R731 Star Review...what a hoot !

[aussie down under]

Hi Ness,

Loving your review, we got off the sun 1 week ago today, hate having to cook and clean again. We also left our children behind, mikaela 13 and regan 16, nearly 17. I was riddled with guilt, especially since they both had netball and football finals,and I left my netball team to battle out the elimination final (they lost), kids won though. Both kids managed well, but did miss us, and we missed them, but having time alone is fantastic.

We also had very rough seas and lots of wind, many people were sick. I slept extremely well onboard, minimal alcohol required. I love the swaying, rocking and rolling, cant wait for the next one!

Regards,

Michele:)

[kaseyoz]

I certainly missed some posts this weekend.

I couldnt believe the number of paes this has got up tp.

It just goes to show how much we all love reading reviews especially yours vanessa. we are all there right with you, well we were there at sailaway guessit is only right we share the whole cruise.

 

nice sunny day out there for all that washing so we all are hanging out for the next instalment.

 

hope the second honeymoon sustains you both for a little while

[SouthAussie100]

Thanks for the encouragement guys ! One major thing I forgot to mention, the girls will understand this, the remarkable freedom in the simple case of not having to carry a bloody handbag ! I vote for a 'world' card that you can swipe to pay for everything, starts the car, opens the house door etc etc...Excellent !

Anyway....day 4.

Arrived at Lifou sometime in the morning :o . We were booked for a 9.30 shore tour for the Cliffs of Jonkin. After the night before I would gladly have stayed in bed. Still, a couple of panadol and about a litre of water we were still feeling like crap but dragged ourselves down to the Lido for a quick brekky before we faced up to the tender. Note: plan not to have a big night before braving first ever trip on a tender in choppy water to unknown island with little or no water supply, some humidity and no apparent escape from the tour once you climb aboard the non A/C bus.

 

Lordy Lordy, did we pay for our sins of overindulgence ! The tender loading was pretty easy really but feeling just a little precious, the worst part of going to the island was the thought that we had to do it again to get back !...of course in the time between getting off the ship and getting on the wind whipped up a bit and made the water even more choppy. Cool...more rocking and rolling just on a smaller more intensive version !

 

The tour was quite good. I wouldn't rave about it. Some nice photo ops. To be honest, the vanilla tea sample they gave us at the vanilla bean farm was bloody awful. We drank it because they were such lovely and friendly people and the last thing we wanted to do was offend them but holey crikey....naaassty ! The tour took us to the Cliffs of Jonkin which was very pretty. HOwever, we decided against climbing down the 200 steps as our weak constitutions weren't quite up to the climbing back up ! Never mind. We did take some lovely photos esp. of us in our lovely woven hats the locals made for us as gifts. Which again ! must be worn incase of offence ! They also gave us fresh coconut milk from a freshly cracked coconut. Very tasty :)

 

Back on the bus and rattled us back to the wharf and back to the tender. Lord have mercy, the ship seemed further away than when we left it. I think the ass (aft) end of the ship had floated around and the left side (I think thats Port?) was sort of angled away from the wharf so we had to go around the ship to get to the tender opening on deck 3. Anyway, we made it back safely and I was very relieved to find later that Vila is a 'walk off' port.

 

The afternoon we decided to spoil ourselves a bit. Booked in for a facial in the lotus spa. Cost $130 each but it was lovely. Unfortunately at the end the therapist tried to sell me about $1000 worth of products else my face will crack and fall off by the end of next month and the wrinkles around my eyes will become so severe the skin will recoil and just bare eyeballs will be left.....I figured, I'll risk it and left with a pleasant "I'll think about it"...code for "your jokin' mate !!!". Brenton went next and was staggered that she didn't try to sell him the products but was so worried about me that he should convince me to buy !! :eek: NOte: face still on and eyes still intact gently cradled by wrinkled skin.

 

Left Lifou about 5ish. Went to the Lido for a few pre-dinner chardys and watched a crew v passenger water volleyball game. good fun and caught up with some of the other 'regulars' to the Lido. I can honestly say, we never saw any fights, not even a cross word between passengers etc. Everyone was there for a good time and would happily share a table or have a chat.

 

Dinner with the 'family' again tonight. One of the hubbys had been sea sick for most of the cruise so far, despite taking travacalm. I offered some bonine but he thought he would probably go to the docs if he didn't feel ok when we were back at sea. the only time he had slept was when we were in port so far. Poor bugger !

 

well that's about it for day 4.

An early night tonight and hopefully a better day in Vila.

cheers

ness

[qld cruiser]

Hi South Aussie,

gee I am having theeeee best time reading your review, but then I knew beforehand it would be a good one.

your writing style has me in stitches...

looking forward to the next instalment...

kind regards, Lorraine:) :)

[MsMinx]

One major thing I forgot to mention, the girls will understand this, the remarkable freedom in the simple case of not having to carry a bloody handbag ! I vote for a 'world' card that you can swipe to pay for everything, starts the car, opens the house door etc etc...Excellent !

YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!

A "world card" would be wonderful wouldn't it? :D:D

I LOVE not having to carry a bag while cruising!

 

Formal night comes - what bag should I take to match my outfit - who cares? I don't need one!! :D:D

[sailawaysally]

Ness, come on, you're some famous author in disguise, surely!! Your writing style is fantastic, you should write a book about your experience. You have the 'knack' of telling a story that no-one wants to stop reading. Every authors dream!! Looking forward to more, many thanks for taking the time.

[SouthAussie100]

you are too kind !! God, I will have to re-visit my notes now to make sure I keep up a cracking pace and somebody out there doesn't say....well obviously she's run out of witty banter...this is crap !

 

LOL

never mind, I will definitely finish the rest of the days as soon as I can fit it in !! Must admit gotta go out to lunch today with an old buddy but might try and sneak back this arvo. I should have some photos either today or tomorrow too.

 

thanks again for your encouragement :D It's like living it all over again. So far the news has been favourable. Some days ahead took a bit of a different 'slant'......oooooohhh intrigue !! :eek:

 

will be back soon !

ness

xxx

[cheznandy]

Thanks Vanessa, I agree, another totally great read:D

 

Also agree about the bag thing too!! Love no handbag, and not having to work out how to get home after a few:rolleyes:

 

Chez

xx

[ianqld]

Ness great review

 

We done the same cruise back in December and this is bringing back memories.

 

Keep it coming

 

Ian

[SouthAussie100]

Hi all,

I've put this link in the everyone's phots thread too.

hope you like.

Will try to get some more review done for day 5 asap.

cheers

ness

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/560628405zUGPkS?vhost=community&start=0

[MsMinx]

Nancy, they're great photos :D:D

Thanks for sharing!

 

Love the shots you got of the 5 of us at the wharf too :)

 

I don't realise just HOW big MrMinx is until I see photos of us standing together LOL! (I'm not short at 5'8")

 

Swift Sport Cruiser is a tall bugger too :p

[SouthAussie100]

Vanessa,

 

I am actually sorry that you are back because that means your vacation is over.:( Please post some pictures if you don't mind. Sounds like you had a great time. :D

 

Paul

 

 

Hi Paul !

how did you and Angela go on your 'highfalootin' holiday ? And yes, I had to put my sunglasses on twice to try to quell the blinding illuminence (sp) ! coming from your side :cool: :cool: :D

cheers

ness

[SouthAussie100]

Nancy, they're great photos :D:D

Thanks for sharing!

 

Love the shots you got of the 5 of us at the wharf too :)

 

I don't realise just HOW big MrMinx is until I see photos of us standing together LOL! (I'm not short at 5'8")

 

Swift Sport Cruiser is a tall bugger too :p

 

yes Minxy, I can honestly say Mr Minx was very easy to spot :)

[MsMinx]

yes Minxy, I can honestly say Mr Minx was very easy to spot :)

 

LOL! Stands out in every crowd! That's why I gave you him as a landmark to find us CCers on the day hahaha :D :p

[cruisemum]

Hi SouthAussie, I love your reviews it makes my trip feel even closer (R735 29/9/07):D although i'm starting to fret about the shake, rattle and roll that you are describing. I've seen you write about taking Bonine what is this and is it better than the standard kwells, can it be taken by kids at all and of course where can i get it.

I'm hoping to beat the sea sickness this time.

 

Lisa (motion sickness sufferer):eek:

[aegpeg]

Great review! Thank heaps. Can't wait until it's me!!

 

We had just decided to book the 3:15pm LePetite Train in Noumea for our cruise after what I had read here (ships are no longer late into Noumea as Hamilton wharf has improved departure times) and now your cruise was late into Noumea!! Perhaps I should book the later one...

 

Arrgghhh, can't decide........... :( The later one means we miss our early sitting of dinner....

 

What to do, what to do...... Perhaps I'll just wait to book it until we are on the boat and then it will be up to fate! :D

[chaz cruiser]

Hi Ness,

 

If you want photos from the bottom of the 200 steps send me a message to chaz_cruiser @ yahoo . com . au (just remove the spaces). I braved the steps on one of our cruises and have a few shots I could share.

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

[Brushtail]

 

Arrgghhh, can't decide........... :( The later one means we miss our early sitting of dinner....

 

:D

 

You could always just have pizza that night. They make good pizza and it is fairly cheap.

 

We did that when we wanted to watch the sailaway from Vila and it worked out well. We stayed up on deck and got to watch the market people pack up and fit more stuff in their boats than we thought possible. Tables balanced on top of chairs, balanced on top of boxes. Precariously high. Unbelievable. :eek:

 

Then we went and had pizza, garlic bread and a bottle of wine. It was great.

[Piton1]

Hi Paul !

how did you and Angela go on your 'highfalootin' holiday ? And yes, I had to put my sunglasses on twice to try to quell the blinding illuminence (sp) ! coming from your side :cool: :cool: :D

cheers

ness

 

 

Vanessa,

We packed seven days of living into that four night cruise!:D I'm still tired.;)

 

Paul

[sarah_in_townsville]

Vanessa i love your review.. its so open and honest. keep it coming!;)

[epal]

Vanessa what a laugh I have had reading your review can't wait for more and I want to be on your next cruise I think it would be so much fun:D cheers elaine

[SouthAussie100]

Hi SouthAussie, I love your reviews it makes my trip feel even closer (R735 29/9/07):D although i'm starting to fret about the shake, rattle and roll that you are describing. I've seen you write about taking Bonine what is this and is it better than the standard kwells, can it be taken by kids at all and of course where can i get it.

I'm hoping to beat the sea sickness this time.

 

Lisa (motion sickness sufferer):eek:

 

Hi Lisa,

sorry if I've caused you anxiety.....I know what pre-cruise anxiety is like (be quiet Minxy, Geoff, ADF, Kaz and Chez !) Basically I'm a bloody sook when it comes to the unknown. That's why my comment to P&O on the disembarkation survey was to let the passengers know what's going on. You know the "don't worry folks, nearly through the worst of it speech" a bit like they do when flying through turbulence. "Don't worry folks, the planes not falling out of the sky, that lightning isn't scarey..blah blah"

 

Many on board where happy to tell how "this is nothing compared to the Cyclone we sailed through in '69" etc etc.....probably next time (!) I won't be as fidgety because I know I'm not about to die !

 

The Bonine isn't available in Australia. I got it from www.emedical.com

I think there is a similar product (Dramamine based) in Australia over the counter but it causes a bit of drowsiness whereas the Bonine didn't. I have taken Kwells before will success but made me really drowsy and cotton mouth.

 

cheers

ness

[SouthAussie100]

Great review! Thank heaps. Can't wait until it's me!!

 

We had just decided to book the 3:15pm LePetite Train in Noumea for our cruise after what I had read here (ships are no longer late into Noumea as Hamilton wharf has improved departure times) and now your cruise was late into Noumea!! Perhaps I should book the later one...

 

Arrgghhh, can't decide........... :( The later one means we miss our early sitting of dinner....

 

What to do, what to do...... Perhaps I'll just wait to book it until we are on the boat and then it will be up to fate! :D

 

Hi Aegpeg,

The LePetite train did go ahead. We saw them loading people on when we got on our coach.

cheers

ness

[SouthAussie100]

Ok Cruise Nuts day 5

Oh I forgot to mention back on day 2ish, we went to one of the shows in the Showlounge. I convinced Brenton we should go and see at least one show ! We got great seats in the middle about 4 rows from the front. The lounge is well set up with little tables in between each couple of seats so you can settle back and watch the show with your drinks handy. Now to me, a 'show' implies singing and dancing. Maybe a joke or two etc etc. I'm not sure what he expected but a few minutes into the show Brenton whispered, I didn't know it was a musical ! (Not his cup of cider !!). I enojyed it very much, a bit of a distraction from the rough sea at the time but he thought he would probably have rather been in the casino losing money :rolleyes: Adam was the cruise director.

 

Not to worry, on with the Vila experience. We woke to pouring rain, fog so thick we couldn't see further than about 10 metres off the balcony (thought someone would have cleared that at least for the verandah deck !:p ) and another night of bloody rough sea. I was so over that by now. It's just me being a sook but I would have happily booked in to a hotel in Vila just to sleep in a bed not moving.....how pathetic....but I was tired and grumpy. Brekky again in the Lido and a bit more of a wander about the ship. I think I mentioned before what a tosser I am when it comes to sense of direction, hence, take me down a couple of decks walk me through a different way into or out of the Casablanca lounge and I was lost. I don't know how many times I got in the lift expecting to come out at the lotus spa and ended up in darkness near the Lido. Those of you familiar with the Star will understand what garbled explanation I'm trying to make there but.....then the other thing was not all lifts went to deck 10?

 

Another thing I forgot to mention on day 1...write this down so that you don't forget....DO NOT USE THE PUBLIC TOILETS.....UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES enter the public facilities. Oh my god....we were at brekky and I thought I would just pop into the loos near the Lido buffet. To be honest, brekky was no longer on the agenda. Enough said.

 

We walked off the ship (no little boats from hell) and visited the markets at the wharf. Basically, I think if ever P&O cancel Island Night on the ship the markets would go out of business ! There was a healthy offering of cocount shell bras (I passed as none of them offered the support us big girls need). In fact, I think on the night, more young fellows wore them instead of the ladies ! We bought some trinkets for the children (otherwise they won't tell us what the new security code on the house alarm is). We were amazed that people bought huge bow and arrows and serious looking slingshots that I am sure would be classed as a weapon in Australia ! We were tempted but decided Brenton liked the cabins on the tractors intact and left the weapons of mass destruction to braver shoppers.

 

Another thing, after Lifou and Vila, a few ladies came back on board with the hair braiding / cornrow done. Now I don't mean to be nasty, I'm not a nasty person, BUT, I think there should be one of those cut out bodies that you can put your head through to see what you look like with the full braided hair look. Oh dear !

 

One thing we really noticed, having been to Thailand and experienced the in your face locals (beautiful people though !), the Vila people were very 'stand back'. If you go up to the stall, we said good morning, smiles etc and they answered but they certainly aren't pressure sales people. Very friendly and almost shy !

 

We were booked for the afternoon tour "A Taste of Vila". Oh...surprise surprise...food and booze again....how predictable !!

We were loaded onto airconditioned mini buses (thankgoodness as it was very humid). The tour included 4 stops with each stop providing opportunities to sample the (we thought)local wine / beer. Again, disappointed to be offered bloody Hardy's Chardy. The wine is ok but we thought we might actually try something that isn't made up the road from where we live :confused:. All in all the company was good fun and we returned to the ship for sail away drinks at 4.30.

 

Dinner with the 'family' in the Bordeaux dining room and back to the room to prepare for Isand night. I thought I would have a bit of a lay down while the water was calmer. That didn't last long as His Nibs (Capt) announced we were expecting swells of 3-4 metres. POOH ! Brenton went to the Island night deck party early while I sulked in the Casablanca lounge with my scotch on the rocks with a dash of coke....yep...we were pulling out the bit guns for this night of rough weather. Got bored of that after 1 though and went to the showlounge and watched the late movie. That finished about 12 and thought I'd better check in with Brenton thinking he would be back in the cabin by now...nup...still partying.

So, up to the Lido for the deck party. What a hoot. Most people dressed up with their purchases from Vila put to full use.

 

We met up with some of our dinner buddies and settled in for a big night of chatting and yes.....drinks. Another late one but finally got some sleep ! Glad we did because the rest of the cruise was basically sleepless for us.

 

Are you still with me....?????

 

ness

[LouLou28]

Still with you Ness ... just waiting for the next installment.

 

What a pity you got such rough weather! We had a rough night the first night we went out (and the Captain did come over the PA and apologise for it - like it was his fault!!!:rolleyes: which was nice - as you said, at least you knew it was 'normal' and the boat wasn't about the sink!!!!). The last night back to Brisbane was also rough (again there was an announcement apologising and telling people to be careful when walking around the ship). Apart from that it was great weather!

 

Loving your review so far .... you must have a great memory (or took notes!!!)