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81Zoomie

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  • Location
    Florida
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    HAL, Princess, Celebrity, Azamara

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  1. We are also currently on the Edge in a Sky Suite and we have a butler. I specifically asked if he was a “Head Butler” and he said no. He has been replenishing our bottled water and Red Bull for my husband each day. He calls out our names if he sees us in the hall. We have made a few requests which were taken care of. My understanding is he has 23 suites to service which is about twice as many as prior to any changes.
  2. We had a marvelous 4 hour tour of Auckland. It was very informative and scenic. We learned: Auckland is made up of 52 volcanoes, with one remaining active. We visited several of the extinct volcanoes which provided grand spots for viewing. The highest spot in Auckland has an impressive caldera and is Mt Eden. The only active volcano was referred to as “Sleeping Beauty”. It is only 2 km from Auckland. We visited St Mary’s, the largest Catholic Church in Auckland ✝️. It was a fascinating mix of old and new. It was enlarged at some point and the old stone gothic type architecture was blended with a modern linear wooden sanctuary. Oddly enough, the mix and match worked well. Auckland has its own bridge with a unique history 🌉. The bridge was built in 1959. Over the next decade traffic increased dramatically. The government searched for a way to expand the bridge, but did not have the technical expertise. Japan stepped up and offered to help. They designed and “pinned” space for 2 additional lanes on each side of the existing structure. No money was exchanged for this grand effort. Instead, Japan asked they be allowed to export cars to New Zealand without any import tax. This tax free import deal is still in place today! We worked up a bit of an appetite during our tour. At the conclusion we walked the waterfront stopped for a late lunch. DH had fish and chips and I had fish tacos. 🌮 🐟🍟. And, we decided to taste some NZ beverages 🍷🍺 We wandered a bit and picked up a few items at the stores. I was delighted to find some Kombucha, as there is none on the ship. Other than a brief shower and a bit of wind, we had another great day in NZ 🥝🥝🥝.
  3. @Kiwichick62, we have been so fortunate with the beautiful weather! Thanks so much for the warm sunny ☀️ and breezy day 😎
  4. We are very fortunate to be enjoying a safe sea journey. Our hearts go out to the friends and families impacted by the 2 recent maritime mishaps. - Two crew members perished in an engineering accident on HAL’s Nieuw Amsterdam. How tragic. - The ship collision and collapse of the Key Bridge in Maryland was catastrophic mishap. It has closed the port of Baltimore and will impact trade and transportation for some time. Several people are unaccounted for. We are thankful for the safety precautions in place to keep us safe when at sea. It is a reminder to live in the moment because life can change in an instant. 🙏🏻❤️❤️‍🩹⛑️
  5. Day 5 - Auckland. Good day from the harbor in Auckland. We are tied up at the pier and now side by side with a Hilton hotel. Those harbor view rooms now have a stunning view of our floating condo 🏙️. We were awakened by an announcement at 6:30, not sure what it was. The ship was cleared about 8 am. With our late dinner I wasn’t too hungry. DH wanted an omelet and headed up to the Oceanview. I had a lite bite at the spa cafe. The view at breakfast was quite entertaining! This must be new crew survival training. This is quite civilized survival training accompanied by spa music in a warm pool. The water temps in Bay of Islands yesterday was 68 deg. We will disembark shortly for our small group tour of the Auckland city highlights. It’s Thursday on this side of the date line. We understand the Easter holiday is Friday through Monday here. Not certain what will and will not be open for the long weekend beginning tomorrow.
  6. We returned to the ship about 7pm. By the time we got to dinner it was nearly 8. Dinner was good, nothing extraordinary. Here is a quick download of the food 🥗🍖🍗 Amuse bouche was a fish ball with squid ink and tomatoes. It tasted a bit like a crab cake. DH had the fennel soup and the pasta, blueberry mouse for dessert. I had the asparagus, chicken and salted caramel with chocolate. We both had a glass of Elegance Cabernet. DH is fast asleep 😴 💤💤💤. The sun, wind, and water 💧, and salt air certainly do tire you out! We have a morning excursion in Auckland tomorrow, so I should close my eyes as well. We really enjoyed our first day in NZ 😁👍😎.
  7. I’m am not certain what was going on with the tenders today. 🍻🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️. Tendering started at 10ish. At 12:30 they were still calling #s. Then we heard an announcement, which we were expecting to say open tendering was no the operation. Nope, it said we are operating as quickly and safely as we can. Weather and wind were not a factor. 🌞 We also noticed that bridge officers were driving the tenders. We have never seen this before. Upon our return the line snaked around in circles. It looked a bit like Disney World!!! 3 tenders ⛴️⛴️⛴️, nearly 400 passengers left the pier ahead of us. It took 45 min to get back on board. Fortunately, today is our only tender port and the weather was nice. Well, we arrived on a ship, took a tender to shore, and then jumped on another boat. Boats are us 🚢⛴️🛥️. We took a boat tour to see the hole in the rock and visit some beaches. It was a beautiful day in the mid 70s. The waters around Bay of Islands resemble the colors around Turks and Caicos. Simply beautiful. Our boat ride was a bit rougher, wetter 🌊, and more windy than expected. It reminded me of pounding in our Baja years ago. It was all worth it to take in the sights. I was very happy I had a waterproof jacket with me 😎. We hiked to Capt. Cooks lookout, watched a sea urchin get dissected, saw two seals, and thoroughly enjoyed to scenic views 🌴🐟🦆
  8. We walked around the pier before about 7:20 am to see the ship and take some pictures from the pier. When we asked someone in a yellow vest what time baggage drop opens he said you can drop it now. We dropped our bags a little after 9. I will caveat this because I think Edge may have docked a little earlier than expected.
  9. I spoke to the shoreside concierge before sailing. When we got to Luminae my name was tagged. I preorder dinner either early in the day or the night before. We have the same waiter each night. He checks with the chef if there is a question. So far so good for me. Funny you should mention celiacs. Our daughter is gluten free as well. We noticed the Luminae menu does not annotate gluten free. The Oceanview Cafe marks almost all their offerings with contents.
  10. Todays activities: We had a very light breakfast after our dinner in Eden last night. The Captains Club breakfast was quick and easy. I found the cafe mocha ☕️ to be a good option for me! DH had a berry smoothie. A pleasant surprise, the croissant with the flakes on top had Nutella in the center! Of note, there are no bagels, butter, or cream cheese. The cabin on one side of us is an IV. We can hear the electric roller shade go up and down. Just thinking if we can hear it next door, it would be a bit hard to sleep through in the IV cabin. Since people are fleeing the ship, it’s easy to get some pictures of the popular areas. It’s very rare to not see a line at Cafe Al Bachio! The crew members were happy to pose in the pics 😎👍😁
  11. Day 4 - Good morning from New Zealand! We have reached our parking spot in the bay and will be tendering this morning. We watched the Magic Carpet slide by our verandah this morning. It was very quiet. No one is on the MC when it moves. We expect that today is the only day it will move down then up because this is the only tender port. We have another picture perfect day! It is supposed to be in the upper 70s today. We have an independent boat excursion early this afternoon, so we are in no rush to get off the ship. Our chariots await!
  12. So thankful to the chefs for a fantastic meal. And thanks to Mother Nature for a beautiful sunset 🌅❤️👍😁
  13. Dinner last night was in Eden, and it did not disappoint! It was simply delicious and the ambiance was excellent. Nice service, a violin playing upstairs, and great food! It did not appear very crowded. We elected not to do the 7 course tasting menu because it would have been too much food. DH had the soup and ceviche followed by the lobster. I had the shrimp followed by the filet. Everything was delicious! Dinner was led off by a small but tasty amuse bouche BLT tomato. And then came the chocolates and desserts! 😋😋😁. We had butterscotch crème brûlée and the strawberry tart. They were delicious ❤️👍❤️ After dinner we wandered a bit and ended up at the Yes/No game show. It was very entertaining and everyone had some good laughs! We also caught a glimpse of a Martini Bartender warming up.🤹🤹‍♀️🤹‍♂️
  14. Enjoy those tropical breezes 😎🌴🏝️🌞. I walked the inside hallways yesterday. It’s a bit of a challenge on the track and stairs. Aussies and Americans zig zag on opposite sides of traffic flow 😂🚶🏼🚶🏾‍♂️💥
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