Pacific Aria - Friday 31 August, Townsville

Our first port on this trip is Townsville. The Aria can dock here as she is a smaller ship but it did take a bit of manouvering from the captain.

Reversing into our spot at the dock

 
We were alongside the wharf at about 9.30am. Getting off the ship was a bit messy but we managed in the end. Quite a long slow process. not sure why they don't have this down pat by now, they do it so often. The gangway was a bit wibblywobbly so I'm sure quite a few people, especially ones with walkers, had a bit of difficulty getting off. It would be good if they had two gangways.

After a lovely breakfast sailing slowing into Townsville we relaxed some more before heading off as it was quite congested getting off, still was when we got off.

Brekky out the back of the Pantry

Gorgeous weather, I don't think we could have asked for a better day really. Sunny, not many clouds and a slight cooling breeze. Just what the doctor ordered after what feels like a very long winter!

Heading towards Townsville and Castle Hill

We had planned o walking up Castle Hill but that changed pretty quick once we got close to it and saw how big it was and how hot it was and how far we'd already walked! 

There's quite a bit of road works happening and lots of closed shops, not quite what I was expecting. I picture a very water centric place full of life and activity but it wasn't quite that. The Strand, which is based along the water, is lovely but no one was in the water. We didn't know if it was because of stingers (although the stinger season is meant to be from November to May) or if the water was too cold. The weather was perfect. We did lots of walking and sitting by the water before making our way back to the Aria.

The Variety Charity Car Bash finished in Townsville today, we didn't know this until millions of weird and wonderful cars came driving down the Strand making a huge racket. That added a bit of excitement to the place!

The Strand - one of the deserted beaches

Variety Charity - Geelong to Townsville

We slowly made our way back to the Aria passing some lovely old buildings and a giant spider.

Lovely old building

Watch out for the spiders!

Back to the Pacific Aria

Much easier to get back onto the ship. We had walked a lot and next stop was the Pantry for a cuppa, we thought we'd missed out on lunch as it was after 3pm by the time we got back to the ship but we were in luck and half of it was still open! We grabbed a quick bite and then went to the Dome to enjoy the view and a cocktail.

Fluffy duck for mum and a frozen margarita for me.

Every Saturday should end with a cocktail

Dinner was at Angelo's tonight but first drinkies on Deck 7 after a jooz and putting on our best frocks.

Cheers to Townsville

This became one of our go to spots, just off the Mix bar, quiet but still in amongst it. The shops were just behind along the side and then in the middle was a lounge bar and the otherside was the casino.

Our restaurant was on this level so we didn't have to stagger too far :-)

A delicious meal for both of us and a lovely evening. The desserts were the best we had the whole cruise. Out of the three restaurants this was the best, we thought anyway. The only problem was I had been dying for roast lamb and thought for sure I'd be able to have it on the cruise unfortunately the night they had the roast lamb in the Pantry was tonight, doh! I did say to mum that that must mean tomorrow's Indian dish will be lamb (it was and I had it, not quite a roast but still yummy). The trials we go through on a cruise, poor us!

Entree

Dessert

 Tomorrow is Airlie Beach!

Pacific Aria - Thursday 30 August, 1st Sea Day

Mum was up at the crack of dawn as the bacon and eggs were calling her, I got up a bit later and wandered up to the Pantry for brekky and a view.

Bye Brissy see you in 5 days

There were a lot of whales out and about which we had been hoping we'd see. Most were still heading north but a few looked as if they were heading back down the coast. I didn't get any photos of the whales as I was never quick enough but they were there!

Most of the day was spent wandering around the ship and trying to get our bearings. It's quite a bit different to other ships as the atrium is quite small and not really the central part of the ship. Deck 7 is the deck to be most everything is here. It took me awhile to warm to this ship as it is quite compact but in the end, especially with the lovely decor, I grew to like it and enjoy that all the bars basically lead off one another so it was quite an inviting place to be. You could find a quite spot to sit or be in a bit more of a lively area without feeling too crowded. We never did make it to trivia as that bar was always full, people like their trivia!

Pandora had yet another Grand Opening and would you believe Mum was the winner! This time it wasn't a charm but an Aria teddybear.

Winner winner chicken dinner!

We had drinks and nibblies on the Lido and what lovely nibblies they were. I got them from one of the stations in the Pantry. I could get use to this.

This is what life's about!

After the show, The Velvet Rope (another show we've seen before but it is a fabulous show!), we headed to the Pantry for yet another lovely meal. Indian for mum and Asian for me plus dessert of course.

The Pantry - Stix Asian station

Dessert and a cuppa before retiring for the night

Tonight was Gatsby night but was we weren't going to the restaurant or the after party we didn't get all dressed up but a lot of people did. They always look great on Gatsby night, feathers everywhere!

Heading to our cabin (sideways!)

Pacific Aria - Wednesday 29 August, Embark Day

Finally, our Aria cruise is here! Our official P&O boarding time is 1-1.30pm but we've never known P&O to stick to these so we'll see how we go getting there earlier.

All packed and ready to go we left at about 10.30am and arrived at Portside Parking 12pm, not a bad run at all. We used Siri to help us as there are some roadworks happening and a few roads are closed or detoured. She did a good job even though I did turn right a little too early so had to turn around but no biggy. A few people pulled into Portside as we got there but check in as quick and it's an easy 100mtr walk from Portside to the ship.  Once at the dock we dropped our suitcases off and jumped on the short queue to get our cruise cards. Easy so far and that continued, we waited about 20 mins before our number was called, with a singer to entertain us, and away we went. No forms to fill out as this was a local cruise, just a quick buzz through the scanners and then ding we were on board!

Our cabin was on Deck 4, we boarded on Deck 5 so walk down a level and then worked out where our cabin was. It was ready so we had a quick freshen up, met with Romeo our Cabin Steward (Dora was his helper) and then headed for the Pantry. It was lunchtime afterall!

Cabin 4142 - Lounge area

Cabin 4142 - Beds and our window (we had been upgrade from a Porthole)

 The cabin felt a bit bigger than other P&O cabins, maybe just a bit longer as we haven't ever had a lounge on a P&O ship generally just a single seat. Nice to have a little bit more space to dump all our stuff and all of the cushions on the beds.

The only thing we weren't a fan of was the bath in the bathroom. Quite awkward to get in and out of and to turn the taps on and off as the shower was over the bath and the taps were at the bath level plus the bath filled up with water while showering. We both prefer just a shower but if that's wat it takes to go on a cruise I'm sure we can put up with it ;-)

We stopped off at the Bar near the two extra restaurants to make a booking, we were told on the first night you could book 2 nights (any two) and then tomorrow you could book other nights if you wanted to. We ended up booking the Italian Restaurant for our Townsville night and the Asian Restaurant for our last night. A couple of days later we also booked the main Waterfront Restaurant to try that out. All bookings were for a table for two. We booked 7pm for the Italian and Asian and 8pm for the Waterfront. We didn't think of the show times but it ended up working out ok as one night was a comedian which we're not fans of and the last night we could have gone to the 9pm but ended up not bothering.

Still working out how the ship is laid out we headed for the front set of stairs from our cabin (we came to realise the rear set were better as they lead straight to the Pantry!) We walked through the Lido and couldn't decide if this was only part of it or if it was just a lot smaller than the other ships we'd been lucky enough to cruise on. It was smaller, no other part to it. A very lovely space though. One pool and two spas with lots of seating around the edge and comfy deck chairs around the centre. A big bar area at one end with more seating and a coffee shop/ice cream shop on one side. There was also a small pay for Grill area at the other end. Things like burgers and buckets of prawns, we didn't go there. Why pay for food when the Pantry has so much choice?

Through to the Pantry and again it was smaller than previous ships but still just as lovely and yummy. It has the same stations as the Dawnie just a bit more compact. Also, there are only two tea/coffee stations, at the end of the Pantry near the back deck where as the Dawnie also had one at the front of the Pantry. This area could get a bit congested as it also had the cold water and ice machine, even though there never seemed to be any ice.

Our first Pantry meal - Mexican!

One of the water stations (opposite the dessert station)

Muster was at 3pm so we headed back to our cabin to see if our bags had arrived, they had, so we could unpack. There's plenty of storage, lots of drawers and the suitcases fitted under the bed although I left mine at the end of my bed between the lounge. It was out of the way there.

We grabbed our life jackets and headed to Deck 6 outside for our muster. Unfortunately during muster a chap was not feeling too flash and was sick over the side of the ship. Hope it wasn't sea sickness as we hadn't left yet! Not a great start to his cruise. Mum never quite managed to get her life jacket on so she's just going to grab one of the life rings instead.

We dropped our life jackets back in the cabin and then headed upstairs for sailaway. We were due to leave at 4pm but left about half an hour late. P&O do a good sailaway. It was a gorgeous afternoon, blue skies, slight breeze and no work for a few days, yay!

YMCAing

We spent some of sailaway on the top deck and then mum spied a free table on the Lido so we hightailed it down there, grabbed a drink and sailed down the Brissy River. 

Sailaway on the Aria

Heading under the Gateway Bridge

We went to the 7pm show Chart Toppers (something like that) modern songs, think Bruno Mars, Amy Winehouse and Taylor Swift. Really good show, we had seen it on a previous ship but with different singers and dancers it's almost like a totally new show. The Marque is smaller than the Dawnie but we had great seats. Up the top in the front row. The show went for about 45mins.

After the show we headed to the Pantry for dinner. Nice quiet time to go.

Happy place