Cruise report: Pacific Star Dec 16-27 Christmas cruise

[Tikibird]

I had my laptop so this was written over the course of the cruise, all I have to do is copy-paste it.

 

Day 1-At Sea

Took forever to get through all the formalities and board the ship. Finally made it around 12:30 after 90 minutes of being stuffed around. We were starving and hurried straight up to the Lido deck for the buffet lunch. After stuffing our faces, we walked around on deck and watched the ship sail past the Brisbane River coastline. Once out to sea, I lost mobile phone coverage. We went down to the purser’s desk to confirm the $200 shipboard credit was there and book the shore tours for Luganville. We will be on our own in the other ports. Soon it was time for dinner. We were booked at first sitting table of 8. The other three couples were of a similar age and very nice people. The food is good, but personally I think it drags on a bit slow. It ends up taking 1.75 hours to get the meal served, I think an hour would have been enough. We had an introductory show right after dinner to give us a taste of the following night’s entertainment. By the time it ended, we were exhausted and happy to crash out.

Day 2-At Sea (Formal)

We were up pretty early and helped ourselves to the ample breakfast buffet. Pretty much a bit of everything-omlettes, scrambled eggs, pancakes that are too cakey, deep fried bacon, sausage and ham; the usual assortments of breads. Needless to say, we made pigs out of ourselves! Mr Tikibird went up to the pool and I went to the trivia competition. Our team got 3rd place but the winners only got luggage tags so nothing to get excited about. I thought the earrings looked a bit cheap, couldn’t track down Mr Tikibird to do the ballroom dance class. So that left only the mini-golf. I managed to get it in 5 points, which wasn’t too bad! Lunch time, and I was thrilled to see a Mexican buffet! Yummy!! We took a break to watch a movie in the room (4 to choose from daily). I had to scoot up real quickly for the aftermoon trivia quiz. This time, we didn’t place but I did catch on to the team next to us copying our answers when they got one about the St Basil Cathedral (in Moscow). I knew it, I’ve actually been there. No one else knew it but for some reason they were the only other team to get it. I got revenge though. One question about what modern country did the Aztecs live in, I gave an excited whisper “Peru” just loud enough so they could hear. I then grabbed the answer pad and wrote “Mexico” and gave the team the “shhhhhhh” sign. Sure enough, they wrote down Peru and got it wrong! LMAO!!!!

This was the first formal night and the Captain’s welcome party. It’s quite a rush to get from the quiz to get changed and into the party. We were served complimentary drinks and met the crew and took a photo with the Captain. Then we had formal portraits taken, and went down to dinner. Almost everyone had dressed up and looked great! The entertainment for that evening was a mediocre comedian-Lucky Grills. I had already heard most of his stuff on the internet, he didn’t have anything original. After that, we called it a night.

Day 3-Noumea

The morning was still at sea so full activities were available. We pigged out on breakfast and then went to a lecture on the ports of call. Then we did the scavenger hunt which was fun! We ended up getting 21 of the 25 items. I was willing to pull an empty can out of a bin, but I draw the line at asking strangers to loan me a g-string! At least we got some good exercise running up and down the stairs collecting the items! Finally, we did the jackpot Bingo for just a $10 card since we couldn’t find anything better to do just before lunch. We didn’t win. Lunch was a seafood buffet so Mr Tikibird was in heaven. I made do with the token chicken and beef dishes and bread. We went back to the room to watch a movie while waiting to dock in Noumea. The ship arrived right on time and we were two of the first people off. We walked around the Coconut Square area and checked out some shops. I got the time wrong on the museum and we arrived too late to be sold tickets. The lady did let us have a quick peek at the traditional costumes and some wooden carvings. There was the coolest Tahitian shop just off a street to the right of Coconut Square with a really cool Tahitian Santa Claus! We looked in a few expensive shops, tried in vain to find a Kodak shop to buy a new battery charger to no avail. There was a really cool folk dancing display when we got back around 5:30pm, we stayed to see it all and were late to dinner. At least we we served (French theme), one couple didn’t make it back at all. We found out later they were turned away and had to go to 2nd sitting. The show was “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, based on 50’s & early 60’s rock and lots of fun. Then there was a Retro Rock ‘n Roll party so we went up there to dance and have fun. The music was pretty good! Overall though, we were exhausted. I thought it was way too much on one day considering the late arrival into Noumea-3pm. Then we had to rush to get to dinner, then a full show which some people missed because they were late getting back, then the party.

[Tikibird]

Day 4-Isle of Pines

After the usual breakfast, we scurried up to get our tender tickets in the Starlight Lounge. We were some of the first people there. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a string band and some kids dancing, I got a head lei and we had a camera shoved in our faces which I HATE when they try to nail you. It’s just a short walk to the beach and parked right outside are a few local tour options. You can go in a “fun car” for $30 per person and it’s a follow the leader situation, you can’t do off on your own. Or you can do a minibus tour of the largest village and a few pretty beaches for $15 per person which is what we did. No one takes credit cards. After the pleasant tour, we were dropped back to the beach and had a swim in the beautiful turquoise water. Mid-morning, the villagers offered us a free taste of their local food “Bougna” which is similar to a hangi but more sweet potatoes. Mr Tikibird went back for 3 of them-must be homesick! Then they had a cultural song and dance show, I was surprised that the women do the same movements as the men. Of course he had to get up and dance when they started pulling up tourists! We both had another swim, then checked out the small boutique near the wharf to get rid of the last bit of CFP currency. The best we could do with 420 CFP was 4 post cards. We had to wait for the 2nd tender, they only hold 60 people and it was lunchtime. The tenders can get really fumy when they idle and I started getting a headache because it took forever to disembark the tender just ahead. We finally got back and had lunch at 2pm, then went up to the heated Jacuzzi on deck 10 until it started to get crowded. I came down to watch a movie, Ina stayed up on deck. Dinner was Italian theme but somewhat disappointing. No pasta dishes, most of it seemed like normal food except the tiramisu which was heavenly. The evening’s entertainment was a singer-Dan Shearer who sang mostly big band era tunes.

 

 

Day 5-Mystery Island

First day in Vanuatu was at this very beautiful little island. We were greeted with a string band and had a quick look around the market while the video camera was co-operating. Then we walked around the island to try to work off some of the huge breakfast. I know I have gained 5kgs by now! I should have brought more cash, the hula skirts were really cheap and some very pretty colours. I finally decided on a plastic one in pink and green to match my swimsuit. My belly will not be in a condition to show off tomorrow! There were other activities on offer-massages for $15 30 minutes, hair braiding for $10 short hair, $15 long hair; photos with a “cannibal” for $5, extra person $2. We didn’t feel like swimming so just hung around the market watching the tourists take cannibal photos.

 

We went back to the ship for lunch and stuffed ourselves, then I went to watch a movie and start fixing up my hula costume. Mr Tiibird came back at 4pm and we went to the island night dance class. We had been expecting hula lessons of some sort, instead we got some dance club classics: Macarena, Nutbush, Chacha Slide, Time Warp and a couple others. Dinner was really good-international night so we were choosing Brazilian soup, Swiss cordon bleu and French desserts. The evening show was “Love the Night Life” and covered all the eras of dance from the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 60’s to disco 70’s. We made an early night since tomorrow would be a big day.

[Tikibird]

Day 6-Port Vila

Got up early as usual, big brekkie and was one of the first off the ship in Port Vila. I was not thrilled to see the rain! We got into a minibus for $2 to go downtown. Right where the bus dropped us off, there was a tour office called Evergreen Tours which had tours going to the Mele Cascades and Secret Garden for about $33 AUD (later found out the ship sells them for $49 AUD cascade only). I went to the ATM to get cash as they add 5% for credit cards. The tour was excellent! We really loved the Secret Garden-they had several models of Vanuatu houses, Mr Tikibird got to hold an iguana, a snake and a coconut crab. Not so brave, I held out for a cute little rainbow lorikeet, they had one other one who was dancing in his cage-too cute! Then we hiked up to the waterfall, very slippery path because of the rain. It was really beautiful but the absailing lines distracted from the overall scene. They had fresh fruit and juice waiting for us when we got back. We got out at the Meridien so I could buy some food and activate my SPG card. A nice man named Justin, receptionist Priscilla and waitress Dorothy were involved so I hope I get my Starpoints. After lunch, we got a minibus to the museum (500vatu each) and saw some really cool artifacts. Minibuses are cheaper in local currency-100 vatu vs $2 AUD. Then we had a couple hours left for shopping. Mr Tikibird wanted a leg massage so I found a place near Proud’s for 1500 vatu and left him there while I went off to buy artifacts. I found some really cool ones-a “batgirl”, shell thingy, frangipani ukulele, some kiriau hula skirts and t-shirts.

 

Back on the ship, we rushed to get ready and wore our formal island wear to dinner-the matching yellow and orange Tahitian shirt and muumuu. Everyone at our table dressed up but one bloke was really funny-he had on a coconut bra over a Hawaiian shirt! The food was island style and Mr Tikibird once again had fish, I had chicken. My phone memory card got full so I had to download some pics to the laptop and free up some space and we got changed into our grass skirt party outfits. The Island Night was fun, everyone dressed up and got into the spirit of it. It started at 9pm and we had plenty of room to dance and be videoed until the 2nd sitting folks showed up. Then it was way to crowded to move. It was still raining so they moved it inside to the Starlight Lounge, it should have been up on deck 9 by the pool. I was a bit disappointed, there were no competitions, I had been hoping for a hula contest of course! It was just a very crowded dance floor, the dance club routines we learned yesterday and a conga line during which someone knocked over Ina’s drink. We came back to our seat and found ice all over his chair. Some of the costumes were awesome and lots of cross-dressing men, actually there were more men in coconut bras than women! One of the younger girls, I think has been taking belly dance classes, I saw a few familiar movements and her drum dancing was more belly than hula. We finally called it a night around midnight and came back to try to clean up the shopping so we could actually get into the room.

 

Day 7-Champagne Bay

Once again, we waddled down to the tender station to get to the island as quickly as possible before the crowds got there. It was raining and most people seemed to be scared off so we had the beach to ourselves for half an hour until it stopped raining. I did a quick walk around to take photos. There was a string band to welcome us, about 20 market stalls selling hula skirts, baskets, pareos, knickknacks and snacks. Also several hair braiders, bus tours to the Blue Hole and people offering photos with an iguana, snake, 2 baby kingfishers and a lorikeet. Guess which two I went for? LOL Some people weren’t happy to find out that they had to pay an extra $3 to get down to the blue hole after paying $10 for the transport, but it was still a beautiful area. My cheapie snorkel set leaks and I have to push it against my face. I did some more shopping, had a swim and sat on the beach for awhile, then we went back to the buffet lunch.

 

I spent a quiet afternoon in the Jacuzzi, then watched a movie. When we went to dinner, we were surprised to see champagne glasses set up all around. Two of our dining companions had gotten engaged! We aren’t drinkers but we did have a glass to celebrate with them. The show tonight first a movie “You, Me & Dupree” and then there was a Karaoke competition and six brave passengers got up to sing. We voted for the Tina Turner act and took off because it was late. The next day we found out that a young man who sang “I Just Called to Say I Love You” won. We put him in 2nd place but he probably got more votes from the oldies.

[Tikibird]

Day 8-Luganville

We had breakfast in the dining room for a change and had eggs cooked to order and blueberry pancakes. Then we walked off the ship and I joined the dive group and Ina joined his bus tour of WWII relics. The dive was beautiful, no current, reasonable visibility and thankfully a shore dive so no seasickness on small boats. Our guide was Toame from Allan Power Dive Shop. He led us along the rope descent and onto the President Coolidge wreck. We swam along the promenade deck and saw some old helmets, a rifle and an old dive mask. The reef is built up nicely with lots of gorgonian fans and reef fish. We peered into the hatches to see inside the ship a bit. Some people who had been there before went deeper inside the wreck. There was a nice reef at the safety stop and lots of colourful fish, even some lionfish. After the dive, we were dropped at the dive shop in town. I walked around a bit and bought a wooden mask and some more flipflops. He was waiting for me when I got back and was hungry (of course)!

 

After lunch, we went back to the tour desk and got on an earlier bus to the Culture Village. It was a nice tour and demonstration of custom dancing and native plant usage. We got off the bus in town and walked around the market. The shopping is nothing to get excited about-same vendors as Champagne Bay. I got online at an internet café which is somewhat cheaper than the ship at 25 vatu a minute. Good thing I did, because I almost lost our JulyTambopata bookings but emailed them to assure them we wanted the booking. We strolled back through town to the ship.

 

Dinner was very late-the waiter didn’t seem to have it together, but the food was good. The show was called “Dance” and very good, so far I like this one best. Mr Tikibird kept nodding off due to sleep deprivation. Afterwards, there was Country Western night and I did my best to look like a cowgirl-not very convincing! It was fun with line dancing lessons, some silly games like “pass the hat” and “shoot ‘em” and we did a lot of dancing until 11pm.

 

Day 9 (Christmas Eve) Wala

We got a somewhat late start needing to catch up on sleep. Once again, breakfast in the dining room and a tender ashore. We did the tour around the island first thing. It was excellent and the best tour we did the whole cruise! The locals had a nice set up with different aspects of their culture being showcased: sand drawings, magic, dancing, firemaking, basket weaving, roof thatching, snake boys, animal traps, an elderly chief and everyone was very scantily clad! One problem, I had forgotten to charge my phone camera and the battery went dead and I had to return to the ship and recharge. I had a quick lunch, checked my email and then returned to Wala to redo the tour and get the photos. Then I had a wonderful coconut oil massage. The masseur charged $10 for 15 minutes but I ended up getting 3 segments that ran to 1 hour for $30. He was really good too and knows how to massage sore muscles. Then I got my hair braided for $5 which took about 20 minutes for 8 cornrows. By then, it was time to go back to the ship so I scurried around doing some last minute shopping, got some baskets and a pareo with birds on it. This was my favourite island by far! I wish it had been a full day here but we took off at 4pm. While waiting for the last tender, I got to play with a pet lorikeet, he was so cute!

 

We got our Christmas presents wrapped and went to dinner. This time the service was better organized and we got out in time to get good seats for the Christmas Eve variety show put on by the staff, including some non-entertainers like a waitress. We had an hour break before the caroling started. We were a bit late though and missed it.

 

In a rare moment of religious fervor, I decided we should go to Midnight Mass. It has been years since I set foot inside a church so I was relieved that other than being held in a showroom on a cruise ship, nothing much had changed and they even shut down the bar. The priest set up an altar and put on his robes right there on stage. Then he opened the Mass in the usual way and everything was normal up to the Eucharist. All of a sudden, we heard this pounding disco music from the floor above and the pounding of dancing feet. The song couldn’t have been more inappropriate, the lyrics were like “Shake it up, you sexy thing!” I was sitting there desperately trying not to laugh! The priest enlisted the help of two passengers to pass out Holy Communion. We all lined up and received “Body of Christ”….”Amen”. But the priest had severely over-estimated the number of wafers he needed so after everyone was finished he asked the helpers to pass out more. One helper came down our row and whispered, “We can’t dump them overboard” as she gave us each several more wafers. Then another helper came by and he didn’t know quite what to say, he was like “Another body of Christ”. Meanwhile, the ship is rocking back and forth and I am getting a bit queasy. Finally they finish and the priest asks us to sing “Silent Night”. Then he calls attention to the Captain and the officers (all Italian) in the congregation and asks a special blessing upon them for a safe trip home. I’m thinking, “No wonder the ship is rocking, get your asses back up to the bridge and drive the bloody ship!” This has to be the most surreal religious experience I have ever had!

 

Day 10-Christmas Day at Sea

We slept in and watched a movie, then went down to the excellent Christmas brunch and ate like pigs. Then Mr Tikibird went up to the pool and I went to a spa seminar to get a free mini-facial, then I got some books from the library and read a while, just relaxing in the room. I didn’t need lunch after that huge brunch. Afterwards, I couldn’t find him so I went in to watch “Marriage Match” alone which was hilarious! Some of the questions: “What is your wife’s bra size?” “What is her most annoying habit?” “Where is the most unusual place you made love”? “What motor vehicle does your husband’s equipment look like?” “When is the last time you parked the car in the garage?” After an amusing afternoon, I had to get ready for the formal Christmas dinner and do my full makeup. We had the formal portraits taken, then went to the Captain’s Club cocktail party. We met the Captain again and took another photo. I got a fruit cocktail, Ina missed out due to poor service. The Christmas dinner was great, we had the turkey and trimmings option for tradition, there was also a seafood dish and other options. The waiters did the traditional baked Alaska parade which was pretty cool. Then we went to what turned out to be the best show of the cruise-“G’Day, G’Day” which showcased Aussie music and traditions. The final part of the evening was the traditional champagne waterfall, which ran a bit late but worth it because I had a seat up front and snagged two free glasses. Mr Tikibird had crashed out and missed it.

 

Day 11-Boxing Day at Sea

We had a leisurely breakfast in the main dining room, then went to the disembarkation lecture at 9:30. Then I went up to take care of business-return library books, pick up formal portraits, do a metabolism detox workshop and makeup workshop. We had a nice Asian food buffet lunch and I found out that Mr Tikibird had done the tour of the galley. After lunch, we signed up for the passenger talent show then went off to the pool. All the pools were full of kids and the Jacuzzis weren’t hot, so I lay in the sun a bit. At 2:30, we had the sea horse races, I bought $10 worth of tickets and won back $6, but it was all pretty fun. I did my fitness consult for $36 and got the machine hooked up to me. It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know already, was disappointed. Dinner was Aussie theme and really good, especially the pavlova dessert. We finished packing except for the costumes and went to see the movie “Miami Vice” which was boring. Then it was time for the passenger talent show. There were 11 really good acts and a wide variety. Several singers, a comedian, pianist, mime-sign language, a modern dancer and of course our hula show which was well received. There was a technical glitch with the Ipod and we ended up with the wrong drum dance-4.5 minutes instead of 45 seconds! That would have killed us! When we retrieved the Ipod, we found out we had done 2.5 minutes-not bad for old buggers! We packed the costumes, picked up the account and got the bags picked up before finally crashing out for the last night on the ship. My mobile came on around 11pm-ish, must be close to home! I miss my birds!

[Tikibird]

MY BEST TIPS:

 

To save money, wash clothes in sink with shower liquid soap.

 

Bring bottle of cordial to mix with free ice water on Lido deck.

 

If you don't want to be late to theme nights and get a good seat, book first sitting.

 

Don't buy drums or those little hand drum instruments, Aqis won't let them in. Hula skirts, baskets, wooden artifacts were fine, we got all our stuff in.

 

Try to get the first tender so you can get photos without too many tourists in them.

 

Get out and be active if you want to be in the cruise dvd. I am in 5 different segments-all three theme nights, Port Vila waterfall and champagne waterfall.

 

Watch out for exchange rates if you get vatu from an ATM in Vila. The locals don't know the bank rates and will try to charge the same for Aussie as for USD.

 

Breakfast is better in the dining room as they have specials and omlettes cooked to order, plus a bread/pastry/fruit buffet.

 

Lunch is better in the Lido deck, they have the same menu as the dining room but they have more choices in the buffet.

 

If you have an act for the passenger talent show, make a CD at home, they can run music off an Ipod but sometimes mess it up.

 

Favourite island: Wala for the tour, market and massage.

Least favoutite: Luganville, other than diving, this place is boring.

[Westaussie]

Thanks for your very detailed review - enjoyed reading. We are doing a fairly similar cruise on PP in Feb so it was good to read your comments on the various ports.

[Brushtail]

Excellent review, Tikibird. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You must have come back exhausted, you did everything. :p

 

We were not on our cruise DVD at all, (we cruised last June on the Pacific Sun). Being earlybirds ourselves, we reckon the photographer didn't get out of bed until lunch time and then stayed up all night, therefore mostly filming the party people - over and over again.

 

All our stuff - tours, snorkelling etc, was early in the mornings and we missed him.

 

Co-incidentally, we watched our DVD again last night. I was busy looking for Icemaiden's pink teddy. Unfortunately with no luck. But it did make us quite excited about our upcoming cruises.

 

 

Jenny

>^..^<

[novemberbravo1974]

Thanks for the review, Ive always been curious about Christmas Cruises. Oh yeah Cruise DVDs are hopeless. The Princess Cruises DVDs are more advertising Reels than actual cruise videos. An easy way to blow $20 or $30 ( They dont even use Apple Gear to Edit them )

 

Top Review

 

Happy New Year Everyone

 

Novemberbravo1974

[kaseyoz]

wow, you sound like you had an amazing time tikibird, both as a couple and separate.

I agree the dvd is not really worth it. We have bought all of them (3) the first we are not in at all , the second we are in many times in fact we actually close the video as we sadly wave bye bye on the last night!!

the third on our carnival cruise was a total letdown as they have many dvds of each activity. None of them show the actual shows which is what i wanted due to a wonderful older couple on board. It showed our swimming with the sting rays but only us for about 5 minutes then they showed another group that wasnt ours. They had different colour lifevests on. what a ripoff!!

[Tikibird]

We were really lucky I think as all our dvd footage was new and original. We have a new videographer-Heather who was excellent. I think maybe the American ships are so large they don't bother and use mostly stock footage.

[AuzzieCruiser]

I have just finished watching my cruise in review from my Royal Caribbean cruise last year, and sure it brings back memories, but the majority was file footage. I didn't expect to see myself in it, as there were 3,000 passengers on the ship, but it is disappointing when most of it was filmed 5 years ago!! We skipped the Princess one this year.

The best DVD though was how they built that magnificent ship. We watched it on our staterooom TV, and bought it as a present for my uncle. We didn't have a chance to watch the whole lot, so we borrowed it off him, but we still haven't given it back 9 months later!!

If I'm ever on another Voyager Class ship, I will defiantely buy one!!

[Teegiee]

hello there.

 

i was on the xmas cruise from brisbane too. i enjoyed reading another persons opinion and of your tales on the islands. they are certainly different from mine. i totally agree with you about the entertainment by lucky grills. and enjoyed you at the passenger show at the end of the crusie [ yes, i remember you]

 

thanks

[chardonnaykmw]

Thanks for the great review and also the handy tips! Hubby and I are cruising on the Pacific Star in April, going to some of the same ports that you did, so your information on those is gratefully received. His first cruise my second (first was in 1978). Can't wait!!

 

 

 

cheers

 

Karen;)

 

 

Pacific Star Easter Sunrise R714 April 05, 2007

[sweet_successes]

Hello Teglee

 

Are you going to write a review of your experiences on the Christmas Cruise? My husband, children and I will be doing a Christmas cruise this year also out of Brisbane but on the Sun. It sails to the same islands. can you please write a review about your experiences.

 

Thanks

 

rach

[Teegiee]

sure i will be writting a review shortly.