Hard-habit-to-break

Hi

Does anyone know of a car hire company who will meet you in Port Chalmers?  Have only found companies that you need to go into Dunedin to collect the car.  We have organised this in the past (about 10 years ago) but can't find anyone now.

Wow. Can I get on tomorrow, lol? Love to do the wine tour in Picton. Fond memories.

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Some car companies will have a car waiting for you (for a price) at the cruise terminal.

Hi, sorry, hijacking an old post.

Any idea which car companies will have a car waiting? Train is an hour into the city, would be good to have that extra hour driving somewhere instead.

We were at Mr Sanchos at the beginning of Feb this year and had a blast. As previously mentioned, lounge chairs are in the sun but we were able to move them around closer to our cabana to stay in the shade. Cabana and loungers were next to one another.

We used the jet ski's, went parasailing and quad biking. There was also snorkeling and the water toys as well. I do remember they were selling lots of different activities on the day, so not sure what else there was.

Felt perfectly safe, was easy to get there and back (shared a taxi with another couple off our ship). Food and drinks were fantastic, waiter attentive. Would recommend.

Thank you so much for posting. Looki g forward to reading more.

Thank you for taking time to post. Enjoyed reading your review and will bs following.

G'day Lori!

Great review. We will put one up in the next few days as well. Just trying to get back into routine, only been back in Australia for a couple of days.

Was great spending time with you and Larry in Cozumel. If you ever make it to Australia, would be happy to meet up for a drink or meal or to play tour guide for you guys. :D

Cheers,

Kirrarne and Brett.

I can suggest Na Clachan

http://www.naclachan.co.nz/marlborough-wine-tour/

Had an amazing tour with them in Oct 2014.

They will tailor the tour to suit what you want, can go to as many wineries as you wish plus the Chocolate Factory, plus lunch somewhere nice. You just need to tell them what you want to do.

They tend to steer clear of the bigger wineries as they often charge for you to do a tasting and they go to the smaller boutique wineries that will give you free tasting and will often talk about how wine was produced in their area etc, if you are interested. If you just want to taste wine, that is fine by them.

Really friendly people, happy to work in with whatever you want and are able to come to the pier to meet you - some tour companies ask you to meet them in the township.

We recommend Mary Lou's tours for both Hilo and Kona on the Big Island if you are going there. Lovely people, great tours, can tailor it to what you want or they will work out a tour for you. Check out their reviews on Trip Advisor, we had a ball with them a couple of years ago.

Hi

We have been on Rhapsody, Radiance and Voyager and didn't have to book any shows, just turned up.

On Allure, we are given the option to book shows. Do you have to book shows or can you just turn up?

We are doing a B2B so I guess the main shows like Mama Mia, if we miss it the first week, we could see it the next week.

Also, the comedy, is it the same comedian each night or do they have different comedians every night? ie like the Headliner show - I know they can be repeated over the 2 weeks we will be on board, is it likely we would see the same comedy show more than once?

Thanks.

For anyone looking at Annual Insurance make sure you are completely covered. We are looking at annual insurance for a 6 night domestic cruise, 2 week driving trip around Tasmania and 3-4 weeks in the US including a B2B on Allure. Insure&Go have advised that we would not be covered for the 2 weeks in Tasmania.

All trips are at different times so it isn't like the driving holiday follows straight after the cruise, there is about 4 weeks between them and the US trip is next year. I was told I could take annual insurance out but would need to take out a seperate policy for Tasmania. No one could tell me why.

Just make sure you are covered for all varieties of trips before booking. We are now looking at someone different.

We used Na Clachan.

http://www.naclachan.co.nz/

They were fabulous, fit in with the time that we docked (early) and left (again, earlier than usual).

There were 2 mini buses and we had the option on wineries etc. Our bus group opted for an extra winery and the chocolate shop. We did 5 wineries. The other group decided they wanted to stop for lunch so did 4 wineries and I think they did the chocolate shop as well.

If you ask, they will take you to Cloudy Bay however they tend to steer clear because there is usually a charge for wine tasting at the bigger wineries and it is where the ship goes, so a lot of people go to them.

We went to boutique and organic wineries but there are so many that you just have to say what you want. We also had the option on going to wineries that just had white wine or red wine or a mix.

Have fun!

Another positive vote for Na Clachan Tours.

http://www.naclachan.co.nz

Fantastic tour, take you to smaller wineries that not many people know about. You can say where you want to go if you know the wineries you want or leave it up to the guide. They will fit in with whatever hours your ship is in Picton.

I don't really recall what we gave. Being Australian and not knowing we just followed what others did I think. I remember I gave $$$ to hubby who stayed on the bus and went back to the ship and he tipped our guide. I think it was $5pp, but not really sure now. Maybe $10pp, don't think it was more.

We did the 7.5hr trip last year, our guide Alyssa was fantastic. If you haven't seen Skagway, make sure you ask to be dropped off in town when you get back rather than going straight back to the ship. It is an easy walk back to the ship and a nice way to finish off your day by having a quick wander around. Chilkoot also took us for a drive around the town before we got on the train so we did atleast see some of it beforehand.

Anyone know where to park a hire car overnight in Hobart?

We have two full days in Hobart on the Voyager in November, so if we hire for the two days will need to overnight it somewhere.

Thanks for all the hire car tips and the OP for starting the thread:)

Will just have to work out which company I can get discounts on:p

 

Chez

If you have a look at Avis, there is a paid parking right alongside. We dropped a car in there at about 6pm and picked it up again at 7am the next morning. I think it cost us $5.

Alternatively there is a lot of parking near the pier - if you park after a certain time it is free, but it isn't secure parking.

Hi Fellow Aussies, thanks for your help, I will check out the Deadliest Catch Tour although sea sickness might be a problem. Hope you get back to Alaska one day, it is very expensive though.

You don't actually go out to see with this tour, you are in sheltered water everywhere. Even though it is a smaller boat, it is still quite big and you should have relatively calm water everywhere. Weather wasn't great when we went but it was calm the whole time.

We will go back one day, planning a 6-8 week trip next time!

Hi

Fellow Aussie's here. We did the 7 day cruise on Volendam in September last year and had a ball.

The problem with trying to do it all and make it worth just the one trip is that that is impossible. There is so much to see and do. We were disappointed we couldn't do some things but there just wasn't time for everything. Means we have to go back, oh well! :p:):p

Don't know if your sailing is offering it, but if there is a Tracy Arm Service Call 10.00-10.30 it means that the ship is stopping to let people get onto a small boat to go into Tracy Arm. It was expensive but SOOOOO worth it. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Only problem was that we then were taken back to Juneau to meet up with the ship and we were late back which meant we didn't see much of Juneau.

In Skagway we did the Chilkoot Charters Tour (7.5hrs) with Dog Sled ride. It wasn't on the snow, was on dirt so was their summer tour but the whole tour was fantastic. Train up, bus back, fabulous guide.

Ketchikan we walked around the town for a few hours and then did the Deadliest Catch tour. We have never watched the show, was not that interested in it , however the guys who did the tour are so interesting to listen to. Nice way to finish off the day.

Glacier Bay - either be prepared to get up very very early and get a good spot in the Crows Nest (it is really busy up there and you can here the on board guide talking about where your going) or go to the aft on the top deck, grab a couple of chairs and a coffee table, and set yourself up near the railing. We did that and whilst we didn't hear any of the commentary, we had a fabulous day out in the warmth and had the best view of the scenery without being crowded in.

Happy to answer any of your questions!

Kirrarne

I am on the a Rhapsody of the Seas at the moment and Susan McColl from Scotland is the current Cruise a Director.

Edit: - Apologies, someone beat me to it.

I agree with the Tamron 18-270mm. I bought that one just before we went yo Alaska last year and absolutely love it. Price was my thing, would have loved a canon but couldn't afford it. I live in Australia and was worried about trying to organise a rental. I am still very much learning how to use my camera to the best possible results and with the a Tamron I got some incredible pictures.

I love my Canon 18-55mm that came with my camera but the Tamron is a fab walk around lens. The 18-300mm was released not long before I went away and I read very mixed reviews, so maybe check it out before committing to it. Very light and compact!

Shame that you aren't going to Picton. We had an awesome day recently with Na Clachlan Tours in Picton. They collected us at the pier and took us out to some fantastic boutique wineries, tasted some awesome Sav Blanc's amongst other things. Stopped at the chocolate factory on the way back to the ship.

If you do manage to get to Picton (and if your cruise stops at Wellington, it won't be possible without actually flying to Picton), then do a google search for Na Clachlan. Helen and Chris are fantastic.

Living in Australia we don't tip, so I don't know who/when. I have been doing research but have a couple of questions:

We are doing a Tracy Arm tour, Bering Sea Crab Tour and Chilkoot Tours to Emerald Lake. I assume we tip someone on all 3 tours? Does it matter who it is - ie there are alot of people on the Bering Sea Crab Tour, do we just tip someone as we leave the boat?

What about the bus driver for Mendenhall? Do we tip them? When I have seen other people tip it seems like it is for everything or is there a point that you don't actually tip?

I realise that you tip taxi drivers, waiters, bellmen, housekeeping etc etc, just a bit unsure on tours.

We are also doing HOHO in Vancouver and Seattle, do we tip anyone there?

Just trying to work out $$$ before we leave on Friday.

Thanks,

Kirrarne

Thanks for this information!

We cruise on HAL Volendam on 3rd September and have also booked the Tracy Arm tour direct from the ship. Really appreciate your thoughts on this tour as it was expensive and we were unsure.

Hi,

Found this camera today, normal price is $229, marked down to $100.

Anyone know what it is like?

We want a cheap waterproof camera, I live in Australia and in a small town and don't like online shopping. It appears that this might be an older model camera and it is about what I want to pay, certainly no more. Would be used for snorkeling and maybe to take to a beach. I already have a Canon 600D and an awesome little Olympus P&S so don't want to spend $$$$ on something waterproof.

Not many other stores around here and it looks like a good price but seeing mixed reviews.

Thanks.

Thanks, Karen. I'll have to check out the Reject Shops near where I live to see whether they have it.

 

How strong is the Lavender fragrance?

Do these sheets have to be used in a machine or could you basically rip one in half and use in a bathroom sink? I gather they disolve easily? Just thinking about doing some handwashing.

Definitely available in reject shop here - sign says they had been out of stock but available again so worth to keep looking.

thanks.