Birubi

Not many cruise ships stop at Stewart Island.  It is a great place to visit from a cruise ship.  I loved the birds and the quiet walk in the forest were we saw one of those rare penguin at the entrance to its burrow.  A real treat was NZ's best fish and chips from a shack near the beach.

We took a private tour from Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation across the Daintree River.  No problems on the way up even though the road had suffered Cyclone damage and was narrower than usual as there was no traffic.  The way back was a little different as we joined a long line of traffic where the road narrowed. We were worried as we needed to make the next ferry across the Daintree to get the tender to the ship.  The hold up turned out to be a long truck that had got stuck on one of the narrow bends, blocking the way.  We had arrived near the end of the intricate maneuvering to free the truck and within 50 mins we were on our way.  The best part was that all the ferry customers were caught by the incident and the ferry waited so we did made it back for the last tender.

In all the private tours we have taken from ships this was the closest we came to being left behind.

Thank you Kiwi Kruzer.

I was thinking about her all day yesterday. 

I'm off to join her for the Cape Town - Ft Lauderdale segment of The World Cruise in just 38 days.

Thank you Lovetotravel, your past was very helpful. :D

My sister and I will be in SPB in July. Trying to work it all out.

Again a gem heard while waiting in line at GS.

 

We had sailed during the time change. An elderly gent wanted to know how much he would be compensated for the 1 hour of his cruise he had lost due to the time change!

 

NO I am NOT kidding!!!

My Dad, all of 90 years old, thought he would have a joke with the Captain. We had just sailed across the International Date Line and 'lost' a day. When he saw the Captain he headed straight for him and complained that he was too old to loose a day. The Captain was duly receptive of the complaint until he saw the humour of it and laughed. The following year we were on another ship, going the the opposite way, with the Captain who had been the butt of Dad's joke the previous year. The Captain recognised Dad when they met. We sailed across the Date line and 'gained' a day. The Captain sent a certificate to Dad, returning the day that was lost the previous year. He still has the certificate and it is the best story we have of our many cruises. :D

Have not stopped laughing since I started reading this thread. Thank you everyone for your contributions. :)

Just back from Diamond Princess and we docked at the timber wharf in Picton. The best view I had when we docked was seeing a great lo-o-ong line of shuttle buses waiting for us. A group from CC had a private tour booked and while on board we got an email from them telling us that things had changed and they were no longer allowed to pick up at the wharf. We had to catch the shuttle into town. No worry, we walked off the ship and straight onto a shuttle bus and were in town and meeting out tour provider in no time. There was a little mix up for some of us as the drop off point was around the corner from the Visitor information centre and we walked around the corner when our tour operator was waiting for us at the drop off point - it was sorted quickly, the drop off point and the Visitor Centre are minutes apart, and we were soon off.

There were literally dozens of tours available from the Visitor Information Centre. The local providers are absolutely tuned to the last shuttle bus and they get all their tours back on time. Our provider even though a small operator, had a back up plan in case something went wrong. This is their living and it is seasonal so they won't mess it up by being late back to the ship.

Lots of advertising on TV for prominent cruise specialists. Had a look and they are offering Obstructed view on Emerald deck for $3381pp for 33 days Circumnavigation on Diamond. Phoned Princess and the best they can offer is over $1000 more and not interested in the fact that someone else is selling so much cheaper.

How can prominent cruise specialist offer this price?

My wife and I will be on Radiance of the Sea in February 2016 and thinking of trying I'm Free walking tours during our day in Melbourne as well during our time in Sydney.

Just wondering what anyone who has used them thought of them and how to get from the cruise port in Melbourne to the start of the walking tour.

I am planning to us I'm Free Walking tours when in port from Diamond Princess in November.

Getting to where the walk starts will be no problem. There is a huge number of volunteers at the port and in the city (easily found because of their bright vest) who will happily give you directions. No worry. :)

It depends on how much bag handling you want to do, there is a lot of bag dragging with the train. When you reach Wynyard Station there is a 250m walk to your hotel.

There are two other options

1. Take a taxi - all information as Globaliser, above has said. The approx. cost is around $60AU

2. Take a shuttle bus. Go to the Concierge desk at the Airport and they will organise it for you. The ride from the airport may take in other hotels before your drop off at Amora Jamison, so it will take a little longer than a taxi. Driver will help with bags. Cost $16AU per person.

PS. Tips not necessary.

Thanks for your suggestions ---I'm going to be delivering mail in Akaroa!

Well done. The Akaroa mail run is a great tour. You get to see some spectacular scenery, hear lots of local gossip, visit small out of the way villages/hamlets and have a wonderful break with coffee and snacks on a quiet beach. I have the most amazing photo collection of the mail boxes we visited so just a suggestion to keep your camera handy for some very unusual mail boxes. Enjoy your day.:)

They can build all the mega ships they want. I won't be on them. I do understand that they are in the business to make money. But I cruise to get away and relax. Being in that kind of a crowd is not relaxing for me. I am so hoping that they keep the Pacific Princess. We would rather cruise less and be on a small ship than try to tender into a port with 6000 passengers.

I totally agree. The image of tendering ashore with 6000 others at the numerous tender ports in the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand is really scary.:eek:

We are planning a Holland America Cruise for Sept' date=' 2016 From Seattle, WA to Australia and New Zealand. It goes around Australia and then around New Zealand. it ends in Auckland ( 66 days). My question is. Is there enough to do staying on the ship in Auckland for 14 more days and repeating the same ports again in New Zealand ? ( Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Picton, Akaroa, Port Chalmers, Burnie, ) that leg of the cruise ends in Sydney where we would fly home This is our first time to this area THANKS Marty[/quote']

 

Hi Marty. What a grand tour.

 

There is definitely enough to do in each of the ports when you visit them twice. Tauranga 1. visit Rotorua the thermal area 2. stay local, the local bus in the morning then a swim in the thermally heated pools in the afternoon. Napier 1. the town 2. a wine tour Akaroa 1. see if you can book with the Mail tour 2. pick up a dolphin and wildlife cruise on the dock then after that take a walk around the town. Endless choices in Wellington and Port Chalmers do a search on the net. Burnie you will love and just want to go back. Get off the ship early and take the shuttle to the Tourist Hub get a ticket on the hop on hop off bus and visit the look out, the Rhododendron Garden, the Whisky Distillery (don't get off if you don't like whisky) then wander through the national park where you may see platypus (we did) then visit the Street Museum. Next time think about an out of town tour.

Just a few ideas but you could probably find lots more by looking in Ports here on the Message Board Forums or Googling.

It is unfortunately an in transit day and not only that we are in at 7am and out at 4 pm.

 

I am starting to think we may have to go with a shore excursion after all.

 

 

Any thoughts about the Koala Sanctuary park? it is combined with a drive through Sydney and ending with a Parametta cruise.

It really depends on what you want to do with your day. You could be off the ship around 8am and walking away from the Terminal. Back by 3 will give you 7 hours.

If you choose to go to Balmain East Ferry Terminal and take a ferry around to Circular Quay as suggested by cassamanda, you could then choose to take another ferry to the Zoo for Aussie animals and great views of the Harbour or to Manly, a Harbour beach suburb with great cafes and shops along the esplanade.

You could take a bus to Bondi see the city, see the suburbs and finally the beach with places to eat and shop.

Sydney is easy to do by yourself.

When my sister and I had an in transit day in Sydney because we were doing a B2B we enjoyed a very nice day. We walked out of the terminal with the idea of walking to the bus and taking it to the Balmain East Wharf and taking the ferry to the Quay. Instead of going to the bus we decided to take the first road we came to and walk through the suburb. We did get lost but asked a passer by to point us in the right direction and he offered to accompany us which was nice as he chattered about the area. I think that we could have easily found our way by ourselves. We finally come to the main shopping street where we got a bus to the Wharf. The walk is hilly but manageable, the streets and buildings were interesting and the main street had numerous places to have a coffee. The trip on the harbour was lovely and once around at Circular Quay we decided to go to the Opera House and do one of their tours. Returning to Circular Quay we took a ferry to Darling Harbour where we had food. There were a number of things to do there. On that day there was a shuttle bus from Darling Harbour back to the ship but if that is not on offer then I would suggest a ferry back to Balmain East then the bus and a return walk or taxi to the ship.

I'm pleased to have found you all.

Sorry I can't make it tomorrow but I will look forward to meeting you at a future get together. Have a great time.

Thankyou Bodogbodog and bearone and others for some very helpful information. We will be in Picton in November and I am very pleased to have seen your posts.

We have sailed into Melbourne twice since Myki. Both times there was a Myki counter for purchase of a pack which also had lots of concessions to attractions and free offers for other things like coffees. The first time we purchased a pack, had a great time in Melbourne and kept the card just in case we ever returned to the city. The next time we were able to top up our Myki at the counter (didn't get the freebies though).

Sunshine5240

They won't let you have a seniors Myki but I would suggest that it is the way to go. Buy a pack at the Myki counter in the Cruise Terminal and you will get "freebies" and a map of the city transit system. The bus just outside the Terminal or the tram which you have to walk the length of the pier and a little bit further to get, are a very easy and cheap way to get into the city and back again.

You're welcome , and congratulations on your cruise ! We were going to do this cruise , this year but we got a really good price last year so off we went . To answer your question , we were on the first tender in Puerto Montt . We went down early to insure our place because we also had an early private tour and it's a long day and a long drive . In our case the tender wasn't full , so we left fairly quickly and partially empty . In our experience in South America , the guides always waited until we showed up - so no worries , O K ? Enjoy your cruise :) :D

Thank you so much, this has calmed me down a great deal.:) Thank you for your good wishes. I think we will have an amazing cruise judging from your pictures.

Thank you scubacruiserx2 for the great pictures and lots of lovely commentary.

My sister and I are about to take our cruise on Zaandam leaving Valparaiso on 30th Jan.

My biggest worry is the tender process at Puerto Montt. How long did it take from the time you got your tender ticket until you got ashore? I have a private tour booked and wonder if I will make it as the pick up time outside the dock is 9.30am.

any comments would be greatly appreciated.

We do the same as Blue Elephant, book the bus for 11am then we make a leisurely departure from the ship and arriving earlier at the bus terminal have always been able to change our booking and take the next bus.

We do the same when arriving back by plane as the bus company also picks up at the airport.

As The Big M says it is usually no problem getting away from the terminal very early but it is good to have some extra time as a contingency just in case of delays.

Our experience of HAL organised flights was a nightmare.

The original flight plan we agreed to was a direct flight into Vancouver from Sydney scheduled to land at 7am on the day of departure. The ship was due to depart early evening. A few days before departure HAL revised our booking so that we were departing Sydney via Auckland, a longer flight leaving later and putting us in Vancouver less than 2 hours before the ship was due to depart. We remonstrated with HAL and their only answer was that they had "Next port protection" in place. All well and good but we could not get any information about this protection - like did it cover three days of accommodation and food before we were able to board the ship in the next port?

We tried to change the flights to arrive the day before departure but we were told that we would loose the fares already paid and would have to pay for new flights.

We assumed that there must have been a large group on the plane going to the ship and that they would hold the ship for us - wrong, we were the only passengers on the plane who were going to the ship.

We flew Air New Zealand, they were amazing. They had us off that plane before any one else and there was a HAL welcomer at the door of the plane who got us through the airport in record time. Standing on the curb waiting for a taxi we had just 40 mins to get to the ship in the peak hour traffic.

We ran onto the ship over the last gangway, with our luggage and were escorted to our cabin. We were deposited in the cabin with our luggage and left to it but the cabin was not ready for us. There were clothes in the cupboards, the beds were not made up and the bathroom was not in order. Then the phone rang and the Guest Relations Manager was telling me that they were going to put us off the ship as we had not attended the Safety Drill. I saw RED and said "Send a steward down to help us with our luggage and we will happily get off as it was obvious that they were not expecting us to make the ship seeing as how the room was not ready for us."

I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Yes, within minutes all the top brass were at our door, the Guest Relations Manager, the Hotel Manager - I can't remember who else but the hall was full of them.

They were all apologies and suggested we go and have our dinner and when we returned the room would be in order, which it was. Said that they would never do such a thing as put us off the ship. Said that they did expect us to board that day and had no idea about our unbelievable travel arrangements.

The story about the room was that the previous steward had departed the ship that morning and the new steward assumed that the room was in order. The new Steward was made to apologise in writing.

My suggestion about taking HAL air is DON'T. Save yourself the stress.

Thank you everyone for the great information you have posted. We are on the Jan 30 sailing and your experiences recorded here have really increased my excitement about going. I have noted the Hot Chocolate at Ushuaia, the best photo spots, must see penguins and internet suggestions - Thanks :)

Serendipity1499 Just loved the 'straw hat' idea. So clever using stuff you found and it would have been fun doing it too.

Ok,

I should have ?? :-)

Absolutely. I got mine up the islands and wore it on Melbourne Cup day on Volendam. It has had a few trips out since like Fancy Hat Day at my Service Club and Cup Day at the neighbourhood club. A pretty little head confection could be very useful on many and varied occasions. Although I must admit I baulked at wearing it at the wedding of my friend's son. :)

 

It just depends on if the cruise director is in to it. :D

I agree, it was great fun when the Cruise Director was an Aussie. On Melbourne Cup Day everyone was encouraged to "dress up", ladies with fascinators please. There were all sorts of activities and parties and we got TV coverage of the race.