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Lifestyle Weekends |
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Frequently Asked Questions Below is a lot of things you need to know. Most of these have been posted on the Yahoo Group, but not everyone subscribed to that. How to find us to get your lanyard. Promise you won't miss out :) For everyone who already knows us, grab us on Friday or on the boat. For everyone else, either see us Friday night, or ring us on the cruise phone when you get to the terminal. 0434 341 078 If that doesn't work, look for the lanyards in lime green with "Experience the FAINT difference" written on them that will be all over the boat. Or, be at the spa every afternoon at 5 with a bottle of bubbles and look for the party crowd! As a last resort, walk around the boat asking everyone you meet "do you know Bob and Corina?" :) Packing checklist Take photocopies of your passports, tickets & insurance details and leave them with your emergency contact in the event that originals are lost or destroyed. Things to have packed in a carry on bag.
Things to pack in your luggage that you check through onto the boat
Plenty of Hawaiian stuff at Vila port markets for those that don't want to take it with them. No towels as they are supplied. Dont take any alcohol on the boat to drink as it will be confiscated Friday before we sail The night before starts at lunch time. Corina and Heather are having a girls afternoon for nails, and pampering and whatever it is you girls do together :) We have booked for High Tea at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Brisbane, a lovely riverfront venue. They do a high tea from 3pm-5pm. Little sandwiches, cakes and scones and tea and coffee $27.50 a person. You can eat as much as u like as they will refill the plates. They also serve alcohol for anyone interested. The girls will be going there after their pedicures :) We have organised with Mikes Place to get early entry for us at 7.00 so we can say hi without the public. Anyone who doesn't like clubs can then leave early. Mikesplace Mikes is at West End, about 2k from the centre of town, about a $15 taxi fare and 10 minutes. Its probably not much more from hotels near the cruise terminal. If you want to catch up with friends, there is no time limit on when you can get to Mikes. You could easily have dinner elsewhere first. Saturday morning On the Saturday morning, you turn up and give them your bags. At that time, they give you a boarding card with a number on it. Then you board the boat in the order of the boarding cards . so first one there is first one on. It seems like you wait on the dock for about the same amount of time regardless of when you get there - so get there at 8, on at 11, get there at 9 on at 12 etc. So we use the theory that we would rather be on the boat drinking bubbly than sitting at home waiting to leave. What to do between 8 and 11? Contain the excitement :-) You are sitting around having breakfast in one of the restaurants, the street is overwhelmed by sheer size of the boat, everyone is laughing and happy, you are checking out everyone else, hoping those cute young girls are coming, or better still part of our group. You keep listening for the announcements, counting down the numbers until yours comes up (or in Corina's case, wait for the very first number :-)) In our case you will be meeting new friends for the first time while you wait, or catching up with that couple from Mikes Place the night before ;) Heather and Corina recommend that when you get to your cabin you jump up and down and scream!! Then immediately head to the bar, get a bottle of bubbles, and wave to the people not on the boat.:-) Parking on the day isn't any problem, but I don't think you can leave it there for the week. Andrews Airport Parking go to the cruise terminal. Lunch is also served on the boat in the restaurant once you are on the boat. Drinks prices Drinks are the same price as going to a pub - $5 for a beer, $7 corona, $10 for a 2 nip cocktail, $20 for a bottle of bubbles. Given they buy the grog duty free, they make a fair margin :-) You don't pay cash for the drinks, you just charge them on your room card - that way its just like they are free (until you pay the bill on the last day!!) We spend about $100 a day between the 2 of us, but this time we might party a little bit harder :-) (or maybe we will be too busy to go to a bar ;) Dress for the formal nights Corina has almost got me convinced to bring the penguin suit for the formal nights, even if I'm the only one. Seriously, for formal nights a tux won't be too dressy, a jacket is just perfect, and if you don't wear a jacket, they will still serve your dinner. I have absolutely no idea of what the female version of that is, but I'm sure the ladies will know ;) On this boat you get given a seat for dinner and are stuck there for the whole cruise. There are also 2 different dining rooms. I believe that you can see the staff in the afternoon of the first day to move around. I wouldn't stress about it too much - as long as you are on second sitting, it doesn't matter where you sit. Lets do the numbers - about 2000 passengers if the boat is full – only 1000 on second sitting. They put families together, and you can request tables of 2 and 4. That probably accounts for another 500 of the passengers. If we all request tables of 8, we will probably have 4 on every table!! We will have around 70 of us. What we will be doing is meeting at the spa for a glass of bubbly (or whatever you are drinking) at 5 each night to watch the sun set and plan our night. Where you sit for dinner won't really matter. Saturday night Simon tells me today (ready for the big Awwwwwws :-) He's such a smoothie!!!) that he's organized for us to renew our wedding vows on the Sunday with the ship's Captain! So there's an activity that's not in the tour brochures! Not quite sure how it works at the moment, hope to find out in the next week sometime, but he organized it the day he booked the cruise back in February!!!!!!!!! And he's kept it secret since then!!!! Who knows, they may have the renewal ceremony as open to the public. We're not sure. We can let people know if they want to poke their head in and have a gander :-) Cheers for now from the excited bride-to-be (again LOL) Stacy :-) So we all know what that means!! Saturday night is the bucks and hens nights. It doesn’t matter if the 2 parties combine after the first drink, it’s the thought that counts. Shore tours. There are lots of options, and the good news is they are all ok. The only difference between booking now and booking on board is that the tours might sell out. There are limited places on some of them. The rule of thumb is that it costs more to do a tour through the boat, but you may not have the option to find a local tour when you get there. We tried to book a day riding quads in noumea, but were told we couldn't because the boat booked all their spots. For interest, on other days you got a full day tour for the same price you pay on the boat for 2 hours J In the context of the whole cost of the trip, if you really want to do something, just book it now!! We did the jet boat at vanuatu and loved it, and I think David and Heather grabbed a seaplane flight from a bloke on the wharf and loved it. At noumea, they sell 1 hour bus trips on the wharf for $10 each, and they give you a good overview of the city and surrounds, go to lookouts etc. You should do this trip! We will probably be getting a taxi to Lemon Bay (Citrus Bay or something like that is the proper name) which is 10 minutes along the coast - nice beach and lots of coffee shops / restaurants. Given we get there early afternoon, there isn't a lot to do. Have a quick walk around town - usually that is my favourite thing to do in a strange place. However, here it just feels like you are unwelcome. Its not a nice place. In Vanuatu they have taxis on the wharf that will negotiate a tour. Both times we have had a 1 hour tour for $50, and that hour shows you just about every street on the island. Jetboat was great, and lots of water options available on the boat. Vila is the place to do the duty free and any other shopping so leave some spare time in vila to do this. Bear in mind that by the time we get to these places (hopefully) you will all have lots of new friends and may want to co-ordinate your tours J Don't stress about the tours, whatever you do you will be happy with. Useful web sites Just found this webpage, and thought others may be interested - it gives a full photo walk through of the ship. http://www.cruise-australia.net/pacificsun.htm Not sure if anyone has found it, but I discovered a cruise aholics' site. Lots of helpful hints for those 1st cruisers with questions, because I had so many questions before my March cruise, I drove g/f's nuts in months leading up to it!
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