Ovation of the Seas in Sydney (hoping the weather is this good when we get on!!)

the final countdown is officially on! we go on holiday this month, in 12 days to be exact! i can't wait, it is super crazy how fast this holiday has rolled around. but at the same time i feel like i have been waiting for ages.

we head to Sydney on the 31st for a few days to shop and celebrate baes birthday and our anniversary before boarding the Ovation and making our way to New Zealand. everything is pretty much sorted now, i don't think there is much left for me to do besides pack (which i have already started) and get on the plane! although, not going to lie i am completely scared that i have forgotten to organise something important. SOS

WHAT HAS BEEN ORGANISED 

since my last holiday prep blog post, we have accomplished a lot. we were able to check in at the 90 day mark and print off our passes and all the important documents. we also received our guest booklets (that was at 40 days to go) which include our luggage tags and a run down of the itinerary etc; again more important paperwork.
checking in and receiving our guest booklets also meant we got our boarding time, if you check in early enough (on the day its opened like i did) you are able to pick your boarding time, and lucky for us we managed to score the earliest time! this is VERY exciting, it means we have more time to get acquainted with the ship and ease into it before sailing off.

we also have bought our foreign currency, both USD and NZD. i spent ages watching the dollar and finally bit the bullet at about 2 months out and purchased what we needed. i highly recommend keeping an eye on the dollar, if you check back on it every day i guarantee you will get a good rate.

around the 90-70 day mark Royal Caribbean start to release bookings for some of the on board activities. they do this because the Ovation is such a big ship and it would be completely chaotic if they didn't allow people to book.

we booked for both the iFly which is like simulated skydiving and for the Northstar which is a observation capsule that suspends you 90 metres above sea level. as i was able to book these early by checking by cruise planner daily i managed to book these for sea days meaning we don't miss out on any shore/destination time.

we booked our final shore excursion for Bay of Islands. we chose to book this one privately as Royal Caribbean didn't offer it and we are able to walk to it from the ship. we chose to do the Waitangi Treaty Grounds tour, which allows us to immerse ourselves in the NZ cultural and experience some traditional practices. the tour was $50 NZD each and includes access to the grounds for the day, a guided tour of the grounds along with a cultural performance.

in regards to getting organised before we leave and making sure everything is in order, i have started to compile all the important documents into a folder for safe keeping; such as a copy of our travel insurance, booking reference, a breakdown of all the items we have purchased (like drinks packages, internet, shore tours etc) in case something is wrong on Royal Caribbeans end, flights and holiday accommodation. it is very important to have copies of everything!!

WHAT WE STILL NEED TO DO

there isn't a whole lot left to do (yay), we just have to decide if we want to purchase some arcade credit for on board and if we want to book another specialty restaurant for lunch. i don't mind the look of Chops Grille which is like a steak house but we shall see. Chops normally is one of the cheaper options for lunch roughly $29 per person whereas some other restaurants can cost upwards of $50.

besides those things, i probably just to need to make sure all the documentation is in order and run through our check in details on the Royal Caribbean website to make sure they are all correct.

then it is just the 'fun' task of packing, which for me is a LONG process and one i start about a month out because it takes me so long to get right.

**all photo and link credit goes to respective owners/creators**