KEY POINTS:
First thing in the morning on the ocean waves, there's nothing I enjoy more than taking my cup of coffee for a leisurely stroll around the ship, picking the best spot to sit and enjoy the peaceful start to the day.
Mostly the decks are all mine just after 7am, except for a couple of joggers pounding the wooden floors on the top deck - six laps to cover one kilometre.
My morning walkabout varies, depending on which way the ship is sailing, where the wind is coming from and the angle of the sun. I rarely find myself in the same place as I sip my coffee, read a book and watch the ship come to life.
And what a lot of life there is aboard cruise ships today. My home for a week, P & O's Pacific Sun, sailing from Brisbane to Noumea, Lifou, Vanuatu and back to Brisbane, is shared by 1900 passengers and 670 crew - that's slightly larger than the population of Muriwai on Auckland's west coast.
The days can be as busy or as relaxed as you like, with organised activities from first thing in the morning until late at night.
Always wanted to learn the cha cha? No problem - professional dancers Ruth and Will teach the basics at 11am in the Terraces Lounge. No partner is necessary - they'll match you with another beginner. If you're a chap, you'll be in demand, as women in the classes outnumber the men three to one.
Ballroom dancing not your thing? Never mind, there's always line dancing, tap dancing, disco dancing, trivia quizzes, bingo, art auctions, shuffleboard, quilling and other craft lessons ... it would be impossible to do it all in a week.
How about aerobics, yoga, flower arranging or chipping a plastic golf ball into a swimming pool full of kids (maximum points for hitting a child, jokes the crew member in charge, no points if the child catches the ball).
If you're a bit older you might like to go to Grandma's Bragging Party, where you can take photos along of your grandkids and tell stories about them.
Of course, all these activities are just the icing on the cake of your cruise ship experience.
And speaking of cakes, and starters, and main courses, and desserts, and more cakes - eating seems to be the most important pastime for many passengers on board.
There are few hours of the day when food isn't on offer - and during those hungry wee hours of the morning, there's always room service to keep your tummy from rumbling.
The Pacific Sun's executive chef Eduardo Ramos (from the Philippines, and not to be confused with the ship's maitre d' - another Eduardo Ramos, who's from Portugal) talks enthusiastically about the 112 chefs and kitchen staff on board and how "111 of them do all the work".
His is a big job, keeping 2570-odd passengers and crew happily fed all day and much of the night. There are buffet and a la carte options for breakfast and lunch, as well as two sittings in each of two dining rooms for the evening meal.
That amounts to about 8600 meals that kitchen staff must prepare each day. Around 80 tonnes of food and drink are loaded on board at the start of each cruise.
Every evening there is some form of entertainment in the ship's 700-seater theatre - the on-board professional dance group performs cabaret or musical shows several nights a week and guest musicians, comedians or bands perform on the other nights.
There's also a casino and eight bars to choose from, dotted around the ship, each with a band or DJ providing different music styles to suit your mood.
At least a couple of nights a week there is likely to be a themed party night. Island Night was popular the week I was on board, partly since we'd spent the last three days visiting Noumea and Lifou in New Caledonia and Port Vila in Vanuatu.
Most of the passengers and crew were suitably attired for the island party, which went on into the small hours out on the deck by the pool.
As well as all this grown-up entertainment, there are plenty of options to keep youngsters amused. There are three supervised kids clubs - Turtle Cove for ages three to six, Shark Shack for seven to 12 years and Teen Lounge for those who are 13 to 17.
If you're concerned about what your teenagers are up to in the evenings, there's even a Youth Security patrol on duty from 4pm until late -
Samantha and Kim wander the ship keeping an eye on the youngsters, while helping them have a good time.
With so much to do on board you might be tempted to ignore the ports visited during your cruise, and some repeat cruisers obviously do just that, having the ship to themselves on port days.
But for most passengers, getting ashore for a day to visit a foreign land is the whole point of a cruise ship holiday.
Steady ground under your feet makes a pleasant change after a couple of days of constant motion on the rolling seas.
Most port visits are only for about eight hours, so choose wisely what you're going to do - shopping, snorkelling and photographing local sights are about all I found time for.
Then it was back up the gangway, through the security checks, and back to my spacious cabin to prepare myself for yet another beautiful sunrise stroll the next morning. All this lounging around is hard work - now where did I leave my coffee mug?
Martin Sykes travelled aboard the Pacific Sun courtesy of P&O Cruises Australia.
PACIFIC SUN CRUISES
Pacific Sun will be based in Auckland from June to early August this year. An eight-night Summer Daydream cruise visiting Lifou, Mystery Island and Vila departs Auckland on July 23, priced from $1445 each (twin share inside cabin).
Next year Pacific Sun offers six cruises from Auckland between June and August, including a new three week journey to Tahiti. Departing Auckland on June 4, 2009, the 21-night cruise will visit Raiatea, Papeete, Moorea and Bora Bora in Tahiti as well as Apia in Samoa, Nuku'alofa and Vava'u in Tonga, Rarotonga in the Cook Islands and Port Denarau and Suva in Fiji. Pricebreaker deals start from $2737 each (four-berth inside cabin).
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further details available from P&O Cruises on 0800 951 200, or at it's website - www.pocruises.co.nz
Kids on board
* Pacific Sun runs special kids' clubs. These are available from 9am-10pm (and there is a babysitting service from 10pm-1am, for a fee).
* Children can take part in rehearsing and performing a show on the theatre stage for parents to watch.
* Other popular activities for the younger generation are themed parties and discos.
* Families can rent VHF radios to keep in touch with each other around the ship ($5 a day)
