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Thanks for the pictures of the sounds. I just have a few quick questions. was it very chilly outside while you were taking them. I didn't know I had to take a jacket. And the other question is that if you miss a port do you go to another one or are you at sea for another day

Hi Bapaleg

Sorry for taking so long to answer your questions. Yes it can be cold at the Sounds as its down the bottom of new zealand. Make sure you take a waterproof and windproof jacket. We really needed ours. It was only chilly for the first couple of hours in the morning.

Unsure about what happens if you miss a port as we never missed any.

Hope this helps

[emoji13] it reminds me of one of my favourite kiwi jokes. I think as you guys are farmers and as my dad was a kiwi I can get away with it. It's a bit cheeky but only in that fun Aussie vs Kiwi rivalry sort of way! You will need to read the kiwi part with a suitable kiwi accent in your head!

 

An Aussie farmer was finishing his NZ holiday and was in a cab on the way to the airport. He passed by a paddock full of sheep and he noticed a Kiwi farmer was on the side of the roads 'getting cosy' with one of the sheep

 

He winds down the window and shouts out, 'Hey mate, in Australia we SHEAR our sheep!’

 

To which the Kiwi farmer retorts 'well here in NZ we don't SHARE our sheep, find your own'

 

Boom, Boom, Tish [emoji9][emoji15][emoji37]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

:D:):p very fun. Read it to hubby and he laughed so much

Welcome to Princess Presentation in Wheelhouse i missed i dont know if i got the passport thing you talk of i got a gold pin later on when i found out about it the scottish one was awesome on my cruise too had a huge following by the end and yes standing room every night i got to see him in glimpses as i was always going to a show etc he did a show one night and it was a full house that's for sure the cruise director did a show too that was a full house [Tim Donovan i think his name was ill check my patters later] i saw some of the wine fountain missed the actual pouring of the wine into the glasses i think i had an appointment with a massage , the blue boat in your photo i was on last time i was in NZ 98 you stay the night on it its cool as

Would love to stay on that blue boat in the Sounds. It looks amazing.

we would have got on like a house on fire i talk a lot too :-) and i love your review so keep it coming i am reminiscing about my cruise and seeing what you did to what i did the afternoon tea i came across one day i only found out the day before about it about 2 days before the end of my cruise

Hi Hawka

Thanks for the kind words. So what did you do in each port? I really enjoyed the afternoon teas and wanted to go again but James didnt like it. Should have left him on the pool deck and gone on my own. Next time I will.

I hope you had a great labour day weekend and glad that you have been able to get back to it. Thanks for the updates.:D

Hi MicCanberra.

Yes we had a great weekend. We left the 40+ degrees and went down to the beach. It was great to escape the heat.

The castle stands on the Peninsulas highest point.

The gardens are spectacular.

Our next stop was New Zealand’s only castle – Larnach Castle.

Larnach Castle was built between 1871 and 1885 by financier, businessman and politician William J M Larnach for his beloved wife Eliza. Eliza died before it was finished. The castle is 14kms (9miles from Dunedin along the “high” road which was a stunning drive through rolling green treed hills.

Here is a picture of our transport parked in the carpark at the castle.

Once at the castle, Mark took us for a private tour of the main floor. He knew so much about this beautiful private home. In 1967 the Barker family brought the castle which was then derelict and spent many years and money restoring the castle. The rooms of the Castle were almost empty of furniture and Mrs Barker spent years searching for fixtures that would suit her home, even finding some that were a part of the home’s original furniture. The Barkers still use the castle as their private home.

He then let us loose for just over an hour to view the rest of the castle and the gardens. Mark told us to climb to the top of the battlements. He said that the view is worth the climb.

Both James and I climbed the narrow steep spiral stone staircase to reach the top of the tower for some gorgeous views of the harbour and Dunedin.

The Ballroom, separate from the main building was built for Larnach’s daughter Kate. The ballroom today is a perfect setting for weddings and parties. Mark told us that Larnach committed suicide in 1898 when he found out that his latest wife (who was pregnant) and his son from his first marriage where having an affair.

(left) ticket window, Mosaic floor of almost 750,000 Royal Doulton porcelain tiles. Far right) form images of stream trains, rolling stock and the NZ Railway Logo.

Mark sat outside while James and I explored and took photos of the railway station. Being just the two of us, this didn’t take long. Then it was off to another landmark in Dunedin.

The steepest residential street in the world (according to the Guinness Book of World Records) – Baldwin Street.

The grade of Baldwin Street is 35 percent (or 19 degrees) at its steepest point.

Above picture from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark informed us about a funny charity event that happens in July each year in Baldwin Street - Dunedin’s Jaffa Roll.

Since 2002 and part of the annual Cadbury Chocolate Carnival, around 50,000 Jaffas (orange coated chocolate sweet) are released from the top of Baldwin Street and begin their 15 second fame as they roll down the street. The first to the bottom is the winner. How do they know whose Jaffa is the victor you may ask. Mark said that they number each sweet and you buy a number. More than $410,000 has been raised for local charities.

Can you imagine what it must be like for a child watching all that yummy chocolate rolling past you? Mouth-watering fun I think!.

Photos source above from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffas#/media/File:Jaffas.jpg

http://www.nznewsuk.co.uk/

http://images.dunedinnz.com/photos/jaffa-racing-on-baldwin-st-dunedin.aspx

http://www.stuff.co.nz/

When I returned home, I looked up the Jaffa Roll and found out that there is another major event held in the steepest street in the world – the Baldwin Street Gutbuster - which is a race to the top of Baldwin Street and back down again. Boy! that would be an awful race.

I also found out that in March 2001, a 19-year-old university student was killed when she and another student attempted to travel down the street inside a wheelie bin (rubbish bin) The bin collided with a parked trailer, killing her instantly, and causing serious head injuries for the other student.

Then it was back into Mark’s van for more adventure. As we left the city, Mark told us about his family and what it is like living in a University City. I love hearing about the way others live. This is one of the reasons why I like the idea of booking a tour as you get to learn so much. If we hadn’t taken this tour with Mark we would have not known about the Jaffa Roll.

Princess offered the Nature’s Wonders and Otago Peninsula tour at $229.95 per adult. This excursion sounded really interesting. You would get to see penguins, seals and also get a ride on an 8-wheel drive Argo. It was for 4 hours. The tour would conclude with a brief city sights tour. Sounds good Hey? But I am sure I could do better and especially at that price. So the search began and this is what we came up with.

Awesome Tours http://awesometours.co.nz/

Shore Excursion~Natures Wonders & Larnach Castle 6HOURS

A 6 hour return trip travelling the low road to Taiaroa Head, stopping for a look at Otakou Marae on the way, while at Natures Wonders you take a 1 hour guided tour experiencing an exhilarating ride in an 8-wheel drive, all terrain Argo vehicle. Here, amidst truly spectacular scenery, are the worlds rarest penguins, Hoiho the ‘Yellow-Eyed’, the little Blue Penguins, the NZ Fur Seals and Cormorants (Shags) all living in their natural environment. After your argo & wild life tour you can sit back and take in the view while enjoying a bit of lunch (own expense).

After lunch you have the unique opportunity to discover Larnach Castle. Spectacular tower views and beautiful gardens complete this enjoyable award winning experience. We return to the city via the high road for the most picturesque scenery towards the Pacific Ocean on one side, the Otago harbour on the other and Dunedin City straight ahead.

In addition to your wildlife tour we take a look at Baldwin St (steepest street in the world), Otago University, and Dunedin Railway Station before returning you to your cruise ship.

The price was $185.00 NZ per person and included the entry price into Larnach Castle and Natures Wonders. Every time I emailed Awesome Tours they were very quick in getting back to me. It was a pleasure to work with Awesome Tours. Mark Dixon from Awesome Tours was our guide and he was wonderful. The whole experience with this company was awesome. Instead of a large coach of 40 people (like we would have had if we had booked through Princess), there was just James, me and Mark. There would have been 8 others but since Princess had changed the day we arrived in port we were on our own with Mark. Awesome Tours were happy to accommodate the change of dates. Thankyou Mark. So for our day in port we had our own private guide and vehicle. How cool was that?

Mark picked us up in front of the tent at the wharf at 9am. Since it was just us two, Mark decided to take us first to the Octagon, Dunedin city centre. Here we were given an hour for a coffee and walk around. Mark dropped us off in front of the Municipal Chambers.

The Octagon centre - so called because of its 8 sides has free Wi-Fi and you will find the I Site visitor centre here along with lots of cafes and shops. The day we visited there was also an arts and crafts market that Mark said always appears when there is a cruise ship in town. The Octagon was planned as the focal point of the city and is a popular gathering place. Mark suggested a coffee shop, and now I have forgotten its name but the coffee/hot chocolate was delicious.

The Maori’s first settled in Dunedin over four centuries ago. Settlers of the Free Church of Scotland discovered Dunedin in 1848, founding a settlement at the head of Otago Harbor. Population: 124,600 of which the student population is 25,000. It is New Zealand’s Oldest City (University city) and is nicknamed “Edinburgh of the south.”

The Municipal Chambers completed in 1880 and made of Oamaru stone.

St Pauls Cathedral 1910

After our hour in the city centre, we were back on the small van to visit New Zealand’s most photographed building - the Dunedin Train Station.

This Victorian façade is nicknamed “Gingerbread Gorge” in honour of the designer, architect George Troup. The station was opened in 1906 and has a 37-m (120-ft) high square tower, three huge clock faces and a covered carriageway.

The platform is the arrival and departure point for visitors taking the Taieri Gorge Railway

At 7.46am the Golden Princess pulled alongside the Container Terminal Port Chalmers.

Historic Port Chalmers looked really pretty and we wanted to visit this charming town but as usual when I researched all the ports I knew we would miss some wonderful sites. Achieving everything we wanted to do in each port in 8 hours was not possible. Oh I wish we had more time but we decided in the planning to select one or two things and be happy with our decisions.

We noticed when we arrived into each harbor there was usually a large timber industry based in port.

Port Chalmers is located approximately 7-1/2 miles from Dunedin. Free Wi-Fi is available in the tent at the Wharf. At this tent you will find friendly and helpful locals with information on all that Dunedin and Port Chalmers has to offer.

Here passengers wait for booked excursions or can also book excursions.

Most will visit Dunedin so there is an independently operated Shuttle Service from the pier to The Octagon, Dunedin city centre. Tickets are $15.00NZD roundtrip and can be purchased at the tourist tent on the pier. One way trip to Dunedin takes 30 minutes. Last shuttle returning back to the ship was at 3.30pm.

There is also a regular bus service to Dunedin that leaves from the bus stop outside the bakery on Port Chalmers Main Street. It was priced at $5pp

Passengers were allowed to leave the ship at 8.00am. Once lined up it didn’t take too long to disembark the Golden. We needed to have a photo ID while in New Zealand. We took our drivers licence and this was fine. Left passports locked in our room safe. We needed this id to return to the ship when we passed security. By the way, photocopies where not accepted.

There is so much to do in and around Dunedin. What a tough decision we had. What could we do? I went onto the Princess website and studied the shore excursions for Dunedin and then checked out Trip Advisor and searched the web. Most passengers take the Taieri Gorge Railway and explore Cadbury world and Olveston House. We wanted to see the sights of the city, walk around New Zealand’s only castle, explore the countryside and see some wildlife. What a tall order - would we be able to do all this in 7 hours?

I am back! Sorry I took so long but I had week of non-stop work then we went camping for the labour day long weekend.

Monday Feb. 15 Todays Weather 24

Port Chalmers (Dunedin) arrive 8am - all aboard 4.30pm

Land Ahoy! Once again our feet will step onto New Zealand’s stunning terrain. Excited, we were up before the sun to watch the ship approach our first port - Dunedin. One thing I did notice that since we changed course we will have less time at each port. Oh well better than rough seas and missed ports I guess. Dunedin wasn’t too bad we were leaving half an hour early but some ports were 2 to 3 hours earlier.

New Zealand is impressive. The land is so mountainous and green. Nothing like where I live. Below is a picture of our farm - So dry and flat.

Now take a look at New Zealand. Spectacular! I could live here.

I have been updating this review nearly all day, so I need a rest. Hope to add . more during the week I have a very busy week with work so lets hope I can get at least day 4 up.

thanks for being patient.

Wow those photos of the sounds are stunning. Quite majestic with the layers of clouds/mist blanketing the mountains.

 

Would have been amazing warning MUTS as you sail through the sounds!!

 

May I ask, does Golden Princess have an 'Alfredos' pizza venue? ...if I understand right it is on some ships as part of Sabbatinis, it's another venue other than the lido deck pizzeria.

 

Thanks Matt.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi Matt.

Mutts was one of our favourite places on board.

No there was no Alfredos on the Golden. Just the Prego Pizzeria on deck 14 forward.

Tonight we had Dinner in the anytime dining room – Bernini on deck 5. Being Valentine’s day there were Valentine’s Photos taken in all dining rooms. And of course we had to have ours taken. Once again the food was yummy.

After diner we headed to the Princess Theatre for the Production show Stardust. This show was all about the music and songs of years gone by with classics by the likes of Doris Day and Perry Como. It wasn’t as lively as Caribbean Caliente but still excellent.

At 9pm the Valentine’s Day party began at the Piazza with party band Mosaic and the Cruise Director’s staff. James and I stood on the staircase and watched everyone below dance and then we watched the balloons drop. Very exciting stuff.

You could have ordered a romantic valentines day breakfast in your room if choose to. Did we? No hubby is not the romantic type.

Then our evening ended with a walk around the Promenade deck.

I was talking to a lady who did this cruise at the same time last year and they missed 4 ports and over 1000 passengers were sea sick. How lucky we were that our captain changed course.

At 10.30am in the Princess Theatre was a Fiordland National Park Heritage Presentation given by Ranger Hamish Angus. It was very interesting.

During the day there was an ice carving demonstration at the pool on Deck 14. Lots of people came to watch so it was hard to view unless you watched it on the big screen like we did.

James went for an afternoon snooze in our cabin while I went to the Piazza and listened to Afternoon Melodies with Pianist Leandro. I enjoyed his playing. And on MUTS was an Il Divo concert at 5pm. I love Il Divo so made sure I watched these fantastic, cute and sexy guys perform.

Guy on the left was a Guitar Vocalist Teodor and on the right was Pianist Leandro. Both were fantastic performers.

This ship was decorated beautifully for Valentines Day.

Shame, hope hubby spoiled you.;)

Sorry MicCanberra, I looking at my notes and we went to the dining room for dinner but there were no roses.

Fiordland National Park has 14 Fiords and 5 major lakes.

The park covers over 1.2 million hectares (3.1 million acres) – nearly 5% of the area of New Zealand and was declared a World Heritage Area in 1986

Wonderful pictures and appreciate the update. Did they give you a Rose for valentines day.

No :( I missed out on that. I guess we would have had to go to the dining room and we ate in the HC

Fiordland is the largest National Park in New Zealand and one of the largest in the world. It began 500 million years ago.

Sunday Feb. 14 Todays Weather 17

Fiordland: Speed 17.4 Knots Slight seas with short/low N’ly swell

Happy Valelntine’s Day! Today was the coolest day we had on the cruise. So off we went up onto deck 15 with our coats and beanies. We were sailing into Fiordland National Park. What spectacular scenery. We saw Milford Sound, Thompson Sound and Doubtful Sound.

We entered Milford Sound at 8.05am with a stunning mist covering the mountains and finally Doubtful Sound at 15.00hours. A gorgeous day of viewing. I will let my pictures speak for themselves. This girl can not compete with nature.

Lovely photos, especially of the Wheelhouse Bar. It looks as if I could practise ascending and descending the 2 steps using my walking sticks rather than the walker quite safely

 

By any chance, do you know the cost of a Formal Portrait please? I get a Free Sitting as a Suite Perk, am guesstimating AUD$50 for the photo. Already know about the Welcome Aboard Photo Package, it's on my list of On Board Purchases to Pre-Pay, still have Gift Services, Internet, Soda & More Package, On Board Credit to pay for Cocktails, Culinary Delights, Lotus Spa and Casino Credits to organise.

 

My TA's just done a 2 night cruise on the Pacific Eden, she warned me that the selection in the on board shops is FAR more extensive than Gift Services-start "squirrelling" extra money. I did see the price of a plush bathrobe AUD$125, and probably bulky to pack! Not this time, I'll enjoy it in the Window Suite, and get the mugs my cousins would like as their Cruise Souvenirs/Christmas presents-too good an opportunity to get something useful and practical!

Hi crochetcruise

The formal photo I got was $30 It was only one but the one above was only $14.99

The Wheelhouse bar and all the other bars where easy to use if you had a walking stick or walker. I am sure you could manage.

While I was at the wine tasting, James was at MUTS watching Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

After a rest from all that wine I drank, we went to the Piazza for afternoon tea. Yummy cookies again. Did I tell you I love those cookies. Then it was back to Deck 14 to watch Brits Icon: Elton John on MUTS. It sounds like we watch a lot of TV, but with all the action on Deck 14/15 and my people watching we only saw bits of Elton John.

Tonight is Formal Night. So James has to wear his suit I made him bring. Guess what…miserable me… He didn’t wear it because my son in law told him that when he went on his cruise on RC he didn’t wear a suit to formal night, just nice pants and shirt. Damn! Should have acted quicker and informed that bloody son in law to keep his mouth shut. Oh well at least he didn’t wear jeans. So instead of going to the dining room we had dinner in the HC again.

At 7pm, I drag James to the Piazza for the Captains Welcome aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall. And guess what? I did the champagne waterfall picture. Not many men had their photo taken just us women. It was fun. Won’t do it again though.

At 8pm the first production show of the cruise – Caribbean Caliente in the Princess Theatre with the Golden Princess Singers and Dancers. It was a Latin show with music from Miami, Cuba, Mexico and the Caribbean Islands. Really enjoyed all the dancing and singing.

The cast from Caribbean Caliente

On left The Scottish One…………….On right Mosaic

Then we went to the Promenade Lounge on Deck 7 for Tinis & Tunes with “The Scottish One.” This guy played the piano, sang and told some very funny jokes. By the end of the cruise he had such a big following and if you didn’t get there early it was standing room only. He usually began at 8.45pm and finished at closing time…whatever that was because we usually headed up to bed around 10.30pm such oldies that we are. After a couple of drinks we headed to bed for tomorrow we had to be up early as we were going to sail through Milford Sound.

OP;

 

Love your shipboard pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post them.....:):):)

 

Bob

Thankyou Bob

It takes quite a while to post the pictures.

Loving your review and what a beautiful ship. Nice to see also I'm not the only person who loved the disaster movies from the seventies - best movies ever!.lol

Hi Cookie.

Thankyou and the Golden is a beauty. Those disaster movies were great.