yarramar

Who'da thought that a floating box with 4000 people aboard could possibly be a health risk?

If staying in Sydney 2 days prior, do you need to be in the city 4 days after the cruise? Have a look at Manly or Watsons Bay or somewhere where you can just catch a ferry to be at Circular Quay. Also take a look at Coogee or other beach suburbs. Sydney public transport is excellent and there are plenty of cafes everywhere to have breakfast or coffee in the mornings

As an exercise look up google with the phrase "which city in the world has the best coffee" You will find that Melbourne may not always be ranked #1 but it makes the list of EVERY single survey. Something no other city in Australia or the World does.

Well after 45 days on board, I don't think you would care too much about booking anywhere. There are plenty of go bucket meals at the food court to take back to your cabin or on deck.

I recall at least one passenger aboard that commented on this forum prior to the sailing

I have never heard of any roaming plan that includes "cellular at sea". Make sure "data roaming" is off so that if connected to the ships cell the phone's apps won't be updating themselves at your expense. If he has Telstra, he can use the ships WiFi at reasonable cost to stay in touch with WiFiCalling. This means he can make and receive calls on his regular number the same as at home or on the mainland.

I have sailed all 3 but not from Australia In order of preference RCCL, Princess and a long way 3rd NCL. This is just my experience but I found that NCL continuously tries to "nickle and dime" their passengers

I have a couple of microfibre towels that I take everywhere. They fold into a tiny bundle and a great for drying in an emergency. We don't go to lie on beaches anywhere apart from Australia but I probably wouldn't use them on a beach.

What do you want to see? The best place to start is here https://www.whatsinport.com/New-Zealand.html Look at the ships excursions and if they are better than DIY, google similar tours or places to visit and use "shore excursion" in the search

If you just want a lovely outing with hot springs included, We did a trip to the Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula. It would be a long day if you return to Auckland or you can stay somewhere overnight.

As above, It depends on the actual cruise itinerary as to which time is best

Yes, but on a ship with 2500 + pax, there will always be a percentage that want to "get their money's worth"

I'd be more surprised to read that there are NO outbreaks of one thing or another. Any ship with a contained population of 2500 or more passengers is bound to have something going on.

Did you try Google? There are quite a few to choose from. https://exploringauckland.com/hot-springs-hot-pools-in-auckland/

If you can do that, then go for it. I wouldn't skip Darwin, though. It is fascinating and the national parks near by are amazing and worthwhile visiting. From Darwin to Bali is a flight of less than 3 hours.

You may find that this is better and cheaper than renting an umbrella. https://www.kmart.com.au/product/pop-up-beach-shelter-42781493/ If you go down this path, etiquette is to not put it in front of someone else's view of the water

Have Have you been given the OK by the cruise ship? It may be a breach of your contract of passage.

That is what put me off NCL. That and the upselling and pushiness of their business model. It is also what I have read most about the culture on board MSC and the bad food.

There is a long running thread on The Cruising forum at TripAdvisor. I have linked for you to start reading from August as newer posts would be more relevant but you could start from the beginning. https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k10695166-o240-Msc_cruises-Cruises.html

I have also been on the Jade, so am quite surprised that you would sail NCL again. However, when considering an MSC cruise that took in some of the most fabulous ports I have always wished to visit and had an amazing itinerary, I looked at some of the reviews. I decided that it sounded 10 times worse than anything that I experienced on the Jade (which also had a great itinerary which I enjoyed immensely). Therefore, my advice would be that if you found the NCL Jade fine, then you will probably have a great time on the Jewel but maybe an MSC ship may be too much for an Aussie to take.

You're not being controversial, of course some people will take advantage of you if they can, especially if they hear an American accent, it is human nature. It is, however unnecessary to tip, anywhere, anytime. In law, tips are a gift, soliciting a tip is illegal and the same as begging. A tip jar belongs to the business owner and he may distribute what is in it any way he likes. They do usually share it between everyone but it is not required. The receipts are often because the software for the machine is US based. You may also have found that the cashier will just touch the final price for you on the machines display (some are embarrassed that it shows up on the machine).

This is an overview of the region for a tourist perspective. https://www.newzealand.com/int/bay-of-islands/

As Possum said, there will be a taxi rank with plenty of taxis. The taxi marshal will help if necessary. The fare should be no more than $65 even with tolls, airport fees etc. If the traffic is at a standstill, it could maybe be $10 - $15 more. Make sure that the meter is running and that you get a receipt with his name and taxi number. There is absolutely no need to tip. The driver or anyone else anywhere. So please don't. It is perfectly safe for both yourself and your friend at any time of the day or night so even though I made it sound like there could be a problem, it is only that some complaints of overcharging tourists have been made.

Anyone interested in the Resilient Lady can follow the shenanigans of her first repositioning cruise to Australia. There are hundreds of Aussies on board as the deal to sail was to good to pass up. They left Athens on October 22. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2841105-resilient-lady-athens-to-sydney-october-22-2023/page/155/

Besides what the others said, NFC is always on not that it would work with an app anyway as you would have your card in your eWallet. You don't need data or an internet connection to make payments, that is handled by the terminal. A CC doesn't have WiFi and it works.