Over from NZ

We always just link our credit-card to the room.. and we pay the credit-card off each month. Easy and no issues. No issues with the holds either.. there's a sufficiently high credit-limit to not have to worry. What I was thinking of doing this time around.. was pre-purchasing some on-board credit, simply given that some economists suggesting quite a drop coming between the NZD vs USD. You can purchase onboard credit via the cruise personaliser. However.. they won't give you the conversion or tell you how much USD you're buying until after you've paid for it.. which is mighty odd and not fair. Anyhow, think what we might do is pre-pay the 21-nights gratuities now effectively locking in the current exchange rate on that.. and hope that the exchange rate doesn't tip too much for our onboard spending money. We're not big drinkers or spenders onboard.. so it's not the end of the world. Crystal ball though.. what to do about Euros for the rest of the holiday haha.

Princess (and presumably the other lines too) are stiffing people on excursions. You're in NZ & Aus where consumer laws are strong and tour operators are well respected. The problems you mentioned are going to affect the cruise-line just as much - I would book direct in those 2 countries.

We used this guy when we were there and was very good - https://santotoursmarinakis.com/

You can pre-purchase OBC to spend onboard. Seems a fair idea.. pre-pay a bit of the spending money.. and in our case.. a bit of insurance against our dollar dropping lots. However.. it seems a real strange set-up that you pay xyz $NZD and then after you've paid.. they tell you what you're getting in $USD. Not before. You're not advised the exchange rate until after you've hit pay! That's a bit off. Seems a very strange set-up.

I second what's been said above - make sure you get a guide. It won't mean half as much without one. We arranged an excursion for the day for 8 of us and split the cost of the guide was not expensive.

That's exactly what we did last time! Train from GC to the airport.. then short taxi to the ship.

Fly in to the GC.. hit a theme-park.. catch the train the next morning to the port. 🙂

What are you interest in? Strenuous stuff or not? And are you talking about an excursion for just a day from a ship.. or when you do a land visit? By land, there's so many cool things nearby.. but you won't have enough time for most of them from the ship. If it's just for the day.. perhaps get an uber or taxi into the city and from there, you can catch the Tram, go to the Botanical Gardens, The Museum, Punt on the Avon, Check out the Terrace area and Riverside Mall for lunch. Things like that. Easily done as it's a short hop over the hill from the port. Even the Gondola could be an option. If you're doing it by land.. look into the Tranz Alpine which is great.. drive the Arthurs Pass (but hey, from there you've got to explore the West Coast!), you've got day-trips to Akaroa (nice French themed seaside town), to Kaikoura and whale-watching.. to wineries.. could go on and on. Happy to throw other ideas to you.

We are talking about the mains aren't we? Americans call them the entree (over here the entree is the starter)? If you're ordering 3 or more mains.. you should definitely pay!!

Wow. I wondered if you were starting or finishing in NZ - I would have suggested tacking an extra day or 2 on to your holiday.. flying to Queenstown, doing all that, staying there.. and still having change left over from what the cruise company charges for that excursion lol. You can fly to Queenstown from the main airports in NZ. Actually, you can fly there from Sydney for what you've paid haha. It's a great excursion though and the Queenstown lakes districts are some of the prettiest parts of NZ.. but heck, they know how to charge. Still, am sure you'll love it! All the best!

What do they sting you for that? And where does your cruise start/End?

Now I recall. It was Curtis Stone. Didn't take much notice on past cruises.

Wouldn't know sorry. What's SHARE?

hmmm. $29 seems excessive already. But I bet you it is coming..

Anybody worried about their third entree really needs to take a look at themselves. Although I don't want to see the cruise-lines continue down the "nickel and dime" road they all appear to be on.. that's an overdue change and a fair one. The upsell charge is over the top.. but if people want to choose to dine in the specialty restaurant.. that's their choice.

Taxi, Uber.. public bus.. all available.

There should be - the public buses charge $2.10 each way! lol. Seems it was celebrity sorry. Princess may have something better.. but I doubt it. They'll all try and stiff you and Princess are no different. The article blamed Christchurch.. but it was the cruise company that charters the buses.. https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/christchurch/canterbury-mornings-with-john-macdonald/opinion/john-macdonald-christchurchs-shameful-welcome-for-cruise-passengers/?fbclid=IwAR256hbE8KDwo4Fc07s8fV5l-ZyxtbLrP_GNYWGOTpsgRskgsVdBFjmCyYg

I'm not sure if Napier is docked.. otherwise all the others are so it would be extremely unlikely you miss any of those.

It's interesting. It was even in the news - how much the cruise companies are rorting people with chartered buses here in NZ. Absolutely a rort. Something like $50 to get from Lyttleton to Christchurch on a rickety old bus. Shocking.

Why would the Akaroa pubs be celebrating? The Akaroa locals might be happy.. but I think the pubs would prefer the ships were still coming there.

It would be a simpler solution. It's not ideal.. but it's the lesser of 2 evils. 🙂

Really, in the name of fairness.. the solution is simple. If your bum's not sitting on it.. it's not yours. 🙂

Due to a *****-up; our excursion to Portofino and Santa Margherita brought us back to Genoa port much earlier than expected. We wandered round the city for the afternoon. Easily doable.. but would suggest making a plan or otherwise you're letting yourself down. As we weren't expecting to be there, we had no plan. Still had a good time.. but had no idea what we were seeing.. what we were missing.. what we should be looking for etc.

Yeah nah. We're doing that 21-night Med cruise next. Balcony would be nice.. but for about $5k or more extra.. given that you're off the ship from breakfast to dinner 16 of the days.. we'd hardly ever get to use it. And the balconies are usually rather small with uncomfortable seating. I got bored real quick sitting on the balcony. But each to their own. I'd take a balcony.. but not for $5k. That would probably cost me $1k for every time I sat out there hahaha.

It's really simple. It works for some.. and not for others. It all depends on your individual drinking habits. It's a lot harder to justify down under where the gratuities are not included in the drink package. But hey, that said.. much younger me would have smashed it! haha. I would say though.. if you need a calculator to work out if it's for you.. then it's probably not for you. lol.