Pacific Aria Cabin 9066 photos

7th December 2015:

Embarkation

We were notified a few days earlier that our check-in time was pushed back to 11am. I dropped the boys and the luggage at the terminal and delivered the car to Portside parking, arriving back at 11 am. There was a short wait for check-in and we set foot aboard about 11:45 am making it the fastest check-in at Brisbane that we have experienced. The ship was on time so the departing passengers had cleared the terminal well before 11 so I feel that makes it more organised.

Cabin 

We booked a balcony cabin for 3 people. Cabin number 9066 on the port side of the ship. The bags hadn't arrived but weren't too long before they arrived. Interestingly there doesn't seem to be a service lift so 2 lifts were placed into service mode so that they could be used to deliver the luggage. This happened occasionally throughout the cruise when items had to be moved between floors. A lot of passengers thought they were faulty and needed maintenance, however they were just being used for other purposes.

The cabin was huge compared to the quad share outside cabins had we have previously had on the Pacific Dawn and the Sun Princess. The balcony was an adequate size with a sun lounge, chair and side table.

The bed configuration was a queen (first time for us) with a sofa bed that converted to single bed. The sofa was a 3 seater that converted by squeezing a couple of leavers which tumbled the mechanism from sofa to bed. The bed was a thin mattress on posture slats, so was pretty comfortable according to my son.

The bathroom featured a deep, but small spa bath with shower over the top. 

Today's the day, and an itinerary list

WooHoo!! Sail away today.
Weather is perfect...so far (It's Brisbane)
Last minute packing, then we'll be off.
I'll try to post a couple of photos whilst we still have phone service later today.

Just a brief itinerary list to save scrolling down through posts.

7th Dec Brisbane 3pm departure
9th Dec Noumea 3pm-10pm
10th Dec Mare Island all day
11th Dec Mystery Island all day
12th Dec Port Vila 8am-overnight
13th Dec Port Vila 5pm departure
14th Dec Champagne Bay 7am-3pm
17th Dec Brisbane 8am arrival

Times subject to operational issues

Delayed departure Monday and weather forecast

Yesterday we received a text from P&O informing us of a delay in the check-in on Monday due to operational reasons. Check-in is delayed 1.5 hrs and the departure time has pushed back to 3pm with everyone on board by 2pm.

Only 2 sleeps to go and I still need to pack.
Weather forecast for Monday is mostly sunny, 10% chance of less than 1mm of rain and 29 degrees. Hope it stays that way, should be a great sail-away party.

Pacific Aria in Brisbane for maiden visit

The Pacific Aria is in Brisbane today. Fortunately I had scored a day off work, so my hubby and I high-tailed it out for a look-see, take some photos and then had a leisurely lunch at one of the many cafes and restaurants. 
The ship looks fantastic from the outside and we can't wait to board in 10 days to have a really good look around. Looking forward to relaxing and putting my feet up.

Here are some photos from today.

Pacific Aria in Sydney Australia

Since my last post, the Pacific Aria left dry dock in Singapore and arrived in Sydney on the weekend. Tonight she is out with a heap of travel agents overnight, returning Wednesday for the naming ceremony and 5 ship spectacular in the harbor. Hopefully I'll catch a glimpse on some of the harbor cams before I head to work.

Only 8 days of work to go before I'm on holidays. Yippee!!

Noumea, New Caledonia

Noumea: Our scheduled arrival in the afternoon at 3pm makes it hard to decide what to do in Noumea. Most things close at 5pm. 
I've heard the Aquarium is good but it closes at 5pm so by the time we get there we won't have time to have a good look around.
Apparently there is a Hop-on-off bus but again I'm not sure how late it operates.
We probably will get a bus to some shops around Lemon Bay to have a browse. 
Otherwise, the other option is possibly the museum. 

On searching for museums I have found a couple within walking distance of cruise terminal.
The two closest both close at 5pm. Neither look huge so I think that is the best option.

Museum of WWII

14 Ave Paul Doumer, Noumea

Maritime Museum of New Caledonia

11 Ave James Cook, Noumea

Another option is a limited time display of WWI posters. It's open until 6pm but looks a bit of a walk from the cruise terminal.

WWI Posters

Maison Higginson

7 Rue de Sebastopol

Nouméa, New Caledonia

If anyone else is looking for ideas try the New Caledonia Weekly website

Other museums are

Museum of New Caledonia

45 Avenue Foch, Noumea, New Caledonia

and

Le Musee de la Ville de Noumea

39 rue Jean Jaures,Noumea, New Caledonia

...and finally from a tourist website

FREE WIFI ACCESS IN NOUMEA

Marina Port Moselle

Place Courbet

When we eventually get there I'll report back what we ended up doing.

For Mare I have decided to book the shuttle to the beach. Apparently the ships book all the transport on the island so there are no options to go sight-seeing.

Our Champagne Bay tour is still going ahead to the blue holes.

In Port Vila I'm thinking we should go to Hideaway Island for some snorkeling. We have a second day there so not sure how we will fill the other day in other than shopping.

Mystery Island we will probably just go to the markets and have a swim.

Overall I feel we are finally getting a plan together so that time isn't wasted on arrival at each port.

Ryndam arrives at the drydock

The HAL ship Ryndam has arrived at the drydock for it's refit to be transformed to P&O's Pacific Aria. The Pacific Eden apparently has been refloated and continues to be refitted for it's sail to Australia. There are heaps of photos on instagram by staff and construction people. Just search for #pacificeden or #pacificaria.

Only 36 days until our cruise. We are so excited. I'm sure it's going to go really fast now.