Advertisement
Published: June 23rd 2017
Edit Blog Post
Geo: -36.8474, 174.766
I was struck by travelling for the first time in a long time outside of my normal routine. Can't remember the name of the movie, but George Clooney played a frequent flyer and I could relate to much of that movie due to my own international air travels. Stewart also commented to us that it was very different travelling without Dad 😊
Anyway, I found myself a little stressed, the previous night and this morning, wanting to make sure that we didn't miss anything important, as I had never been on a cruise before! Alarm set for 6:30 to make sure we were all re-packed and bags out for pickup before 8am.
Down to the banquet hall for breakfast at around 8:30 and boy was I right! I felt young again - relatively, but also like I was at a business conference again. Yes, my natural tendency is introversion! 700 people in one room for breakfast buffet. Most memorable moment - Eggs Benedict on salmon - YUCK!!
Back to the room to kill some time after breakfast before our 11:30am bus departs the hotel. Everyone was given a slip with staggered bus times to prevent big lineups at embarkation. Worked like a
charm - mid-size buses of about 25 people, short ride to wharf, ebola declaration, Regent checkin/photo/access card, customs, security and on board before 12:30. Only hitch was rooms were not ready until 2:30, so off to find a place to eat lunch and we lucked out ended up on Deck 11 (12 decks total) right at the back with a table for two on a beautiful day. For the lunch, the restaurant was buffet style.
We then wandered round the common areas of the ship and oriented ourselves - numerous bar/lounges, casino, "nightclub", theatre, spa, fitness center, cigar/scotch room, boutique, running track, paddle tennis court, 3 hot tubs, pool, putting greens, croquet, golf cages and the like. I was like wow, this is crazy!!
We spent some time talking to the fitness supervisor - an extension of Canyon Ranch Spa Club. Even weighed in - 110 kilos. The supervisor was a nice fellow from SA who was an elite rugby player pre back injury. Personal training sessions - $112 for 50 minutes!! I will be taking what I learned at IF and self training 😊
Then we hung out on the 12th deck on the couches waiting for the rooms to be readied
and it was pretty close to the forecast time of 2:30 when the announcement went out.
We headed to our room and well, I felt like we were big rollers in Vegas, but I had to continue to remind my Scottish conscious that this is a once in a lifetime trip celebrating 25 years!. I will let the pictures and video speak for themselves, but we will be spoiled/pampered for the next month.
Got a workout in while Bonnie organized and we waited for ship to depart - 1:23 and 956 cal.
We soaked up the atmosphere in the room for quite a while before deciding to catch the ship departing, while we ate dinner. We lucked out and were able to get the same spot just about on the back of the boat Deck 11. The restaurant had convereted to classic Italian (4 course meal - I skipped dessert) and the meal was wonderful - cioppino for me and veal for Bonnie. Our first evening on the ship provided a fantastic meal with fantastic service and fabulous view as we departed Auckland. It is going to be very hard to keep the weight off.
Two other ships in port same day, both
left earlier than us - Seabourn Odyssey and Royal Caribbean Voyageur.
We departed at 9pm and headed off to Tauranga.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.061s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0313s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb