Travrat

We walked to JetBlue but I don’t remember which terminal it was. It took about 10 minutes. LAX is a horrible airport. It is not passenger friendly at all. They have a shuttle bus between the terminals but you have to load your luggage on and off by yourself so it’s actually easier to walk if you can

If you arrive at TBI and are taking a domestic flight on Delta you can use the luggage carts but have to exit TBI and walk outside to Delta. When you get to Delta you need to recheck your luggage and go through security again

We just did a nice tour with The Wine Tasting Company. Nidia was a great tour guide and only 6 people in the van. Went to Batch Winery, Casita Miro(not to be missed!), and Mudbrick. She gave an option for where you want to have lunch(cost not included). I highly recommend. We purchased our ferry tickets online

Thanks. Do you happen to remember where in CBD they drop you? Is it walking distance to The Rocks or Circular Quay?

Does anyone know if Oceania provides a free shuttle from White Bay Cruise terminal to CBD or anywhere in downtown Sydney? The shuttle list says no shuttle only taxis available. If anyone has docked there recently can you provide info on this. Currently on Nautica and we will be there in5 days.

If you want a nice personal winery visit contact Geoff Wright the owner of a small boutique winery. He picked us up at the tender wharf and gave us a short tour in Gisborne then brought us out to his place for a lovely tasting and cheese plate. Very enjoyable. geoff@wrightswines.co.nz

We are doing it now. Be prepared as it is not smooth sailing! Last night the ship was tilted 30 degrees and going up and down and side to side. Trays of dishes and wine buckets were crashing to the floor in the dining room- on Oceania Nautica

I do believe the Nautica has a spa and a spa terrace

Thanks. What did you do there?

Can you tell me how long the tender took to get to the tender Wharf?

Thanks. I’ll check it out

That’s a lot of questions. The excursion is a catamaran tour in Bay of Islands, NZ. It is not private. I believe there are maximum of 14 participants. According to the current info from O we anchor at 8:00AM and depart at 6:00PM. The tour begins at 10:00AM in Paihia. From the tender wharf there is a shuttle to a different location(it is supposed to be 5 minutes) then a 5 to 10 minute walk to where the catamaran is in Paihia. The excursion I would prefer to take is in another location, Russel, which would require a 15 to 20 minute ferry from Paihia. I think that one is too risky so chose the one that leaves from Paihia. It seems that I should not have a problem getting there by 9:45 but if all the O excursions have priority and I can’t get on one of the earliest tenders I may not make it. The tour company explicitly says they will NOT wait for cruise passengers under any circumstances. I am not sure how long the tender ride is to the location where we get the shuttle bus. This is why I asked the person who said the tender took 40 minutes in a port in NZ if it was Bay of Islands.

This will be my fifth O cruise. I find their shore excursion program to be weak and the shore excursion team unknowledgeable about most ports of call. They couldn’t tell me where their drop off location was on their “London on your own” tour. They said it is somewhere in Central London- we’ll that narrows it down lol. This is just an example.

No. I don’t usually schedule DIY excursions in tender ports.

Perhaps “not allow” was an incorrect choice of words but giving priority to those on O excursions leaves few if any spaces for independent passengers. I am hesitant to book the excursion I would like to take because I cannot be guaranteed a place on one of the early tenders which I would need to be on.