Review - 14N Oosterdam Christmas Cruise - Dec/Jan 2012/2013

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

My day by day review of our Christmas cruise on the Oosterdam from Sydney – New Zealand below. We’re a family of 5 from Australia, son aged 17 and daughters 15 & 12 years. This was our 3rd family cruise, have previously done the Caribbean with Carnival and the Mediterranean with Costa. We were in interior connecting cabins 1059 & 1063. Was a wonderful cruise, especially being onboard for New Year’s Eve. My updates are based on my emails home, will edit as I go so will load updates over the next few days.

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Days 1/2/3 Wednesday 19 – Friday 21 December

Boarding was smooth and easy, we were onboard by lunchtime and soon enjoying the first of MANY meals courtesy of Holland America. Only snag was one of our 5 bags not making it to the stateroom. Eventually we found out that it had been quarantined as we were carrying “contraband” – ie a travel iron. There were dozens of bags lined up for a similar offense. We had to leave the iron with them, and were able to collect it on the last day. I was very happy though that we were able to bring bottles of wine onboard in our luggage, was nice to be able to have a glass in our room. The Oosterdam is a smaller ship than we’ve travelled on before with a capacity of 1900 passengers. On this sailing over 1400 are Aussies, which is also a very different experience. There’s 300 Americans/Canadians and the rest a cross section of nationalities.

 

An early highlight was the trip out through the Sydney Heads. The kids couldn’t understand why hubby and I were so excited about it, particularly when we had to forego dessert to be up on deck when we went through them. Through the whipping wind both made quick calls to our parents making the most of the last rays of mobile coverage as we left the Harbour.

 

15 & 17yo are having a great time at the Teens Club, our son hasn’t got to bed till after 12.30am both nights (we only find out when he tells us in the morning, we’re fast asleep by then!) Daughter calls it quits a bit earlier. They’re enjoying playing all types of games and sharing travel stories with the other teens, many of whom are extremely well travelled.

 

12yo has not fared as well with kids club. She’s in the 5-12 year group and being at the top end of the age range finds some of the activities not so interesting. We did laugh when she told us some of the kids were too “psycho/out there” – and given those are terms occasionally applied to her behaviour, we thought they must have been really extreme! She has still been popping in there a few times each day to check it out, and then leaves once she gets bored. She’s realised you can’t turn back the clock, 7 is obviously the optimal age for ship kids club (the age she was on our American Carnival cruise, her perfect cruising measure). She was ecstatic though yesterday when she borrowed a dvd from the front desk (they have a huge collection, free to borrow which is great). She came in to tell me “this is the highlight of my cruise – they asked me to sign a receipt. I signed a receipt!!!” In fact, she repeated it the rest of the afternoon, and thought she’d done such a good job of her signature that she should be famous and sign autographs on request.

 

Hubby has continued his favourite cruising pastime, playing Bridge with the oldies. Our son is desperate to find a pair they can play 500 with, but in lieu of that he’s joined Dad for morning bridge sessions. Both their heads are spinning by the end of it with the intricacies of the game. The bridge players seem to be mainly Americans and hubby said they’re disappointed that HAL don’t hold bridge tournaments on this cruise, just announces bridge sessions at 10am and 2pm each day in the card room for people to make up their own groups and play. My main activity seems to be perfecting the art of the nap. The benefit of an inside cabin is that there’s no sun peeking through to wake you up, so you can sleep at any time. I’m still sleeping fine at night, but on our first sea day I had 3 naps. The girls reckon the constant gentle rocking of the ship makes you dopey. Everytime I sat down to read I’d end up giving up and lying down to sleep. So far today has been only a single nap day, so hopefully I’ll kick the habit soon. We have lost an hour each night to get us to NZ time ready for our arrival tomorrow. It’s a good way to do it, a more gentle adjustment than in 1 hit.

 

Hubby and I have been good and gone to the gym each morning so far. He’s been doing some exercise classes with our 15yo daughter and I do an hour on the treadmill.

 

After almost 2 days straight we’re still surrounded by nothing but water. We’re sitting in a lounge at the front of the ship looking out at grey blue seas and a smattering of tiny white tipped waves. After fairly constant cloud cover since departing, we now have mainly blue skies. The crew are telling us this is one of the smoothest Tasman Sea crossings they’ve had, hope we’re as lucky on the New Year’s return sailing.

 

Day 4 – Saturday 22 December

Hubby, 15yo and I were up at 6am to head to the gym and watch our passage into Milford Sound. After 2 days walking on the treadmill looking at nothing but ocean, it was such a treat to be surrounded by craggy ranges, glistening waterfalls and snow capped peaks. It was actually not conducive to raising my heart rate, as I’d walk for 10mins then have to pause the machine and duck out to the decking in front of us to get some shots without glass in front of me. Coming into the Sound initially was disconcerting. We came into a large cove and for a few minutes it looked as if we were sailing straight for the rock face, and then eventually around the left a passage opened up where the ship could enter. The weather was unbelievable, Milford Sound is usually renowned for its grey skies and drizzle but we got the most beautiful blue sky and calm water, it was glorious. I gave up on the gym and went back to other kids out of bed, so we wandered the deck taking in more of the view.

 

A lady walked past me at lunch today and I glanced at her and thought she had hair like Pauline Hansen. Turns out she had pretty much everything like Pauline Hansen – yes, our first bit of celebrity spotting onboard! (note for non-Aussie readers, she is a well known ex politician). The rest of the day was spent sailing round the south of the island and through some more Sounds, including Doubtful & Dusky. The clouds had come in by the afternoon, so we were lucky to have the blue skies for Milford in the morning. All were beautiful with plenty of photo opportunities, we had fun zipping around the ship to find the best vantage points, one of my favourites was lying on deck chairs at the very top front of the ship, where you could see both sides at once.

 

They’ve been advertising “family bingo” at Club Hal (kids club) this afternoon since we boarded and 12yo had been hanging out to play. It was fun and I did manage once to be first to stand up (with one to go), but no cries of “bingo” for any of us. There’s half price internet for 2 hours this afternoon so I’ve logged on for the first time to send this. We plan to watch Lord of the Rings in the onboard cinema tonight, will be good preparation for our visit to “Hobbiton” next week. Tomorrow we’ll finally get off the ship in Dunedin.

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Day 5 – Sunday 23 December

 

 

Had a lovely day in Dunedin. They’d told us the weather was going to be 16 so we’d dressed in jeans and ended up sweating in 23 sunny degrees. We were due to dock at 8am, so we got down to the gangway early to claim pole position. It took a while for the ship to be officially cleared by customs but by about 8.15am we were the first people off the ship. The maxi taxi I’d booked for 8am (Cit Taxis) wasn’t there, but another driver was with a van that would fit us, so the guy who controls taxis at the dock told us to take the one there and he’d hook our original guy up with others. Turned out to be fabulous as our new driver Rex was so friendly, took us to Baldwin Street (the world’s steepest street)for photos at the top and bottom, a quick visit to the Otago University building and then it was onto what they claim is the most photographed building in New Zealand, the Dunedin Railway Station. Total cost was NZ$61. Rex is a driver with Southern Taxis, contact details are info@southerntaxis.co.nz We caught the Taieri Gorge Railway for a 6 hour return trip to Middlemarch. The scenery was beautiful, we travelled (surprisingly enough) through the Taieri Gorge, much of which was covered in the most spectacular flowers. Turns out the yellow broome bush is a weed here, as is digitalis (foxglove). Many of the hills were completely covered in yellow broome with patches of white and pink foxglove for added measure. So we were the tourists oohing and aaahing over the beautiful colours in much the same way as ignorant tourists admire paddocks of Patterson’s Curse at home.

 

I’ve never seen such an extreme example of the craziness of ship tour pricing as this trip. If you booked the tour through the ship, the cost was $225 per adult (over 12 years) and $200 for 12 and under, which for us would have been US$1200 for a 6 hour trip. Now their version included transport from the ship to/from the train station (it is cool how the train comes right to the gangway) and included a glass of wine, morning tea and light lunch in a sandwich box. We did the same trip, paid for our own taxi to the train station (which also meant we could detour via Baldwin St/Uni/Cadbury/supermarket), had a fabulous lunch at the pub in Middlemarch for a grand total of NZ$420 (US$340), almost $900 less! You really notice the difference with pricing for kids. On the ship children are 12 and under only, but if you book direct there’s usually child rate up to 15 or so, and student rate or even better, family rates. But only a handful of people made their own arrangements like us, everyone else just paid the ship’s exorbitant rates.

 

Hubby, 12 & 17yo amused themselves for much of the journey playing cards. Hubby & I had a seafood basket for lunch at the Middlemarch pub, turns out they crumb absolutely everything in a seafood basket here, so that was different. We did enjoy the waitress telling us that our bill came to “suxty dollars”. I topped it when enquiring re purchasing coke zero cans in the supermarket (to bring onboard at a cheaper rate) to be told (I kid you not) there were “cans of sux in aisle sux”. Were also able to buy some NZ wines and bring onboard too - love that about HAL!

 

 

After the train trip Rex picked us up for a quick run through the Cadbury factory. You can’t do a full tour on Sunday as the factory doesn’t operate, but you can still visit the shop. 17yo got me very excited by saying he thought the Cadbury factory in NZ still sold the boxes of factory second chocolates that the Tasmanian factory has now stopped selling. I have such fond memories of those boxes of seconds that I was desperate to visit – and jettison whatever luggage I needed to be under our weight limit to bring a few boxes home. It was not to be however, as the shop sold not much more than your regular supermarket. We did buy 4 family blocks for NZ$10 and some “chocolate fish” (apparently a NZ speciality), but I’m so disappointed not to have boxes full of defective hazelnut whirls or freddo frogs to dine on for the next few months at home. When we got back to the ship hubby noted that all 4 blocks were actually “Made in Australia”!

 

We bade a fond farewell to Rex, a perfect introduction to the NZ tour guide and were back onboard with an hour to spare. Had our usual fab dinner and watched an Aussie comedian Sam McCool for the main show tonight (apparently he’s a “global success”, would love to know how that’s determined!) His best joke was about cricket – “a game the English invented so they could not lose over 5 days”. 12yo has got more into the Kids Club lately and was actually the last one home tonight. The late nights caught up with the older 2, and given that we dock at 7am tomorrow they were back by 9pm in readiness. It was quite funny to have big kids all tucked up in bed and 12yo not scoot in the door till 9.30pm. Something else that’s caught up with 17yo today were his physical excesses at teens club. 2 nights ago they had a limbo competition (which he won) – apparently he’s quite a star at it, but is yet to give us a demo. Yesterday he was groaning at regular intervals about his sore limbo abs, which were then made even worse by his participation in a “planking” competition last night....you should have heard the moans escaping him today

[serendipity47]

Thanks for the review. I've really enjoyed reading your review so far and had a chuckle here and there. My husband and I head off next Saturday 12th on Sea Princess for round trip to NZ.

I'd actually just been looking into how to best do the Taieri Gorge trip on our own & how to get into town to meet up with train etc. Look forward to reading more. :)

 

 

 

Sea Princess NZ Roundtrip 12.01.13

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Hey Serendipity, glad it helped. Taieri is easily doable on your own - and better in my opinion as you get to add in a few "extras" such as Baldwin St for good measure...happy planning.

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Day 6 – Monday 24 December

Today was an even earlier start, we anchored at 7am and then caught tenders into the port of Akaroa, which was then a 90min drive to Christchurch. Ships used to dock at Lyttleton, which is much closer to Christchurch, but have not been able to do so since the earthquake. As it’s a relatively new port, it was hard to organise excursions online before we left, so we winged it and were able to nab a driver to take us into Christchurch for the day. He was another gem, by the name of Grant with a great van (complete with a step that automatically glided out for passengers to alight, we were all impressed by the novelty value of it!) He took us in via the scenic route, with beautiful views looking down on the ship over Akaroa Bay. Grant’s contact details are grantianmcdonald@gmail.com with http://www.toursouth.co.nz

 

It was very sobering to be so close to the destruction in the Christchurch CBD. So many vacant lots that were buildings now demolished and plenty more still to be removed. The most poignant was a memorial of 160+ white chairs on a corner block – one for every life lost. Each chair is different to represent the different lives, but it was the white baby capsule that really got me. Our driver Grant was on his way into the CBD when the quake hit, he said the car wobbled so much it felt like someone had shot his tyres out. He ended up being stuck in gridlock in the CBD for hours afterwards. His house at least was on the untouched side of the city though. The damage to both the Catholic & Anglican cathedrals is very dramatic. Both are still partially standings, but bring to mind images of crumpled buildings in London during the Blitz. The main shopping mall has been “rebuilt” in shipping containers, certainly a different shopping environment to what we’re used to.

 

The Botanical Gardens are virtually untouched and so beautiful. 12yo & I had fun finding the most fragrant bushes in the rose garden (Double Delight still the hands down winner). We enjoyed our 2nd punt on a River Avon in 12 months – April in Stratford and December in Christchurch! It was really beautiful gliding along with our “punter” Uni student Felix doing all the hard work. Also visited the Canterbury Museum, which I’d read had an excellent section on the earthquake that turned out to be OK but not as good as expected, still worthwhile visiting though.

 

On the way back to the ship Grant asked if we’d like to make a small detour. “As 12yo is so tactile she might enjoy it” was his explanation. I loved that after a few hours with us he had her character pegged. The detour was Birdlings Flat, an amazing beach area completely covered in flat pebbles instead of sand. Had a freaky start when he drove off the main track and we ended up bogged in pebbles – but never fear, we 5 muscle bound Aussie’s were soon out and actually managed to push him free. A 4WD just down the track was badly bogged and had to be pulled out by another vehicle, it took quite a while and ended up with pebbles all through the brake pads, making the most horrific screech as it finally drove out. The girls tried bumpy sunbathing, but the real highlight was that if you looked carefully at the pebbles many had coloured streaks through them, that when you wet and rubbed brought the colour out even further.

Dinner tonight was our second formal night (although this one wasn’t compulsory). We flew back in from the tender and changed in 10mins flat to make it to dinner (almost) on time. We were excited to have an English roast complete with Yorkshire pudding on the menu tonight, only to have hubby try the pudding first and say it was nowhere near as good as his Mum’s.

 

Hubby & my treat tonight was a port & chocolate tasting session (cost $15pp), very yummy. At 11pm there was a “Sounds of Christmas concert” which featured choirs of various nationalities singing their own carols. The kids ditched us straight after dinner to head to kids/teens club and we’ve promised them their Christmas present tomorrow will be us not waking them up.

[Sandielle]

Thanks for your great review, ...on the go! :D

 

Serendipity, the easiest way to do the Taieri Gorge trip is to contact the home site.....

http://www.taieri.co.nz/

You can book directly with them and they will also collect you from the ship in a bus and bring you back afterwards for a small extra charge. You don't get champagne and lunch, but can buy snacks, however it is much cheaper than the ship's tour. You don't have to pay until you get on the bus, either.

[Whitemarsh]

Thank you for posting this review. I enjoyed reading it. Tell me, you mention that formal nights are not compulsory. Does this mean that at a table for six you may have some people in jeans and a t-shirt and others in tuxedos and gowns?

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Only one of the four formal nights wasn't compulsory, this non-compulsory one was Christmas Eve followed by a compulsory one for Christmas Day - so yes, technically on that night only you could have had people on a shared table in formal wear or smart casual.

[Whitemarsh]

Only one of the four formal nights wasn't compulsory, this non-compulsory one was Christmas Eve followed by a compulsory one for Christmas Day - so yes, technically on that night only you could have had people on a shared table in formal wear or smart casual.

 

Okay, thanks.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Day 5 – Sunday 23 DecemberHad a lovely day in Dunedin. They’d told us the weather was going to be 16 so we’d dressed in jeans and ended up sweating in 23 sunny degrees

 

Just an update on Dunedin.......

Believe it or not the temp has been reported in Dunedin today , as a massive 35 degrees.

That is hot hot hot for being so far south...no wonder there are bush fires in Tassie..:eek:

 

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

It's certainly hot downunder at the moment, just hit 40 degrees in our hometown at 1pm and heading for a top of 43!!

 

Day 7 – Tuesday 25 December

Merry Christmas! We managed a Christmas sleep in till 7am. I enjoyed a few laps of the deck taking in the lovely views of “Cloudy Bay” right at the top of the South Island where we anchored for the day. Santa arrived onboard mid morning, they had filmed a video that was shown on the big screen while we waited in the theatre. They’d filmed he and the elves climbing down the ship’s funnel, then using most of the facilities – shooting hoops on the basketball court, eating in the restaurant, singing with the band, and our favourite – having his beard set with hot rollers in the salon, it was quite entertaining. Then of course he actually arrived in the theatre and every child and eventually adults as well if they so desired lined up for a photo with him and received a gift.

 

 

 

Kids spent pretty much all day in Club Hal/Teens club. Hubby and I lazed around, I finished my second book for the trip on a lounge chair on the top deck this afternoon ...what a life. Tonight was our 3rd formal night, we had some more photos taken on our way to dinner. Dinner was delicious as usual, most had turkey but our favourite was the “Chocolate Mousse Snowman” for dessert. As hubby said “great meal, and I didn’t peel, cook, serve or wash up any of it”. The show tonight was Broadway Hits, was quite good but they don’t seem to have the same wow factor as we’ve seen on bigger cruises.

 

 

Day 8 – Wednesday 26 December

We were due to arrive in Wellington at 8am and be picked up at 8.15 for our tour of “Middle Earth” – ie the Lord of the Rings filming sites in the area with http://www.wellingtonrover.co.nz. We were a bit nervous as the ship took forever to pull in, but we were finally down the gangplank at 8.20 and straight into our van. Another family from the ship was in our minibus, our guide was a Lord of the Rings tragic – knew every scene, line and behind the scene story from filming. We saw the huge quarry where they built the sets for Minas Tirith & Helms Deep, the forest setting for Rivendell, the river bank from some boating scenes, the gardens from Gandalf’s ride into Eisengard and where he and Saruman walked and where the hobbits fell and hid from the Black Riders in the early part of the movie. The guide showed us photos from the filming and would point out the trees that were still there, and sometimes get us to act out the scenes. The forest where Rivendell was filmed was very beautiful, we spent quite a while wandering across a swinging bridge and around the rainforest areas there.

 

He dropped us back in the city afterwards at the Embassy Theatre where the world premiere of The Hobbit was held earlier this month. There’s a huge statue of Gandalf above the theatre which made for a good photo opportunity. We would have loved a few more hours in port to be able to actually see the movie at that theatre. After a quick and delicious Yum Cha lunch we began the long walk back to the ship, via the Te Papa Museum (home of the preserved body of the world’s largest squid), city shops, Cable Car ride and Botanic Gardens. The kids were aghast that we were only catching the cable car one way, and then had to walk back to the ship (about 2km). It was a great plan, until it started raining just as we got on the cable car. We bought ice creams at the top, then came across a band of Morris dancers which we watched for a while. The rain was fairly steady, but we set off on the downward track through the gardens back to the ship. Just as things were getting a little miserable we came across a historic cemetery and after a chorus of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” in the rain, were much happier with our state. We sloshed past the “Beehive” (NZ Parliament building) and headed for the Westpac Stadium which is opposite the cruise terminal. We took what we thought was the most direct route, but of course being a public holiday, all the gates (except the one we came in!) were locked, so we walked through a huge car park, only to be separated from the ship by a massive fence with no escape. We were told by a passing security guard we had to walk most of the way back to get out – so no need for extra laps of the deck today for me. We finally made it back onboard, dripping wet in time for a quick hot shower and nap before dinner.

 

The show tonight was billed as part acrobat/part vaudeville “Mr Fish” from a guy who used to be in Cirque du Soleil. Hubby was keen to have a front row seat, so we got there early to secure one – which is something I’ll never do again. We’d manage to sit in his prime audience participation spot and during the evening he spurted water all over us, came down took my sandal, smelt it, licked it then balanced it on his nose (ugh!!!!), and for his finale, popped over to pick up our wine glasses and sprayed the contents over us – definitely not our favourite night.

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Day 9 – Thursday 27 December

 

 

Arrived at 7am into the port of Napier, but we didn’t rush off the ship at that hour. Napier is known for its Art Deco buildings. The city was extensively damaged in a earthquake in the 1920’s, so the more ornate Victorian style buildings were lost and they rebuilt in the era of the day. We caught the free shuttle into town, then picked up our hired bikes from www.fishbike.co.nz (they give a 10% discount for cruise passengers) and rode along the waterfront, made an even more invigorating activity thanks to the light misty rain and cold breeze. We were a bit exposed on the oceanfront bikeway, so hubby led us back into the town down plenty of random side streets. Rode down some lovely hydrangea filled streets and past a cricket ground. We eventually rode past the ship and saw containers being moved around the port, and the usual piles and piles of radiata pine logs lined up. I actually don’t know how NZ has any trees left, every port we’ve visited has had enormous stockpiles of pine logs laid out on it.

 

We returned the bikes, some then went off for a game of mini golf (which is right on the beach where the shuttle drops you off) while 15yo & I explored the many shops in the centre of town. There were bagpipes playing in the main part of town, was a nice time of retail therapy. We were wishing we’d bought our swimmers off the ship as there was a big heated sea water pool complex right on the beach (and near shuttle drop off), would have been lovely to relax there for a couple of hours. We were seen off from the port in style, with several 1920’s cars accompanied by their owners in costume and a ragtime band to play along. We set sail by 2pm, which is a pretty short time in port, but it at least gives us a relaxing afternoon onboard before our final 3 full on port days.

 

 

The show tonight featured the Oosterdam Singers & Dancers in "Stage & Screen", enjoyable enough, but missing some of the wow factor I've seen on cruises with a larger dance company.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[erewhon]

Enjoying reading your review,and reliving the cruise.

We too got caught in the Wellington rain after having lunch in town with friends.

[serendipity47]

Loving your daily diary, look forward to reading each day. :)

 

Counting down to Saturday when we leave.

 

Jenny :)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Do they still have "Dutch Night" on the HAL ships when they are cruising down here . ?

 

[Australian family]

Do they still have "Dutch Night" on the HAL ships when they are cruising down here . ?

 

 

No there wasn't a dutch night.

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Day 10 – Friday 28 December

 

 

What a fantastic day, our best yet. We were 30mins late getting into the port of Tauranga, but the rental car shuttle was waiting to drive us to their depot (Pegasus Rental Cars, tauranga@rentalcars.co.nz) and we soon collected our hire car and were on our way. We’d bought our navman from home, which made getting about a breeze. First stop was the much anticipated “Hobbiton” where the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were shot, about a 1 hour drive. The set is much bigger than I imagined. There are over 40 hobbit holes, along with the lake, mill and famous party tree (re-dubbed the money tree by the owners of the property!) and Green Dragon pub. It is so lush and picturesque with a huge variety of flowers, plants and vegies trailing all around. You are bussed into the set, and then walk around with a guide explaining various behind the scenes stories from filming, takes 2 hours all up. As with the Harry Potter sets, the amount of detail that doesn’t make it on screen is amazing and great to be able to appreciate in person.

 

We then drove into Rotorua to inhale those delightful sulphur fumes at the Te Puia geothermal site. There are at least 6 major geothermal spots to visit, it was very hard comparing them beforehand to try to choose what would be best for us. In the end what sealed the deal for Te Puia was that they had an enclosure with a live kiwi bird, which I thought we really should get a glimpse of on this trip. The kiwi was quite a revelation, had a body reminiscent of an echidna, but with bird legs and of course the long curved beak. The enclosure was quite dark, no photos permitted at all, but the kiwi ferreted around with his beak constantly in the dirt right in front of us for ages.

 

The real highlight of the site (being the geothermal activity) was great too. There were plenty of paths to wander on (the kids kept trying to find the shortest route back to the car), lots of spluttering pools of mud and a geyser that we saw going off with water spouting and masses of steam and sulphur billowing across us. There were also demonstrations of weaving and wood carving, girls were very interested in the wood carving but their mother got bored and moved on. For an additional cost you could watch a cultural dance display, but given 17yo’s attitude to any form of cultural dance (scarred from Bali) I didn’t contemplate it...so we’ve now gone the whole trip without seeing a haka.

 

We then had time to quickly drop in at “Kiwi 360” one of the 2500 kiwi farms in the region – but this one has the added bonus of a giant kiwi fruit (think the kiwi version of the big banana - irresistible photo opportunity). We were too late for their farm tours, but one of the owners was on the front desk when we came in and said she’d give us a “10min private tour”. This turned out to be absolutely perfect (and took 20mins as we were asking so many questions), we drove out into the farm and walked under the kiwi plants, which trail across frames about 1.7 high. The fruit was only 1month old on the vine (her “babies” was how Joy the owner described them), they are picked from April onwards. We sampled some of their kiwi products, buying some juice and wine and left very happy with our impromptu tour.

 

 

 

Back on board time that night was 7.30pm, for an 8pm sailing however the last shuttle from the rental car left at 6pm. We could have organised to leave the car at the port and return later, but we were happy with all we’d seen, so were back onboard by 6pm. Due to the late sailing there was no performance in the showroom, but a 9pm Lido pool party (which we were too tired to attend).

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Day 11 – Saturday 29 December

 

 

Another early arrival this morning, 7am into Auckland. We didn’t rush off the ship as we decided it was about time we at least sampled something of the adventure “sports” that NZ is known for. Last night I booked us on the Auckland Jet Boat Adventure ride - http://www.aucklandadventurejet.co.nz leaving from the Auckland equivalent of Circular Quay at 9am, where our ship was also berthed. Luckily we did get there a bit early, as their online booking system doesn’t notify them if they get a booking after 5pm, so they weren’t aware anyone had booked for 9am. They did rally quickly, rang the skipper and we were suited up and on the water just after 9, only us 5 on the boat. If you booked this as an excursion with HAL you went at 10am. They provide a full length poncho - which made us all look like Sheiks - but turned out to be completely and utterly ineffective at water protection. The ride lasts for 40mins, we spun all round the harbour and went under their harbour bridge. There were plenty of shrieks from the girls as he did spin after spin. By the end we were completely drenched drowned rats, struggling to peel our sheik suits off back at the dock. As it was still early and the ship was right next door the girls and I went back to freshen up, while the boys sought out free wifi and a sunny spot to dry out. Again this was one that was better to book direct as they offered family rates that were much cheaper than HAL’s, and priced in NZD not USD.

 

Today was probably the best weather we’d had in port, glorious blue skies and low 20 degrees. It was the perfect day to catch a ferry and explore some of the outlying islands...but The Hobbit was calling us and we could no longer resist seeing the movie on a big screen in NZ. It was the right decision as we all loved it, and were squeezing each other’s hands at many points in the first part where scene after scene was exactly what we’d seen at Hobbiton the day before. I love that whenever we see any of those movies now, we’ll be able to picture all the added charm of the actual set....very special.

 

15yo’s shoulder has been sore, so we booked her in for a head & shoulders massage near the cinema. She did feel a slight improvement, but not as much as from our chiro at home. Hubby, 17 & 12yo then headed straight back to the ship, while 15yo and I took a slower wander down the main drag of Auckland. Shops were much the same as we’d already done in Napier, and really much the same as we already have at home – Factorie, Jay Jay’s, Supre, Dotti, Jeans West same old same old. The sailaway from Auckland at 5pm was glorious. Hubby & 15yo went to the gym for an Ab class (such dedication), while I poured myself a glass of wine and went to deck 10 to enjoy the view.

 

We’re really enjoying the cinema on board, only seats about 30 but has nice comfy seats and a decent sized screen. We’ve watched a couple of the Lord of the Rings films and tonight saw “The Cup”. It’s been on my to watch list for ages, so was pleased to finally see it. Was a bit sadder than I imagined, but a good story. We went straight from there to the late session of the main show, which tonight was a ventriloquist. I can't remember his name, but his puppet was a feisty gal from Jamaica. I wasn’t that excited at the thought (and was definitely not sitting anywhere near the front row!), but Hubby and girls were going so I joined them. Of course he turned out to be very good, we laughed a lot.

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Day 12 – Sunday 30 December

 

Our final port day was another 7am tendered start in the Bay of Islands. After such glorious weather in Auckland it was a shock to be back to rain. We’d hired a car again, this time from Rent-a-Dent bayofislands@rentadent.co.nz it was meant to be an Odyssey but it had apparently been in an accident so we had a replacement waiting for us. I wasn’t too worried by the rain as our first stop was to explore the Kawiti glow worm caves a 40min drive from port. We arrived at the 8.30am opening time to see a sign on the front gate “Closed due to flooding” – now that wasn’t on the schedule! The rest of the day was to be visiting a few wineries and waterfalls, but the earliness of the hour and the driving rain wasn’t conducive to either activity! So we pottered along the country roads up to Kerikeri, visited a very pricey chocolate factory and a few other shops, wandered round some markets in the drizzle and photographed NZ’s oldest building “The Stone Store” from the car as it was too wet to get out!

 

Thankfully the rain did stop long enough for us to see Haruru Falls, New Zealand’s famous horseshoe falls. The similarity to Niagara is in shape only, Haruru is like a bonsai copy of Niagara – but they were still fun to see. The benefit of all the rain is that there was plenty of water flowing. We ended up then returning the hire car early and being back onboard in time for a late lunch and lazy afternoon of reading and relaxing.

 

I had thought that the benefit of being on a ship tour to the glow worm caves would at least be that they’d be informed it was closed, so you’d have time to organise something else, but apparently not. My 17yo son had friends from the Teens Club on the ships tour bus, they sat on the bus at the dock for an hour, supposedly waiting for a passenger who hadn’t turned up. They eventually left, didn’t go to the caves but just drove around the region. They were never told why they didn’t go to the caves (which sounds odd to me!), but the kids didn’t know they were closed for flooding until my son told them that night. Last he heard, their parents were chasing up with a ship excursion team for a refund on the tour.

 

After being somewhat down on the quality of the shows earlier, we were again impressed with tonight’s performance. It was an Australian pianist, Paul Cincotto who played a great selection of pop and classics, really enjoyed it. Hubby and I finished the night watching Lord of the Rings – the Return of the King in the cinema. Just as well Aragorn was worth the time investment as it meant we missed the chocolate dessert extravaganza late that night. The girls did check it out and assured me that while the chocolate fountains were good, the rest of the food wasn’t that impressive (but perhaps they were just consoling me as I missed it!)

[aussiedisneyfan]

It is great reading a review of the cruise from someone else's perspective.

 

I think I have some photos of your kids (sounds creepy, doesn't it). Ours have the group photos from the Teens. So if you send me an email I can send you copies.

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Thanks Jane, I've sent you an email, would love the group photos

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Day 13 – Monday 31 December

 

 

We were well and truly ready for this sea day, made even better by getting an extra hours sleep as we started the adjustment back to Australian time. I had intended to watch the movie “South Solitary” but arrived just before the 11am session to a packed house. Next session wasn’t till 4pm, so we went down to the front desk and asked if they could add another, which they did at 1.30pm. Only I went in to watch it (from our family that is), but I got lots of teasing from others sitting near me as first my 15yo came in with a huge slab of raspberry chocolate cake they’d ordered from room service for me to eat, then 20min later hubby pops in with a glass of wine for me...not since Gold Class has there been such a good way to watch a movie! Spent the rest of the day reading and writing, then started preening the girls for our last formal night. We’d bought a set of hot rollers for the trip so we played hairdresser together to get some curls happening.

 

There were fun Happy New Year hats, headbands, whistles and noisemakers on our table for dinner, which kicked off the party atmosphere. Too many choices of fantastic desserts, but we all settled on the New Year’s special of berry mousse in a huge amount of chocolate casing. The show tonight was a magician. His grand finale didn’t quite go to plan, he was onstage on a motorbike, then “disappeared” and reappeared in a side audience entrance and was meant to zoom along on his bike through the centre aisle and ride down to the stage. Unfortunately a lady in a wheelchair had taken up a position in the aisle which blocked his path, so he had to dump the bike and run along instead, not quite the grand entrance he’d planned.

 

The grand finale for the year was a party in the main showroom from 11pm. The music and atmosphere were fantastic. 12yo and her friend were dancing enthusiastically on stage, 17 & 15yo were on the dance floor with the teens, it was fun to be able to watch them all having a great time. I ordered a glass of champagne about 11.40pm just before they brought out trays of free ones. Not to be deterred I quickly downed that and hubby nabbed another 2 for us. We all yelled out the countdown, the captain came out to ring the ship’s bell on stage at midnight, balloons and streamers were flying, just a brilliant time. It was so good I told hubby my new year’s resolution is to have Christmas at home and be at sea each new year’s!! We danced for another 30 or so minutes and left the kids to it. The girls weren’t far behind us, when I peeked in just before 1am 17yo was still out partying. Just before falling asleep, hubby says “I’m very worried about your new year’s resolution....”

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Day 14 – Tuesday 1 January 2013

 

 

Another extra hours sleep in, and now we’re back on Aussie time. You could not get better timing to bring the new year in than that! Very sad that this is our last full day onboard, quite a few people booked the 24 day option and will continue from Sydney for 10 days round the South Pacific – wouldn’t that be nice?

 

 

They really pushed that at least one person per cabin should go to the Vista Lounge this morning for info on how to “transition from ship to shore tomorrow” . Turned out to be a waste of time, was pretty much a 30min spiel from Cruise Director Drew on how to be generous when filling in their survey sheet as it’s such an important part of their measurement system.

 

12yo kids club had a talent show this afternoon, she and a few of the other girls performed a play and a couple of skits. We also went to another session with the magician, where he performed and explained how to do a few of his tricks, was very good. Spent the rest of the afternoon packing our bags, which had to be in the hallway by midnight. The final show was a variety performance featuring guitar player Bob Howe, Ventriloquist Matilda & Patrick and pianist Paul Cincotta.

 

Day 15 – Wednesday 2 January 2013 – DEPARTURE :(

Hubby and I wanted to see our entry into Sydney Heads so we committed the sacrilege of setting an alarm for 6am on our final day of holiday. It was lovely and peaceful wandering around the ship at that hour though and enjoying the view. We watched the sunrise as we were just in the harbour, then too quickly we were approaching Fort Denison. Hubby ran down to wake the kids, and we all watched as she squeezed under the bridge to berth at Darling Harbour.

 

 

We had an early breakfast in the buffet for what we thought would be our last waffles of the trip. We’d selected the later of the departure options (9.30am) and happily ended up with time to indulge our inner hobbit and squeeze in 2nd breakfast just before disembarking.

 

 

Some other random memories from our time;

 

Hubby has loved the chance to reconnect with US TV, in all its glory. He’s been checking out a few of the gridiron games, and the ultra tacky ads in particular are a highlight for him.

 

12yo said the other day that when she gets home she’ll have forgotten how to push her own chair in under the dinner table to sit down, as the waiter here always does it for her.

 

All in all, a simply wonderful holiday. Cruising is so relaxing and easy (especially the sea days), and has something for every age group. I’m really tempted with another cruise HAL is doing in Asia next January, will dive back into the research and budget calculations on our return. As first time HAL passengers we enjoyed their product. We’ve been on larger ships before and enjoy the bigger wow factor of those ships in both facilities and show performances, but I did love that there were no hassles getting off the ship with HAL. We have been forced with other lines to wait before ship excursions to get off the ship in other ports, but with HAL we were often in the first group ashore. Also loved that we were allowed to bring bottles of wine and soft drink onboard in any of the ports. They announce at each port that no food from the ship is allowed to be brought into NZ, but on our first port as we left the ship staff checking bags at the gangway said “cookies and muffins were fine” – so each night we’d order choc chip cookies from room service to take onboard for morning tea, which helped with the budget when feeding ever hungry teens!

 

HAL also offer a program for 18-25 year olds, which I think it quite rare. While I was at the front desk one day a guy in that age group came up wanting them to register his thanks for the program and said they’re an age bracket ignored by most cruise lines. Given that next year we’ll have an 18yo it makes future HAL cruises more tempting.

 

Sorry for the massive length, hope it’s been of use to anyone who took the time to wade through!