Tomorrow I take the train up to Sydney to catch a ship, Pacific Adventure, for a 10 day cruise to the Pacific Islands with nearly 3000 other people. My idea of hell.
My cabin is three from the front on the deck two below the bridge apparently on the right or the starboard side as we seafarers say so you can see where I will be in that photo (exciting eh?. I didn’t pick it, it was allocated.
I am not enamoured by cruising, my trip on P&O SS Himalaya sailing from Australia to UK in 1968 put me off the ocean for life - it is exactly the same in the middle as it is at the edges so I would rather see it from land. Ironically I have never been travel sick.
However I have been on a cruise once before, six years ago and, while it was better than I expected, I never thought I would ever go again. It is a bit like Butlins but with less entertainment. Ideal for parents with kids but not for grown ups who don’t enjoy gluttony or sunbathing.
The reason I am going is that all my kids are spending Christmas elsewhere and I didn’t want a repeat of 1971 when, for work reasons, I spent Christmas Day by myself with a chicken the size of a sparrow (“So this is Christmas” has a special poignancy for me). I suspect I will spend most of each day in the bar and/or playing bingo and trivia.
I booked a balcony cabin rather than a suite this time mainly because none were available and anyway, travelling alone you pay a premium for everything.
Anyway I am booked on this bloody ship for Christmas. It could get exciting, I was just reading about its sister ship in the news yesterday:
It will be good to get away form the cold - temperatures for the next week don’t get above 21’C (where has summer gone?) and I am quite looking forward to 10 days spent in an alcoholic haze.
Have a fantastic trip. I laughed out loud when you said chicken size of a sparrow. Worst that can happen is you get your book or laptop and post from your balcony,
it sounds fabulous Bruce, not the cruise but the locations you will visit. Unlike Oates I am sure you will survive long enough to send us some lovely photos (please!). Spare a thought for us in the UK dealing with -3c to -6 or even lower in some areas. Enjoy your summer holiday
As I said my kids all had plans for Christmas mostly visiting other half’s relatives, even worse several friends and acquaintances felt sorry for me and invited me to their Christmas. They are kind and nice enough people but I don’t want to spend Christmas with them. I needed an out.
I thought of going to Malaysia but the air fare was horrendous with Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year all coming up so that was no good.
The local club has a Christmas day dinner but that fills up pretty quickly with the same people each year and though I searched everywhere but there are just no Christmas Day holidays here, everywhere seems to shut for that one day of the year. The only available holiday I could find was this Christmas Cruise.
I initially tried to book a cabin (any cabin) a few months ago but every time I did it came up sold out so I abandoned the idea. Then I got an email a few weeks ago saying special offer blah blah and to cut a long story short I booked a balcony cabin with obstructed view for a very reasonable amount (about half the cost of a return flight to Malaysia). A week ago I received a notice allocating my cabin and saying I had been upgraded (??)
It is still not sure - I have to do a negative RAT this evening which I have to produce tomorrow to get on board.
Assuming all goes well and I get on board I will enjoy myself, I always enjoy things no matter how dire they seem. At the moment there are off shore warnings for rough seas so perhaps a lot of people will be sea sick and confined to their cabins
My version of why I am going:
Pros:
Cheap holiday
No work to do at all
Good food and lots of it
Entertainment all day
Booze
Free ice cream
Cabin is nicer than your average motel
Room with a view
Adults only areas where kids are banned (I hope)
Will visit Pacific Islands
Don’t have to talk to anyone if I don’t feel like it.
Cons:
Stuck on a ship (can’t change your mind half way)
2600 other passengers
Covid restrictions
The ocean is not interesting
I could read a book at home
I could drink at home cheaper
Too much free food available if I am bored (fortunately I rarely get bored)
Too much booze available if I am bored
Lots of kids (school holidays)
Even more annoying - a few days ago my DIL fell out with the sister they were going to visit in Qld so they will be in Canberra and now, as soon as I return, are coming down to my place for a late Christmas and New Year. So if I had stayed at home I would have had a similar Christmas to the last 40 with grandkids too!
BRUCE at meal times order a second or more drinks, normally drinks at the table are free otherwise you will have to pay . Save you a bit of money. needless to say i had so much to drink on the Viking Mars set me up for the whole day
I have a picture of me with the Captain on my last cruise when I went on a behind the scenes tour of the ship which included the engine room and the bridge. It was a highlight of the trip.
The captain was Italian but most of the crew were Eastern European, quite a change from the 60’s when they were all lascars as I recall.
There was nothing like that on the last/only cruise (Carnival) I went on, I wore shorts the whole trip. I have packed one pair of cargo pants in case it is cold, I shall get very upset if they don’t let me in the dining room in T shirt and shorts, it’s unAustralian
l
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