Maiden Voyage of Pacific Jewel and Me!

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In December 2009 I had my first true taste of 'travel', the first trip I had to save for, the first big investment in a holiday I had made, little did I know It would be the first of many many more to come, and what had the potential to be a very expensive hobby! There is so much to learn about travelling and in particular cruising; Lanyards, Musters, Port, Starboard, Tipping and so much more, and this was my introduction to this exciting mode of travelling.

The cruise was planned by my besties mum, I have been an honourary member of their family for many years and love it! A 5 night taster cruise on P&O's Pacific Jewel, which also happened to be the Maiden Voyage of the ship under the P&O banner - very exciting indeed.

We got up early and caught the train to Sydney, after dragging my luggage through the hot sun from Circular Quay station to the Overseas Passenger Terminal, I was exhausted - mainly because I had overpacked but also because I am fat haha - then who should walk up to me but my parents, excited to wave us up and drove to Sydney!! They could have given me a lift?!?!

We waited approx. 90minutes to board the ship and then we started to settle in. This was in a time when you had to take your lifejacket to the mandatory emergency muster drill that is required on all cruise ships all over the world. It felt like such a long exhausting day, but we managed to frock up and enjoy dinner before the planned sailaway. It was planned to be a big event being a Maiden Voyage but the ship had technical difficulties which was so ironic it was the supposed to be launching the ship into the world and it couldn't even leave the dock!!!

Eventually we got going and the ship headed south towards Melbourne, we had a great day there exploring the markets. The next port was Burnie in Tasmania, I am kind of disappointed now that I look back as I didn't get off the ship, I was looking forward to having the pool to myself while everyone else was off the ship.

We had a fantastic trip, highlights include having my first cruise cocktail (way stronger than any cocktail on land!), the beer tasting and the new 'beer tasting' face we created, drinking a member of our groups cocktail and topping it up with water while she was in the bathroom, Captain Lorenzo, Hiding another member in our group from security as she wasn't 18, Bestie winning the inaugural 'Pacific Popstar' with a rendition of the Time Warp and 'bashing up kids' in the pool accidentally in the surf!

This trip really gave me a sample of what travelling was like and specifically cruising. I cannot wait to tell you about my other experiences.

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