lissie

Both my cruises last year drinks were banned in the theatre - and masks were strongly enforced. They weren't selling the gala boxes either. Its nice to see its going back to normal. Partly this is a cultural thing - but carrying bottles to a venue is perfectly normal for those of us who grew up with BYO. We certainly carried bottles (either won in trivia, given to us on embarkation or own supply) to drink in Britannia - we weren't the only ones and I no one cared.

Something like this? W423A 30-DAY JAPAN & NORTH PACIFIC CROSSING COLLECTOR (hollandamerica.com)

Yes the middle America thing is going to be pretty darn weird to us I must admit. Although we rarely meet other New Zealanders on Cunard (though they advertise heavily here - its just a numbers game) - I was really impressed on our 2 longer cruises the eclectic passengers on board which was everyone from middle America taking a 5 day "vacation" being exposed to those of us doing 3 months overseas - mind blown and very funny as we tried to explain each other's point of view. And then was craft corner with deep south Catholic, New York Jewish scientist, and atheist Australians and NZers - dealing with a Covid outbreak on board - it was absolutely fascinating. No blows were traded, and we formed a formidable trivia team with some of them! We also like that Cunard attracts a really interesting LGBTQ group - we normally get to know the ones that dance and they are usually some of the nicest and well-travelled passengers. Its really nice to be in an environment where 2 men dancing waltz together doesn't get a second glance. HAL has a ship in NZ all summer - and I assume those cruises have quite a different demographic I wonder if HALs problem is they don't have guest laundromats? That's where the real action is. There was an interesting moment -where the ship turned around after leaving Oman several hours later - went back to port - dropped a passenger off and left again. No explanation, no announcement. It wasn't a medical evac. There was also a rumour of someone putting a chocolate in someone else's load of laundry in a dryer.... It was unclear if the 2 were related...

We always travel inside cabin - we're yet to find a reason to upgrade - because as you say not yet found a ship that doesn't have outside decks

Funnily enough over on the Cunard board the Cunarders think Carnival acquired Cunard to give their brand class! I'm jumping over to HAL not for the nightlife but for the itinerary and the price point (compared to Ponant, Viking who were the other options on this trip)

Interesting comment. We've done pretty much all our cruising on Cunard - but our next is on HAL - we've run out of itineraries on Cunard and we're all about the itineraries and ballroom dancing. I didn't think much or anything was open on Cunard after about 1am - we were on the late sitting for dinner - so after the show its pretty much 11pm anyways. The orchestra in the Queens Room never went past middnight, but we would go up to the Crows Nest for cocktails and never saw closing - though to be fair we are lightweights these days. Sometimes the adjacent nighclub was busy sometimes empty. BUT - these were long voyages with up to 8 days in a row at sea. On the days we were in port - we would generally eat dinner in the Lido and collapse in the room around 10pm. Given our trip on Zaandam has 21 port days in 25 I really don't care if there is nightlife or not - just give me a meal and a drink. I suspect most other people will be the same.

I think you' I think you're going to be in shock on prices then! We went to Waikiki (only) in July 22 - I was shocked to have to pay around $180 /night in Waikiki - which I booked at least 6 months in advance - the price only went up from there. Car hire for a day was around $100 (and that was a good rate). As parking was $50/night - it was better to only hire on the day you needed a car. I priced a few days in Waikiki as a stop over THIS July - and the same hotel was now closer to $300/night (booked a similar time in advance) and it was still a good deal! I didn't get as far as car hire we're not stopping over this year. We're not staying in a suite on POA - its an inside cabin. We don't mind flying and we like small planes - but a 60 minute flight is still the loss of 1/2 day by the time you get to the airport / clear security etc. So part of the extra expense of a land-based holiday is that it couldn't match the speed of covering all the highlights in 7 days. I also wasn't impressed by the accommodation available. We don't need 5 star but I don't cook on holiday - so we tend to like motels or smaller hotels. These didn't seem to exist - it seemed all to be airbnb types with 5 nights minimum and crazy expensive cleaning charges. And often a long drive to go out for dinner - and we do drink so having to drive to dinner is an issue too. Plus I don't trust airbnbs - not just cruises can cancel things at the last minute.

Really? Its not a cheap cruise but I've priced out a land holiday covering all the islands in 7 days - and frankly its not really possible the approx $1000k / day we're paying. And I'm good at logistics but I would draw the line of doing all those islands in 7days too

Thank you for this - we got the same email today for our cruise in late April 2024. I do want to see the coast so this looks like an option

Don't know but my local upmarket cinema chain certainly does. This is hardly uncommon in Australia and NZ and the ship is currently still in Australia I think. We certainly took glasses in on occasion - particularly when the late sitting for dinner meant we had to run to make it to the theatre on time for the 10pm show

Thank you this helps a lot! Yes the mail run looks nice to - lovely that we don't have to book anything in advance -we can see how we feel and how the weather is on the day!

We've never been to Portland, and we will be there on a Sunday 7-4. Not really into shopping but like scenery, museums, landscapes, local food particularly lobster, not terribly fit but can manage up to about 5km a day. Looking on Google maps I noticed a ferry service out to Peak Island - seems to be plenty of departures - would this be a good use of our time? ETA - this will the last Sunday in July

LOL its my first time in this port too - and that's exactly what I took from this thread too!

Have they been to East Timor before? That is really quite a difficult country to get to and I've never seen it on even an expedition style cruise itinerary?

Oh he'll have a jacket alright - its going to be cool in Greenland and Iceland - just nothing that is suitable for dinner - and he'll be wearing that and light-weight hiking boots on the plane! Yup never travel with jeans and shorts are only for some warm weather before the cruise.

I agree - they are totally speaking to my demographic - a bit younger than some - well-travelled. We cruise for the itineraries and after a few cruises we were amazed to discover how every mainstream cruise line does the same ports. The only other way to cover what we are covering on our next cruise would be Viking or Silversea - and 2-3x the cost - which is not affordable for us. That cruise will be our first cruise with HAL but I don't think it will be our last. We dislike long haul flights too - so we don't - we break them up - flying to Boston we are doing too medium haul legs via Honolulu rather than the ugly 12 hours to LAX from NZ, or the even worse 19 hours direct to NYC . Returning from Vancouver - we are stopping over in Fiji for a few nights - which allows us to fly directly home rather than via Auckland. One of the many reasons the only person that books our flights is me!

Thank you so much - sounds like you roll very much the same as us. Almost all wines served on HAL are new to us (well except Cloudy Bay Sav Blanc - which I could buy in the local supermarket if I liked it LOL) so we're pretty neutral and just order the grape types we like! Yes they can feel free to substitute more expensive bottles - all good with that!

We're cruising Zaandam for a port-intensive trip (25 days 21 ports) and don't have the drink package. We like wine with dinner though and the sommelier cellar collections are of some interest. I have some questions though. Do you have to buy in advance? Or can you buy on board? (We have OBC) . Do they run out of some of the named wines? Can you use the collection anywhere ie at a bar? The options on check out are choosing a delivery date - we don't want that we want to select a bottle depending on what we're eating on whichever night. Will the wine waiter keep an opened bottle for you in the dining room for another night? Can you drink it in another bar, venue. There's no real value in having some of the wines in the stateroom as most rooms don't have a fridge and we like to drink a mix of red and white - so I'd happily take a red wine back to the stateroom but I dislike warm white wine.

I'm loving your blog - you did an itinerary similar to what we're doing this year on Zaandam to Iceland. One thing though I'm super confused on dresscode - most of your photos you look amazing in your tux - but some of those pics have men in jeans and open-neck shirts. We are travelling long-haul and for a couple of months I really want to go carry-on only - but can't if my partner needs to pack a suit - we're hoping that a pair of chinos and a long-sleeved shirt would be sufficient even on gala nights?

It works really well on my hair - so your mileage will vary depending on your hair's requirements.

And just to add to Bluemarble's excellent example. If one cruise is over 14 days (max OBC ) then you get more OBC if you have a separate booking. You also have the flexibility of cancelling one cruise rather than only being able to cancel the whole longer cruise on one booking

If something goes badly wrong ie you need to be medivacced off the ship - where do you want to sent to ? If it's NZ then you need to get NZ-based insurance. We've had issues getting insurance because of my partner's health and Sandra Grant at Custom Working Holiday, Extreme Sports and Business Travel Insurance (healthinsurance.co.nz) has been amazing. She does "difficult" stuff like athletes and working visas - so I'm sure she can help you. As far as I know she's the only insurance broker who does travel insurance in NZ now.

Yes I really like her designs! I'm trying hard not to buy more LOL

If the daily laundry has just gone from $7 to $8.50 I think the $20 bag will be going up to at least $25

There are some huge benefits being an American thtat cruises!