The First Aussie Planner Cruise!

Four years ago I accidentally spied a picture of a decorated planner, that night was filled with googling and YouTubing as this crafty mumma had stumbled upon something that made my heart sing. Little did I know that I would fall down the rabbit hole that is all stickers, washi tape and pretty pens. If you had told me back then that I would end up on a planner cruise with a group of like minded women, I would have told you in no uncertain terms that you were completely nuts!

What started as a bit of joke over a few wines at the Plan B Brisbane retreat weekend last year, became reality last week as we set sail for Airlie Beach on the Pacific Dawn and oh boy, we had so much fun.

The cruise co-ordinator team! (L to R)

Maddie from @littletabbieco, Issie from @issiebee.designs and Nikki (that’s me) from @wwdesignsshop.

The three of us worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality and organised activities and swag to make it a real planners cruise.

So no doubt, you are all wondering what we actually got up to on our four night cruise up to Airlie Beach and back, and it went something like this.

Our first ‘official’ event was a 5.30pm meet and greet drinks session up at the Dome Bar. Every participant was asked to bring a welcome gift for each member of the group. It could be something from your shop if you had one or you could buy goodies or make something. We all received so many lovely things and that was just the start of the swag collection we would be bringing home.

We all had a lovely dinner in the Waterfront Restaurant followed by a couple of drinks and it was off to bed to be gently rocked to sleep.

Our first planner session on Day 2 included the absolutely necessary planner stack and the handing out of the swag bags which were loaded with lots of generous donations from Aussie Planner Shops. Mine is still intact and I will post a YouTube video on my channel WW Designs very shortly.

Tammy and Issie were having an ‘Oprah’ moment…SWAG FOR EVERYONE!

We then had to put our planning skills to the test. Every participant was given a blank EC spread, a selection of left over sticker sheets, 20 minutes and were only allowed to use their own washi tape and pens!

Its damn hard to create a great looking page when you only have ONE full box in all the stickers you were given! Others fared better than I did and created some great spreads in such a short time frame.

After a break for lunch we were back at it! This session was a ‘crafternoon’ and we made a shaker bookmark with the help of a table full of supplies.

Its a great little souvenir of our cruisy adventure.

Drinks, chats and dinner rounded off a really fun day and we headed to bed quite early so that we could be up before dawn to see the sunrise and enjoy the experience of cruising in through all the islands to Airlie Beach.

This day was kept free of planner activities so that those that wanted to set off on an adventure or simply spend time with their families could do so. Issie went on a full day snorkelling tour and Tammy did a half day Kayaking trip, whilst most of us headed into Airlie Beach for a spot of shopping and a swim in the lagoon and the ocean. Perfect weather ensured we all had a great day.

That night we all donned our pj’s for a PLANJAMA party! We all met in Maddie and Issie’s cabin for a fun filled couple of hours. The night started with the ‘Great Washi Swap’. We all brought a selection of our favourite washi tapes, we provided a heap of washi cards and everyone got a great a selections of samples to add to their stash as each bag of goodness was passed around the room.

We played an old fashioned game of pass the parcel, blindfolded stick the sticker in the box and everyone brought a gift along for good old naughty secret santa where stealing was encouraged……well we were on a ship so we might as well behave like pirates.

The next day at sea as we started the journey home, our morning session was an awesome mess making experience. I made everyone a basic junk journal and filled the table with all sorts of things to decorate them with.

For two hours we were hard at work creating pages that we can now fill with photos and journaling as a great reminder of our trip.

We also pulled out the watercolours and gelato’s and some of the group had never played with these things before and are now going out to buy some because they enjoyed it so much.

After lunch we managed to score a big table up on deck, and we lazed the afternoon away playing with watercolours, sipping drinks and chatting. The perfect way to spend an afternoon.

That night we enjoyed our last sit down, 3 course dinner. Unfortunately we had to pack up our rooms ready for arrival back in Brisbane……sigh!

We were blessed with beautiful blue skies, calm seas, a great group of fun loving ladies and all in all we could not have asked for a better cruise. The food was great, the coffee was good and the staff onboard were so helpful in ensuring our area was ready for us each session. As the Pacific Dawn does not have conference facilities that are not theatre style, P & O offered for us to use the Waterfront Restaurant for each session and it worked out perfectly.

AND yes, we will definitely do it again!

Make sure you join the Plan B Goes Cruising Facebook group so that you don’t miss announcements for our next adventure on the high seas!

Do you like cruising and would you like to join us next time?