oskarNZ

4 hours ago, mr walker said:

 

Feeling for someone who has been wronged is empathy, being offended on their behalf is something different.

How so?

Are you suggesting that those of us who are Māori were fine with what Princess staff did and everyone else was feeling annoyed when we weren’t?   If so, that is not the case.  
 

Or are you suggesting that empathetic feeling can only include sadness, not annoyance or offence?  If so, again not the case.  
 

Perhaps I missed something in the stream of the thread and a different incident to the Princess one was being referred to? 

20 minutes ago, lissie said:

Don't be sad - it really is just very bad luck. The tours take you to the rim - actually you are required to stay 5m back from the edge  as its under-cut. The tours is very well run - we were in small groups and not allowed to wander freely. My partner was feeling unwell - and he was allowed to stay on the beach - but only if he stayed in view of the watch on the boat. 

By ‘sad’, I am guessing that they are referring to those who are missing and injured. There is a chance they are those who were standing near the rim.

There’s a lack of concrete info coming through at present, but here’s hoping everyone survives the eruption. 

19 hours ago, mr walker said:

 

Often though it is people not of that 'race' being offended on behalf of the people of that 'race'. That is what I have an issue with.

If staff ran off the ship in Cabo San Lucas with bronze painted faces and ponchos they’d picked up from an Inuit themed store during an Alaskan cruise, and they danced around a hat calling “Arriba Arriba” (because that’s about the extent of Mexican ‘culture’ they’d got from watching a few cartoons), then, yes, this Non-Mexican would be offended on behalf of the locals.  

There’s nothing wrong with being offended on behalf of someone else.  It’s part of empathy and social understanding. 

So sorry to hear how long these fires have been going for and just how widespread the issue is.  It really is terrible and I have been following along seriously hoping some of the rain we have been getting here heads your way instead.  I say some as I doubt you want all of it.
 

A month or so ago the ground was so dry where I live and fire risk was so high that even starting up lawn mowers was banned at the risk of creating a spark.  Now we are getting so much rain that the lake is lapping at town and dozens of shops have had to sandbag. The threat of serious flooding has now become all too real.  

It’s such a concern what’s happening with these changing weather patterns and how they’re effecting our different environments.  

*they’re

Sorry it irks me when people get their, there and they’re mixed up.  And it really irks me when I do it.  😝

17 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

Princess cannot win!  And I feel no sympathy for those who claim to be offended -- ....

 

 

I am one who does find it distasteful.  
While I don’t think for a second that they were trying to be intentionally racist, their actions show a complete lack of awareness of Māori culture and I can understand why people feel offended.  
 

It is hard to explain tikanga (Māori culture/custom) to someone who doesn’t live and breath it, but the act of ceremoniously welcoming someone to our homeland is taken seriously.  The role is usually only given to people with experience and respectful status. Likewise, not all Māori have moko (facial tattoos), but if they do, they tell a story and are culturally significant.   
 

The issue here is not that these ‘welcomers’ were a race other than Māori, it’s that they clearly had no knowledge or understanding of the race they were trying to mimic.  
 

It’s like they had picked up the grass skirts from some costume shop in Hawaii, they modelled their face paint from some kind of pretend army war game and they’re throwing around a couple of actions they might have seen on tv during a rugby match. 
 

It’s hard to explain, but perhaps it would be like if the crew ran off the ship in Sydney with some random wigs, sheets around their waists, and started blowing into a big piece of plastic piping trying to pretend their aborigine?

OP, you can use credit cards for almost everything here in NZ - we are mostly a cashless society.  
In saying that, as mentioned above, Visa and MasterCard are the main ones.  Amex is less widely accepted.   
 

Some things in NZ have surcharges, but the majority don’t.  Although, I can’t speak specifically for taxis as I almost never catch them.  
We have Uber in our biggest cities, but it won’t be in the smaller ports such as Picton, Bay of Islands etc.  

4 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

Credit cards are not a problem, but there is a 5% surcharge in NSW. Other states differ.

Hi The Big M,

Is this just for taxis or everything?  I have a couple of days in Sydney next month and just planned on using the Visa for dining, entertainment etc.  If there is a 5% surcharge on everything, I might research alternatives.

4 hours ago, cheznandy said:

Here is some lovely pink in our cabin.....we get a towel animal everyday!!

The white framing around the window appears to be new but sadly i can't see anything else, definately not the bedding, sheets or towels, or curtains.

 

 

 

 

Oh, that’s a real shame.  I thought refreshed cabins (new bedding, cabin furniture etc) would be the minimum in what they hailed to be a pretty big drydock and I was looking forward to sleeping in a cabin that felt a bit new.  
On the plus side though, I guess it’s good to know in advance that the changes have been much more minimal than I expected and lower my expectations accordingly.  I would have been quite disappointed when boarding the ship otherwise.  

Pleased to hear that you were treated kindly with some unexpected gifts.  Small gestures can go a long way. 

Thanks heaps Cheznandy for checking in and giving us an update.  Anything more you provide, including prices, will be read with much interest.

I had read some of the issues you mentioned (broken lifts, laundry and poor rendering) on their Facebook page, plus a few people complaining of cold water. I guess teething problems are to be expected, but I hope they sort them quickly for the rest of your cruise.  
 

It’s a shame to hear about old furniture.  You’d think in a big drydock that would be the first thing to go and be replaced.  
 

Great though to hear the cabins are good.  We have an oceanview on deck 2, so hopefully ours will feel spacious like yours does. Have they spruced up the cabins with new bedding and a lick of paint?  Also, is the ship still mostly all pink?

I did wonder about there being only one pool for families?  I’d imagine the pool decks get very crowded.   Are they good at policing chair hogs?  
 

Sorry about all the questions.  I’m very very curious to learn as much as possible 😊

I travelled to the ABC Islands at the start of the year and enjoyed them all.  But my family did enjoy Curacao and Bonaire quite a bit more than Aruba. Aruba just felt so developed it didn’t have the same charm as the other 2.  Plus the excursions we did on Bonaire and Curacao were excellent - I’d recommend them whole-heartedly.

They are outlined in posts 15 and 16 of this thread.

54 minutes ago, cheznandy said:

We are currently in Singapore, boarding tomorrow.
Happy to let you know of the changes they have made.
I won't have free internet like on Princess, and probably wont purchase any unless there is a good deal, so might not make any posts or photo's until we reach Darwin and can use my own data.

Stay tuned


Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk
 

Awesome.  Thanks so much. 
 

Have a great cruise.  

Tomorrow people will be boarding Carnival Splendor for the first time post drydock as she heads to Sydney.

As someone who is cruising on the Splendor next month, I am excited to see what changes and upgrades have been made.  In particular, I’m keen to see if any colour changes have been made to all that pink. 
 

Is anyone going to be on this Singapore - Sydney cruise who would be happy sharing some of the updates with us?
 

Thanks in advance.

6 hours ago, IslandThyme said:

Is wh always pronounced as f, or only at the beginning of a word?

 

I wonder if I can manage to terrify timid passengers with drop bear tales. 

Depending on one’s tribal affiliations, the letters wh are either pronounced as ‘w’ or ‘f’.  From my experience the ‘f’ sound is more common.

Pronunciation doesn’t depend on where the letters are placed in the word.

Compared to learning English, te reo Māori pronunciation is actually relatively easily.  (Not that you would think so given how poorly many kiwis pronounce Māori words).  I would argue that the only tricky thing to learn is the blending of vowels (such as the ia in Kia Ora, the āo in māori or the au in Tauranga).  Te Reo Māori certainly isn’t plagued with ‘exceptions to the rules’, like English is.  

There are 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) which all make only one sound each.  

/a/ as in the a in car

/e/ as in the e in egg

/i/ as in the ea in eat

/o/ as in the o in tore

/u/ as in oo in moo

Then there are just 10 consonants (k, h, m, n, ng, p, r, t, w, wh) which always pair with 1-2 vowels to make a syllable.  

E.g.  Whakapapa ski field is broken up into Wha-ka-pa-pa.  Matamata (where Hobbiton is located) is broken into Ma-ta-ma-ta, Tauranga is broken into Tau-ra-nga, and Rotorua is Ro-to-ru-a

If you’ve ever learnt how to speak Japanese, Te Reo is very similar.  

FYI - a thong is underwear in NZ.  

We call our flip flops “jandals” and you aren’t a true-blooded kiwi unless you own at least one pair.  

On 8/20/2019 at 7:06 AM, slowkat said:

We are going from Sydney to Honolulu, thru Samoa, fiji and New Caledonia.  The CDC recommends Hep A & Typhoid but if you are on a cruise ship and not drinking the water or eating on shore, are these really needed?.  They are very costly too $85-120.00 each. Anyone have any experience with this??

 

Thank you

The risk of getting either is low, but not non-existent, so only you can decide what the risk is worth.  

The Pacific Island destinations you mention are popular vacation spots for people at my end of the world and I know people often travel to them unvaccinated. Probably the same way many people visit the Caribbean Islands unvaccinated, despite the fact that both of these vaccinations are widely recommended there also.   

I would argue though that the Hep A vaccination is worth getting regardless.  Especially if you enjoy travelling. It’s recommended for destinations all over the world, so it’s long-term piece of mind by getting yourself covered.  I travelled a lot before getting it and feel a bit silly for doing so.  It is expensive, but once you’re covered, you’re covered for life.  

I have been to Fiji on resort-based holidays quite a few times.  I’ve been to Honolulu a few times and I’m cruising to New Caledonia in December. and decided, based on the specific locations I visited and activities I chose to do, not to get the Typhoid vaccine.  I’m not saying that to sway you one way or another, just providing a personal account.  

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The grats are only included for cruises in the Australasian region though and some, but not all, repositioning cruises. Cruise in other regions and the grats are extra even if you pay the fare in AUD or NZD.

Unless it’s changed again in the last year, they’re included with Celebrity.  

We cruised around the Southern Caribbean and paid in NZ dollars.  Our gratuities were included and therefore couldn’t even be chosen as a ‘free’ perk.  

I thought it was now the same with Royal Caribbean, but I could be wrong.

15 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I prepay them if that option is available. Then it's over and done with before the cruise.

Same.  It’s easier just to factor them into the overall cruise cost right from the beginning.  

Many cruise lines, when booking through an .com.au or .co.nz version of their website, include the gratuity in the fare anyway as they know those of Downunder don’t like looking at them as an extra expense.  I’m one of those people, so prepay them whenever they’re not included.  

Where I live, it infuriates the rate paying residents no end that travellers can save thousands to get here, but as soon as they arrive they tighten their purse strings at the expense of the locals or the environment (For example, they won’t pay for official camp grounds where they can usually purposefully set up rubbish, laundry and bathroom facilities, because they argue that they are too expensive).  

I fully believe that travel is a luxury, and it is our responsibility to do it conscientiously and in line with local customs and beliefs. If money is a barrier to that, we simply save for longer or cut back on unnecessary luxuries.   

I know tipping is a horrid custom that most kiwis and Aussies deplore, but it is a custom none-the-less, and one those servers rely on to earn an honest living.  What will happen if you stop the tips: essentially you will be expecting people to work for you for way less than minimum wage.  

I had a particular interest in onboard activities and despite all the “everything costs extra” comments, the lack of concrete examples was ironically reassuring.  

There are still mainstream cruise lines I’m keen to try (the info about Royal Caribbean was particularly useful) so in that respect, this thread has been useful.  

8 hours ago, lifes-a-beach said:

“Johnny, tell her what she’s won!”  “Well Jack, She’s won the Cruise Critic Least Effective Statement Award!”    *audience applause*   “And the Least Likely Objective to Achieve on Cruise Critic Medallion!”   *more audience applause*

 

😂🤣

Meh

2 hours ago, IslandThyme said:

 

 

I had to Google the Treaty of Waitangi, and would be thrilled if someone would give me a proper education in those issues while I'm in NZ.

You may not be able to open this link as it’s a NZ publication, but if you can, it’s worth a read.

http://instructionalseries.tki.org.nz/content/download/41214/459731/file/SJSL-L4-Te-Tiriti-o-Waitangi-spreads.pdf

It’s from a school journal (a free publication for NZ school children).  This one is aimed at kids in the roughly 10-14year old bracket, but I would argue that it explains the Treaty (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) better than pretty much anything else I’ve read.  

The debate now revolves around how many Treaty settlements are needed before we leave the mistakes of history in our past and move on.  This is what polarises people.  

From everything you’ve said, I think you will fit just fine here in NZ.  I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Which places are you visiting?  

8 hours ago, twodaywonder said:

I agree. Still, a cruise is the best bang for the buck for a vacation.

I love National Parks and these usually provide me with my best value vacations. 

However, I agree that for all a cruise offers, most mainstream lines are still very good value for money.  Plus it’s such a relaxing, enjoyable vacation choice.  

4 hours ago, IslandThyme said:

Drat, I am always interested in discussing politics wherever I go, and am sorry to hear that it might be considered intrusive. On the one hand I feel inspired to apologize for the inanity and insanity of our so-called President, and on the other hand I'm always very curious to learn about the world views of people in the countries I visit. So I should steer clear of all that in your part of the world?

Maybe that’s more of an Australian thing as many Kiwis don’t mind discussing politics at all (unless it bores them).  I love talking politics and would probably moan much less now, given that I really like our Prime Minister for the first time in ages.  

In saying that, you should tread lightly around the Treaty of Waitangi as it creates many strong polarising views here in NZ.  I identify with both my Māori and Pakeha (white) side and would happily discuss the rights and wrongs of our past and present from both a historical and somewhat more ‘middle of the fence’ perspective. But know that there are many strong opinions and history has done a lot of people wrong, so it could be a subject you wait for others to bring up.

Also, do know that not too many NZers like your president or gun laws.  If a discussion about politics begins and shifts to your country, there is a chance this could come up.  I only say that as it’s probably best to avoid political conversation at all of this might make you uncomfortable.