Our lovely Airbnb hosts take us round to the cruise terminal and leave us with our bags, (the most we have ever travelled with) and we wave a fond farewell.
The bags are taken away and after filling in countless forms we sit and wait for the boarding call. Jack sketches.
There it is, the Oosterdam, our home for the next 2 weeks. I am very impressed, it is huge…
After the general welcome aboard we are told that we MUST all muster on the Promenade deck for a life boat drill, in case of emergencies, which, of course, they do not expect to happen, and we hope will not happen!!!
Just a very small section of the passengers, mustering for the drill in our area. These will, hopefully, fit into our lifeboat number 4 in the unlikely event of an emergency. There are 1889 passengers and it took almost 30 minutes for everyone to be accounted for and ticked as present. We were told if we did not attend this drill we would be put off the ship…
Then it was time to find our “stateroom”
This is the door to our room, 1006, what a surprise when we opened the door…
We have a window, oops I should maybe say “porthole”, and have been upgraded to a larger, 4 berth, room.
Notice the TV and video? 3 wardrobes and around the corner is an en suite. We are delighted with our new home. More space than when we lived in Matilda.
At 5pm we went up on deck to watch as we slowly pulled away from Sydney
It was a grey and drizzly evening as we headed out to sea.
Under the harbour bridge, past Lunar Park, we are on our way to New Zealand.
This is my first cruise and I am very impressed with the organisation and looking forward to the next 14 days.
Back down in our room the sun is setting over the ocean and our room attendants have been in to close the curtains and leave us chocolates and a cute towelling animal.
So the adventure begins…
gypsy life 
Pingback: Right Steps. | jacksjottings
Working my way backwards through your posts Pauline, it felt Like I was on the cruise with you both.. Lovely photo’s and commentary that at times made me laugh.. Beautiful posts 🙂 Sue
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This was a great introduction to cruising – especially for someone like me who has never been on one.
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Pleased you are enjoying the experience.
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OMG you and Jack certainly do not let your feet touch the ground, good on youx
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Resting up in NZ for a couple of weeks Joan, we left the ship with a bad cough…
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How exciting, Pauline! Your room looks great. I’m sure you’re going really enjoy your cruise. 🙂
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We are now at my sons place Sylvia, reliving it all on my blog. Yes we did enjoy it. The internet connection was way too expensive and slow to use on the ship
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OOOOOH! I can already tell you are going to have a GREAT time!
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It was a lot of fun Cindy
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Have been waiting for your first cruising blog…so glad your cabin was so beautiful and BIG. Still Matilda was special. Lovely to hear that you enjoyed your journey. Looking forward to more blogs and the ship through your lens. Enjoy N.Z.and some landlubber travel.
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We did enjoy our time on the ocean waves. I am with my son now and have time to sort through all the photos, more to come soon. (Matilda was very special!!!)
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How exciting, I’m looking forward to learning about cruise travel!
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The 14 days have passed so quickly Gilly it was fun
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Lovely for you to be heading to New Zealand in such a fine mode of transport. Say hello for me when you get there to the Land of the Long White Cloud. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more of your trip.
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G’day Sue, yes we are certainly going the long way round this time and in such luxury…
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Indeed. Good for you both!!
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The images loaded= yes!!! your room is/was incredible, and i chuckled when you compared it to Matilda!
and the comment keeps backfiring… will keep trying!
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Good to hear from you Lisa. I compare all our living spaces with Matilda… I still miss her… This is quite a different living experience to life on the open road!!!
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Well that looks like a cozy room – though of course it still moves. I wonder how you coped with the sway of the ship. Good to see you back on the blog, and I await the rest of the trip with bated breath.
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Hi Jude… Actually it was like being on a big hotel, we were in the very bottom deck level and I expected to be rocked to sleep but absolutely no swaying at all. The higher decks had a bit of a sway that occasionally had me walking with a wobble (and I did not have any alcohol!) but it was calm seas all the way.
The blog world has been so productive in the past 2-3 weeks, I have a lot of catching up to do…
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Well, we are all here waiting for you. 🙂
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Good to be back in touch and I have a lot of catching up to do, you have all been so productive…. Will be round to visit you soon…
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Big difference between your first cabin and the second. 🙂 Looking forward to the next stage.
janet
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Certainly was a BIG difference Janet, but Matilda will always be in a corner of my heart.
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Lovely comfortable room Pauline … and a window to peek out of !
I’m looking forward to some more candid shots and a proper tour 😉 around the cruise ship …
Ah and I see even the most loveliest of cities looks bleak in grey weather
Have fun for the next 2 weeks and enjoy it all !
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That window was a big surprise as I booked the cheapest option and it was described as, twin room with obstructed view, so to be upgraded to a 4 berth with a window was a real bonus. I didn’t think having a window would be important, after all we were only down there in the evenings, but I loved watching the waves and the ocean swirling by, even saw a pod of dolphins surf by one morning…
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Wow, Pauline, looks like a place fit for a king and queen! How exciting to have two weeks of cruising ahead. I can’t wait to follow along on your journey. 🙂
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Never been in so much luxury before Cathy, we revelled in it…
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I just read your send off from Jill the other day, and suspect you are home now, Pauline. Hope it lived up to expectations. Funny to see Sydney looking grey and drizzly. 🙂
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Yes in NZ now staying with my son Jo and reliving the cruise through our photos and blog. It certainly was a very different type of travel for us but we loved the experience.
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Looks like a luxurious adventure!
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Luxurious is certainly the right word Sue
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Good for you! 😃
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Hey PP, I hope you’re having a fabulous time!!
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It was great experience DJ. Now have to catch up with the blog world, so many posts from every one in such a short time.
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