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Your wondering what a pollywog and shellback is? Well keep reading through the blog to find out.
At 4.30pm on the 5th August, we boarded the Pacific Dawn in Darwin for our first ever cruise. It was exciting, as we had no anticipations of what to expect. This cruise began from Brisbane but took on board new passengers at Darwin.
Once we found our room, our steward, Joannes, welcomed us on board. He gave us a run down on the room, the safe and general information, anything we needed to know we just had to ask him.
As 300+ new passengers boarded at Darwin, our first duty was to attend a Fire Drill in the Marquee Deck. After the drill we went back to unpack our clothes, then met up with Keith & Wendy for drinks & cocktails before heading into the Waterfront Restaurant, which offer modern Australian cuisine, for dinner. Our table was a shared table with two other couples, one couple from Brisbane on their 14th cruise and another lovely couple from Mexico. After dinner, more drinks back at a bar before heading to bed at 12pm.
After a great night sleep we headed to The Pantry for breakfast. The Pantry consisted of nine eateries; these included the following:
McGregor's garden - Salads
Fat Cow - Roasts
Hooks Fish & Chips - fish & chips
Stix - Asian Classics
Mexicana - Mexican
Curry House - International curries
Kettle & Buns - Soups & Sandwiches
Nic & Toni's - Mediterranean
Sugar Bar - Desserts
But for breakfast there was a huge variety of eggs, bacon, ham, potato dishes, hash browns, omelettes, baked beans, sweets, toast, cereal, yogurt, fruit etc. The array of food was amazing. Our meals throughout the cruise were either in the Pantry or the Waterfront Restaurant.
Our first full day was sailing through the Timor Sea, so it gave us the opportunity to wind down, relax and explore the ship. After breaky we decided to hit the walking track, to walk off some of our breakfast then we went off exploring more of what the ship had to offer. On inspecting the P&O Good Times Newsletter(it provided all information about daily activities and tours,etc) that is delivered to our room each day, we decided to check out the history talk on Bali by Odyle Knight, a woman who went to Bali for a week and stayed 20 years. Then off we went to find a sun lounge, with a magazine and our podcasts. We found two on the port side of level 7, only to discover this was a smokers area, so off we went in search of a quite, cosy place. At the back (aft) of the ship we found "The Oasis" a child free area and smoke free area, here we found a couch near the hot tubs and a bar, what more do we need. It was lovely sitting in the hot tubs with cocktail in hand and looking out over the wake of the ship. More food, music and drinks before retiring for the night.
Timor L'este - Dili
The Pacific Dawn sailed a few hours along the North Coast of Timor L'este Island, through the Banda Sea and arrived at Dili Bay at 8am. A time change of half and hour backwards occurred during the night. After breaky, it was time to sort out how the tender boats and the system worked.
We had to pick up our tender tickets from the Promenade Bar and then we waited around until our ticket colour and number was called. Then we walked down and queued up on level 4, before getting on the tender (which are the ships lifeboats) our cruise cards are scanned and photo identification is checked. The visa to go ashore to Timor L'este is USD40 per person and this charge is taken off our on-board credit. All visa documents were completed prior to boarding and our passports and visa documents are retained by the ships personnel. The ship personnel on arrival, sort out visa documents with the customs department of our destination. The tenders are licenced to carry 141 people, in an emergency but for normal ferrying they put 75 people on comfortably.
Once we arrived at Dili, we disembarked from the tender. At the port we went to one of the hop-on hop-off busses, the guy there advised us the cost was USD$18 each. This we thought was a great price, only for him to go and speak with someone and he came back and explained his English wasn't too good, he meant USD$80 each. Forget it, off we walked heading to the entrance of the port, only to be badgered by taxi drivers looking for customers. We agreed on a price with one driver, only for him to take us to his cab, which had the entire back window covered in black plastic and taped up. The windscreen wasn't much better with a massive crack covering the passenger side. So we said no to him and found another driver who agreed on $20 to take us to three places and back to the port. Our first stop was the Cristo Rei of Dili (Christ the King of Dili) is a 27metre high statue of Jesus, located atop a globe. It is facing out to the ocean and can be reached by climbing some 597 steps. We didn't get all the way to the top but pretty close. The statue was unveiled in 1996 and was a gift from the Indonesian government to the people of Timor and is one of the main tourist attractions in East Timor. On arrival back to the taxi, our driver had decided he wanted more money, after discussions we told him to take us back to the port for the money we had agreed on. Heading towards the port he starts pointing out different buildings, (playing the tour guide) prior to stopping at the Resistance Museum. He was then willing to wait but we paid him and thanked him before going and exploring the museum.
"In 1975 Indonesian troops invaded and the Indonesian Occupation lasted until 1999, during which 200,000 Timorese lost their lives, which was 23% of the population, hard to believe such a genocide could occur, not that long ago. In 1999, the Timorese voted for full independence. The Indonesian Military responded with force, destroying most of the country's infrastructure. The United Nations was brought in to restore peace and on 20th May 2002, Timor L'este became Asia's newest country."
We then went in search of a market but couldn't find it. So headed back to the port where we had to queue up to get back on the tender. Our evening was enjoyed listening to live music from one of the bands playing on the ship 'The Lazy Leis"
Day at Sea
Thursday was another full day at sea, sailing mostly through the Sawu Sea passing along the Flores Island. After breaky we enjoyed a Culinary Demonstration and Galley tour hosted by Executive Chef Ravindra and Maitre'D Marius. These two along with Ben (one of the cruise directors) were very comical, cooking up some great food. After the show, there would have been nearly 200+ passengers, we walked from the front of the ship to the rear and did a tour of the galley. Through a revolving door, down an escalator and then into the galley, not much cooking was happening at the time, but it was still very impressive to see. Then up another escalator and another revolving door, we are back into the Waterfront restaurant. Great show and tour.
We then watched the last half of the movie 'Hidden Figures' up on the Lido Deck, which was showing on the big screen. Lazing back on sun couches under the open sky, this is the life.
Lunchtime, then off to see a show 'Q&A with Captain Dockeray' where he gave us an insight to his life at sea. The Captain was very informative, funny and entertaining, he calls all his staff 'Minions', as in the movie The Minions (as they live to serve)
We then stayed on to listen to Odyle Knight again about more on Bali. An afternoon of cocktails and drinks was had before dinner and then we enjoyed a night with The Lazy Leis.
Komodo Island
Another time change of one hour backwards occurred during the night. We were up before sunrise, to see the spectacular views of arriving at Komodo Island. With the sun rising behind massive volcanic hills, it certainly was an amazing site. Once the ship anchored at 7am, the tender boats were unloaded and the tenders commenced after the arrival formalities had been completed. This was the only tour that we had book, to ensure that we got to go ashore and see the magnificent Komodo Dragons.
Komodo Island is a World Heritage site and due to local regulations, only guest who had booked a tour were allowed ashore. On arriving at the Komodo jetty
We disembarked via very run down steps, assistance was given and we were advised to hold the handrails. We were put into our allocated group and met our guide and along with two rangers we set off on the 4.2km medium trail in search of the Komodo Dragons. Within 1.5km we came across an area where there were three dragons, one was digging all the time and someone asked if they buried food for them, which they do. Such amazing prehistoric creatures, we were given about 20 minutes to view them before moving down the track. Further down the track we were shown a nest of the dragons, similar to our mallee fowls, it was approximately 1 metre in height. The trail continued through untouched virgin land, leading us up to a crest of a hill, which overlooks the stunning bay, in which our cruise ship was awaiting our return. On arrival back at the beach we crossed a bridge and two deer were lying on the grass between us and the calm water of the bay. They were certainly use to having people around and must know its safer near people than it is roaming the bushland and coming across a dragon. The dragons can pull down a deer in no time flat. Then to get back to the ship we had to walk through a small market and were hounded by the locals to purchase goods.
On the descend into the tender Alan asked me if I was alright, next minute Alan rolled his right ankle on one of the steps and to ensure he didn't go right down, he held on tight to the rail on his left hence pulling a muscle in his left leg. So once back on the ship he struggled walking up and down the stairs, so the lifts we the way to get around. After some medication and quite a few drinks the pain started to subside.
Our steward had left a $50 gift voucher on the bed, being first time cruisers, so Lorelle went off to the Spa and had some pampering.
We weighed anchor about 5pm and the Captain announced that we were coming into swells and the trip overnight wouldn't be as calm as we had previously had.
It was a night were we did feel the ship rocking and rolling, during the night as we sailed through the Indian Ocean.
Beneo (Bali)
The following morning we woke to hear the Captain stating that due to the 2metre swell he wasn't going to risk the safety of his passengers to disembark. On leaving the cabin around 9am we find people going everywhere, we obviously missed an announcement that they were boarding passengers onto the tenders.
We spent a bit of the morning watching passengers being assisted onto the tenders and it was quite dangerous with the swell. The crew that were assisting did a fabulous job and were extremely patient with everyone. We got the last tender onto the island as we got our tickets late and didn't have a tour booked. On arrival we found a taxi driver who took us to a beachside restaurant, were we enjoyed a lovely seafood lunch. He then took us to a shopping complex, not exactly what we were after and then back to the port. At the port we were getting hassled before even getting out of the cab.
Sea Day
Sea Days are busy days. After breakfast we went in search of the Pacific Market, which is stock from all of the ships shops. Following on with a cooking demo with celebrity chef Geoff Jansz. Lunch was shared in the Waterfront Restaruant, with two other groups. One being a mother and daughter team, who were serial cruises. One of the Cruise directors, Danny, was walking through the restaurant and they called him over and said they found some virgins for the upcoming 'Crossing the Line' show. Anyhow we agreed to participate and then thought 's#@t what have we got ourselves into'. The line-crossing ceremony is an initiation rite that commemorates a person's first crossing of the Equator. A person who hasn't crossed the Equator is called a Pollywog. The show is about King Neptune and his Royal Court. We had to go before King Neptune and our sins were for being lovers who made too much noise in the bedroom and neighbours had complained. We were found 'Guilty' and were then creamed and egged. It was a lot of fun.
Anyhow later in the day, after getting cleaned up we found an invitation to join the Captain the following day for a tour of the ships bridge. It was certainly worthwhile participating in the show. The night was enjoyed with the Lazy Leis and then at the Gatsby Party, where we were lucky to get a table at Charlie's Bar. A new cocktail menu was the order of the night, so Lorelle ordered a different cocktail from her usual 'Sex on the Beach' it was rocket fuel. The Gatsby Party was a fantastic night.
In the morning our Steward knocked on the door and presented us with our Proclamation certificate, which indicates we crossed the Equator on Sunday 11th August 2019. We are now Shellbacks. Hence Pollywogs are people who haven't crossed the Equator and Shellbacks are persons who have.
Sea Day
After having breakfast with Keith & Wendy, we caught the last of the Towel Animal Parade and then got to hear some of the Cruse Directors Farewell Talk. We had to leave this talk early to go and met up with the Captain. The bridge tour took 40minutes and the group was only 12 passengers, a NRL player, a friend of the Captain and the four of us who had participated in the show and all their partners. We certainly were a group of privilege people. The Captain allowed us to have photos taken with him, with us holding (with strict instructions not to turn) the steering wheel. After introductions to other officers on the bridge he commenced in explaining the equipment used to sail and navigate such a ship. We were then lead out to the outside deck of the bridge, here the Captain showed us 'his BBQ'. On opening the lid, it was the controls to steer and dock the ship at ports. The view here is amazing, as you can see all along the side of the ship. He answered lots of questions and it was a fantastic tour.
We went off to another cooking demo with Geoff Janz . Another great dinner, then the night was finished off with a great show with our Cruise Directors, Ben, Rachael & Danny (aka Freddy Mercury), all the musicians and entertainment team as they bid us 'Bon Voyage'. It was a final farewell jam session and a perfect send off after a fantastic cruise.
Our luggage was packed on Monday as we had to leave our room at 6.30am on Tuesday morning, we were up early (6am) vacated room and headed to the top deck to watch the ship manoeuvre its way into the busy the Singapore port what a way to see daybreak and the great sights of the Singapore harbour. Back for breakfast and a casual morning before our disembarkation scheduled for 10am.
WOW….. what can we say……A lot of other activities etc occurred on the fabulous cruise but it would be too big a blog. A huge thank you to family and friends who contributed to Lorelle's birthday gift and thank you to Keith & Wendy for joining us and enjoying our first cruise together. We loved our very first cruise; so much so another cruise has been booked. So stay tuned.
- comments
Susan 1) Not so long ago, we would have headed to the smoker's lounge 2) Next time, try a pink gin spritzer 3) I remember the mallee fowl mounds from school camp 4) Great blog
Susan 1) Not so long ago, we would have headed to the smoker's lounge 2) Next time, try a pink gin spritzer 3) I remember the mallee fowl mounds from school camp 4) Great blog