OzKiwiJJ

The port side is best for going into Milford Sound but most ships have good outdoor viewing decks if your cabin isn't on that side.

Thanks for the tip about the Grills Lounge coffee. Hopefully I'll remember it when we try Cunard on a short cruise next year. If you do ever decide to try Princess I recommend going on Coral Princess. Unlike the bigger, newer Royal Class ships she still feels like a cruise ship rather than a floating hotel. The suites and minisuites (except the very last ones) aft on Dolphin deck (9) are the best as they have big fully covered balconies.

Thanks, Evon. I'm very pleased to hear you had a wonderful day in Fiordland. It's such a special place. For once we didn't see the dolphins when we visited Milford Sound in December (we'd seen them every other time) but the air was crystal clear and we spotted background mountains we'd never noticed before. Pure NZ magic! I noticed on our Round Australia trip last year that Coral handled bouncy seas very well indeed.

That may have been why. If they weren't recognisable and looked like they may have had ingredients that were problematical, ie honey, then the customs official might have thought they were risky. Then again, the customs official might just have been being bloody-minded!

Were they a well-known brand bought in NZ?

I always get them mixed up. 😳 Yes, the Grand Class inside cabins are much bigger.

What type of cabin did you book? Hopefully not an inside (interior) cabin as these are very small. Not conducive to a romantic holiday although I must say I don't know what P&O have done to these cabins. We cruised on her when she was Dawn Princess andcthevonly way the cabin worked effectively was if the beds were set up in twin mode .

That is correct. Princess cruises in our region, booked in Australia or NZ, do not have daily gratuities charged to your account, they are essentially bundled into the fare.

We're cruising again in March and will still continue to wear masks when moving around the interior of the ship, in the theatre, and at trivia. It just seems sensible to me. In fact if masks had been just a normal part of life pre-Covid there would have been far less "cruise cough" on the cruises we did in the past and it might have saved me from some nasty bouts of bronchitis.

I've never seen that particular variety down here. It must be a local speciality. Both Countdown and New World in NZ do have the Smooth Blend 70% variety though.

If my memory is correct Leigh has a local shop that makes really good pasties.

I find the chocolate on Tim Tams has a strange aftertaste so I rarely buy them. I'm a Lindt Lindor addict but the Whittakers Dark Caramel is very, very nice.

Not a brand I've heard of. Sorry.

What brand of cough candies? They may be available in NZ if they are one of the international brands.

So far these are the best chocolate biscuits I've ever had. They are wicked! Available in Australia and NZ. They also come in milk chocolate, salted caramel dark chocolate, and mint milk chocolate. The photo was taken from the New World supermarket website so the prices are in NZD.

Except that Chocolate Sultana Pasties aren't anything like a pasty. They do have sort of ultra-thin flaky pastry-like layers inside with the sultanas. They are yummy though. I think sultanas are called golden raisins in the US. I've come across that term in several US recipes.

Thanks, Don. We're doing a 5 night cruise on Cunard next year in a Princess Grills cabin, which I guess are essentially the equivalent of Club Class mini-suites on Princess. I'm happy to hear you thought Cunard was good overall.

How big is the refillable bottle?

Princess does that at most port stops.

It was essentially pointless when they first brought it in last year and, from what I've heard, the previous vaccines aren't as effective against the Omicron variants anyway. Still, every little bit helps, I guess. Unfortunately too many people just carry on regardless when they develop symptoms so Covid will spread through a ship anyway.

Unfortunately I didn't have an empty water bottle to do that. We hadn't done any excursions in NZ so hadn't really thought about it until we were getting ready for our Bruny Island excursion.

But only the first two doses, not the boosters. So someone who hasn't had the boosters probably had their second shot sometime in 2021 so would have minimal protection left by now.

Beautifully done, Lyle. Lynn is a very lucky lady.

🤣🤣🤣 Yes, the luxury lines provide the water, and sometimes other drinks, "free" but mostly the mass market lines don't. Although with drinks packages you usually get small bottles of water included. Holland America annoyed me. They only had water in cans. 300ml ring tab and 600 ml with a screw cap. They charged extra for the screw cap cans even with a drinks package. It was ridiculous - who want a non-resealable container of water on an excursion? Open it and you have to drink the lot immediately or risk spilling it everywhere. You also have to take into account whether there are toilet stops during the excursion - too much water and you could have a problem. 😯😚

On some excursions you don't get any opportunity to get water which is why the cruise lines have it for sale close to where you leave the ship.