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All of this information is very helpful. Thanks to everyone for posting.

Another vote for the M Social. We stayed for 5 nights and really enjoyed our stay, although there was not a lot of storage space in the room so we were never really able to unpack. Great location if you are sailing from Princes Wharf, which is literally just across the street. Good location also for sightseeing and public transportation and there are plenty of restaurants in the area. As for things to do ... I recommend the Maritime Museum which is just a 2-minute walk. Since you are there for 4 days, try to pre-book a sail on the museum's Ted Ashby; this is a one-hour trip on a heritage sailboat that will allow you to view the harbour from the water and sail under the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Photo below taken from on board the Ted Ashby as it was leaving the museum -- shows Princes Wharf on the left and the M Social on the right (it's the low-rise building; you can see the green "L" of the hotel name).

Congratulations on the new grandbaby! Thanks for taking the time to post this great review. We took the Edge from Auckland to Sydney and February and visited many of the ports so enjoyed the chance to relive some of that trip through this review.

Perfect! Thank you.

Thanks so much, StrawberryHill. This info is just what I needed. Sounds much easier than our original plan!

Just catching up with this thread now. Wondering how easy it is to find the Princess bus at Victoria Coach Station. Staying at a London hotel and thinking it will be easier to take a taxi to Victoria Coach Station and transfer from there than go back out to Heathrow (on Heathrow Express) and connect with Princess there. Also, I am assuming the shuttle would take us directly to the ship in Southampton, with no further taxi required at that end. Trying to minimize the amount of walking. Any details would be very helpful.

We were happy with pre-arranged service provided by QuickShuttle. We could have just taken taxi or Uber, but we arranged with QuickShuttle for a half-hour stop at Mt. Eden to enjoy some city views along the way.

We asked the room steward for a kettle on a recent New Zealand cruise and it was delivered promptly. I found it easier to ask for a specialty tea bag at Cafe al Bacio and brew the tea in the room rather than try to carry a brewed tea from the Cafe.

Yes, I see what you mean. I failed to word my original post clearly. Thanks for setting me straight. Cheers.

Wow. I can't imagine any circumstances where I would reply with "nonsense" to a post made by someone just trying to be helpful by relating their own experience. Yes, you can wave your hand and get help, you are correct. But that doesn't mean that anything in my post was incorrect or nonsense. QR codes exist, robots exist -- not everywhere, of course, but I did not say that this was a universal experience.

We also noticed that many casual restaurants in New Zealand and Australia have menu available via a QR code displayed at the table. Order and pay on your phone and your meal will be delivered to you. And in one place, our meal was delivered by robot as well. Very impersonal and difficult to get any advice or make any changes or requests.

Imho, you could do worse ... gotta love that créme brulée!

Oh no! Best wishes for his rapid recovery.

Thank you so much to both SindbadThePorter and yarramar for all of these really useful information. And even a map! Wow! Adding Stanwell Tops and avocado toast at the Imperial Hotel to our itinerary and we will see how much time we have to range further afield. have googled all the points you both have suggested and the scenery is stunning. So much to see! Wishing I had 2 extra days now! Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my query.