Spa Stories

Read about places our team has been to.

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Cruising P & O Style – by Marc Llewellyn

It’s five in the morning and we are seeing Sydney in a brand-new light. The sun is glinting off the windows of cliff-top houses. Sleek kayaks are skimming effortlessly through The Heads. Seagulls cry as we slide past brown crinoline cliffs and the clean white lighthouses that mark our passage between the open sea and the harbour. We have rarely been so relaxed.

It was a very different scenario ten days earlier. Still stressed from work and day-to-day chores, we found ourselves struggling to keep control of two over-excited young kids as a crowd of fellow passengers pressed around us. And then it all began to change. Our cruise ship inched below the Harbour Bridge and let of an exhilarating, almost deafening blare of its horn. Our bodies tuned into the rhythm of the band. People began to move inside as the wind came up. And we clinked our plastic cocktail cups together in the sunset.

We had chosen to explore the South Seas once again, after travelling to the region in previous years onboard both the Pacific Sun and the Pacific Dawn.

Our cabin seemed bigger this time around, with more storage space than we needed. There were two sets of bunk beds, and a TV with satellite options. Our kids, aged five and seven, had a quick bounce around then demanded to get to Turtle Cove and Shark Shack, their respective kid’s clubs.

They were only open for registration on boarding day though, so we headed for the dining room instead. We soon found that things had changed since our last cruise. Instead of the traditional first and second sitting arrangements for evening meals, there was now ‘Your Choice Dining.’ It made good sense, especially for families. It freed us up to eat when we wanted to, and we no longer had to worry about inflicting our kids on the same people night after night.

As old hands at cruising we knew that people soon settled into their own timetable, and some would use some areas rather than others. There were always plenty of seats at the nightly shows, areas of the ship were often deserted, and when you moved away from the popular pool area, there were always open deck areas where you could read your book in total peace.

As for our routine, it went something like this… most days we ate breakfast together in the restaurant, usually bacon and eggs, good coffee, and cereals and cakes for the kids.

The kids would skip happily along to their kids clubs. On a typical sea day they might do a basketball shoot-out, a ball relay, craft activities, limbo dancing, story reading, and maybe even have a visit from a marine biologist. Meanwhile, teenagers under 18 had their own place to hang out, which offered activities including sport tournaments and hip hop dance classes.

Our family time would start again over a buffet lunch, followed by time around the swimming pool. Then it was back to kid’s club for them, while we took part in one of the many activities. A favourite of mine was the Wine Lecture Program, while the jackpot bingo became addictive.

The afternoon session over, we would stay with the kids while they helped demolish the extensive buffet. Amazingly, they always demanded to go back to the kid’s club again, for the nightly movie.

After a civilised dinner together we often saw a show or comedy session in the showlounge, before picking up the kids at 10.30pm. They would often be asleep already, so all we had to do was carry them over our shoulders.

As the cruise progressed we felt more like a couple again, not just parents. It made things even more perfect knowing that the kids were having a ball too.

Of course, it’s not all about sea days, there are land days too. Our first stop was Noumea, where we took a boat across to beautiful Amedee Island. We spent the day lazing on the sand and snorkelling past dazzling fish, with a short break for a lunch of seafood, tropical fruit, and French red wine.

One day we bumped into Ross Galbraith and his grandson Stephen Neal, who are what you might call dedicated cruisers. Galbraith, aged 84, has been on 128 cruises with P&O and ‘at least’ 60 more on ships run by other cruise lines. His grandson can’t claim as many, but then he’s only 47. Still, he’s already clocked up 84 cruises in all, 65 of them with P&O.

So what makes someone spend all that time – and money – sailing from one place to another?

‘I like it because I love the sea and I love the ships, you become part of them,’ said Galbraith, who hails from Biggera Waters on the Gold Coast. ‘I love the crew too. The crew on the old Pacific Sky were wonderful. We did 14 cruises in one year on that ship.’

His first cruise was in 1939, on the Orion to Noumea. The ship was one of the best known of the Peninsular and Oriental, or P&O, line vessels. ‘Things have changed since then,’ he said. In the old days activities were mainly outdoors, you’d just sit on a cane chair on the prom deck with your drink in front of you on a cane table. These days the entertainment’s inside. Back then you went away to enjoy the sea and the ship.’

Galbraith preferred to do ‘back-to-back’ cruises. The first for this year will be a 12-day jaunt to New Zealand on the Sapphire Princess, followed by another 12-day cruise back to Australia. ‘It cuts out the hassle of packing up and flying back home,’ he said.

As for his grandson, he went on his first cruise when he was 20, and on average does two or three cruises a year.  Last year was a big one though, with two cruises around New Zealand on the Sapphire Princess and three on the Pacific Sun to the South Pacific. 

‘I like them because everything’s there, the staff treat us really well and if you want to go to a nightclub you just walk up the stairs,’ he told me.

Neal prefers the larger ships because they feel less crowded, and there are smaller queues for the buffets. ‘Overall the food is good value though, but sometimes you get what you pay for, and often it just depends on the crew.’

After so many cruises, often to the same places, does he ever get off for the shore tours?

‘Not really,’ he said. ‘I usually stay aboard. I enjoy the peace and quiet of the ship. I can sit down and read a book. There’s no one screaming in the pool. I can enjoy the deck space.’

There was more beach time at Ouvea, followed by a walk around Port Villa, and then it was on to Wala, a gem of an island offering fabulous snorkelling and an interior of thick rainforest. 

We returned to Sydney with serene smiles and a calmness that stayed with us for days, until the stresses of city life caught up with us again, of course.

For more information, contact a licensed travel agent, see www.pocruises.com.au or phone 132 469.