steve_cruises

Hi Marcus, Ian and DG,

We are Steve and John from Chicago, and we'll be joining you on this trip. We've been on several Celebrity sailings and find it's a great fit for us. Our most memorable was New Zealand and Australia a few years ago. We always find LGBTQ family on board, sometimes at the organized gatherings (which frankly vary based on the trip), but almost always around the Martini Bar. We'd also be up for trying to connect before the cruise is that works out.

We arrive in Rome a couple of days early and will be staying near the Vatican. After the cruise we'll overnight near FCO before flying out the next day. Are others arriving early, and where will you be staying?

I'm going to check out the Facebook group, and would also appreciate any recommendations for airport transfers pre- and post-cruise.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

Steve

We are packed and ready to go, and definitely ready to escape winter for a few weeks! See you all on board!

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David, I looked you up on Facebook but want sure it was you so I didn't connect. The picture is with Santa. Is that cutie you?

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The specialty coffees are listed in the Water/Sodas/Juices section of the list. As I recall, the menu at cafe al Bacio shows what's included in what package but it's a little confusing.

Nash - We are going to use Super Shuttle (https://www.supershuttle.co.nz/Default.aspx). You can book and prepay through their website, and like superShuttle here they run 24/7. The fare came out to NZ$43 for the two of us. Our hotel estimates a cab will be about NZ$100. The only downside is that it's a shared ride though so it will take a little longer than in a cab. I never heard back from the other service so I just decided to book this one based on the reviews. They also sell through tour agents like Viator so they must be reliable.

Sorry for the abbreviation. The Central Business District, or CBD, is Auckland's main downtown area and also where the ship docks. As for taxis, yes there are cabs at the airport but it's a long ride downtown and reports are that the cabs are quite expensive - I've heard NZ$80 or more depending on where you are going. There are shared van services that quote about NZ$45 for two, but the ride can be as long as an hour. There's also a post on the other thread about a private shuttle that I've emailed for a quote.

We are getting excited too! Last bookings will be transfers from the airport into the CBD, and a pre-cruise wine tour from Auckland on New Year's Day. We booked most of our excursions through Celebrity. Our big splurge is the Queenstown overnight from Dunedin; we have friends who said it was one of the highlights of their trip.

Hi guys. I realized that it has been a very long time since I visited here. We are Steve and John from Chicago, traveling with the Pied Piper group. We're finishing up our final planning and getting exclusions booked is weekend. I also checked with Bruce about a forum or Yahoo group for this cruise and he said they no longer set those up, but suggested I post to the PP Facebook page. We get in to Auckland late on December 29th. When does everyone else arrive?

I'm surprised you couldn't get the reservation assigned to PP - did you ask PP or X? We were on a PP cruise in May and it was a group of about 40 guys. I expect this group will be a lot larger. When do you get into AKL? We arrive on Dec 29th so will have a few days before boarding.

We are on this cruise as well, with the Pied Piper group. Can't wait!