Relaxing Robbies

Bon voyage. Fingers crossed you have a smooth embarkation. We disembarked in the early group at 7.30am and are now home unpacking. The ship looks great with all its Christmas decorations.

The cruise director is Karen Rogers and she is English. I have not spoken to her, but she normally introduces the shows in the theatre and provides relevant information about arrangements at the ports of call. No complaints here.

There was a free shuttle from Lyttelton back to the ship.

We were on Grand Princess in Lyttelton yesterday. Princess provided pre booked shuttles to Christchurch for $15 AUD return. There was a free shuttle into Lyttelton that ran regularly. Once in Lyttelton you could wander the town at your leisure. At the bus stop adjacent to the shuttle stop they were also selling a day pass for the public bus for NZ$10, which could be paid by debit or credit card. You could also board the public bus and pay cash for your fare.

Hobart on a Saturday morning is a win. Love Salamanca Markets.

Although boarding was delayed until 4- 7 pm my husband was offered a special boarding time of 1.30 - 2 pm when he dropped our luggage off at 9.30am. We arrived back at the port at 1pm, and were onboard by 2.15. Not sure why we got offered the special time, but it was great to avoid the long queues later. We departed just after 8pm and are through the heads. Seas are rocky but not too bad.

Correct.

How about this one.

Willie Creek?

I just checked and Gannet Safaris do not have any cruise ship tour availability the day you will be there. Napier Port schedule shows that Grand Princess will also be in Napier that day, so it will be very busy in town. Grand Princess arrives before Resilient Lady so booking tours on the day could be difficult.

Napier is a working port, so there is a compulsory free shuttle that takes you to the i-site (tourist info centre). The tour leaves from there. Website is https://gannetsafaris.co.nz/?gclid=CjwKCAiA9ourBhAVEiwA3L5RFjrIaY59nMLAAccotpVnubwGKrsC2HM9Qo00O84HPYpBNg5ALBs5YxoCGPwQAvD_BwE

We will be in Napier on 6th December and have booked to go to Cape Kidnappers to see the gannets direct through Gannet Safaris Overland. I can report back to you about the tour after that.

The outbreak is ongoing despite several deep cleans. Last deep clean was in Auckland last Friday. According to posts I have seen all passengers had to be out of their cabins from 9.30am to 3pm while the cabin areas were deep cleaned. Public areas were done overnight.

We cruised on Majestic earlier this month.The Hollywood Pool is free to access, but on our cruise it was full of kids who lacked parental supervision. The signs around the pool said no running or jumping. These kids decided it was ok to do bombs into the pool, very close to older adults who were trying to enjoy the pool. The Princess pool attendants saw what they were doing but did not say anything.

Yes. I have just been through the same thought process. We are off to NZ on the Grand on Wednesday. Fortunately its current cruise also went to NZ and they had no problems. Now I can get back to worrying about the forecast sea conditions. Looks like we will have to sail through a patch of 5 metre seas. Oh well, it could be worse I suppose!

Not sure. I got the info from cruisemapper site. They showed the previous itineraries back to October 20th.

Previous was a 3 day comedy cruise, and before that a 4 day Moreton Island.

I’ll be in that photo too. I’ll be the one with the big smile.😀

We returned home yesterday. I still have a stuffy nose, but I was fortunate that I was never very sick. I did not even require panadol. Princess did look after me quite well in isolation. Dining room menus and suite breakfast menus were delivered to me each day so that I could order my meals for the next day. Apart from one occasion, the meals arrived about 12.30 for lunch and 6pm for dinner, and selected times for breakfast. The meals arrived hot. One day when guests were ashore in Noumea I received a nice note and some lovely chocolates.

Last time we visited Rotorua we went to Wai O Tapu Thermal Park. There was quite a lot of walking involved, but the colors were amazing and we really enjoyed our day there.

Hope the antivirals work and you are on the mend quickly. It is no fun missing ports, especially ones that you have not visited before.

I self tested and informed them I was positive by telephone. They accepted my statement and told me I have to isolate until they release me on Day 6.

I had a slight cough so I went to bed early and tested first thing next morning. That test was negative, but I didn’t feel well so I stayed in my cabin all day. Next morning I tested again and was positive. My husband has been testing daily as a precaution since my positive test.

We are currently cruising on Majestic Princess and brought along our own supply of 5 RATs. I used 2 of them with a negative test followed by a positive test the next day. My husband has since been doing his own test daily and fortunately is still testing negative. We have used all our own tests so my husband went to the medical centre to ask if they could supply him with any RATs. They are happy to supply one if he agrees to pay $38 for a single test. No thanks, considering he does not have any symptoms. There has not been a single mention of covid since we boarded the ship. Even at boarding we were no longer asked any questions about our health. There does not seem to be any mention of covid or Princess’ policies in relation to covid anywhere on their website. It is like they think it no longer exists. I guess if you charge $38 for a RAT to self administer a test, then people don’t bother unless they are very ill. Maybe they have a deliberate policy to deter testing now, because if you don’t test, then there is no covid on the ship?

Not so on the current Majestic cruise. Plenty of coughing around and I have tested positive today after voluntarily isolating in my cabin yesterday due to feeling unwell. It is a very wet day in Suva today, so not too disappointed to be missing it. Now to see if the tropical depression out here develops into a cyclone as expected. The joys of cruising!