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Published: October 21st 2015
Meet the Captain!
When questioned, she didn't know how to steer a ship, so she was really, like us, along for the ride.Exactly 5 years to the day after having a triple bypass operation (Rob), Marg and I set out on a less traumatic adventure. The bright white of a cruise ship is much more inviting than the adventure 5 years previously!
Mary and David were travelling with us as well as their son John, and for them this was a case of revisiting a country where they had worked for several years, and John had visited some of the areas that the cruise would visit as a PNG school boy on an excursion. So they had an expectation, and we had an a real sense of adventure. One of my Father's cousins (Bev Sundgren) worked for many years in PNG, producing reading material for use in the primary schools of PNG, so we have also had an exposure to PNG culture.
Getting to the ship was a breeze. We had dropped our bags around to David the night before, and in the morning caught a train to a convenient spot that they would drive past going to the ship. Mary had told us that it is a good idea to select the early-bird embarkation option. This proved to be a
Papua New Guinea
The real captain had a plan. The first leg was from Brisbane to Alotau, the eastern most port on the main island of PNG. wise choice. The Brisbane terminal process is well organised, but struggles to cope with 2000 passengers simultaneously embarking and dis-embarking. If you know about the problem and plan like Mary did, all is well. Others would stand for much longer periods than we did.
The first important person we met actually happened as we waited to get to the check-in desk. We met, according to cap badge, the Captain of the ship. She was very friendly and promptly answered all the questions we had for her such as do you know how to navigate a ship, how to go frontwards or reverse etc. All her answers were precise - 'No!'
By the time we embarked on the ship, our bags were waiting for us to be brought into the cabin and unpack. We were very pleasantly surprised at the amount of storage space and the size of our cabin. Marg had read reviews saying there was poor storage and nowhere for cases to be stored. That was certainly not our experience. Over the years we have learned not to take too much notice of negative reviews unless they are consistent.
We had chosen a cabin with obstructed
In the queue
Seemed simple, 4 easy steps. Simple, yes. Slow, yes. view (keeps the price down) which provided some additional interest that others missed out on. More on that later. We also met Jeffrey, our cabin steward. Immediately he made us feel at home as he showed us around the cabin, how to adjust the cabin temperature, use the safe, and about how and when they service the cabin twice a day. Jeffrey was both very personable and efficient, and gave us excellent service throughout the cruise. Nothing was too much trouble to him.
Our boarding time was 9:30am at the check in, but it was closer to 11:00am by the time we were set up in our cabin. The ship was due to sail at 2:00pm, and I think we may have been 15 minutes late when we cast off on a sunny Brisbane afternoon. This gave us plenty of time to do some discovery and have a lunch in the Plantation restaurant before we sailed.
Moving down the Brisbane River is a slow process, and we were keen to get photos as the ship passed under the twin Gateway Bridges. After passing the commercial port of Fishermens Wharf, we sailed out into Morton Bay, past Morton Island
Obstructed view
This tender was outside our cabin window. and out to sea. According to the Entertainment Director, (Willie) the cruise officially starts as the ship sails under the bridges. Right on queue, the captain sounded a loud blast on the ships horn. Had we seen the traffic on the bridge at that moment, I suggest there would have been some general panic as drivers wondered who was being tooted at.
Marg and I decided to head back to our cabin, but David stayed on deck for another 20 minutes and ended up with a set of photos of humpback whales waving and breaching not far from the ship. Seeing his pics re-lit that competitive spirit to get the picture of the day for the whole cruise.
Virtually as soon as we were on the ship, Mary booked us into the first dining times, but P & O currently require daily bookings, not book for the whole cruise. That is we assume because besides the Waterfront restaurant, there are four other dining options, and passengers switch around between them. We met Chris and Michael who served us in the dining room. Chris was the table steward, and he described Michael as his 'Wing man'. Not sure about
The check in desk
More queuing. It seems that people with later check in time still rocked up early, much to the annoyance of processing staff. the not so nautical description! They both gave excellent service, so we later decided that we would book the same table throughout the cruise, day by day. We soon found that it pays to get to the registration desk early if you want to achieve this. Leave it until later and it doesn't work. We had one lady complain bitterly that she couldn't get her booking, but it seems she may have been leaving things until later and missed out. She was not happy that I encouraged her to be at the booking desk by 5.00pm when it opens and get her booking done, saying it just doesn't work.
The show on the first night was a preview of what we would see throughout the cruise, and that helped us choose what to see later. In fact, we only removed one comedy act from our list. It was rated as over 18, but the humour target groups of society in a degrading way, so we voted with our feet when this show came on later in the cruise.
After the show there was plenty of time to look around the ship, the various bars with their differing entertainment
Young travelers
Swinging in the poolside hammocks, laughing their heads off. styles, have a coffee from Charlie's Bar which went on to be a favourite drinking hole. There was free coffee in several places, but a quality 'chino or latte was available at a small cost at Charlie's. (Much cheaper than the Coffee Club)
On returning to the cabin, our beds were folded back and a nice chocolate awaited each of us on our pillows. Day one ended as we were very gently rocked to sleep dreaming of the adventures ahead.
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Mum & Dad
non-member comment
Off again
Good pictures and comment. Some young people get all the fun while others stand by the stuff and enjoy themselves doing what they want to do