Pacific Pearl - Noumea, Saturday

Heading into Noumea!

Deck 14 has the best views

We've docked - time for breakfast!

We've been to Noumea a few times now on cruises but it is still so exciting seeing land and then watching the ship sail in and dock so smoothly! As we'd been here before we didn't need to rush off the ship. We hadn't booked any shore tours and just planned to wander around for a bit, see what was new.

Looking over towards the Cargo Terminal (the Carnival Spirit docks there)

Off the ship and we've got our map, no getting lost!

The Pearl from dockside

New ChinaTown - they were working on it last time we were here (May 2013)

Noumea isn't the prettiest of cities, it does have a lovely harbour and there are a few beaches not far from the ship. There is a hop on hop off bus which you can catch to do an hour mini tour of the city. This takes you past a few places for swimming so we might go there on our next cruise :-) We did the hop on hop off bus last time we were here (May 2013) and did the whole circuit. It's an inexpensive way to see a bit more of Noumea. It takes about an hour. As the name suggests you can hop on hop ff along the way, there were about 7 different stops.

Casino Supermarket - just across from the Cruise Terminal

Nice butt!

Lunch! I loved their stirfrys!

Deck 14 - Charlottes Web on the Big Screen

After the movie we headed down to deck 7 for sailaway. It is a lovely harbour to sail out of and the weather was perfect.

Bye Noumea

After sailaway we headed to the Orient for a glass of wine. We sat outside the Orient and people watched. It was also near to the Art Gallery quite interesting to see how many people buy art on board a cruise ship! You can mark out any paintings you are interested in and then during the next auction, on most sea days, they would bring them out. 

Whinge and a wine time

Just outside the Orient

Next stop Lifou!

Pacific Pearl - 2nd Sea Day, Friday

Outside Connexions - Deck 7

We started most, actually all, of our days with a quick walk, a cup of tea & coffee and then breakfast from Plantation. Mostly we sat outside, unless it was too windy or no tables.

Today we tried using a bit of the old grey matter in Trivia at Connexion - we didn't do too bad, no winning beer holder or drink bottle though!

Connexions - big crowd!

Unwinding after trivial - outside on Deck 7

Deck 7

Sea days are made for doing nothing, everything or a little bit of both. It's a great time to explore the ship, check out the shops, read the menu's for the Waterfront, laze in a deck chair, eat, power walk on deck 14 (we didn't actually 'power' walk except when it was windy and you're walking against the wind!).

Drinks Menu - Wine & Beer

Dinner in the Plantation

Pacific Pearl - 1st Sea Day, Thursday

Breakfast in The Plantation

The Plantation Buffet - Deck 12 Aft

We start our day in the Plantation! Nice and relaxed atmosphere - it can get busy but if you're in no hurry (they aren't going to run out of food!) just go with the flow. A coffee and tea first and then we went and found a table and discussed what we were going to have for brekky!! ;-) I love danishes and cruising is about the only time I have them so I went straight to the pastry & croissant section, this was also where the juice station is.

While having our breakfast we spied another ship! It looked to be another Celebrity ship and it was heading back to Sydney - their cruise must be almost over.

Each day you get a Pacific Daily which lets you know what's happening throughout the day on board - it tells you what shows are on, when and where activities are being held and what the theme for the night is.

Deck 6 - Our go to map!

In the Dome

 They closed the curtains in the Dome around 6pm, when it starts getting dark. The bridge is just below the Dome and they request the curtains to be close to stop the lights interfering with their navigation, don't want them crashing!

Dinner in the Plantation

Pacific Pearl - October 2014, 10 nights Pacific Islands

Finally, we booked another cruised! This was a VERY last minute booking. Booked and paid for on the Sunday and left on The Pearl on the Wednesday, talk about spur of the moment! It was a bargain we couldn't (well I couldn't) resist! $549 twin - 10 nights. Booked through OzCruising.

It started off like our last couple of cruises, on the train from Wauchope and this was the dreaded overnighter! We splurged and booked 1st class - much quieter and a bit more roomier. Still took just as long and arrived just as early (7am! - we left at 12.29am!).

1st class all the way baby!

Seeing as our cruise didn't leave until 4pm and our boarding time was until 12.30pm we decided to drop our luggage off in the locker room at Central station - $10 per bag for 4 hours. It was worth it!

Our cruise left from White Bay Terminal which we hadn't been to before so we thought we'd see if there was a shuttle bus - very difficult to find out any information but we were told that there was a P&O bus at bay 13 which usually turned up around midday on cruise days. The lady at the bus terminal said that they didn't seem to be too organised! I had heard that the bus was $15pp. We decided we wouldn't bother with the bus and would just catch a taxi (ended up being $25).

Before we did any walking or sight seeing we both need a cuppa of tea (well coffee for me) and mum had some solid gold toast. Food is very expensive in the eateries at Central Station.

After we'd had our caffeine hit we headed off into town and a bit of a wander around. So busy!

Martin Place - Sunrise and the Cash Cow

We had brekky at Maccas at the Ent Cent - what a rundown and dirty looking area this is, including Chinatown. It needs a good CLEAN. Although, I do believe that the ent cent is being torn down soon. Probably for the best.

Back to Central we headed, grabbed our suitcases and went looking for a taxi. There are a heap of them lined up outside the station. It's about 15-20 minutes depending on the traffic. It was very exciting to see the Pearl waiting for us.

The new cruise terminal isn't very fancy but I guess it is nicer than the big tent that they use to use at Barangaroo! Checkin was easy peasy and before we knew it we were heading on board. I did get in trouble just as I stepped onto the Pearl for using my camera - apparently it is a no no for security reasons! I pleaded my case, as he wanted me to delete the photo, and he allowed me to keep my video as I had turned it off just as I reached the security area, phew!

Before we went to find our cabin we got a hole punch in our cruise card - normally they already have a hole (so it makes it easy to attached to your lanyard) with this done of in search of our cabin we went. Deck 6 - 6112 inside, This was our first time in an inside cabin!

The cabin is basically the same as an outside just with no window. We did find out that it is VERY dark when the lights aren't on. No idea what time of day or night it is!
Our bags hadn't arrived yet so we thought we'd best checkout the buffet (Plantation) - it is lunchtime afterall!

The Dome

Sailaway was 4pm and the weather was great except for the wind - very windy!

And we are off!

We just fitted under the Harbour Bridge

A Celebrity ship docked at Circular Quay

I said it was windy!

Sailaway drinks - cheers mum!