The best way to know you have had a great holiday is when you feel it was not long enough. This is us. I would go as far to say it was the best holiday we have had to date and yes, we have a fair few holidays. Mums (and dads) will hear me when I say we don’t really get a holiday when we camp or even vacation in another place as we always have cooking and cleaning to do no matter where we are. Cruising allows us Parents to have a break from all the daily routine chores. It truly is a ‘one stop shop’ holiday. We boarded the P&O Pearl at Circular Quay. Cruising is a simple and easy process to travel overseas. We dropped our bags off at the doors to the baggage boys who make sure our bags arrive to our room safely before we enter check-in and customs. Allocated times for check-in make it a very quick process and the P&O staff are fantastic at getting through the people in a swift and easy motion. Before we know it we are walking into the ship greeted by the Entertainment staff and being shown in the direction of our cabins. It seriously is this fast. The very first thing we noticed before anything else was that the P&O Pearl had been painted on the outside. It was sparkling. We were very surprised to know that the ship had just been refurbished inside and it was looking very modern. I loved the purple interior. Purple is my favourite colour. We arrive at our room and are introduced to our room attendants who run through all the arrival details. We are fortunate enough to have 2 room attendants. Both are extremely hard workers. Our room attendants stay on the ship for an 8 month contract and do not leave their designated isle. They have a 3 hour break from 3pm to 6pm and the rest of the time they are busy working the floors till bedtime. Leaving their families at home in either Indonesia or the Philippines for the full duration of the contract. It would be a very hard life. You will never hear them complain. They are on the ship for their families. It was lunchtime and in true cruising fashion the buffet was open for service. Plantations restaurant was looking smik! (Vibrant and New.) Even the windows had ‘quotes’ which were appropriate to the area. The food, what can I say, there is something for everyone. Fresh food and aplenty. The P&O Pearl is not a glitzy and glamorous hotel on water like some of the international ships. But it is laid back, friendly and comfortable. The staff and crew throughout the ship, go above and beyond to ensure you are having a great holiday. It is a multicultural ship and offer employment to all nationalities however, you will find that us Aussies are working on other ships around the world. This is due to tax laws. It is nice seeing everyone working together and for us getting to meet people from all over the world and hearing their stories. We find that P&O have the best Kids Club and also offer a top entertainment program. The Kids Club is absolutely brilliant. We hardly saw our 4 year old son. He could not wait to go back and join in the fun. Our 7 year old daughter who can be very shy at times also enjoyed her time and made some new friends who she can stay in touch with. The Staff are primarily from the Philippines. They welcome and open their hearts up to all the kids. By the end of the 1st day they know all the kids by name and know what they enjoy doing. Kids Club is divided into 4 age appropriate groups. From 3-6 year olds (Turtle Cove), 7-10 year olds (Shark Shack), 11-13 year olds (HQ) and 14-17 year olds (HQ+). All programs and activities are designed with their age group in mind. They open from 9am to 12noon. Closed for lunch from 12noon to 2pm. Re-opens from 2pm to 10.30pm. Trust me when I say you don’t see the kids around the ship anywhere. Our cruise had a small number of 200 kids. They say it can be anywhere up to 1000 kids on-board at the one time. If you think your 16 year old won’t enjoy themselves, think again. They have the most fun from the sound of it. The Entertainment Crew are primarily from the UK. Our Cruise Director Gemma (from England) and her Assistant Cole (from NZ) make the cruise come to life. Gemma begins her day with her 1st announcement of ‘what’s happening around the ship’ at 10am. From there, Gemma and her close team provide non-stop entertainment. From word games to trivia, comedy stints and Feature shows with special performances from Comedians, Magicians and Singers. (I am worn out just thinking about it.) We were lucky enough to have Steady Eddie and the very clever Anthony Laye (Mindreader) for the 1st week. If you miss the announcement don’t fear as each evening before dinner the daily program is delivered to your room. This is when Dave and I took it to dinner and worked out exactly what we had on the very next day, highlighting all the times so not to miss any of the fun activities. Our list of favourites began with Trivia in the morning and again before dinner, for us ladies, I enjoyed having a free facial lesson and Dave enjoyed participating in the Paper Plane Challenge and the games around the ship. Each afternoon there was either a gameshow like Celebrity Head and Liars Club with the Entertainment team making us all laugh. The evening was filled up with the Feature shows, Name that Tune and Karaoke. Of course, there was also the theme night parties from Gatsby to Bianco and formal evenings. The kids also have their very own daily activity program delivered the evening before. And for us families there is plenty of ‘family activities’ in the program such as ‘selfie challenge’, ‘air hockey and fuse ball comps’, ‘Uno challenge’ and arts and crafts. Throw in the days on shore and our holiday is complete. Our cruise incorporated 6 ports of call in 2 countries. I will share with you each port in detail. But for now, I will sign off. ‪