kiwipete

We did this from Tauranga on our Dawn Princess cruise in December.

If you intend to have lunch in Matamata then I would suggest using the Matamata i site. It costs you no more and the i site is quite interesting in itself.

Our tickets cost us $75 NZ from the web site and we had a fabulous time. We chose the "Cider" free drink in the Green Dragon and really enjoyed it.

Have promised our grand daughter that we will take her, we enjoyed it so much.

Enjoy.

When you get to Russell look for "Russell Mini Tours"

This is a short bus tour, with comentary, to areas that are too far to walk.

Thoroughly recommended. And I am NOT associated with this tour in any way.

Enjoy

Pete

Thanks Trevor

We're under way!!! Hope the Tasman is kind to us!!!!!!!

It's 9.20pm Melbourne time and we're still here so I guess Diamond will miss out on an evening in Melbourne

They must not be as stringent with the cleaning as they need to be if they keep getting repeat outbreaks. Seems like something is getting missed or not cleaned well. I would hate to be in that predicament and feel sorry for those affected.

We are currently on board this cruise ( and both of us have had it) but believe me they are VERY thorough with their cleaning. The cause is people who should remain in their cabins going walk about whilst still infected. There have even been people "in quarantine" who have tried to go ashore but been blocked at the gang way because their cruise card has been marked on the computer!!!!!!

DO NOT BLAME THE CRUISE LINE blame those selfish passengers.

(Incidentally the number is a lot higher than 200!

My tuxxedo has joined me on every cruise

And mine, Paul. Nice to get dressed up once in a while!

You can use ‘debark’ or ‘disembark’ interchangeably. Both are verbs and both have the same meaning. If you use an incorrect tense no one will care. Americans are very free wheeling with the English language.

If you debark when you get off does that mean you bark when you get on??

Sounds pretty rough (sorry ruff) to me.

Yes it SNOWED (real snow) on Diamond whist Santa was giving out presents to the younger kids on Christmas morning! Now to get snow in the Antipodes during their summer months is quite something. So make sure you pack some jumpers for the snow storm.

Happy Christmas everyone,

Hopefully Sea Princess's troubles are behind her.

I thought modern cruise ships were almost independent of tugs. I know that Dawn is an older ship but thought she had thrusters and could have managed to get alongside.

Hope this doesn't happen on her next cruise because we will be on board and would love a day in Wellington.

Kiwipete, the two times I have used the shuttle the drop off point in town has been the information centre at the seaside gardens.

 

Karryl

Thanks Karryl

You can get the shuttle to drop you off at the Port security gate and your visitor could meet you there. There is public parking on the road which is above that gate

The other option is for them to meet you at the shuttle drop off point in Napier.

I'd suggest ensuring that you have a mobile that you can contact them from or vice versa

We are lucky that Crystal allows visitors on board so we wanted our visitors from to be able to come to the ship

Many thanks Bodogbodog, I think we'll make it at the drop off point.

If some one is meeting you in Napier, and you can't walk to the dock gate, what is the best arrangement to make to meet them?

Last I heard they were no longer on Princess ships but were living back in England and working in civi street.

A great loss to Princess!!!

Sorry to disagree with you Bazzaw but we have sailed a number of times with P&O Australia (always on the Pearl) and on all 3 "Sun class" Princess ships and we have always found the dress code in the main main dining room to be better on the Princess ships. At least some make the effort to dress up on formal nights.

I dare say this is due, in the main, to the relative age dynamics, the younger age group being much more casual.

Kiwipete I was on the same cruise and while there was a place to get coffee and drinks on deck 5 in the Atrium it was called the Lobby Bar and only had pastries/sandwiches etc available from a covered platter on the raised bar. There were a few bar stools to use as well as a number of tub chairs and small round tables. It was a very popular spot at times and could be hard to get a table. I remember this as I liked to go down there in the afternoon on the sea days to wait for the Cookie Man with his cart of milk and freshly baked cookies yum.:p

On the Sun Princess the new International Cafe is like a bakery shop where there are glass cabinets which are filled with tempting treats which you ask to be put on a plate for you.

 

Karryl

My apologies Karryl, you are correct. We were on the Sun last November and the Diamond early this year so I was confused!!! at least I can blame my age!!!

I will now go back to my rocking chair.

Oh damn.... I thought I read somewhere that it was put on during the re-fit. Shame it wasn't' date=' I was looking forward to it. :([/quote']

 

It sure does, well it did have on our Sydney to Singapore early this year.

But that was before it's Asianisation dry dock. Hope they didn't take it out. Most unlikely.

We have cruised between NZ and Aus with Passports that have had less than 6 months remaining without any problems. (I guess it's a case of Aus and NZ trusting each other.)

I think this 6 months limit is brought on by the airline not wanting to be responsible for persons not being accepted at the destination and therefore have the cost of repatriating them to port of origin.

the most beautiful, diverse, cosmopolitan, innovative, and desirable 47 square miles in the USA.

As people who are not American and live outside the USA, we fully agree!!:):)

NZ has certainly gotten plenty of my hard earned over the years.:D

Great news. We need as much as we can get!!!!!!!! LOL

We have done one Alaska cruise from Vancouver, on Diamond Princess, and one from San Francisco, on Sea Princess. If I tell you we are booked on Golden from San Francisco to Alaska next year you'll know which one we prefer.

a) We just love San Francisco. Our favorite USA city by far. Now been there 7 times. Just a different atmosphere from any other city.

b) Love sea days. Always something to do, if you want to. And sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge is a thrill you will never forget.

The choice is yours but we would recommend as above.

Pete

If the article is so flawed why is it that many passengers on cruise ships arrange their own excursions in ports rather than take what is often referred to as overpriced ship arranged tours.

This is good for local trade though! Another benefit from visiting ships.

Will the ship be denominated in Australian Dollars, or can we use USD as our currency onboard? I am getting conflicting reports. Thanks!

Currency remains US dollars. (Our favourite ship!)

No worries, let me know if there is anything else I can help out with.:D

Unfortunately no cars available on our day (12th December) so will have to look elsewhere or think of something else to do!

We are booked with Hertz.:D

Thanks MicCanberra