato. No thank you which got a strange look. Then the assistant waiter came around about two minutes later asking if we wanted sour cream. No. walked off. Then the waiter came over asked if we wanted fresh pepper on our meal. No thanks said loudly and covered my plate in case he tried to put it on. Again two minutes later asked by the assistant waiter if we wanted pepper. No. When they walked off I was in a bit of a smart ass mood. I said to my mum “hey mum do you want pepper on your pepper steak”cause if you really want more pepper there is a pepper shaker on the table”. Finished dinner and walked out and were like nope never again. Even though we were seated in a more open area it still felt claustrophobic because of the smothering waiters.

 

We went to the Invitation to Dance performance in the Entertainment theatre. My mum really enjoyed this and had been disappointed that there weren’t these kind of performances every night like there had been with other cruises. It should be noted that in the past I haven’t gone to the singing and dancing shows as they had seemed very amateur. This was not the case this performance. Very professional and good. After the show mum and aunt went to bed and I went to the rock and roll dance party. It started off okay. I went on the dance floor on my own. Then they decided to do a dance competition for couples so everyone off the dance floor apart from three chosen couples. Then after the competition ended they invited couples onto the floor for slow dancing . So this kind of annoyed me. I was looking for a rock and roll dance party. So I went to the meat night club again. Lol Saw the people from the game show the night before and they invited me to hang with them. So I spent a few hours dancing the night away. Would have liked to have partied more but the next day we were in port and I didn’t want to be tired for that.

[Iluvcruising2]

Looks like you're having lots of fun! Legend of the Seas was the first Royal ship to come to Asia and we have sailed on her twice. Brings back fond memories. Keep the review going!

[Faw1001]

Great review, thanks. I am heading off on the same ship and trip in two weeks. Getting excited!!! :D

[Nelie]

Day 4

 

So we arrived in Noumea New Caledonia today. We had breakfast and got off the ship and came face to face with shipping containers. What the? I had been to Noumea before and this wasn’t what it looked like. We were basically restricted to the area around the ship. Couldn’t actually leave the area on foot. Okay different but go with the flow. We had an excursion booked with the cruise line to do a city tour. It was similar to what we had done last town however my aunty wasn’t with us then. Also last time it was dark and raining and we couldn’t really see much. So we get on the tour and the tour guide informed us that we weren’t at the normal cruise ship terminal as the ship was too big. There were free shuttles on the dock that actually took you to the proper terminal. It is the only way to get out of the shipping container terminal area.

 

 

 

 

So our tour was great. Very informative about the island and its history. Tour guide also talked about other places to visit and how to get there from the ship terminal. Fisherman’s Markets that sell more than fish and Anse Vata beach. Places I will check out for me next cruise to the South Pacific. Yes I will do another . haa haa. Once we finished our tour we got off our tour bus and on to the shuttle. The cruise ship terminal has markets upstairs, downstairs you will find people offering tours.

 

 

 

The markets are not too bad. An island dress will cost you about $20. You will find your usual junk of key rings and magnets. Some locally made other made in china sticker. Some it even looks like they have gotten a marker and written Noumea on the nick naks. There are some beautiful originally pieces of wood or metal work to purchase however. So do a lap or two first then buy wisely.

 

After buying a few things we headed back to the ship for lunch and time to relax. Was feeling a bit tired after last night.

 

We were then informed by the Captain that the following day we weren’t going to be going to Mystery Island as the island was more than likely under water. So we were going to have another day at sea. We were also told that the day after when we were supposed to be in Port Vila, Vanuatu wasn’t going to be happening either. : ( However instead we were going to be in Champagne Bay, Espirtu Santo, Vanuatu. You can find my other post which has a bit more detail on what we were told.

 

After the announcement it seemed as if the sky got dark and the seas got rougher.

 

 

We headed below deck to head to the European Bead sale. Its kinda like a Pandora thing. Charms for bracelets. I just got some cheap $15 beads to go on other bracelets that I have. A cruise ship and a cocktail. I found some of the employees working the sales weren’t very friendly. I mean not rude just, hey smile, act happy. There were a few more shops then I have experienced on other ships but other ships had a lot more nick naks with the company name on it. My mum and aunt were looking for gift for the grand kids and couldn’t find much. We were feeling a bit tired and decided to skip dinner at 545. There was no one at the dining desk went back to the room tried to find a number but couldn’t. It’s in the cruise compass but you really gotta look for it. We couldn’t find it and were too tired so we let it go. I know naughty. We had been told if we weren’t there after 15 minutes they would seat someone else there so…. We napped for about an hour or two. woke up and went to the Windjammer.

 

And the Windjammer was great.!!!!!!! Wasn’t as full as I expected. Food was great and so relaxing. After we went to the Musicians on Show performance. Although they were really good it just wasn’t our thing and we left during the performance. Others did too. We headed to the centrum before an early night. I know party poopers lol. This trip really was about relaxing for all of us so I enjoyed being able to sleep and read so much

[Nelie]

Day 5

 

 

So an extra day at sea.

 

Breakfast then by the pool with my book.

 

My Aunt and I participated in the Baggo tournament. Throwing beanbags at a target Didn’t win. :mad:

 

Participated in the Thriller dance class by the pool. Got sun burnt.

 

After lunch I decided to head into the pool because….. well it looked like fun. It was quite rocky that day and the pool water was sloshing all over the place. I was in the pool for about an hour or so being thrown from one end to the other. I am surprised they didn’t close the pool as has been done on other cruises when weather was bad. Then again I was having so much fun my mum and aunt thought I was nuts. I met some people in the pool too. They were from Melbourne, the state next to mine. Most people on the cruise were from Brisbane where the ship left from. They mentioned that the day before when they announced we were going to champagne bay a lot of people around them cheered so that was some good news. Even though we were missing two islands it looked like the alternative was still going to be great.

 

After another shower grabbed my book and headed to the centrum but not before going to the dining room to let them know we were going to be there that night. My mum went to speak to them while my aunt and I hung out with a few other passengers discussing the cruise. My mum then called me over as the guy she was talking to (not the rude one from the other night) wanted to speak to me. He wanted to know why we wanted to cancel our table. He had been aware of the mix up on the second night but we said it wasn’t that. Explained we didn’t like the over servicing. He tried to convince us not to cancel. I said well there were a few things on tonight that I wanted to go to. It was island night and a show I wanted to go to. He was like ok but we will just cancel the one night. We wanted to cancel all nights. I told him we were fine in the windjammer. He was like oh but you have spent all this money on a trip we want you to enjoy it. I was like well what’s wrong with the windjammer. He then tried to back track and was like oh but then I won’t get to see your lovely face. Mmmm okay. We cancelled that night then called up next night and cancelled then rest.

 

We hung out in the centrum with a couple of Pina Coladas. I enjoyed being able to just sit back and read. My mum read a book I had brought along and my aunt was doing a find a word book. Mum finished 1 book I finished 3 plus I was already readying stuff on my tablet.

 

I dressed for island night. I already was planning on packing my bright green flor dress anyway. Some were dressed in floral stuff too. A few Hawaiian shirts. Enjoyed a nice relaxed meal in the Windjammer : ) then went off to a comedy show. Scared weird little guys. They are known comedians here in Australia. I loved the show. After the show I went up on deck for the deck party. Its started at 930 so I was a little late as the show didn’t finish until a bit later. We lost music for a bit from the main speaker but could faintly hear it from somewhere else on the ship. That’s okay we all sang along. The crew were teaching us a few dance moves which was really cool then once the music came back on properly we applied those moves to the music. . Noticed there weren’t as many entertainment staff on the ship compared to others. Like the dancers from the night time performances would often be up on deck putting on tiny shows and getting people up to dance. Not here. Is that a Royal thing? Or is that a thing that the two other cruise lines did? Anyway once the entertainment crew left the pool deck the music changed to live not dj and the dance floor cleared. Party over. I had thought about going to the Viking Lounge but decided to go to bed for an early start the next day.

[Nelie]

Day 6

Champagne bay.

 

It was quite a rough night so the day started with not a lot of sleep. There seemed to be this howling from the ship. It was pretty loud and my aunt and I joked that it was the ghost of the ship. This was also the night that the room made the most amount of noise. There was the occasional metal creaking most nights but this one was the worst out of all nights. Being on the top bunk, every noise felt as if it were my bed and it was going to collapse on my aunt sleeping underneath. She however didn’t think that, at least until I mentioned it. whoops. The ship had been rocking and rolling all night and at one point felt my self slipping out the end of the bed. Haa haa. I probably only moved a centimetre. I was worried I was going to slip out so I ended up tucking my toes in-between the mattress at the metal bed frame. To be honest I probably wasn’t going to slip out of bed and locking my toes in probably wouldn’t have done much. But hey when its 3 am and your sleep deprived it was the most ingenious idea ever. My mum had taken a pill so she slept through the whole thing.

 

 

So we got up early despite the rough night so we could have breakfast and get tender tickets. Tendering went okay ish. We went to anchor aweigh lounge to get our numbers and waited there. Once our numbers were announced we were told to go to deck 4 but once there no instructions or anyone giving directions. We were exiting the ship from 2 I think. They then called the next number. A group of us were all just milling around near the stairways so we just went down the stairs to the tender location. The staff seemed confused about why we weren’t their earlier. But any way got off the ship fine so that’s what’s important.

 

 

 

The island is beautiful. As soon as you get off the tender there are people there greeting and singing which was really nice. There is a sign saying they were collecting for the local school I think it was. But you in no way felt like you had to contribute. There were markets set up right on the shore. There were quite a few stalls but after a few they end up having the same thing. There are also a few with wildlife for you to hold which was so cool. Within seconds of being on the island I was dropping my bags and handing over money to hold birds. $2 per bird. 2 kingfishers and a Rainbow lorikeet. Oh my Wow. Best experience ever. And it was only $6. Rainbow lorikeets are like my all-time favourite Australian bird. Not only that but I had been reading this book recently. It had mentioned endangered species and kingfishers from another country came up. So I had googled the article it was talking about. So it was almost fate that I then got to hold a couple. My mum then saw that she could hold some lizards and was super excited about hat. She loves gardening and often buys fake lizards and snakes to put in it. my 2.5 year old nice recently started watching tangled and likes the chameleon Pascale. So all lizards are now Pascal. When I showed her the photo of mum she was so excited. We were walking around the stalls when i came across snakes to hold. I ran back to my mum and aunt. I was like well I held birds mum held lizards aunty it’s your turn. She was like no way. DO NOT BLAME HER.

 

 

 

 

I did by a nice blanket for $15 which will be great for the coming winter. After a bit of shopping I grabbed my snorkel gear that I had brought with me. There were people offering to loan out gear but it looked pretty yuk. There was also people offering tours to the blue lagoon. We decided not to go on these tours. Other people did however and said it was amazing. Just make sure you go with a few other people and check that the price is the return price not one way. Most people were swimming near the tender. Great for swimming not for snorkelling. Got some advice from another swimmer to go further down the beach were the sand gets pebbly. The water was a little murky but I still got to check out some brain coral . Also saw some fish. I did use an underwater disposable camera for the first time. I have yet to go and get it developed. But I don’t have high hopes of clear images. After kicking and kneeing some coral I went back to find my mum and aunt. Bought a can of drink and snacks from the locals for lunch and just sat and enjoyed the beauty of the island.

 

I went back in the water for a dip. Started having a chat to lady about some of the other pacific islands. She mentioned how Champagne bay was beautiful and better than the other two ports we were supposed to go to. Then one of the people I had met in the pool the day before joined us in the water and mentioned he had met the lady I was talking-to in the Piano bar. I was like umm piano bar? So at some point it started to rain but I stayed in the water as it was still beautifully warm. I kept swimming and doing somersaults. Hey how often can you say you were doing somersaults in the rain on a tropical islands.

 

 

So we got back on the ship and had a late lunch.

 

Went to the centrum and again hung out with a cocktail and a book. Listened to people playing the Billy Joel/ Elton John quiz. To those people who were getting angry and really adamant about one question. The Elton John song Candle in the wind is still called Candle in the wind even if it is the Princess Dianna version. IT IS NOT CALLLED ENGLISH ROSE. Even the entertainment staff were like umm calm down the prizes are crappy anyway . haa haa

 

We stayed on and listened to another quiz. I did notice that’s some quiz questions were being recycled. As in a question I had heard one night was used again the next day. So if you went to a lot of the quizzes you would know the answers. And win lots of Royal Caribbean medals AND PENS : )

 

 

We went to the show The Beatnix. I am not exactly a Beatles fan but it was a good show. My mum loved it. Another early night for my mum and aunt. I went to the centrum before I figured out where the Piano bar was. Went and grabbed a cocktail and ran into the people from Melbourne. Sat with them and listened to music by Jam the Piano man. He was really good and I was disappointed that I only just discovered the area that night. After the piano music was over we all went up to the Viking lounge for a little bit of dancing.

 

No idea if the ship was howling or creaking or what, as I was so exhausted I basically just face planted it into bed that night