It’s been a long time between trips! But here we go with something new…
Just before 1.00, and we were picked up from home in the mini bux. It already had Mum, Dad, Julie, Darren, David, Izzy and Ethan, with a trailor on the back for our bags. So in went Kaoru and my 3 suitcases, and we were off to Port Melbourne.
Boarding was relatively painless. Our bags were picked up from the car and we were told we would see them in our room. We went upstairs and “checked in”. Immigration wasn’t too difficult, except I was told my watch was OK, yet I set off the metal detector. So after scanning me, and giving me a pat down, I suggested that maybe I try without the watch. And hey, Presto!
We then boarded the ship and went to our room. Kaoru and I had upgraded to a balcony room, and whilst I haven’t seen the non-balcony yet, it was worthwhile! A small balcony but we can at least sit out there on a warm night – hopefully we get some time for that!
We got our bearings around the ship. We found the kitchen, and the Edge booking desk (and booked our first couple of activities). We had a tour of the day spa, where Kaoru signed up to the unlimited pass, so she can have her relax time. Then it was off to our muster station for the 3.30 briefing.
We met up with everybody else up on deck 12 / 14 and had a drink as we sailed out of Melbourne, with lots of excitement! Then it was time for our first activity, which was a Flying Fox across the top of the ship! That was a bit of fun, and given they were running late, it kept us amused for a while. Kaoru and I did a bit more exploring of the ship, finding the “no kids area” at the back (but it was a bit too sunny at the time so we didn’t stay for long). We wandered around a bit, and bumped in to people now and then. We went to do the bungy tramp, and it was very windy and cooling down! Julie and Darren checked the kids in to kids club, and Kaoru and I took a round of drinks to Mum and Dad’s suite, which was very nice.
We all ate dinner at Waterfront. Kaoru and I explored the ship a bit more and had a cocktail, before finally going back to our cabin to unpack our suitcases (we had been told that everybody else already had!). It was about midnight by the time we went to bed.