hematocrit

Great idea, you'll have a better idea of what to see in each port. Also cruises sometimes visit different ports - some visit Picton others Napier.

David,

Please add me to 25 January 2019 Majestic Princess 12 days to New Zealand.

Thanks

We sailed from Brisbane to PNG three weeks ago and did not require the green departure cards then.

We were recently on Emerald Princess and the Platinum/Elits lounge had a reasonable number of people most nights. Cocktails were as listed on the previous posts @ AUD7 and nibbles in plentiful supply. I found it to be a great place for a quiet relaxing pre-dinner drink.

Passengers are being allowed to leave ship and shuttle busses laid on to Dunedin. "All on Board" by 5pm, so we won't be leaving before 6pm at earliest (24 hours late) then sailing direct to Sydney - so missing out on the Sounds!

All very sad on board at the tragic death.

There's usually a free shuttle to the Sydney Memorial from the Main Street, but sometimes there can be a considerable wait depending on the size of the cruise s ship. However it's well worth the effort as the memorial is a very special and moving experience.

We've celebraed our Diamond (60th) anniversary on 8th September,sailing on Pacific Jewel. Booked a celebration package at Salt restaurant but not all went exactly to plan as Julie was confined to her cabin with gastro on that special day :( However, managed to delay our celebration for a couple of days, so still enjoyed the champagne and tender steaks.

...and on 12/9 the heli-evacuation from off of Willis Island was for a heart attack patient. On that cruise (J635) the Jewel also turned back to Brisbane on its northward passage to evacuate a crew member with suspected appendicitis.

She seems to be making a record for evacuations just lately.

Getting really excited now as we set sail next Tuesday :D

Certainly recommend that you try to share a rental car with others that are used to driving on the left hand side of the road - and get them to drive at night. Also an overnight at Matamata would make your busy itinerary less stressful.

Whatever you do, don't miss Hobbiton, its guaranteed to please even during the day.

We were on Norwegian Jewel for an Inside Passage voyage and love the ship; just the right size for us. The selection of restaurants and any-time dining was ideal and staff service couldn't be faulted. We'll certainly be cruising with her agaon providing NCL doesn't overprice the Australian cruises.

Dan Princess required repairs to seals on the shafts. It had divers inspecting the shaft at Noumea and left there about 30 minutes early. Made a good speed to Sydney and arrived at OPT just before midnight on 18/5. Passengers were not allowd to disembark before about 0730 on Thursday 19/5. It needed all day on 19/5 to complete the underwater repairs.

Happy Easter to all cruisers.

Celebrate Easter with love, peace, and joy in your hearts at the wonder of the risen Christ.

Hi winrob,

We will be on the Dawn's 5 May cruise also and are looking forward to some more settled weather as May is usually pretty good.

You are almost neighbours as we are from Port Macquarie! I recommend that you register on the Roll Call for this cruise as you can then read information and comments directly applicable to this cruise. If there's enough registering, we may even get a Meet & Mingle session.

Derek

David,

Please add us on the following cruise:

05 May .. hematocrit .. Dawn Princess .. Sth Pacific & Fiji ex Syd. 14 nights

Thanks

Hi, we are Derek & Julie. Looking forward to our cruise on Dawn Princess on 5 May 2016

Helicopter flights from Tauranga can take you over White Island - an active marine volcano. Frontier Helicopters can even land you on the volcano! Other helicopter flights from Tauranga can take you over the thermal areas around Rotorua.

Thanks for these great photos.

Now we are looking forward even more to our visit there on the Pacific Eden next February. This is an interesting cruise, calling at Eden, Portland and Kangaroo Island instead of the usual capital cities.

Oops!! I clearly should have said we sailed on Diamond Christmas cruise in 2014

We sailed on this cruise and had a great time. Excellent decorations; carols on Christmas Eve and balloon drop New Year's Eve.

There was a fair number of children on board, but we didn't find them intrusive or too noisy. They thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas celebrations and visit from Santa (although you had to be there early for that!).

Staff were up to Princess standards but food was sometimes a little disappointing in main dining room.

Diamond Princess was superbly decorated last year for its New Zealand cruise. The atrium has many white and some green Christmas trees and all stairs and hand rails were festooned in lights. Carol singing on Christmas Eve and a large net of balloons released at midnight on New Year's Eve ensured a most enjoyable cruise - so much so we're on the Dawn Princess Christmas cruise this year.

We are cruising from Barcelona next month, calling at Naples, Rome, Livorno (Florence), Cannes, Mallorca, Cartegena, Malaga and Lisbon.

We are using Viator for tours in Naples and Cruising Excursions for Cannes and Spanish ports.

For Naples, best tours are to Pompeii and Amalfi Coast.

It is a long drive from Livorno to Florence, but well worth it if you haven't been there before. If you prefer to "do it yourself"there's a relatively cheap and fast train from Livorno Centrale to Firenze.

In Mallorca and Barcelona using the hop-on, hop-off buses to get a general view of city. In Barcelona, if you have more time there, you must see the Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's amazing Cathedral that has been 20 years in construction and still not finished.

You can get quite a lot of personal info on Cruise Critic's Roll Call for Norwegian Epic 13/09/2015 cruise at http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2062602

I agree with OzKiwiJJ, Hands Free is an alcohol-free, foaming hand sanitiser that is kind to the skin and non-drying. It contains Benzalkonium Chloride which is active against the norovirus, whereas many of the alcohol based sanitisers are not. As far as I know, you can only obtain Hands Free through the web site, but it is sent very rapidly. The advantage of the 50mL bottles is that you can easily carry one with you and use it when you return to your table after collecting your food and drinks at the buffet.

F: Canada, New England - particularly in the Fall

We're cruising in Mediterranean with NCL in September and are on the Roll Call and Meet & Mingle. Will we have such luxurious treatment as Barry? I certainly hope so, but won't be holding my breath in anticipation!