lissie

In which ports is this? I've never seen any scanning of cruise cards at any of our stops on QE and we've done 70 nights on her!

They must have fallen out with the land tour operator! Its very easy to do Singapore yourself - its about a 20min walk to the subway or taxis are reasonably priced and everywhere

Sounds like the cruise due to start tomorrow Tuesday - has been cancelled because QE is not allowed into NZ waters because of the dirty hull. More than one passenger has got the email. Bummer if you were planning on flying out of Auckland. Presumably the cruises starting from Auckland in a week or so are also cancelled.

The Zaandam carries about 1400pax - that's not "small" by any definition. Plenty of high-end lines have a maximum of 300 or 600

The last time I arrived home in NZ in November it took a month for me to pick up any NZ cash. Luggage carts are free - uber only works with a card anyway - both the shuttles and taxis take cards . I just don't use cash anymore. And yes the exchange rate has improved a bit (from our perspective). But not that much its 1.58 to 1 according to xe.com 64c US for us - which is pretty "normal" - the rate does move around a lot

Its all motion sickness - same cause - same solutions - I'd be ok on a ship if they'd let me drive!

Not at all - I've been very ill on buses from time-to-time - and in cars I sometimes have to take over the driving to stop it

None of the suggestions above ever did anything for my severe seasickness. Finally found a cure whch worked in the southern ocean south of NZ on a small ship - Scopoderm Hyoscine (patch) | Health Navigator NZ - its a patch that lasts 3 days - it actually means I can cruise in places where I'd never go previously - game changer . Its over the counter in NZ but I know in the US its prescription only

Unlike the interislander ferry that nearly ended up on it a few weeks ago after an engine failure

There are - ex Auckland up to the islands

Haha you don't kiwis very well. We tend to be fairly DIY on trip planning - its noticeable that cruise lines don't tend to bundle cruises with flights here. Plus we are so far away you want to be gone a month minimum to make the flights worth it. We will be in Japan (having cruised there from Sydney) and I'm looking at options to break up the trip coming home. Flying to LA from here is the pits a) its about 13 hours and b) LAX is such an awful airport. So I would never go for a round trip from LA. You can do Hawaii with a repositioning cruise from N America to Australia/NZ in Set/Oct - some of those go to Hawaii - but its only really one port we haven't done - we've been multiple times to Tahiti and Samoa - they don't count as exotic for us. I looked at doing that this year as we are returning from a cruise ex Boston and coming back via several stops in Canada. A number of ships are leaving from Vancouver - but again the ports were duplicates. So we will fly (via Fiji) Also we can't do a trip that is ONLY America - my partner has had health issues and we can't get insurance for JUST the USA - we can get cover if USA is a stopover in a longer trip.

That's what I'm thinking too. We've been to Waikiki and I looked at the costs of going to other islands and was really shocked at the price of everything but particularly Maui from memory. The cruise does seem a very efficient way to travel in this case.

And don't tip in US$ if that is not the currency of the country

*waves* Yes we are branching out to other itineraries and othe rcruise lines but still have QE booked for Japan in 2024! Don't worry about that July date - its always there - something to do with how the rules work - but they will give you credit for post-July trips

They will be given or allowed to pick up some free tests on arrival in NZ - its just near where you do the quarantine declaration at the airport - bags of about 5 individual RAT tests - which work fine for a self-test. If you test positive at the moment in NZ you need to isolate for 7 days - so in that case that would be in their hotel. The person who isn't positive is allowed out but obviously must mask at all times. If you have COVID-19 | Unite against COVID-19 (covid19.govt.nz) They may want to check on their travel insruance coverage for such a case

Who travels with a printer? I used to dutifully print everything out - but noticed no one checked the paper - all they wanted was our passports. So when we embarked in Barcelona after 6 weeks travel around Europe - I printed nothing, no luggage tags, no boarding pass nothing. I did have my booking reference but they didn't want it. Luggage guy asked what cabin we were in - they hand wrote the number on the bags - delayed us about 2 min. The check in counter wanted our passports - nothing else. Trees saved and no more worry about printing anything out ever!

I now claim once I pay the final amount for the cruise 90/120 days prior - doesn't seem to be a problem

For NZ/Australia NCL is currently advertising the 7 day Hawaii Pride of America cruise for prices starting from approx US2,200 to US$2,900 pp inside twin share including the 5 free offers (drinks, dining, $50 excursion credit, wifi) and a low deposit. I'm familar with the prices in Hawaii as we looked at other islands last year and only visited Oahu in the end. This seems like a good deal to me - but I'm cynical about 50% off sales because that's usually off a rate no one ever pays. Plus we don't really need the free offers as with so many ports we won't be drinking much or indeed need the wifi. I'm looking at a date in April 24 (it fits with a trip we're planning to Japan) - should I pick up the phone to my agent or wait?

It's 25 days and we want to fly in carry-on only as we are travelling for a few weeks post-cruise too. The outer layers won't need washing - but we will have base layers and t-shirts that will need some washing - usually once a week is enough . Yeah handwashing is an option - but I can't get them as dry as a spin cycle can - so yes they will take more than 1 day to dry. Its just a port-heavy cruise so I was hoping to not have to bother. Maybe American's don't wear wool that much? I used to use poly-pro - but once you go merino you dont' go back

I totally understand going north in the winter - when its not cyclone season! And yes no reason to go to SA /Tassie from May to October - same as NZ - far too miserable

Did you have to apply for this - we've sailed Cunard so guess we can become 1star mariners too? New to HAL

New to HAL and not having access to a laundromat. We are doing a cold-weather cruise and practically all our clothes are merino wool. These will be destroyed if put through a dryer. Have you had any experience of getting items returned wash only ie damp? They will dry overnight in our cabin no problem

I don't even understand why cruise lines advertise cruises into the cyclone zone during cyclone season

Assuming you are on a UK passport - you don't need a visa - you do need an ETA - the links above are correct.

We are visiting next August too -with similar interests - going to stay in town and see the imigration museum and the citadel