patch nine

We are booked on the Sun in August and have ATD. I believe it starts this month on both the Sea and Sun.

Promenade deck on Diamond Princess

I have been on both Diamond Princess and Sea Princess (sister to the Sun) and both ships had the teak sun loungers on the wide promenade deck. The main difference was that on the Sea you could walk all the way round on one level whereas on the Diamond you had to go up some stairs to the next level at the front and that stairway was sometimes closed off.

The Sun has anytime dining, starting either April or May. We have a cruise in August and have anytime dining confirmed

There is a small cafe in the lobby serving coffees etc and a selection of pastries

Quite often Nz itineries need to be changed because of weather conditions. This happened to several cruises this season. Milford frequently gets missed and I think one ship actually missed all ports in the South Island. So not a good idea I am afraid

Would be a good idea. Better than during summer (cyclone season)

When passengers report their sickness it would be helpful for them to be given a questionnaire on their activities, eg which food outlets they used, shore excursions taken, public areas used. Then this info could be compared to see if there is a link

Yes, the Diamond Princess does have an ice cream bar and milk shakes are free with the "soda and more" package. We were on it in October and the milk shakes were just yummy - more like thick shakes with more ice cream than milk. Had to ration myself :)

On the Diamond Princess last October the pub lunch was served in one of the any time dining restaurants on the second sea day

The machines take tokens. You get them from a machine in the laundry using your cruise card. Cost was 3 dollars each for wash and dry. We were on Diamond in October.

Was on the Diamond in October and no kettles in cabins

We had no problems last month - straight into a taxi - $50 to domestic

Yes, my husband just said it may be 3 hours for international. I thought it was 2, but it may be more if flying to the USA. Best to check with Delta

Yes, my husband just said it may be 3 hours for international. I thought it was 2, but it may be more if flying to the USA. Best to check with Delta

If your ship arrives on time and you are one of the first off you should be OK, bearing in mind you need to check in 2 hours prior for an international flight. We recently returned from a cruise at OPT, and although we weren't in the first group disembarking we got a taxi immediately and were at the domestic airport about 9 am. But we were lucky as the ship arrived early and disembarkation went very smoothly (we were on Princess)

From the OPT to domestic airport cost us just under $50 on Thursday this week and that was about 8.30am on a weekday in the rain with a lot of traffic.