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 |
No comments:
Post a Comment