This trip was made possible by dad...in a wonderful gesture he shouted 7 of us on a cruise to Vanuatu for his 70th Birthday.
We arrived on the Pacific Sun safe & sound if not a little weary. It took us a couple of days to get our bearings on the ship but really we didn't care if we kept getting lost as it all added to the daily exercise.
The meals were amazing...I'm sure we all managed to add a few more rolls to our waistlines! The buffet area was situated on the Lido deck & you could dine here in a very casual way for breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea & dinner. We always had dinner together in the la de dah restaurant. There were 2 sittings one at 5:30pm & one at 8pm. Each evening we were summoned over the loud speaker & told we had 15 minutes to get down there or we'd miss out & he'd always end with his signature saying 'Bonappetitohhh'. Sim hated it so we made sure we threw in a few more bonappetitos just to make her day.
Coffee in the morning was a bit of a ritual for us all & thanks to Aunty Janny who located the 'real' coffee in the first 5 minutes of boarding we had many a fine drop served mainly by this fellow whose name I never found out. Each morning you were bound to come across one or more of our party filling up their tummy with something sumptuous in preparations for the days proceedings. 
We all tried the games & activities that were on board including shuffleboard which was a little harder than expected, table tennis (once all the balls went over the side that was the end of the game!), Volleyball in the pool, 500 in the library, wine tasting etc...
There were 2 pools a larger one in the middle of the Lido deck where we played water volleyball & a small round one on the back deck. 
Gorgeous dulcet tones from the pianist would entertain us as we shared our pre-dinner drinks in the Speak Easy Bar. However the picture below is Uncle Brian covering his delicate ears as an announcement for dinner comes over the loudspeaker.... I'm just giving him a hardtime. Alayr on the other hand is exhausted because she & her new found friends had an all-nighter & is paying the consequences....then it's off to the restaurant to be served by our waiters who we had everynight Rod & Eli. They were wonderful & quite entertaining. 
Kerrie also celebrated her 35th birthday on board.
As a special treat when the baked Alaska came out the wait staff did a few laps of the restaurant as the guests waved their napkins in the air.
There were 3 nightclubs. The Terrace in the Grove had the live band & karaoke. Kerrie & I braved ridicule & got up & sang a song...I thought we sounded pretty good too! One night they entertained us with the filling of the champagne glasses.
The Oz Club that doubled as the 'teen club'. It was piped techno modern music in here.
The Smugglers Lounge...this one felt like we at the Strand in Yeppoon in the good ol' days! Just a DJ in here playing music from our youth.
Ugly Dave Gray, you may remember him from shows like Blankety Blanks, was one of the main entertainers on board playing at the Atlantis Lounge. He was quite funny in a crass sort of way...Aunty Janny was cacking up in her seat beside me that's for sure. Here he is trying to flog his book which he'll autograph for you...can't see any takers!
Trivia in the room next door to the pokies & casino was a huge hit. We were lucky enough to have Steve who befriended us one breakfast morning. He helped us out considerably being a trivia junky!
Now how is this for coincidence..Ali had a girl from school going on the exact same cruise & they ended up having the bestest time. Rachel & Ali near the end of the cruise went off & had some fun with camera which is good as we got all those wonderful shots of the elaborate food.
Most evenings some of us would head for the back deck order a cocktail & soak up the fading day. When departing Isle of the Pines for Australia lucked in some gorgeous weather. The sea was flat as a pancake, the sunset was magical & the photos really don't do the moment justice. One of the stewards on board who'd been working there for 6 months said he'd never seen it looking so beautiful & still...he kept having to peak over the side as he was serving our cocktails. How I miss those cocktails on the backdeck...sigh!
Happy Birthday Dad
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