OK.  So I forgot to mention a few things in my prior post here.

Like the fact that the second my feet hit the wharf yesterday I turned into the most scatterbrained, airy-fairy chick EVER.

My bag with all of my shoes and toiletries never made it to our room.  There’s no baggage claim on a cruise, your lovely room porters ensure your bags are simply dropped off inside your cabin like super-efficient magical elves.  It’s lovely!  This can only happen of course if your luggage is suitably labelled.

I had clipped my Country Road duffel onto my carry-on suitcase back on the wharf.  It must have promptly disengaged itself and sat there on its lonesome, although not quite, as apparently is was soon surrounded by sniffer dogs who thought it was an unaccompanied, dodgy piece of baggage.  It was discovered and was stored at reception, waiting for its crack-pot owner to retrieve it.

Me.

I also lost my Ship card within 30 minutes of embarking.  This doubles as your room key and is also your currency aboard the ship.  The kind gentleman at reception helped me out with a replacement after he found my missing bag.

After our lunch yesterday, I realised I had also become unencumbered of my beauteous hat.  If you follow on Instagram I’m sure you’ll remember my pride and joy, the grey Brixton Felt hat that I purchased in Sydney.  My baby was lost!!

My mate at reception went through every lost and found option available to him but there was no sign of my poor hat – reception friend also jokingly chided me, “Ma’am, Day One is not even over and so many problems!  I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon”.

Touche.

We awoke early, but rested after a solid nights sleep and headed up to Waterfront for breakfast.  As this was the restaurant in which we enjoyed our lunch yesterday, I thought I’d have a peek under the table and see if my precious was there – it was!!

With ALL of our possessions accounted for it was time to eat and begin our day.

The menu at Waterfront is fab.  We ordered fruit plates, a smoked salmon bagel and eggs benedict but grabbed pastries, toast and coffee from the servers who visited our table…..often lol.

So.  Full.  Ethan and I have a no-elevator policy so are making use of the stairs as we move around the 12 decks on board.  Gotta get those steps in guys!

Aqua is the ships Day Spa and I headed there at 10.30am for a Hydratherapie De Nutritive Facial ($218AUD) with gorgeous Kasia.

This therapy uses the Parisian brand La Thérapie, and is luxe, luxe, luxe!  Think deep cleansing, Orbital Microdermabrasion, massage, mask and O2 infusion.  My skin looks and feels amazing.  There are so many options available at Aqua I genuinely struggled to choose a treatment – the Ionithermie Algae Detox came in a close second, but who can say no to a beautiful facial combined with a foot massage?  I’m in desperate need of a hair cut so have made an appointment for Sunday morning, fingers crossed all goes well.

E and I skipped the formal lunch and headed up to Plantation on Deck 12 to get stuck into the buffet.  The Chicken Tikka wraps, nachos and greek salads were exactly what we needed to prep for an afternoon of activities with P&O Edge.

TIP > Great coffee can be found at Charlie’s on deck 5, this is right next to an amazing sweet shop so consider yourself warned!

TIP > Like in any hotel, wifi is expensive so use accordingly.  As we were waiting in reception this morning a lady was freaking out ahead of us as she had used up all of her room credit on wifi at .75c per minute!  Watch that Instagram stalking whilst at sea lol.

At 2pm we met on top deck and began our adventures with the Edge Team.  It was drizzly and gusty but none of us were deterred from harnessing up to whip across deck on the flying fox.  This is a perfect activity if you’re not too sure about the more adventurous options available onboard the Pearl.  Pretty much everyone knows what to expect from a Flying Fox so no surprises here.  The climb up the tower was the highlight for me, that birds eye view is so worth it!  We harnessed up and zipped across deck.  It was fast and marvellous!

Next up was Walk the Plank.  This was a whole different kettle of fish.  Higher, windier, on a narrow plank over the ocean.  Not for everyone.  Ethan killed it!  My mad child just strode right to the end and hung over the edge completely suspended by his harness.  I was not as surefooted.  This was such a buzz but SO freaking scary!  After two exhilarating walks I was feeling pretty proud of myself for getting up there and charging it.  Weather be damned our group agreed, the Edge events are not to be missed.

The main event was still ahead of us – dinner at the Chef’s Table.  When I first saw our itinerary this was the standout for me and it far exceeded my expectations.

Canapés and champagne to start, then we headed below deck for a tour of the immense galley.  This was mind-blowing, the staff prepare 9000 meals per day!  Catering for a multitude of nationalities and dietary requirements, this mammoth galley has to run like the well-oiled machine that it is.

Chef’s table is a private dining room in the centre of Waterfront restaurant.  A stunning setting for the seven courses to follow accompanied by perfect wine pairings.

This is a must-do whilst onboard.  At $95 AUD a head, I can’t recommend this dining experience enough.  It’s an adults-only event, Ethan at 11 was very fortunate to attend and rated it one of the best nights of his life!  I die.  So lucky.  

One of the highlights of the trip has been watching how expert the ship’s crew are at interacting with kids.  Ethan has been treated with much respect and hashad a great time with all of the crew he’s encountered.  This is such a relief as I had a preconception that perhaps cruising wasn’t such a good option for families but this is totally NOT the case! 

The night was not over.
The Gatsby theme party was absolutely cranking in the atrium so I dropped my tired boy off to our cabin and steeled myself for some dancing and cocktails.  Turns out I could only hang for one of the band’s amazing sets and a single daiquiri – I tried my best but you know, too old!  The cruisers costumes were outstanding, I couldn’t believe the hundreds of people that put their glad-rags on and turned up in full ’20’s and ’30’s garb to dance the night away.  It was totally fab.

And then?

Sleep