lovecruising2006

My husband and I, (as well as another couple) are on the March 22 sailing with Celebrity Solstice and are looking at a private van for 10 persons to take us to Rotorua for the day.....Monday, March 25th while the ship is docked in Tauranga.

We want to do the Skyline Gondola plus 4 Luge rides. At the top of the mountain there is also a winery that has a tasting room. We also have planned to drive over to the Zorb. It is a huge plastic ball that you climb into and ride down the hill. There is one ride on the Zorb that has water in it and the other is "dry", no water.(we were looking at the dry one) :eek::eek:

The private van (with driver) is $1,000.00 for 10 persons, plus the cost of the Luge rides and the Zorb. I also checked on renting a car for just the 4 of us and it looks to be around $135.00 for the day, plus refueling the gas,( that was for a larger car, plus insurance). I spoke with someone in New Zealand the other day and they said it was about an hour drive each way, and looking on the map the two things we want to do, does not appear to be too far apart.

Looks like the cost of the 4 luge rides is $44.00 and the Zorb cost shows $45.00 for 1 ride.... I will check to see if there are any other costs through the driver, but I do not think so.

If anyone else is interested please let me know.......my email address is

thecountrybumpkin1@hotmail.com

Thanks and have a wonderful day,

Betty and Virgil Hoy

Celebrity-- Solstice-- Ensenada to Honolulu 09/13

Royal Caribbean--Enchantment of the Seas 11/05

Radiance of the Seas 12/07

Princess-- Grand Princess 02/04

Caribbean Princess 01/11

Carnival-- Carnival Valor 12/06

Carnival Liberty 12/07

Carnival Spirit 02/09

Norwegian-- Norway 09/87

We booked the 9Nt Southern Caribbean Adventure Cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida Nov 15, 2004. Just over a month ago we booked at $828 for an inside cabin. It is now $1409! That is in an increase of almost $600 in one month!

 

Can someone explain to me why this happens? What should I read into this? Cruise is in high demand? There are only a few rooms left? What would account for such a drastic increase in price so quickly? Is this typical?

 

Thanks.

It seems unfair, but I think its just like airfares these days, the person you sit next to on a flight may have paid WAY more than you..........same seat, just purchased at a different time.

Cruise lines I think do the same, I think if it is a popular cruise, then they only offer maybe a few cabins for the least expensive, then a few more for the next price and so on.....frustrating for us on a budget.

We usually try looking on all the websites and seeing what each has to offer, then book quite a ways ahead of time, sometimes a year ahead, sounds crazy, but we have saved doing this way...

This last time we booked, I actually called the cruise line themselves and got a good rate (Mar22-Apr3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice- New Zealand to Australia):rolleyes:

thanks for the info, but my husband now has decided not to dive while we are there, since the water temp is a bit cool.......we are used to warmer water in the Caribbean.:)

My husband and I are on the Celebrity Solstice March 22-April 3 2014, is there anyone else going on that cruise??? Some old time friends are also going on this cruise...........

My husband loves diving and this is the first time we will be in New Zealand, so I thought he would really enjoy a dive there.( I'm not a diver,) I am not sure if the waters are clear or if the water would be too cold at that time....any one out there been on a dive in New Zealand at this time of year???

We were on the Solstice back in September 2013 from Ensenada to Hawaii, enjoyed the cruise, but it is different than other cruises that we have been on in the past.

Looking forward to this cruise and the beauty of New Zealand, but we often go on our own and hire a taxi to see things........any suggestions would be helpful. Also when we arrive in Sydney we only have 2 extra days, if someone has suggestions for there....thanks much :D

Norwegian -SS Norway 2/87,

Royal Caribbean-Enchantment of the Seas 11/05, Radiance of the Seas 12/07

Princess - Grand Princess 10/04, Caribbean Princess 1/11

Carnival - Valor 12/06, Liberty 12/07, Spirit 2/09