I am a 23 year old male, single and a full time student. Decided to treat myself to a little holiday, and started to research cruising. I took the plunge and booked myself on the Golden, for a short row over the Tasman from Auckland to Melbourne.
To be completely honest with you, after experiencing a cruise - I will never go back to land based holiday's.
Embarkation in Auckland was fantastic and smooth. I arrived at 11.00, dumped my luggage and proceeded to the passenger area. Filled all my forms in, and sat there with my heart pounding for the next 20 odd minutes, until we were given the all clear to start boarding. The process was smooth and easy, and I was on board, in my cabin by 12.
The cabin was as expected. A tad on the small side, but I used my cabin for sleeping and that was it! Partially obstructed view, I could see over the right side of the lifeboat, which was enough for me. Slight deterioration to the furniture, with a broken drawer - but like I say, spent hardly any time in here so didn't bother me!