Cruise: Perfection along the Pacific

Cruising along with the Pacific Sun. Photo / Supplied

You don't really get an idea of how big a cruise ship is until you're standing on the wharf looking up ... and up ...

Our luggage was taken to our cabin ahead of us so as soon as we boarded, like the first-time cruisers we were, my husband and I dashed to the bow to do the Titanic thing (no, not that one), and wave goodbye, leaving Auckland at eye level with office workers in their waterfront towers, cocktails in hand, the wind in our hair and the party just starting on the deck below.

Cruising is for oldies: that's the response I got most often before we set sail on the Pacific Sun, but I have lost count of the number of times my husband and I turned to each other and said, "The kids would love this", or, "Our parents would have such a good time here".

Back home we can take the kids to the bach, but there's the cost of petrol, food and entertainment, the hassle of driving and if it rains we're stuck in a three rooms with nowhere to go. We often come back more exhausted than when we left.

In the middle of the Pacific, no such problem. The Sun has three age-specific clubs for tots, tweens and teens so it's a G&T for mum and dad on the Lido Deck while the kids enjoy pizza and a movie in the company of new friends.

Youth Activities Co-ordinator Novalyn Rosal and her team, all teachers and psychology graduates, supervise activities from craft to pool volleyball and rehearse the youngsters for a talent show in the Atlantis Show Lounge near the end of the voyage - a highlight for both children and parents, judging by the number of handicams in the audience.

But the shows aren't just for the kids. There's a different performance in the Atlantis Lounge every evening; spectaculars such as the movie-themed Cinematastic, from the ship's cruise director Sandy Cadwallader and his Pacific Entertainers, or guest artists, or you can sit down for the stand-up in the new Comedy Club.

It's easy to plan your day as the ship publishes a newsletter each evening listing the following day's activities: dance classes, trivia, sports and music quizzes, sudoku challenges (my husband has vowed that next time he won't just turn up for the "genius" one) as well as the traditional deck shuffleboard and quoits.

I took five books, thinking I'd have plenty of time to fill. I read three pages.

On a clear night you can learn about astronomy and get a closer look at the heavens without the distraction of reflected light on land. And it pays to get in early for the popular galley tour; there were huge queues to hear the urbane maitre d' Marius Cerniauskas and fastest-talking Yorkshireman on earth, executive chef Adam Lockwood, explain how they feed 1600 passengers and crew every day.

And the crew really do make the difference - whether it's the thrilling glance of a white-uniformed officer disappearing up the stairs or the cheery greetings from the world's best, and possibly busiest, steward, Kustanto; travelling on a ship is like being in a floating hotel - one that can park in front of the most beautiful islands in the Pacific. In the islands you awake to a different view every day. For us it was the isolated gorgeousness of Mystery Island, the dusty backwater of Vila; the butterfly-strewn pathways of Lifou and the bustling dockside of Noumea.

While the ship is at sea, and the ocean stretches for thousands of kilometres before you, you have time to wonder at the audacity of those seafarers, Polynesian and colonial, who braved the vast distances in craft far smaller than ours.

But the final word on our holiday should go to the Pacific Sun's Captain, Salvatore Lupo, who told us, with an Italian twinkle in his eye: "The ship is like a pyramid, with the most important person at the top. Who do you think that is?"

"The Captain?" we chorused.

"No. The most important person is the passenger."

Having been at the top of that pyramid I can tell you, it's a pretty good place to be.