Thursday - 8 March 2012 - Auckland, NZ

Thursday - 8 March 2012 – Auckland, New Zealand

The rain from last night continues with mild temperatures.  Up about 5:30 am – posted to the blog and put our luggage outside by 8:00 am for transfer to the ship.   Beth, Lynn, Phil and I had breakfast at Invictus in the Chancery area – I had oatmeal with the consistency of cement but the flavor was good -- everyone else had salmon and arugula on a bagel.    We have the morning to tool around so we walk in the rain in search of  “Peachy Keen”, a vintage shop I found on line.  It was a good walk – most of it under canopy-covered sidewalks and large umbrellas lent by the hotel.

“Peachy Keen” was true vintage --- but they were not giving anything away – very pricey.  We strolled back down Queen Street toward the water --- stopping at the shops that catch our eye.

The rain has let up so Phil offers to run the umbrellas back to the hotel and we agree to meet at a mall near the ship.  This is where we discover  “The Warehouse” – a large store selling everything at reasonable prices – convincing us that this is the place where most people in Auckland shop.  

Phil returns – we buy some wine – and start the embarkation process which is quite lengthy.  For some reason all the cruise ships are the same – I don’t understand why they cannot figure out a more efficient system to get passengers onto the ship.   Once on board, we go directly to the Terrace Café where we join the rest of our group for lunch  – Patte and Dave have met up with Beth and Lynn – we are all here.

After lunch we spend the afternoon exploring the ship – Phil is busy making sure our reservations for the alternate dining rooms (Polo Grill and Toscana) are in order.  The Maitre’ D at the Polo Grill invites us and our party to dine with them this evening since there is space available-- after checking with the group we accept.

At 5:00 pm – the life boat drill takes place – even though Oceania has always been very serious about this procedure – we detect a deeper level of detail – most likely due to the Costa cruise ship going aground in Italy.

The luggage arrives – we unpack -- get settled – and have a very satisfying dinner in the Polo Grill.   Phil – who has been nicknamed Captain Steubing – discusses our options for the next day when we stop in Touranga, NZ.

We have had a great first day on the ship --- 20 more to go.

Thanks for reading.

Pat