Our First Cruise (Day 5 to 9 and Christmas)

Explorer of the Seas: Day 5 to Day 9

With further ado, here’s part two!  Day 5: Mystery Island to Day 9: Disembarking, plus how we spent Christmas.

Day 5: Mystery Island

The kids were most looking forward to this port of call; they were convinced they would find the Mystery Gang and some ghosts here.  Again, this was a tender boat to the island so this early bird got up and got our tender number (lucky 13!).  Everyone from the day before learned their lesson (those who didn’t get tender tickets weren’t able to get to Isle of Pines until well past noon!) so there was quite a bottle-neck on the lower decks for the tender boats.  The conditions weren’t fabulous either so while I got the kids on the tender, MrH was stopped to wait for the large swells to pass.  (We later learned that the Captain wasn't sure we would be able to get into Mystery Island due the conditions)

Looks legit

On the island, we walked through the small village and MissE decided to have her hair-braided.

After channelling Bo Derek, we walked to the closest beach.  We probably should have kept walking!  It was so windy!  I did a recon of the sea life but it was too rough (even for me!), so the kids stayed near the shore to frolic.

MrH went for a walk and found a much better location for snorkelling.  By this time, I had been sitting with MrE for 30 minutes in what felt like a wind tunnel.  I was well and truly over it and just wanted to be back on the comfort of the boat.  Unfortunately, the kids loved this section and didn’t want to go back on the boat.  Sigh.  BUT we got MissE over her fear of fish.  On my initial recon in this section, I went where the other snorkelers were.  To my surprise I could stand and just stick my head into the water to see the fish!   MrE swam circles around me.

Sun's Out, Gun Out
(Twinning!)

We did a final hunt for ghosts but unfortunately didn’t turn any up.

G...G...ghosts!

Zoinks!

For dinner, we went to our 2^nd on-board restaurant, Giovanni’s Table.  This was the best of the bunch!

After, MissE and I tried to stay out to catch the Dance the Night Away party (due to bad weather, they moved it to the Royal Promenade).  We stayed for 3 dances but I got bored of following instructions (ugh, line dancing) and MissE was tired so bedtime!

Day 6: Noumea

The Wowo Incident

Yesterday, when we got back from Mystery Island we couldn’t find Wowo (MissE’s lovey).  We searched the room and checked with our cabin attendant but he couldn’t find him either.  We were worried that he got wrapped up in the laundry and had gone through the big industrial washing machines.  No telling what that would do!  We still couldn’t find him when her bed was turned down (and our cabin attendant let us know that he was not in the laundry), so she went to bed heart-broken and sobbing.  This morning, we got them out of bed and pulled the bed apart.  And there he was!  He had somehow slipped, not where the bed folds back in, but behind the pull-out lounge… nearly impossible!  This is MissE on recovery of Wowo:

After that excitement, we had a leisurely breakfast and then hopped off the boat.  This was the first time we didn’t have to tender.  There was still a short bus ride to the main terminal but it was less crazed.  

On Noumea, we rode the appallingly overpriced Tchou Tchou train around town.   (It was still cheaper to book this off the boat, however they didn’t take credit cards so you had to have enough cash or take out Franks at the nearby ATM).  It stopped in 2 spots: the FOL and  Ouemo's canon lookout point.  Frankly, it was just something (a very expensive $42 AUD per adult something) to do.  Next time, I’ll just get off the boat and head straight to the highlight of Noumea, PATISSERIE CANDI, a favourite of many cruisers.

Tchou Tchou selfie

F.O.L

Mille Feuille
This was my highlight of Noumea...
Mmm, I want one now.

Back on the boat, we managed to squeeze in a game of mini-golf, minus the wind. 

We found an extra monkey in our room!
He was my favorite towel animal.

Day 7: At Sea

It only took 7 days but I finally worked out was told that the lifts were not named the days of the week but they changed it every day so people would know what day it was.  Oh dear, holiday brain at its finest!

We had a busy day at sea!  We played wii, went to trivia and came in 2^nd again (we ended up changing our name to the 2^nd Placers), and watched Spirit of the Seasons: The Ice Spectacular.  This was fantastic! 

Fall

Winter

Summer

After the Ice Show, we had Ben & Jerry’s at Sea then watched MrH and his team win the cricket tournament. 

This evening was formal night so we donned our finest for festive photos!

Day 8: At Sea

I'm going to miss starting my day like this!

Today was our last full day of the cruise – boo!  The weather wasn’t fabulous today so we were mostly indoors.  It also meant that Adventure Ocean was full (one of my biggest gripes of this ship but more on that later) and the ice rink was very busy but MissE and MrH were able to get on the ice one last time.

I decided it was our best opportunity to finally go on the Flowrider.  I was going to get anyway, right?  I went on the boogie boarding session while MrH had the kids.  Unfortunately I didn’t get photos while I was on it because it was raining heavily.

We were able to get into the afternoon session of Adventure Ocean so I tried my luck at Bingo – didn’t even come close to winning!  And MrH did the surfing sessions on the Flowrider.

No Bingo

We had dinner at Izumi (the last restaurant on our package).  While the other ones, it’s a flat rate, here it’s a la carte and you get a $30 per adult credit.  Unfortunately I thought this was the worst of the restaurants we ate at – the service was slow for what we were getting.  We sat there with a 4 and 6 year old for close to 3 hours… WITH A 4 AND 6 YEAR OLD.  What did we order?  Sushi, ramen and hot rock/Ishiyake plate (grilling stone that “cooks” the meat); not dishes that needed 3 hours to prepare.   We skipped dessert and had an ice cream with MissC and MissS on our last night.

Izumi Spider Roll

Tempura Udon

Note: If you are keeping track, we paid $70 per adult for our restaurant package. Normally, dining at Chops is $35 per person and Giovanni’s is $25.  With the credit for Izumi’s, it made dining at Chops and Giovanni’s $20 each.  Not a bad savings. 

We nicknamed him "Buttface"
The kids wanted to take him home.

Day 9: Disembarkation

It’s time to say goodbye to the Explorer of the Seas.  MrH and I were up at 5:30AM to watch the boat sail into Sydney Harbour. 

We had our last breakfast, made one final lap around the decks of the boat and then sadly disembarked.  Again, this process was a breeze!  We grabbed our luggage and got into the customs line.  We didn’t have anything to claim so were waved through.  Done and it was not even 10AM.

Sad MissE and MrE

Christmas Eve

Luckily I thought ahead and we had more holidays ahead of us!  It’s Christmas Eve and the last thing I wanted to do was get home to an empty refrigerator.  I found a package deal at The InterContinental Sydney so we checked-in there for 2 days.

We dropped our luggage and went for a walk.  First stop was for a Gingerbread Latte then we played tourist in Circular Quay and the Royal Botanical Gardens. 

In the birdcage at Sydney Botanic Gardens

MrE being introduced to a classic:
A Christmas Story

We had dinner at one of our favourite restaurants in Circular Quay, Sea Rock Grill, and watched our ship depart on their next voyage.

After dinner, we walked to St Mary’s Cathedral to watch Light of Life (light show).

Day 10: Christmas Day

May Your Days Be Merry & Bright

"Stockings" arrived at the InterContinental

Luckily Santa found MissE and MrE!  We went for a long walk to the newly opened Barangaroo Reserve.

We managed to squeeze in a quick swim before our Christmas buffet dinner at the hotel.  

This sure beat the shopping and cooking and cleaning usually involved with Christmas dinner!  The Big Man in Red popped in for a visit too!

The seafood at Cafe Opera

Santa, I think you might have a stow-away!

Day 11: Boxing Day

It’s time to go home!  Note: The hotel was chosen purely on location due to luggage.  Although I have really enjoyed past stays at the InterContinental, I was disappointed this time and we will absolutely go elsewhere next year.  Now that we have had an easy-peasy lemon-squeezy Christmas like this, I am not sure if there is going back?

Cruise Pro’s and Con’s

With everything, there are pro’s and con’s.  We are definitely Cruise People, although we will continue to be selective on cruise lines and boats.  And even though our next one isn’t too far away (we’re going on Disney Dream!), we probably won’t be cruising every year.  So, here’s what I loved:

• The ease of getting on a boat from being able to use public transport and the quick immigration process (no airplanes!)
•  Unpacking and repacking once.
• I loved having a balcony room.  I started my mornings, listening to the waves as I read my book.
• The activities available on the boat (and I’m not even counting the kids club… more on that in the Con’s)
• The cookies… I miss those.
•  I truly felt relaxed.  I didn’t have to clean, cook or worry about anything.

The Negatives:

• The boat was too big.  There were people EVERYWHERE and so were the queues.  If you wanted a coffee or to rock climb, you better be there before opening.  While the new Quantum Class looks tempting (I mean there are bumper cars and an iFLY!), the boat is even larger which means more people and longer queues.  Thanks, but no thanks.  And pushy parents raise pushy kids, so all those queues... it's like they lost their minds and manners when they were even close to their turn.  I lost count of the number of times I had the person behind me, try to push in to be one up.  Frustrating. 
• Again, this relates to #1: Of the 3,800 odd people, 1,050 of those were kids (BTW, the boat was not at capacity!  Imagine if it was?!)  Adventure Ocean is the same size it is on the smaller boats which means there are more kids than spots in kids club.  If you didn’t queue up 30 minutes before the session, you were finding ways to entertain the kids (pool time?)  They didn’t seem to look at this ratio while most of the other cruise lines do.  So if you are booking one soon, make sure you check with your preferred travel agent.  
• Ugh, the "line" dancing or organised step-by-step dances during any of the parties.  1-2 okay, but all night.  Nope.

Postscript: Our sailing was filmed for a national show, “Australia’s Mega Cruise Ship”!  It aired recently and well, guess who popped up on the small screen?

It's  MrE at the top of the screen!

We had a bit of screen time too!