LetsTryThisPlace

I am not really a blogger so this will just be some ramblings and photos from our 3 day Explorer cruise leaving from Sydney.
Day 1
We had to be up at 4am to catch a flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia which takes approximately 3 hours. Today we were flying Latam Airlines. The flight was on a Dreamliner and was very nice. I love the mood lighting in the cabin on these flights. Due to the time differences between Auckland and Sydney we arrived just after 9am. Customs processing was quick so we though the airport in 20 minutes.
We caught the train from the airport directly down to Circular Quay where the ship was waiting for us.

As this is only a 3 day cruise we only had carry on luggage and nothing to check in so it was straight through to the check-in area. For this cruise we are in an Owners Suite (1592) so we could use the suite check-in line but as we were early everyone at the terminal could check-in without having to wait. 
The ship was not ready to board yet we had to wait in a reception area on the first floor for about 20 minutes. When they did start boarding we were on screened through security and on the ship within about 10 minutes. There was no customs processing for this voyage as it is a domestic cruise.
Once on board I changed out of my travel clothes straight into the swimwear I packed in our carry on. The Solarium was empty so I jumped into the pool and spent some time talking to the Life Guard so that he would get bored. I learnt he was from Indonesia and is on the ship until May. It is the only job he has to do on the ship so he was pretty happy. He said the main issue they have is not with people drowning as they are trained for that, but people falling over on the deck and hurting themselves.
When his shift changed (they are on duty for 30 minutes before changing pools) I got out of the pool and had a quick soak in the hot spa. I let the sun dry me off and then we grabbed some food from the Windjammer at about 12pm. It wasn’t too busy but we took the food and ate it out by the pool.
After lunch even though the cabins weren’t ready yet we went down to our cabin on deck 10 and left our bags outside our cabin door before heading up to Dizzies. They serve lunch up there for Suite guests so we just wanted to see what was on offer. The selection is small (similar to the food available on Cafe Promenade) so if you are after a quick light lunch it is fine. We didn’t have anything and went off to check out the Diamond Lounge.
The Diamond Lounge on Explorer is much nicer than the Concierge Lounge in my opinion as it is light and airy and has a nice outside area.
 
Diamond Lounge Inside

Diamond Lounge Outside

Concierge Lounge
After checking out the lounges we headed back to our cabin to see what that was like. Normally we have a Grand Suite but this time paid a little extra to try an Owners Suite. The layout was different from a Grand Suite in that’s the Island that normally separates the “bar” and “living” area is not there and there is a table and 2 chairs in its place. The living area itself is spacious with a large couch and a couple of chairs.
the bathroom has a free standing shower as well as a bath and a bidet. The Grand Suite normally only has a toilet and over the bath shower. The space itself seemed smaller than a Grand Suite but maybe that was because there was more in it.
The sleeping area was also large and had a picture window that you could sit and look out of. Very nice.
The balcony seemed a little smaller but still had a table and 2 chairs and it was fine for what we need.


Because we are Diamond and in a Suite waiting for us in our cabin when we arrived was 1) fruit platter, 2) 4 biscuits 3) 4 bottles of water 4) 1 large bottle of Evian water and 5) 2 cans of coke.
Here is the list of Suite services for this cruise.

At 5pm it was time for the guest assembly drill. We went down at about 4:45pm to avoid some of the crowds. Our muster station was on deck 4 and there were already quite a few people there when we arrived. Unlike Ovation they did not scan our sea pass cards, rather they ticked us off on a piece of paper. Even at this time it was clear that some people had spent most of their time on the ship at the bar. After the drill as we made our way back to our cabin following some people you would think we were out at sea in a 4 metre swell.
Once back at our room we changed into some casual clothes and headed off to the Concierge lounge. It was busy but still possible to get a seat. Most people in the lounge were suit guests but didn’t stay long. Prior to our cruise we purchased the ultimate dining package and I had emailed the concierge about booking Chops for night one. I needed to check with him what time dinner was booked for. We stayed for 1 drink and then went up to the diamond lounge. We were there just after 6pm and apparently it had been busy but a lot of people had left by then. It was easy to find a table outside and we grabbed a couple of Cokes. The Diamond Concierge came over to make sure we were “legit”. We asked her to book Giovanni’s for dinner for night 2. We stayed there for around 40 minutes and then got ready to go watch the sail away at 6:45pm before heading to Chops. 
The weather had turned a bit rainy by then but people were still having a good time.


P


It was now 7pm and time for dinner.
As we weren’t sure what Chop’s policy was on diamond drinks we grabbed a glass of wine and coke from the Windjammer bar before making our way into Chops.i checked the waiter and he said we could use our diamond vouchers in Chops so that is good to know for the rest of the cruise.
I ordered the shrimp cocktail for me entree and Anita had the tuna crab cake. Both were delicious as usual.

For the main I had the half roast chicken and Anita had the filet mignon. Sorry they were so good that we ate them before I took photos. They looked great and tasted better.
We had to wait a while to let the food settle before we were game enough to have desert. Anita decided not to have anything but I went with the red velvet cake and I didn’t regret it.

As we had the ultimate dining package there was no bill to pay so we decided to have a quick wander around the promenade. Most of the shops were still open apart from Port Merchants which does not open on Australian domestic cruises.
Anita was feeling pretty tired by this stage so she went back to the cabin.
i elected to go to the casino and try my luck on the roulette table. I retrospect I should have just gone to bed and saved my money. I enjoyed it all the same.
After that it was time to head off to the cabin for some sleep. It has been a long day but thoughly enjoyable one.
i suspect tomorrow will be a late start.
Stray Observations
Boarding was very fast. Getting to the port early certainly helped with this.
The majority of guests are Australian’s as you would expect and most would be under 45.
The guests are mainly composed of birthday, anniversary, divorce party hens and bachelor type groups and also families with children. 3 days is perfect for this type of cruise.
Explorer now has free style machines. It didn’t have those last time we were on her.
Voom has been working well. I take a photo of the voom code and airdrop to all our devices. This means if we want to connect another device I can just look at the photo without having to carry the piece of paper with me.
Right that is me signing off for day 1. Hopefully I will wake up before day 2 is over so I have something to post

I guess there's an age that you decide who cares what people think just do you and let everything do its own thing. It's more of the self-conscious people who are to blame for not a younger crowd I guess. Europeans seem to be freer as well, so I guess culture and stigma have to deal with it too. (also no disrespect to anyone over the age you rock in my mind)
 
Does anyone know of any good tours that take you to both beaches or is it better to taxi around?

If it's what I'm thinking I noticed from my time there that it was mostly 60+. Imma leave that there.
 
Gorgeous beach!
 
(no disrespect to anyone over the age)

Greetings all.
I'm writing to you from my pre-cruise hotel listening to the dulcet tones of airbuses and boeings flying overhead as I await the arrival of the Anthem tomorrow morning.
Travelling with me is my wife, 3 year old daughter and a friend of ours who has NEVER CRUISED BEFORE. We are staying in a grand loft suite (I feel she may be screwed for any subsequent cruise if she likes...)
I'll do my best to post here daily but copious amounts of watered down American beer (if you can call it that) may get in the way.
Feel free to ask any questions. I'll do my best to answer them.
Oh. Before I forget.. The Lids store located within the Jersey Garden mall had paw patrol hats on for 50% off. I know you'll sleep better knowing that.
Cheers.

So I gave the pitch, she told me if I do a solo cruise she gets to do her own trip too lol. Now would the bank account allow for it  lol

Does the look different to anyone?

Oh speaking of washing your hands - one of my favorite things to do on embarkation day is blast the 'Wash Your Hands' song that they have playing on the tv and start singing it purely for the purpose of annoying my husband. 

I would like to add that if you booked prior to January 1st you will want to prepay grats because it would be at the old rate. If you booked after January 1st then it would be the same rate prepaid or not but is good to get it out of the way. If you do plan to do a lot of drinking then maybe consider the drink package but if not then like @twangster stated there are ways to find free or cheap liquor with different events. You also can bring 2x 750ml bottles of wine to help offset that spending.

You know you are old when you understand these sayings, my wife said something to my grandsons this weekend about being chopped liver and they had no idea what she was talking about...

That's great news and good luck on surgery number 2

Sutures came out today, so the knee is finally "free and clear". It does seem like now that they're out, I'm not feeling the same twinges and other sudden little pains when I wiggle the knee the "wrong way" when I'm walking, so this is good. I also got some clarification on the additional damage she found when she did the surgery.
Apparently the tear in the cartilage was a big one, leaving bone exposed even before she cleaned it out. So far I'm not feeling any kind of grinding bone-on-bone pain (and with my history of arthritis in both heels and ankles, that's a pain I recognize quickly), and she said it will hopefully stay that way for a while and be nothing more than just soreness when the weather changes. When the time comes, I'll get the Hyaluronic Acid injections to loosen things back up.
Three more days, and then surgery number two!

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.  

I haven't tried it yet personally bit I I have spoken with people who have and they swear by it.  The primary feature they like is that if you are travelling in a zone like Latin America / Caribbean you can pay one price and use in any country in that zone on one purchase.

The reason I personally get worked up about it was that it wasn't always like that and I'm a rule follower. It's just my nature and I hate having to do ANYTHING because other people didn't follow the rules.

Tell him you can't cruise in sin..............

Yep! Called and Dialed 9 and they said "Diamond Plus Desk". I told her I wanted to add my household member to my sailing and she got it done for me. Yay!! Again, thanks everyone for all the insight and help. Although he did get Diamond since that's what my points (104) are - I just have Diamond Plus status due to my parents getting it before I turned 18, as I am Diamond on my own.

It is completely possible to leave the ship with a $0 balance.  I've done it.  Once.  And it was on Grandeur !  Of course, we prepaid our gratuities so that was already taken care of.  But if you don't buy alcohol or other specialty beverages and don't eat in the "pay" restaurants then it's really pretty easy to do.  As long as you pay any additional tips in cash (but you're not required to do even that) then nothing will be added to your seapass account.  If you have a question about whether there is a charge for something just ask before you do it and they will tell you !  Don't feel obligated to pay for ANYthing that is optional.  Trust me, you will NOT go hungry and you will NOT be bored !  If someone asks for your seapass card just be sure and ask "Am I being charged ?".  Then, either decide to go ahead or decline to proceed.

It's also quite fickle.  You can be hot one day and nobody the next.  It takes a while to build it up but one wrong word and its all lost overnight.  

A few years back, we had a classroom discussion on what profession might interest students.  One student said, "Miss, I want to be a YouTuber.  Those guys make millions!"  I was apparently the only one who did not know what that meant at the time.  This is where society is heading...where bloggers and YouTubers are professions ?

i just saw this picture on Facebook. Izumi will be on the Royal Promenade .

Welcome to the boards! You can always check in "people connect" and the "master members cruise list" has members and sailings listed.
Hidden fees might come from:
- beverages like specialty coffee, alcohol, fresh juices, sodas, bottled water
- shore excursions if you did not pre purchase
- merchandise you might buy on board
- specialty dining if you want to try it and did not pre purchase
- every once in a while, there might be an activity on the cruise compass that requires an extra fee. It will be noted by a $ beside it
I'm probably forgetting stuff but others will chime in.  Gratuities is going to be one of your biggest chunks if you did not pre pay them. Whatever you do, don't remove them.  It gets divided amongst many crew members even those who do not directly wait on you but play a role in making your vacation wonderful. If anything, bring a few extra bills to tip extra to the crew members who make your vacation extra wonderful.

Go lay in the sun deck with I'm on a Boat playing in my head 

It would be nice if RCI would pick this guy up for the ships... he's a riot!
 

This is good advice - it helps to have bartenders who know your face, name, and drink order! Not only for reasons stated, but chatting with the bar staff is pretty enjoyable. Big shout out to the bar crews at the Pub and Schooner on board the Allure! They were fantastic while we were on board for two weeks. 

Say a little thank you to the "Big Guy" of allowing me to be on vacation. And by Big Guy...I'm not talking about my husband...lol 
We've had a rough year....cancer diagnoses for me, Major surgery, 12 chemo treatments, (finally finished), Hurricane Harvey flooding our home 2 weeks into my chemo.  I wasn't allowed any alcohol during my treatments......yea, I'm ready for a cruise...and a big ole Bloody Mary!  Come on May!!