Live from the Sun Princess Feb 20 Around New Zealand

[coo359a2]

Ship was without electricity for about 3 hours yesterday and parts of ship were still having problems with AC at 9:30pm. We were lucky:( and our cabin was one of the problems. Was 72-74 thourghout the night. Thankfully AC is working this morning and now about 68. Looks to be a beautiful day in Tauranga.

[DonahCBrown]

We got the 'official word' yesterday in the form of a letter from the Captain - there have also been announcements subsequently. Here's the relevant part of the letter

 

“I wish to inform you fo a change to our scheduled itinerary. As you are no doubt aware, a strong earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand on Tuesday. The city is in a state of emergency for the next five days; the port of Lyttleton is closed to navigation due to seismic activity, and as a result our call to this port has been cancelled.

 

On Monday 28th February we will make a scenic cruise of Marlborough Sounds. I will arrange for a Pilot at 7:30 a.m. and we will cruise through Queen Charlotte Sound until approximately 11:30 a.m., and then proceed towards Port Chalmers. The remainder of the itinerary will be unchanged.

 

For those passengers booked on Princess Shore Excursions in Christchurch, your shipboard folio will be credited automatically, there’s no need to return tour tickets or visit the Pursers Desk or Tour Office.

 

I regret any disappointment these changes may have caused but I am sure you join me in thinking of those in Christchurch impacted by the earthquake."

 

 

There have been several collection points for donations for Christchurch - some at the port gates, others at various shops we've been in, also next to the big 'coin globe' on the purser's desk. I've been putting in our loose change when we come in. Will probably also donate any left over NZ cash at the last port.

 

News continues to come in about the victims of the quake and a few upbeat rescues as well, but so many have lost their lives and to see the level of destruction in such a beautiful city - it is very sad.

[DonahCBrown]

Auckland and Tauranga –

 

In Auckland, we went on the public bus to the War Memorial Museum – there were ships tours that included it and we encountered them at various points. After the Museum, we did a little shopping and returned to the ship. Considered going over to Devonport, but the timing wasn’t good. There was an afternoon folkloric presentation by a Maori troupe which we caught. Last evening, we enjoyed the show – a new one to us, called Shimmy. It features a medley of songs from the 50s and 60s and very energetic dance numbers.

 

Today was Tauranga. We rented a car and went to Wai-O-Tapu – one of the largest of the thermal areas around the region. There were free shuttles offered to both Mt. Manganui and Tauranga for shopping, and tours that went to Rotorua, and various of the thermal areas. Drove out and back on the ‘wrong’ side of the road and managed to do it without getting killed which felt like a major accomplishment.

 

On our return, happened into the Vista Lounge and caught the very interesting cultural program, “I am Maori – a Spiritual Journey” which was part of an excellent series that has been on-going and has included instruction in the Haka, and the troupe from Auckland. From what the various presenters have said, this is something that has been part of the whole sailing season, and a nice addition to their Scholarship at Sea programming. From here on out, I’ll be looking for these in the daily program.

 

Have been having issues with the in-cabin computer connection since the power outage yesterday and it still isn’t resolved as of this writing, which is around 10 PM on Friday, so this won’t get posted until either the connections are fixed, or I can get down to a hotspot elsewhere on the ship.

 

Still no connection in our cabin so am posting this on the way into Napier where we have a private wine tasting tour. Pretty spot, and it is too bad we only have half a day here.

[2happywanderers]

Auckland and Tauranga –

 

In Auckland, we went on the public bus to the War Memorial Museum – there were ships tours that included it and we encountered them at various points. After the Museum, we did a little shopping and returned to the ship. Considered going over to Devonport, but the timing wasn’t good. There was an afternoon folkloric presentation by a Maori troupe which we caught. Last evening, we enjoyed the show – a new one to us, called Shimmy. It features a medley of songs from the 50s and 60s and very energetic dance numbers.

 

Today was Tauranga. We rented a car and went to Wai-O-Tapu – one of the largest of the thermal areas around the region. There were free shuttles offered to both Mt. Manganui and Tauranga for shopping, and tours that went to Rotorua, and various of the thermal areas. Drove out and back on the ‘wrong’ side of the road and managed to do it without getting killed which felt like a major accomplishment.

 

On our return, happened into the Vista Lounge and caught the very interesting cultural program, “I am Maori – a Spiritual Journey” which was part of an excellent series that has been on-going and has included instruction in the Haka, and the troupe from Auckland. From what the various presenters have said, this is something that has been part of the whole sailing season, and a nice addition to their Scholarship at Sea programming. From here on out, I’ll be looking for these in the daily program.

 

Have been having issues with the in-cabin computer connection since the power outage yesterday and it still isn’t resolved as of this writing, which is around 10 PM on Friday, so this won’t get posted until either the connections are fixed, or I can get down to a hotspot elsewhere on the ship.

 

Still no connection in our cabin so am posting this on the way into Napier where we have a private wine tasting tour. Pretty spot, and it is too bad we only have half a day here.

 

Hi Donna

 

Really enjoying your blogs....full of so much great information.

 

We've just booked on this cruise for next year so are very interested in your comments on the ports of call particularly.

 

Please keep your posts coming. We look out for them each day.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

2happywanderers :):)

[HKM]

Hi, Tina and Ken. Sorry to hear you're having electricity problems. That's no fun on land or sea. Hope it's been resolved. Terrible news about the earthquake in Christchurch. We remember it well from our trip. Prayers are with all.

[coo359a2]

Hi, Tina and Ken. Sorry to hear you're having electricity problems. That's no fun on land or sea. Hope it's been resolved. Terrible news about the earthquake in Christchurch. We remember it well from our trip. Prayers are with all.

 

Hi there

 

Cabin back to normal now. 68 degrees. Had the Most Travelled Passenger Cocktail party last night. Very good snacks and drinks. The Captain on down were very friendly and would even initiate talking with you.

 

What we see on the TV isn't very pretty about all that has happened at Christchurch.

[DonahCBrown]

Our port day in Napier was quite short - only noon to six, but we had a great private wine tasting tour arranged by the Shoemakers - good job you guys! with Grape Escapes - our tour guide Sasha was fabulous and we hit four wineries, all good, couple really outstanding, in the wine region around Napier. Wish we could have had time to do a bit of the downtown as well, but there just wasn't time - also took us up Te Mata peak to get the panoramic views over the whole valley - really lovely.

 

Most traveled cocktail party on top of the wine tastings - needless to say, we slept really well last night! Very nice event, nice nibbles and free flowing drinks, crew is very chatty and social so it was fun. Did manage to send greetings to Guiseppe and he will be on until May. Not sure at this point where he will go next after that, he said.

 

Gavin will be leaving for California and a visit with his new baby son after this cruise, so there will be a new CD for those coming on in Sydney - don't know who, though.

 

Today we WALKED...my pedometer is over nine miles at this point - we walked from the ship to the cable car, took that up to the top of the Botanical Garden, then walked through the Botanical Garden back down to the waterside, then down to Te Papa, through Te Papa and back to the ship - left Tina and Ken wandering around downtown as Dennis was getting some back pain.

 

Tonight, I have no idea what the Captain is going to do - go around in circles or something, as we are just over the Cook Strait - about an hour by ferry - to the Marlborough Sound for 'scenic cruising' until 11:30 AM - then we'll start down the coast to Dunedin, which will be our next, and last, port of call followed by scenic cruising in the Fjordland National Park.

[DonahCBrown]

Sea Day/Marlborough Sounds

 

We passed the morning sailing through Queen Charlotte Sound, the easternmost of the sounds that comprise the Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island feeding into the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands. In addition to the beautiful scenery, we also had a dolphin escort for a portion of the trip. Entertainment tonight is another production show that was new to us – Save the Last Dance – which sampled dance tunes ranging from Strauss to Disco to Salsa. It is also Country and Western Night, and the MUTS movie is Eat Pray Love. After an early round of successes, our trivia team has had to settle for 2nd place for the last few sessions, losing by one point or in tie breakers.

 

 

Tomorrow we will be doing a wildlife tour – private one, with Elm Wildlife Tours. Have heard we may have some rough weather tomorrow, but we will keep our fingers crossed. There are fur seals, sea lions, and penguins on the tour.

[DonahCBrown]

John and Kathy -

 

Guiseppe sends his greetings - he remembers you well. He is now doing 'relief' schedule rather than being assigned to one specific ship, so he said he has no idea where he will be in 2012, but said he hopes to see you again sometime. Had a nice chat with him last night at dinner, and he recounted how you met.

[DonahCBrown]

Show last night was another new one for us - Save the Last Dance - went from Strauss to Disco to Salsa. Pretty good but the early shows are really crowded and people are really aggressive about not holding seats, even for your spouse.

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

John and Kathy -

 

Guiseppe sends his greetings - he remembers you well. He is now doing 'relief' schedule rather than being assigned to one specific ship, so he said he has no idea where he will be in 2012, but said he hopes to see you again sometime. Had a nice chat with him last night at dinner, and he recounted how you met.

 

Donna,

 

Did Guiseppe mention he was going to be on the Golden when it started its Hawaiian sailings out of LA? Our waiter indicated that he would be there. I tried to speak with him the last two nights but he wasn't available in our dining room. Just wondering if we got true info....

 

Hope you enjoyed your tour with Elim. Josh and Jason were our guides and we had a great day with the fur seals, sea lions and penguins plus saw a couple royal albatrosses in flight as well as in the nest with their chicks.

[DrJohn]

John and Kathy -

 

Guiseppe sends his greetings - he remembers you well. He is now doing 'relief' schedule rather than being assigned to one specific ship, so he said he has no idea where he will be in 2012, but said he hopes to see you again sometime. Had a nice chat with him last night at dinner, and he recounted how you met.

 

Thanks Donna -- Guiseppe is indeed one of those who "made the difference" for us.

 

Could you give us some idea of the prices of ship excursions? We were wondering if they might be higher than expected as well. Perhaps an idea of what they are charging for the basic "see the city" as well as one of the "see the wildlife" types? Many thanks.

 

John

[Dorinda]

Hi Donna - and Tina - just want you to know we are following your posts. It was terrible to read about the destruction in Christchurch. We are just glad you weren't ashore when it happened.

 

Next time you see Jen (Asst CD) tell her John and Dee say hi. We met her when she was working on Renaissance and a couple of years ago we also did the circumnavigation of Oz with her. She's good fun.

 

Hi to Dennis and Ken!

 

Cheers - Dee and John

[DonahCBrown]

Dee - will give your greetings to Jen if we get to see her - she hasn't been mingling all that much - too many admin duties I expect.

 

Here's the current post:

 

Wildlife tour was interesting but strenuous with lots of walking and climbing to get down to the beaches and up to the blinds, but we saw fur seals, a colony of seal pups (very cute), yellow eye penguins – a few – and a couple of blue penguins in their burrows, and two adult and a couple of juvenile sea lions – they are immense and can run at up to 20 kilometers an hour, so we kept a respectful distance. Also visited the Royal Albatross center, saw a few birds flying, but were told that, as it wasn’t very windy, there weren’t as many in flight as usual. For an extra fee, you can also do a tour there and visit the actual rookery and two on our van tour did that. Our guide was Josh and we also had Brian with us for a good bit of the tour as he was using the 4 wheel drive to ferry us around the steeper bits. It was very interesting to hear from him what their future plans are and how successful some of their efforts to encourage the breeding colonies have been. In the years since they leased the property and started their programs the yellow eye colony has grown from only around 40 birds to over 100, and the blue penguins have been moving in in increasing numbers as well.

 

The Captain decided to cancel the scenic cruising in Fjordland due to bad weather – 7 to 8 meter swells and 50 KPH winds – so we are making our way through some pretty rough seas up the same way we came yesterday and will cross through the Cook Straits to the Tasman Sea. Expecting the passage to be pretty bumpy from what the Captain said this morning, although it should settle down some once we hit the Tasman.

 

International Crew Show is on tonight with shows at 7:45 and 10:00 PM. In between there are the usual games and activities – golf putting, rum tasting, afternoon movie, quizzes and so on. Other than the addition of ‘carpet bowls (boules)’ it is all quite familiar.

 

In response to the question about the cost of shore excursions – they don’t seem to have taken the same inflationary increase that the shops have – a typical ‘city tour’ seems to run between $55 and $89 AUD depending on the length and how much else is included. Wildlife type tours run more $120 up depending on distances, admissions charges and so on. Train tours such as the Taieri Gorge or the Tranzalpine are in the $220 and up range and ‘adventure’ type tours such as the Jet boats or Bridge Climb are in the mid-range $110-150. These seem to be pretty much in line with what we saw on the Diamond Princess last January when we did Sydney to Auckland. I think the prices are more realistic because they have to be at least somewhat competitive with what you can arrange on your own.

 

Will try and see what Guiseppe is doing next, but won’t guarantee – He hasn’t been in our dining room that much – just happened to catch him on his way out the door.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Hi Donna,

Thought you must have missed Fiordland as I have been watching the cam off and on through the day and saw you did not make it.

What a shame.

Trust the weather picks up for you.

Are you coming up the West or East Coast of NZ?

or just heading out into the Tasman Sea?

[DonahCBrown]

Hi Donna,

Thought you must have missed Fiordland as I have been watching the cam off and on through the day and saw you did not make it.

What a shame.

Trust the weather picks up for you.

Are you coming up the West or East Coast of NZ?

or just heading out into the Tasman Sea?

 

 

Turned around and came back up the east coast, crossed over the Cook Strait and are now rocking and rolling our way across the Tasman - much rougher than our passage over. Skipped the treadmill this AM - not sure I'd be able to stay on, to be honest. Filling out the paperwork and starting to get organized for the packing. Formal night tonight - we're excited as we came in #2 most traveled and will get our very first paperweight!

[Dorinda]

Donna! Congratulations to you and Dennis! Happy paperweight!:)

 

Cheers,

Dee & John

[DrJohn]

Turned around and came back up the east coast, crossed over the Cook Strait and are now rocking and rolling our way across the Tasman - much rougher than our passage over. Skipped the treadmill this AM - not sure I'd be able to stay on, to be honest. Filling out the paperwork and starting to get organized for the packing. Formal night tonight - we're excited as we came in #2 most traveled and will get our very first paperweight!

 

Sorry to hear you missed Milford Sound et al, but congratulations on your first paperweight -- may you acquire many more.

 

Thanks for the info on tour costs, and for all the info on ports -- we were reliving all our past Kiwi experiences. We have tentatively booked a Sun, Dawn, Sea sequence for this time next year but are looking at other travel options as well. We have been to NZ and OZ many times on land but never cruised there -- now just to decide if we want to revisit or go somewhere new. Your blog is very helpful. Thanks.

 

John

[1 HappyCruiser]

Do you recall what the cutoff number was for the most traveled party?

[DonahCBrown]

Final day – last night was formal night and the Captain’s Circle Party, which was very nice – we were really thrilled to get our first ever top three and first paperweight and even took a half decent picture which was a real plus. Was a very bumpy day and we decided to wait on the British Invasion production show until the Dawn Princess next week. Today is better, but still bumpy. It was the 75% off sale – managed to score some tee shirts that were appropriate to the upcoming Around Australia on the Dawn, so made those purchases, and then undertook the packing – this trip is heavy on the packing and unpacking! We will spend 6 days in Sydney, then we’re off again on the Dawn – will start a new live for that one when we embark. Meanwhile, it is off to our Sydney condo and some local sight seeing. About out of time, so this is it from me for on board – if you have any questions, I’ll check in from land and answer anything I can

[sagittarius]

Do hope that you have good weather for your days in sydney. We had flat calm seas when we went on Sun P last Dec. I am about to start packing for that trip on the Dawn! Hoping for non bumpy seas on this trip too.

[DonahCBrown]

Docking now - had a smoother night last night so hope it will keep on that way for the Dawn. Back in a week or so with the new Live.:D

[coo359a2]

We are now in Shooting Stars Elite lounge waiting for our color to be called. Think they might be ahead of schedule. It was a great cruise even missing Christchurch and the scenic cruising through Milford Sound.

[DonahCBrown]

Made it off the ship - our condo was ready for us, and we're settling in for a few days of sightseeing in Sydney and then off to the Dawn. TTFN!

 

Tina and Ken and Donna and Dennis

[earljr]

Made it off the ship - our condo was ready for us, and we're settling in for a few days of sightseeing in Sydney and then off to the Dawn. TTFN!

 

Tina and Ken and Donna and Dennis

 

 

 

Thanks for the tons of info you provided in your posts.

Have a great time in Sydney and take every ferry ride ride

you can. :)

Earl