The Occasional Cruiser: January 2018

Sunday, 28 January 2018

Brisbane cruise ships - 29th January to 4th February 2018

Only 4 visits from cruise ships this week. All are at Portside

Scheduled for Portside

Monday 29th January 2018 Pacific Aria

Friday 2nd February 2018 Pacific Aria

Saturday 3rd February 2018 Pacific Dawn

Sunday 4th February 2018 Sea Princess

From my photo archives

Pacific Aria at Mare Island, New Caledonia 2017

Friday 5th January 2018 - Home again

Well, we managed to clear our cabin before 6.30am and grabbed some breakfast in the Pantry before leaving. Portside parking met us with their bus and we picked up the car and were home by 8am with the washing machine in full gear.

So that's a wrap. We had a really great time. It was relaxing. Nine nights with only 3 ports gave us plenty of time to put our feet up, unwind, read a book or 5. The enjoyable things this cruise was that there was no rush. No itinerary changes due to weather or medical evacuations/diversions. The majority of fellow cruisers were first timers with nothing to compare against, so there was no grumbles, just happy smiling cruisers everywhere. The only disappointment was that we didn't get to try the Angelos restaurant as it was fully booked. We'll have to get in earlier next time.

Cruise summary

Cruise Line: P&O Australia
Ship: Pacific Aria
Voyage: A801N
Cabin: 9194 balcony, cat BC, deck 9.
Nights: 9
Destination: New Caledonia; Noumea, Mare and Lifou
Captain: Nick Boon
Cruise director: Pablo

I have booked this week our next cruise. I've been following the prices for the last 4 months or so and I suddenly got a huge price dip so stay tuned for details.

Thursday 4th January 2018 - Sea day

Today is our last sea day. We attended some shows around the ship and in-between packed up our suitcases for debark tomorrow. We need to be out of the cabins by 6.30am so will have to be organised.

Entertainment today

The physical comedy of James Lamont
Cruise director's farewell show.
Sitdown comedy club with Matt Elsburry
Production show: Sideshow alley. Another we were sure we'd seen before so gave it a miss.

Dinner tonight

Waterfront again and we all decided to shout ourselves the paid options; surf and turf for G and me; steak for H.

Surf and turf: $25

Wednesday 3rd January 2018 -Sea day

Yesterday afternoon the captain informed us of current weather events. There are a number of lows moving from Queensland crossing through to New Zealand. As such on leaving Lifou we altered course to return to Brisbane via the north of the main island of New Caledonia to try to miss the rough sea to the south. I suspect there was also a chance it could have developed into a cyclone. Over night we cruised at top speed and it looks like we will make it back to Brisbane on time.

Today we participated in a few events around the ship, I read some more books, generally relaxed and had a great holiday.

Mechanical Bull

Deck 12, portside, Pacific Aria

Mechanical bull.

Pablo the cruise director showing us how it's done.

Animal Towel Parade

Our cabin stewards, James and Jordan, both participated in the animal towel parade new year's special. We were there to cheer them on.

Tonight's Dinner

Waterfront restaurant -Aussie theme tonight

Lamb shank

Pavlova

Tonight's Entertainment

Production show: Velvet rope. I had seen this twice before so we didn't go.

Gatsby theme night and party in the Dome.

Tomorrow - last sea day before home...

Saturday, 27 January 2018

Tuesday 2nd January 2018 - Lifou Island -part 2

As promised, here are my photos from Jinek Bay, Lifou Island, New Caledonia.

Jinek bay snorkel area.

Grassed area above where you snorkel.

Buoys mark out specific coral or fish as a guide.

Barracudas

Clam

Another great beach day. Weather perfect, life is good...

Tomorrow a sea day.

Tuesday 2nd January 2018 - Lifou Island -part 1

Today we are at Lifou Island and it's a tender port again. This blog post is in 2 parts, the first is my usual day in port and on board. The second will just be photos at Jinek bay as there are quite a few. Sometime in the future I will create a video, but that's still to come.

I pre-purchased passes for the Jinek Bay marine reserve as soon as they were available on the P&O cruise control. In an attempt to protect the reef, only 100 passes for either a morning or an afternoon session are sold. We had morning ones for 8am - 12pm, and I knew we would only need a maximum of 2 hours and we would be stuffed. So even though I rushed my cabin mates to be ready I wasn't stressed about getting the first tender.

The walk to Jinek bay is not long but there is quite a steep hill, a challenge for the unfit. The walk also forks off to the left and you can walk up to the church at the top. Maybe another trip we will make that trek.We spent the morning at Jinek bay and then walked back to where the tenders come in. A lot of people were swimming near the jetty and it looked really good.
H was keen to return to the ship for lunch. After lunch G and I returned by ourselves for a $20 (AUD), 20 minute back massage. Quite enjoyable.

Tonights Dinner

Waterfront again. Both the other restaurants, Dragon Lady and Angelos were fully booked for the rest of the cruise so that cuts down the choice.
Photos were a bit blurry tonight so this was the best.

This fish with risotto was my favorite meal this cruise.

Trio of cheese and crackers,

Tonights Entertainment

Feature show: Twice upon a time. We didn't see the show as we were all sure that we had seen it previously.

Monday 1st January 2012, Sea day and Walpole Island

Today was just a lovely sea day with plenty of time to make it to Lifou Island tomorrow. The captain announced that we would be detouring for some scenic cruising past Walpole Island in the Pacific, east of Isle of Pines around about lunch time.
The island is small with high cliffs and if you really want more info on it then the Australian museum has published a paper that can be downloaded here. (Note: large pdf file)