Ovation of the Seas from the North Star

Good morning world - Coffee was NEEDED

Northstar at it's reach of 90m above sea level

View from the Northstar

View from the Northstar- it was such a nice day!

Royal Theatre

the bumper cars onboard - we did this on another day but it was SO much fun!

like many, i am a notorious over packer when it comes to traveling. not only do i tend to over pack on clothes and shoes but also makeup.
i find it very overwhelming to narrow down the amount i take because i am never sure what my skin is going to look like during the course of my travels.

i have put together a list of my holy grail products that never let me down and that i will be DEFINITELY taking on our upcoming holiday.  its no secret that i will be taking a little more then is on the list below but i think that is acceptable considering its a 15 day holiday with a formal dinner every single night!
but anyway, the following products are staples anywhere i go:
1. Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Makeup SPF 10 
the estee lauder double wear foundation is by far one of my favourite foundations of all times. i can always rely on it to give me the coverage and durability that i need. it creates a great finish on the skin. i wear the shade 2N1 Dessert Beige but always take my 'tanned' shade with me on aswell when travelling and that is shade 3W1 Tawny.
2. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water
i swear by this makeup remover! i think i have been using it since the day it was released and have never looked back. Miceller water is a great and quick way to take off the majority of your makeup with no fuss. i use this product to take off the bulk of my makeup then go over the face with a wipe to remove any excess before cleansing. the best part about the Garnier Miceller Water is that in comes in a travel size version that always lasts the duration of my long holidays.

3. Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer 
my tarte shape tape concealer has become my life. i don't go anywhere without it these days! it has great coverage and lasts the entirety of the day. i use the shade fair neutral for my undereyes and areas where i want to brighten and the shade light neutral for the areas i need to conceal. i seriously recommend taking a good concealer on your holiday (its especially handy for when you need to cover up those late nights).
4. Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Powder
i actually travel with two of these powders; one in my handbag and one in my makeup bag. it is by far my favourite pressed powder formula. this estee lauder powder works perfectly with the double wear foundation and gives me the confidence that my face is going to stay all day. i am the shade 2N1 Desert Beige in this too.
5. Too Faced Milk Chocolate Matte Bronzer
this is a newbie to my holy grail list and will make its first travel with me this holiday. i haven't been able to put the Too Faced milk chocolate bronzer down since the day i bought it. it gives me every bronze i need, whether that is subtle for day wear or a bit heavier for a night out. this bronzer is buildable and smells AMAZING.
6. Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow Palette 
i never wore blush before i had this product but the colour of the blush in this palette has literally changed me. it is so pretty and smells divine like all too faced products. i love the Sweet Peach Glow palette because it allows me to travel with a blush, bronzer and highlight all in one.
7. Stila Eyes are the Window Shadow Palette - Mind 
eyeshadow palettes are always the hardest thing for me to take on holiday because i can never narrow it down and pick one to take. i generally like to take one that has a lot of shades that i will use and that are versatile; i also don't want anything too bulky. the Stila Eyes are the Window Mind palette is always a great one to take, as it is fully matte and has a great ranges of shades to choose from. it also features a large mirror so that is always a bonus.
8. Benefit Bad Gal Bang Mascara
you can't go anywhere without a good mascara, that is why i bring my trust Benefit Bad Gal Bang mascara. ever since i got it, it has trumped every mascara i own! definitely my current go-to mascara, not only is it volumising but its also smudge proof and water resistant!!
9. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz 
i tend to change my brow products quite frequently but the one i seem to always go back to is my Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz. it always is in my makeup bag and never lets me down! it provides me with a natural yet full brow and is super easy to use. i like to take it away with me because i know it will last the duration of the day with a brow gel over the top! i use the shade Medium Brow.
10. Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy Sculpting Lipstick
the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy Sculpting lipstick is my all time favourite lipstick formula. i love the way it glides onto the lips and really gives a nice creamy formula that is SUPER hydrating. they have such a great colour range and allow for a really natural lip to a bold and dramatic lip. i have a few favourite shades from this range, however i always find myself reaching for the shade 120 Desirable which is a nice pinky nude.

i hope you enjoyed this post and a little insight into what my travel makeup essentials are. it is definitely hard to narrow down the amount of products i put into my makeup bag.
what are your go to products when travelling? i would love to know

the ovation of the seas in milford sounds (can't wait!!)

for some reason these 'what i bought' post are always my favourite to create/write (probably because i am a borderline shopaholic but lets not talk about that)
so far for our 14 day cruise to New Zealand i have picked up a few items. luckily majority of the items i brought were on sale and let me tell you my bank account is extremely thankful for that! #broke
i am finding it hard to know what to be looking for and what to pack as i am getting mixed information on what the weather is going to be like.
but at this stage i am going to pack for more of an atheleisure vibe as this holiday will be a lot more active and adventurous compared to last year holiday.

we have just under 2 months to go until we leave so i think i will start packing soon to work out what i still need to buy. i don't know how people can pack the night before they leave, it literally gives me anxiety just thinking about it. i have to pack then re-pack at least 3 times before we go (help!)





a few of my favourite items are the Billabong Break of Dawn crew and the Bonds New Era shorts. i have been living in the billabong jumper for the past few weeks, it is SO comfy and i REALLY want to get it in white for the holiday aswell but i feel like that may be a little excessive (is it?). the Bonds shorts are also super comfy i picked up the same style in another colour earlier this year and lived in them for the remainder of summer! you really can't beat bonds comfort and material so i am looking forward to wearing them around the ship (if it is warm enough).

i am also looking forward to wearing my new Mimco and Tony Bianco shoes. i feel like both pairs are really functional and both can be worn with jeans aswell as dresses etc. i will more than likely just rotate through these for dinner each night.

so that is it for now, i hope you liked seeing a sneak peak into what my holiday wardrobe is going to look like. i am sure i will keep you updated on my future purchases so stay tuned.

xxx

we have already booked majority of our shore excursions. we choose to book them through Royal Caribbean again this time, as after doing some research it really isn't that much cheaper to do them through a private tour company and i much prefer to have the piece of mind that if anything happens and you are running late, the ship can't leave without you (if you booked through RC themselves).

in Dunedin, we booked the Speights Brewery and Dunedin Panorama Tour which goes for a total of 4 hours. the tour includes a tour of the Speights Brewery (bae is into his beer so i thought this one would be a good one for him) where you get a complimentary tasting of 4 beers and obviously a demonstration on how beer is made etc. the second half of the tour gives us the opportunity to learn more about Dunedin's history where we can stroll the botanic gardens and explore the historic railway station.  the second half is more so for me, i think it will be a perfect time to take some photos and i enjoy learning about the history of places. the Dunedin Railway Station is also one of New Zealand's most photographed buildings, so that is exciting.
we initially wanted to go to the Cadbury World factory tour in Dunedin but it closed down (i was literally devastated it was half the reason i was going to NZ haha)

for Wellington we have a tour booked for the Lord of the Rings and WETA workshop which goes for a total of 3 and a half hours. to be honest i haven't actually seen any of the LOTR movies so i probably should watch them before we cruise but bae wanted to do some LOTR stuff and i am more then happy to tag along especially for the WETA portion of this tour. WETA is like a mini museum that has special effects, props and displays for all different movies which i think will be really cool and interesting. the LOTR portion of the tour is visiting places where the have filmed scenes and a tour of the middle earth. we will have a few hours left after the tour, so i am hoping we can get on the famous wellington cable car and maybe do some shopping.

finally the last shore tour we have booked through Royal Caribbean is one for Tauranga, which is the Lord of the Rings Hobbiton Movie Set tour which goes for a total of 4 and a half hours. even though i haven't seen the movies yet, i am already looking forward to this tour because it looks so picturesque and cute. the tour involves a walk around the hobbiton village at your own leisure and a drink at the famous LOTR Green Dragon Inn.
we were actually tossing up whether to do this tour through a private company as you were able to see a little bit of Rotoura on the way to Hobbiton however the we arrive in Tauranga at 6.45am and most tours don't start until 8am including the one we looked at, so it was highly unlikely we could do an 8 hour tour and make it back on the ship in time. (it would just send my anxiety through the roof all day worrying if we were going to make it haha)

for Auckland and Bay of Islands where we have nothing booked, we are going to try and navigate ourselves.
in Auckland, we are thinking of doing the bridge climb and bungee jump as well as the sky tower and the aquarium (probably some shopping to). for Bay of Islands we want to find a cultural tour to do. i have been looking at a few different options so hopefully we can narrow it down. but i do think it is important to experience the cultural aspect of New Zealand whilst we are there.

we are pretty much done with on-board purchases, we managed to purchase everything pretty early and during Royal Caribbeans pop up sales (which i highly recommend you look out for).

this cruise we are again going with the all inclusive non-alcoholic drink package. for me it is so not worth paying an extra $50 per day for the alcoholic package when i don't really drink and when for 6 out of the 12 days you are off the boat for 8-10 hours of the day.
we ended up paying $27 AUD a day (was on sale 30%) for the refreshment package but we had $130 AUD on-board credit so it only ended up costing us $258.82 each (or $21.50 a day). i really do recommend looking out for sales and when booking trying to get a deal that includes on-board credit because it really does help when selecting/buying packages that are normally expensive.

we also purchased the internet package again this cruise. we decided to go for the 1 device package and just share the usage like we did last cruise; which worked well considering we only really used it to check social media and contact our families. the internet package was also on sale when we purchased it (we choose to get the Voom surf + stream package, which is a little more pricey but has way better connection). we ended up paying $17.00 a day and split it between the two of us, so it was just over $100 AUD each. if you aren't too worried about internet and won't be using it all the time, i definitely think its worth splitting and sharing the package.

one thing we didn't do last cruise was try any of the specialty restaurants. so this time i have booked us to have lunch at Jamie's Italian restaurant and i am SO looking forward to it. the best part about a cruise is the fact you can order as much food as you want for no extra cost, so we will definitely be trying everything on the menu!
Royal Caribbean had a sale on select specialty restaurants for lunch dining so i managed to score dining on a sea day for $24 AUD each. this is SO cheap considering you can order as much as you like. so i would definitely keep an eye out for these pop up sales.

the last thing we have to purchase is the arcade credit, you can purchase this on-board but you save 20% if you pre-purchase online. last cruise we purchased $25 USD and use it all up before the end of the cruise so this time we might up it to $50 USD each which works out to be roughly $108 AUD total for the two of us. the arcade is a fun way to kill some time, on our previous cruise we would normally go before or after dinner.

the preparation for this cruise has been done a little differently to the last one. i think because we semi know what to expect, i haven't been so stressed and haven't tried to research every single detail which is nice because it has given a chance for the unknown for when we board.

this time we are going to take more USD to spend on-board. this will give us a chance to purchase alcoholic drinks if we wish to or do a little bit more on-board shopping. it will also allow us the opportunity to eat at more specialty dining if we choose to.
last cruise, we only took a small amount of USD and shared it between us which didn't give us heaps of room to move. so this cruise we definitely don't want to be worrying about money, we just want to enjoy our holiday.

i have also been more on top of the sales and new editions to the cruise planner this cruise. i have learnt to check the cruise planner daily and monitor the prices of things (especially stuff like the drinks package and internet package). by monitoring the cruise planner i was able to get shore excursions as they popped up on the planner and book things at a sale price. it is definitely an easy way to save money if you are willing to look everyday. i am 99% sure everything we booked/have brought has been on sale. so it is definitely worth the 5 minutes of your day.

considering we have been so prepared and organised there isn't much left for us to do.
we just have to check in which is available from the 90 day mark (as in 90 days to go until cruise day) and print all of our documents. i find this part the most stressful because it is crucial that it is done correctly otherwise boarding day is going to be a nightmare. so pray for me.

also available from the 90th day mark are bookings for the entertainment on-board. this is different to how our previous cruise ran, we could just show up to shows/entertainment during the evening. but considering the Ovation is so big, they have a booking system for the most popular shows and things (such as the Ifly and Northstar) so basically its a first in best dressed scenario (you are able to show up on the day but you have to line up and hope someone doesn't show for their booking).
so i highly recommend checking your cruise planner around check in time to avoid missing out on these bookings.

other than that we just have to buy some USD and NZD for on-board credit and spending.
i am currently watching the exchange rate and praying for some miracle that it goes up so we get more for our money but it isn't looking great. i normally try and purchase foreign currency about a month to two months out.

all in all i am starting to get SO excited for this holiday and it is sneaking up pretty quickly. i am excited to try a new ship and experience a new country. so stay tuned for more holiday prep blog posts as the countdown continues!

xxx

Middleton Point

Middleton Point

Middleton Point (it was so windy and sunny, so squinting was the only option)

Middleton Point

Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot

Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot

Port Elliot Bakery

Port Elliot Bakery

Victor Harbour

Granite Island, Victor Harbour

Horse & Carriage, Granite Island, Victor Harbour

Victor Harbour

Victor Harbour

Victor Harbour