Aloha

[irv]

Jumping the gun a bit here but with a busy week ahead I thought I would start this TR.

6 days to go before we fly out of PQQ to Sydney then on to the cruise terminal for our first overseas cruise. We depart Sydney late on Saturday for two days at sea before we reach our 1st destination. the isle of Mare. Spend a day on the island before embarking for another day at sea before arriving in the port of Suva. After Suva we have 4 days at sea before arriving in Papeete for a day. Next day off to Moorea, followed the next day by a visit to Bora Bora.

We then have 5 days at sea before arriving at Maui for a day, then the next day we reach our final destination on Oahu a total of 19 days.

Once we disembark it will be straight to the airport for a flight to the Big Island for three nights, before back to Oahu for another 8 nights staying up on the North Shore.

The return flight will be on a QF ticket on Fiji Airways via Fiji, this was solely to save over $500 in QF tax charges.

Plenty of adventures planned at all our destinations, however it is likely there will be a gap in the TR whilst cruising, but there will be a lot of pictures and hopefully a lot of positive comments on our ship board adventure.

Until next week, "a hui hou"

 

[Irishbazz]

Sounds great!

 

[love_the_life]

Looking forward to sailing along. Which ship are you on? (Lazy, I know. I could do a bit of an internet hunt to find out)

 

[irv]

Carnival Legend

 

[love_the_life]

Carnival Legend

Goodo. Thanks.

 

[Limewood]

While in Honolulu maybe a stretch from ABC Limo for half a day, its fun at $150 to see and learn so much from the driver around the island. We with another couple did just that, later dropped off at Hilton Hawaiian Village for a very loooong lunch with brilliant coughtails for the ladies.

 

[irv]

Packed

 

[irv]

Confirmed in seats 6C & 6D, pity it is Qantaslink

 

[irv]

So, wide awake at 4.30 am (why are you getting up at this time is the quote from my better half) up for a coffee and a browse on the internet. QF 2165 from PQQ at 9.30am, don't think I will post a picture of the snack pack, then en-route to the International Cruise Terminal. Aloha

 

[ellen10]

Looks like a great trip. Enjoy!

 

[Jim Walsh]

We did Carnival last year to New Caledonia. Unfortunately it was the most excruciating holiday I have ever had. However that may have to do with the people on board, it was bogan central. Make friends with your dinner waiter as there is always meals that aren't on the menu, we had some sensational curry dishes. Also the cooking class is a good way to get to sample the fine dining menu for free, a rarity. Drinks aren't cheap, Beers were $8 ! If you are into it the ships tour is well worth it even at $90 per head (You do get a free photo with the captain) The Mare Island has nothing except an expensive bus ride to Jejele Beach. There is a nice little beach about a kilometer north west of the jetty for free . Get used to having your photo taken everywhere. Don't bother with the bingo. Take lots of books.

The most interesting thing was Carnival run all their brands as separate entities Cunard, P&O Seaborne etc Except all the casinos are run by Carnival Corp. Ie the Ships are just a way of running tax free casinos. The latest ships are aimed at the Chinese markets with larger than usual casino spaces

Remember the crew are generally on $1000 per month plus tips, which for your cabin stewart has to share with his staff. This if for a job that is
12 hours a day 7 days a week for 9 months with 3 months off and they are flown back home and back to their next gig

 

[Major]

Looks like a great trip...enjoy

 

[JohnM]

BP scanned.

 

[irv]

Today we disembarked in Hawaii, 11 days to go. The TR is in draft (well some of it any way) Will put pen to paper properly (metaphorically) once I reach home.

Aloha

 

[Jim Walsh]

Was the ship named Titianic

 

[irv]

So this TR is better late than never. This was our first cruise which departed on 1 April 2017 from Sydney on board the Carnival Legend for 19 days. Our flight from PQQ uneventful, I thought it would be a good idea to book the transfer from Sydney Airport to the cruise terminal, save the hassle of a train or Taxi at a reasonable $20.00 per pop. So we landed at SYD, lady waiting holding up a Carnival sign, good start so we introduced ourselves. Asked us to wait at the baggage pick up and they would collect us, fair enough. 15 minutes later still waiting so I had a wander, the lady was further up the terminal holding up her sign obviously waiting for further passengers, another 15 minutes more before we are collected. We then walk to T2, about 10 minutes, then we wait 45 minutes for the coach, in reality could have trained it much quicker, however that is part of the joys of traveling. Our cruise agenda was as follows, at sea 2 days before arrival at the isle of Mare. This was followed by a further sea day before arriving at Suva. We then had 4 sea days before arriving at Pape'ete, followed in successive days by Moorea, and Bora Bora. This was followed by 5 sea days before arriving at Maui, followed by our departure in Honolulu. We then flew to the Big Island for 3 days, before flying back to Oahu, where we based ourselves at Haleiwa, before two nights in Honolulu before an early flight home. So the journey began.

 

[irv]

Our entry on board was uneventful, had to wait a while for the luggage to be bought up however gave us a bit of time to explore. This is a completely different holiday than we have experienced in the past, captured to a certain extent in confined surroundings, was interested to see how we would fare, which will obviously be part of this TR.

 

[irv]

One thing I learnt on this cruise is that Sydney Harbor has one of the best views in the world to sail in and out of

 

[irv]

We did Carnival last year to New Caledonia. Unfortunately it was the most excruciating holiday I have ever had. However that may have to do with the people on board, it was bogan central.

Jim, we certainly had a few of the B class on our boat but was certainly not predominate, however in my line of work I often come across them and are probably immune

The crew on the ship were fantastic, we had a great supervisor in the restaurant, over 25 years with the line and his service was exemplary. Highly recommend the Legend.

 

[irv]

1st full day of cruising we woke to the remnants of Cyclone Debbie. I could tell it was going to be a rough day, so I advised my wife Michelle, who has not had much open water experience to at least take one motion sickness tablet. Outside of the cabin a number of decks closed and a 5.5 metre swell. Sitting in one of the lounges on level 3 waves were periodically breaking on the windows. Michelle was gradually going off color, along with a large number of other passengers, in fact the lift apparently was not a good place to be . She ended taking another motion sickness tablet, no food, and eventually went for a sleep. She was reasonable by dinner, welcome to cruising darling

The photos are from our cabin on deck 7 so don't give an accurate perspective of the wave size.