Aus Traveller

Before our first visit to Luganville I asked here on CC what we should do. The answer came "Stay on the ship". When we went ashore I could see why this comment came. My advice for Luganville is to go on a tour. There is nothing to see and do in town.

Keep well. Please let us know periodically how you are going. 🙂

I agree with John. I would choose Wellington (the capital of NZ) over Picton. The Bay of Islands is a bonus.

I believe it is a Roman or Greek amphitheatre, not Inca.

In Wellington passengers are not permitted to walk from the ship. You have to take the free shuttle bus to the centre of the CBD. Tour buses are allowed into the wharf area. For Christchurch, the ship will dock in Lyttleton. You can either take the free shuttle bus the short distance into the middle of town (very very little to see) or go to Christchurch. This can either be on a tour, or you could catch a public bus from Lyttleton to Christchurch. In Napier, the ships dock close to town, but (once again) it is a working port and you are not permitted to walk on the wharf (other than a limited area to reach buses etc). A free shuttle bus operates to the Tourist Info Centre in the middle of Napier. In all these ports you need to have Government-issued photo ID. This can be your Passport or Driver's Licence. These are usually checked in Napier and also Port Chalmers (but the latter isn't relevant for you). If you don't have photo ID you won't be allowed back into the wharf area and have to wait until a Security Officer from the ship comes and identifies you.

1. There is no way to know ahead of time if the crossing of the Tasman Sea will be rough. We have been on around a dozen NZ cruises and never had rough seas. 2. I doubt very very much that they will be able to leave the ship in NZ. If this is what they want to do, I suggest they look at a one-way cruise. 3. The average age on P&O is much younger than HAL, even though the average on NZ cruises is a bit higher than on Pacific Island cruises. 4. I cannot answer this question for sure, but I should think you would be able to do it on line.

We have gone on around a dozen cruises to NZ and never had a rough crossing BUT, it is the luck of the draw.

For a Reef trip from Port Douglas I can recommend a company called Reef Sprinter. They operate small jet boats giving a couple of advantages - no risk of getting seasick on the jet boat because it skims over the water and you don't spend a couple of hours just to get to the reef. I have gone with the company a couple of times and found them excellent. You can check out their website. Their office is in the marina where the tenders from the ship drop you off.

For cruises booked within Australia and NZ, automatic gratuities do not apply on Princess cruises on the Australian-based ships. The cruise fares include a reasonable pay schedule for the crew that does not rely on gratuities.

An 11am flight is probably OK for a domestic flight but I would not try it for an international.

Sorry to hear you were so crook. Get well soon. 🙂

I have often suggested that anyone who buys a basket or woven hat should hold it over the white bed cover in their room and shake the he.. out of it. If nothing falls out, then it will be OK. Hopefully if eggs etc fall out, then they will all come out at that time. To be safe, when you get home with the item, put it in the freezer for a day or two. With timber items, the Quarantine Dept is looking for wood borers. These can easily be identified by the tiny holes they leave. Sometimes sellers will insert a small tack into the hole to camouflage it so if there is a tack in a spot where there is no obvious reason, it is likely hammered into a borer hole.

Sorry - the rest of the posts from when the thread restarted after a two-month delay, were about the Pacific Encounter.

Thank you SO MUCH. I think that ends the debate unless someone can show evidence that the situation has changed in the last week or two.

Do you happen to have the sheet detailing the daily events from your embarkation day? This would show if the MDR is open or not.