rayho94066

It's a good plan and absolutely do-able. From port to Cable Car would take an average walker around 20-25 minutes. Cable Car is $4.50 one way, or $7 return. The shuttle to Zealandia leaves at 10 to and 10 past the hour (i.e. 1050, 1110) and I think you're better to take the shuttle and expend your legs walking within Zealandia.

 

If the weather isn't so great, leap on a shuttle and head up to the information centre. The Zealandia shuttle leaves from there also and the exhibition area does a great job of explaining why NZ's environment is so unique and there's a café with lovely lake views. It's usually quite sheltered in the valley, so you should be able to enjoy walking in there in most conditions. Then you could get the shuttle back to the Cable Car top terminus, and just take a one way trip down. It only takes 5 minutes to get back down to Lambton Quay, the main shopping street.

 

Tip for those taking the Cable Car - it's always busier in the morning. The later you can leave it, the better!

Thanks so much for the confirmation, we so look forward to it. We are bird lovers and wonder should we take the guided tour or just go off on our own in Zealandia?

Your parents may find something like the HoHo service a good way of getting around all the main highlights. When you get here, you'll see that operating a double decker bus service would be particularly challenging in Wellington's tight downtown area! As it's a popular option on cruise days, booking in advance is a good idea. 17& 18 Nov are double dcruise ship days in Wellington so pre-booking is a very good idea for any particular tour.

 

If you have full mobility, the easiest thing to do is walk. From the Embassy Theatre in Courtenay Place at the south end of the downtown to the Parliament Buildings at the other end through the downtown shopping and business district will take less than 30 minutes if you're of average fitness - and don't stop! Take a shuttle to downtown Lambton Quay or the i-SITE, about 20 minutes walk from the cruise terminal, and then Te Papa, the Cable Car, the Botanic Gardens, Carter Observatory and then the Parliament precinct and Old St Paul's all lie north in the direction back to the cruise terminal.

 

Things to do will depend on your interests, but film tours, food tours, Te Papa, and Zealandia nature area are all popular excursions. You can get a lot more ideas at WellingtonNZ.com.

We are thinking of walking to the Cable car from the port, then on top of the Cable car museum, take a shuttle to Zealandia. Then back the same way, is it doable time wise? We can walk, we hiked the 7 miles from Fira to Oia without much problem.

I drink Moscato mostly, will I be able to get that without a problem with the classic drink package?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Based on a recent scan posted by someone, they have a Muscat de Rivesaltes by the glass for 12.00, so you may want to upgrade to the premium package as the classic would not include that.

I'm not a dessert or sweet wine person but I think your option will be very limited, though I think they always have one label of Riesling but that is not as sweet as Moscato. You should call them and find out, you may be better off with their "Build your own wine" package.

You did not say how much time you would have in Rome, that is a big factor. You also did not say what is your budget. If you have limited time then I think you may want some guided tour. We've been in Rome couple of times but never used guided tour as we had time, but we always used RomeCabs for all our transfers, they used Mercedes and fees are just a little over what a cab would cost. They also provide guided tour that may be a good option for you if you have only a day off the ship. But if you have more than a day, Rome is very walkable and you can get anywhere on the Metro which is cheap and fast. A local guided tour will always be cheaper than shore excursion, but seeing Rome in a day is cheating yourself.

Are you able to find enough wine by the glass? Heard that all the ships raised the price of drinks in the past couple of weeks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

It depends on how choosy you are on wine, their cheap wine by the glass is more or less house wine quality of your average restaurant. They are not bad wine if you are picking up a glass here and there through out the bars on the ship. Keep in mind that if you want better wine, you get 15% discount off a bottle (yes, they add 15% gratuities too so it is a wash). When I was on the Reflection last year, they had the Caymus Special Selection same price as what I have to pay from my wine merchant, and they had the Opus One cheaper than what I have to pay from my wine merchant. So it is like bringing your own nice wine without the corkage charge, and that was what I drank half the time. Or you can do it half way and upgrade to the premium package, but if you are choosy, those wine is not that great either.

Just get up early, we were at the theatre to get our tickets around 8:00 and we were on the cable car before 9:00. Please do not take the donkey ride.

Thanks for all the advices, I'm more concerned with motion sickness than anything else so I will keep the midship cabin. One more thing, I plan to stay in Sydney for 2 to 3 days after the cruise, should I get the free transit visa (mail in passport and application) or get the 20.00 ETA which I can just apply online?

I know this has been asked many times before and I still cannot find a good answer. We are taking the cruise this December from Auckand, after going up to Bay of Islands, then it is counterclockwise down the East then up the West coast of NZ, then on to Hobard then Sydney. I am booked in a cabin midship on one of the forward hump on the port side, I still have a chance of switching to an aft startboard hump cabin, but I am prone to seasick so not sure about the move. I am thinking of bringing a tripod so I am trying to maxime the time I can shoot from the balcony while the ship is sailing. I really want to catch some sperm whales offshore while on the ship. So should I keep the port cabin or switch to starboard? Would I get seasick (starboard hump cabin is right behind those suites)? Also, anyone has lens advice? I do not want to bring anything heavier or bigger than a 200mm so I am just going to bring an ultra wide and and 200mm with extender. Thanks in advance.