lissie

I suspected that - I'm in flexible and always have been. I'll keep on exercising in the hope that I can avoid knee replacements

Really? I've not seen that - is in a HAL thing or an American thing? I just leave my room card on the table normally

I thought Royal Carribean just floated around the Carribean? Hardly compares.

Do you have travel insurance?

That's interesting re VoV because we looked at that one but ended up going with the Boston to Iceland return instead for 25 days. As far as I've seen you can't get on any time except day 1 in Boston so I'm guessing that things shouldn't repeat? As we only have about 3 sea days though it doesn't really matter - I think the more ports there are the less important the on-board experience is. What's happened on this cruise sounds more like a typical repositioning cruise where they do seem to run out of items - that's what happens on Cunard anyways.

If its been too rough to put on a show for the dancers - they've also been unable to rehearse - give them a few days

Use what they provide - its unscented and is designed to go through their grey water system.

I've occasionally come across either photos inside prohibited or (more common) flash prohibited. Outside you can't prohibit photography from a public road

That's good to know as we're staying in Stuart St pre-cruise and one of the reasons I picked the hostels because were the multiple reviews saying the area felt safe!

I can't try the credit card info yet - my card expires this month and I haven't got a new one yet - I'd expect HAL to reject a card that expires before we cruise (some hotels do). Yes I was doing it in Edge on a computer - I can play with browsers - its just extra-ordinary that a really, really big corporation can't get this basic stuff right! Yes they have a place for the airline so I can drop that - though I still am curioius as to why they even want the information - we didn't book flights through them.

Oddly enough they are perfectly happy to accept Wellington as our airport - and its the right Wellington too - not one in N. America LOL

Hang it up in the bathroom - usually dries in a few hours

Thanks for that - the robe wearing thing does vary by nationality. I'm very aware that our next cruise will be probably nearly 100% N. American and 90% American so I'm trying to work out the differences. Our previous cruises have been very international so it was hard to tell who was wearing what LOL We are cruising to Iceland - if I'm not in the pool I'll be wearing merino thermals!

That's fine going up when dry- but once you're wet you're walking through with damp/wet swim suits and putting on a t-shirt when wet can be quite hard. I have used a cover-up in the past but on my next trip its not coming as we're doing carry on only. I will have a sarong I can wrap around - is that considered better than a bathrobe? Its completely normal to use the hotel robe in large Asian hotels (that's where I picked up the trick ). At home its normal to just wear swimsuits and barefeet or thongs/flipflops - but our swim suits tend to be modest to protect from the sun e.g. I'd normally wear swim suit , board shorts and long-sleeved rash vest.

We use them to go the swimming pool with. But never to a inside restaraunt or Lido

I believe its Air Canada metal - I booked on their website and it looks like that what is flying on the usual tracking sites e.g. AC8607 - Air Canada AC 8607 Flight Tracker (flightstats.com) The fine print on my booking says Operated by "Air Canada Jazz Express" we are connecting through to Quebec City and that flight is "operated by Air Canada Rouge" - I don't have any alternative flight numbers. And flight numbers with that format are VERY common in NZ so I'm guessing in Canada too. The thing that is annoying is the contact person - the flight stuff doesn't really matter - HAL isn't going to get us to the airport LOL

Off the top of my head for hte areas I'm familiar with: Wellington: Shuttle to town( free and compulsory) take an uber up to Zealandia (beat the crowds) - take the shuttle or an uber back to the top of the cable car - free museum at the top worth a quick look- take the cable car down (no queue) - walk across to Te Papa (free national museum - needs a couple of hours if you are interested in the Gallipoli exhibition ) Picton Edwin Foxx museum (its a ship) is nicely done its very near the ferry terminal I'm not sure where you will dock . its only 35 min to Blenheim many, many wineries there. Also the excellent Omaka War birds museum Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre - very, very good - can take a few hours. I'd probably recommend hiring a car for flexibility with 4 of you. Gisborne - note there's been recent flood damage in that area so older reports maybe out of date -which ship are you on as this is not a usual port call Napier - walk the Art Deco trails - the info will find you. i suspect a shuttle bus from the industrial port will drop you in the centre of Art Deco the museum is worth starting iwth as it explains why the Art Deco is there (and yes it's the best in the world - Miami is not even close). Tauranga - nowhere near Rotorua if you do want to go to Rotorua this may be worth considering a ship's tour for. Whangārei - Hunderwassar Art Museum - quite newly opened I've not been yet but has had good reviews hundertwasserartcentre.co.nz Bluff is an interesting stop - nothing there - its literally the end of the road! Invercargill is nearby - they have some quirky museums but is not tourist central. If you have the chance fly to Stewart Island - won't be cheap but it is extraordinary.

OK i've tried this a few ways but so far the HAL online check in Won't accept my NZ passport number - does accept my partner's nz passport no - tells me its wrong - its not. Wont' accept our post-cruise flight on AC8607 - tells me the flight number is too long its - its not! Its a flight to Montreal on Air Canada I doubt we're the first HAL passenger to take it - this I can just say no to the flights question as it's of no relevance to the cruise anyways. More annoyingly it won't accept my emergency contact's phone number -it has no hint as to what format it wants but an Irish number starts with country code 353 followed by 2 digits plus 7 digits - again its a common format. Does any of this matter or can I just sort it out at the terminal? I have all the correct documentation, ESTA, ETA, don't need anything for Europe - though HAL has not yet published what covid docs we'll need we will bring those anyways.

Not been on a HAL cruise yet but that's exactly what I do on Cunard - havne't been shouted at yet LOL Why would you queue for a station you ddin't want?? The only real queue is the one for the plats as far as I'm concerned

How do you get up off the floor then? Not being able to kneel would make that impossible for me

Probably - but why bother - just connect the iPad . The speeds will be pretty slow so hot spotting will be glacial . You need fight mode and wifi turned on to hotspot

We do carry on in N America because we can - most of the world has weight limits of 7kg or so which is hard when you carry a laptop and a camera. But in the US it seems to be mainly11kg plus the personal item is not included in that! It removes the chance that luggage will be misplaced and saves waiting for it after a long flight. Plus post-cruise we are doing another month of travel and saves us several checked bag fees too. The only negative is that's its unclear to be me if the cheap walking poles I was planning on buying on arrival will get confiscated along the way. They flew all over Europe last year but apparently its an issue in N America.

Because the MDR takes time. If I've just come off an all day excursion I want food and I want it NOW - so that may not be the same time as my set dining - but even if it is I'm hungry I'll go to the Lido. Generally we do MDR for dinner but not always. Rarely do MDR for breakfast as tend to eat a range of different things for breakfast which don't really fit in a menu.

Saw a couple do that on Cunard - they were using the provided robes and slippers - but definitely pjs underneath LOL

If you have a new phone I strongly recommend you learn how to use it well before you leave home. Make sure you know how to turn on and off mobile, how to attach to wifi and which wifi you're on. I tell friends to take their phone to town - turn off their cellular service and make sure they can connect to the wifi at their favourite cafe. Its much easier to do this when it doesn't matter!