topekacruiser

We found a great company that built land tours around our cruise. We're working with Paula Czarnik at Goway Travel and she's very knowledgeable about AU and NZ as she used to live here. We're on Holland America's Maasdam from Auckland to Sydney and she's included flights from the US as well as to the Cairns area for four days (with Great Barrier Reef and Daintree rainforest/Cape Tribulation tours), staying in Sydney a few days after the cruise (including a bridge climb and a day-long trip into the Blue Mountains), and staying in Auckland for a short while before the cruise (with tours there too). She's been really great to work with and we're thrilled to have "bookends" planned for our cruise.

We're torn between taking the speed boat to Magdalena Island vs the ferry. Ferry is heated with hot drinks available but takes almost 2 hours. Speed boat/zodiac is 45 min-1 hour but is very cold and a much rougher ride. Any feedback?

Is the Paradise Point Skyride still going? I haven't seen any recent comments on it. We've been to St Thomas several times and never done it. Now we think we might but we're not sure it's still operational. If it's still going are the trails at the top still open?