Our trip-Sydney to Auckland January 2011

This is my really long review of our Australia/New Zealand cruise. We did a lot of reading and researching before our trip so I wanted to give a little something back to Cruise Critic, hopefully others will find parts of this review helpful in their planning process. We booked this trip 22 months out so it was greatly anticipated. We booked directly on the Princess website for the 12 day Australia/New Zealand cruise, starting in Sydney and completing in Auckland. We chose this itinerary because we wanted to see as much as possible in the limited time that I could get away from work. The reason we chose cruising is because we enjoy seeing new places without the hassle of moving our luggage every day.

The Outbound

We booked our own airfare and for us it was less expensive to fly and book our regional carrier from home to LAX and book V Australia from LAX to Sydney as two separate tickets. Luckily for us, Alaska Airlines was nice enough to transfer our luggage to V Australia so we didn’t have to pick it up and recheck at LAX. In fact when we arrived at LAX we came off the plane, walked around the corner and we were at our gate for V Australia. We dreaded the nearly 15 hour flight to Sydney, we just had regular coach seats, but it really was not bad at all. The seats were roomy enough, the flight attendants were very customer service oriented, and the entertainment system was great. Our flight left at 8pm, shortly after we were in the air, dinner was served along with complimentary soda or wine. We were also given bottled water and there were handy station where you could refill the bottles with cold water. We watched movies and napped then about three hours before landing, they started the breakfast service.

My short word of warning, I’m a fairly fit person, that exercises 5-6 days a week, have no illnesses or conditions, my blood pressure is a bit low but not ever a problem. When you get on the plane they show a film about moving around and keeping the blood flow moving, also if you are like us, nearly everyone that knows you are going on a long plane trip has warned you about getting up and stretching. On the way over, I felt fine, watched movies, slept some, got up twice a couple of times but didn’t do a lot of stretching, so when we arrived in Sydney, I found that my right ankle and calf were hugely swollen, and my left ankle and calf were slightly swollen. I watched it closely throughout the day and since it seemed to be shrinking, I didn’t go to the doctor but it did take two days to return to normal. On the flight back I removed my shoes as soon as I got on board, and then did a lot more stretching and moving around and did not have the swelling reoccur. I also drank a lot more water on the return flight.

Two and a Half Days in Sydney

Customs in Sydney was a breeze; just remember to declare any food or snacks that you are bringing in to the country. We picked up our luggage and followed the signs to the cab stand. Our cab driver got lost taking us to our hotel, but it was fine, he was a good guy and didn’t try to charge us extra for the added miles and time. We booked the Grand Quay Hotel which is right at the ferry terminal at Circular Quay. We booked directly off their website when they offered an Easter special. We did not expect to get our room right away since we arrived at 8:00am but lucky for us they had a room available. We booked the garden view which looks out at the Botanical gardens, and from our balcony we could see the Opera House. The room was huge, they are all apartment style, with a full kitchen and a washer & dryer, and a separate bedroom and living room. Some areas seemed a little worn but the location was fabulous. We showered, dropped our bags and headed out for our first day of sightseeing.

Since our hotel was right at the ferry terminal, we just walked across the boardwalk, bought a zoo pass, and jumped on the ferry to the Taronga Zoo. It was a pleasant ride over, giving us great views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. When you get off the ferry you can either take the bus to the top of the hill and the zoo entrance or ride the gondola up. We were too early for the gondola so we opted for the quick bus ride up, which is included in your Zoo Pass. Once in the zoo we purchased some water and banana bread (which was delicious) and wandered through the zoo. The exhibits were nice, and the zoo was very clean.

It was still early when we headed back to Circular Quay so we decided to buy the 48 hour pass for the explorer buses and head out to Bondi Beach. It was easy to find the explorer bus stop across the street from the ferry terminal. There is a Starbucks and McDonalds in the same area. We rode on the top of the double decker which has a taped narration playing. We enjoyed the trip. We ate lunch at one of the many café’s at Bondi Beach and had some fabulous sea food. Unfortunately, as we started out to the beach the rain also decided to start. It was a beautiful beach and we would have loved to have spent more time there but not in the rain, so we boarded the next explorer bus back into Sydney. We dropped off downtown and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping before heading back to our hotel for a light snack and some much needed sleep.

The next morning we had breakfast at one of the many café’s that is located around our hotel and the ferry terminal. Too bad we didn’t have the time to eat at more of them. There was also a movie theater and many shops surrounding this area. We walked the short distance to the Opera House, which was so special to see in person after seeing it for so many years in pictures and on tv. We then boarded the explorer bus near the Botanical Gardens. It was difficult to decide what to see since our time was limited but we did decide to stop at the Sydney Fish Market, which is huge and has wonderful displays, and felt it was a worthwhile stop. We had lunch at Doyle’s and split the Lobster Platter which was a plenty for the two of us.

We made a stop at the Star City Casino, which was undergoing some changes so the walk to get to the Casino was really a hike over train tracks and through parking garages. We didn’t really want to spend any time gambling but we did want to see what an Australian casino was like. We would have skipped this stop if we had known the walk was so long. While waiting for the next explorer bus we enjoyed a nice rest in the park near Darling Harbor. This whole area was very nicely kept up; there were jogging paths, cafes, and shops.

Next stop was the Sydney Aquarium, which made us feel a little guilty after the seafood lunch, but none of the fish seemed to hold it against us. It is summer break in Australia and the Aquarium was packed with children. I like kids, but it was a little overwhelming to be packed into confined spaces trying to view exhibits with so many of them. They have several exhibits where you walk down under the tanks and view the sea life from underneath, which is a wonderful site, but it was also very hot and humid. I think this would have been a better stop earlier in the day, and although we enjoyed it, I wished later that we had opted for the Maritime Museum. Again, we found this area of Darling Harbor very clean with many café’s and shops to explore.

The explorer bus took us back under the Sydney Harbor Bridge and past the Rocks, which were directly across the water from our hotel. We were ready for a snack and another early night. We took some pictures of the Oversees Passenger Terminal from the pool level at our hotel before calling it a night.

The next morning it was amazing to see the huge Diamond Princess tied up at the OPT. We had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, did a little laundry and then headed to the OPT too early. We were eager to get onboard, but when we arrived we were told it would be noon before we boarded. There was a little confusion as many passengers were still leaving from the cruise that just ended. With a little direction, we found the luggage carts where we dropped our bags; the young men there were very polite, it seemed very wrong not to tip them. We filled out the exit card for customs while waiting. Around 11:45 they let us line up and then started letting us through. We were in our cabin by 12:15. After looking around a bit we got off the ship and went to explore the Rocks.

It was Saturday, so the street fair was in full blast. Lots of booths, lots of shops, I wish I had picked up more souvenirs here since this was the best Australia shopping spot that we encountered for the rest of the cruise. We were still suffering from a sticker shock at this point. Everything was much more than we are used to paying at home but we adjusted over time. It still killed me to pay $3.50 for a soda, but it didn’t stop me from buying it. J It is an easy walk from the ship to the Rocks and they even had policemen helping out at the crosswalks.

In our opinion, Sydney was a beautiful, clean city with great architecture and easy to use transportation. We would have loved to have another 3-4 days here to really enjoy the city, there were so many stops that we did not get to make.

MORE TO FOLLOW TOMORROW

Really enjoyed your review and can't wait to read the rest of it!

Thanks for doing this. This is excellent!

Thanks a lot for the GREAT review. We are doing this trip in the opposite direction later this year and have already booked air on V Australia. Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

Sailaway

By the time we returned from shopping at the Rocks, our bags were in our room and we met our room steward, Danielo. We ate dinner in the buffet, went through the life boat drill, did a little exploring, unpacked the bags, and before we knew it the ship was leaving. We had a mini-suite on the starboard side, which overlooked the Hyatt. We could see several different wedding parties moving about and having pictures taken, evidently this is a popular spot to tie the knot. Sailaway was spectacular! We have a great view from our balcony of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Opera House, and the city skyline. I was mesmerized, and stayed out on the balcony until it was too dark to see anymore.

The Diamond Princess

The ship had a recent dry dock which added the Movies Under the Stars but I’m not sure what else was done. Others that we met through Cruise Critic said that most of the dry dock was about the exterior. The ship looked great for the most part, and I think Princess does a great job of keeping public areas clean. We found the staff to be very friendly and helpful. We were happy to see that the port photos are now offered in smaller sizes, because really how many 8x10’s do we need? We did end up buying a couple of port photos that turned out nice. I used the gym a couple of times and thought it had a nice variety of equipment and I didn’t have to wait to use it. The ship has a currency exchange booth, which seemed to get a lot of use. We purchased our Australia and New Zealand money through our local bank, we thought it would help us stay within our budget and avoid foreign exchange fees. It worked out great for us. We also always pre-purchase our shipboard credit, again it’s just the way we like to budget. We don’t like to have any bills when we get home.

The Minisuite

We picked this cabin directly across from the self service laundry, it was convenient and yet we never heard a noise. We brought quarters, which worked out good since the change machine was empty a lot of the time. We also brought soap packets and dryer sheets which were very handy. Our cabin steward was the best! He kept the room clean, he was helpful when we asked questions, and we tipped him throughout the cruise and at the end also. We thought the carpet was a little tired but the cabin did have the new LCD tvs. I wish that the shower had the solid sliding door that you find on the NCL mini-suites, hate fighting the curtain, but overall the cabin was good, roomy enough. We love that you can order fresh fruit, we wrote in grapes which weren’t on the menu card and they brought those too, no problem.

Sea Days

As we had been careless in Sydney and were both burned we did not spend any time at the pool on our first sea day. After that the sea days were just too cold for us to enjoy the pool. Many others were out but we need more than 70 degrees to swim or sit out by the pool. We were a little bored on the sea days but that is just us I’m sure, and I don’t mean to discourage anyone, it just seems that most of the activities didn’t seem to hit on our interests. Crossing the Tasman Sea was not rough but there were huge rollers which for me are worse so I was glad to have some Dramamine on hand. My husband wasn’t bothered by the rollers at all. I think we were the only ones on the entire ship that didn’t see dolphins, it began to be a joke with us because no matter where we were it was the wrong side of the ship, and by the time we made it the correct side they were gone. I guess we will just have to come back for another visit! J

Formal Nights

We chose not to bring formal clothes on this trip. Instead we booked one night in the Sterling Steakhouse and the other formal night we booked an Ultimate Balcony Dinner. Food taste is very subjective, but we found the steak at Sterling to be very poor quality. My husband was in the meat industry for many years, so he is very picky, but this meat was tough with no marbling. The service was great but for us, we would never try steak here again. The UBD was fantastic. It cost $50 per person which we thought was reasonable for the quality of the evening. They contacted us and we went over the menu, set the time, and they arrived to the minute. The meal took about two hours, the service was excellent, and the waiters stayed out in the hall and brought in each course in a timely manner. We chose to have them set up inside as it was a little windy, chilly for us on the balcony. The photographer also came and took several pictures, one is included with the price of the meal and the others are available for purchase. We picked up the free one later, but weren’t interested in purchasing a bunch of 8x10 dinner pictures, the pictures would have been more appealing to us in smaller sizes.

I'm glad that you are enjoying the post, I appologize for any typos, I guess spell check doesn't fix everything!:o I would be happy to answer any questions if I can. Thanks

Melbourne

We decided to just do Melbourne on our own. The Australian Open was taking place while we were in town so the downtown area was very crowded. When you get off the ship you can buy a bus pass at a little stand in the terminal before you get outside, I think it was $8 per person, and this will get you into the downtown area where you can pick up the free city circle tram. We used the city circle tram to get around and they were packed full with little ventilation. We rode the tram out to the Harborside Mall, which hosts the only Costco in Australia. There is a huge ferris wheel here but unfortunately it was under repair while we were there. It was interesting to look around and compare prices and products at Costco, I know it’s silly, but it really was fun. We had lunch in the Costco café and enjoyed a beef meat pie for $2.99.

We wandered around the block near Costco and found a city tram to Federation Square. In the middle of the square the city had set up a jumbo screen so that everyone could watch the tennis competition. Many people had set up lounge chairs and were there for the day. There were several café’s circling the square but we were full from the Costco stop so we walked through the square and down the stairs to the Yarra River. There were several stands selling tickets for river cruises, we picked one at random. The recent rainfall made the river a little high and murky but it was an enjoyable trip. There was a guide providing narration and answering questions. The weather had turned cool, around 64, with threatening black clouds, so we decided to call it a day. We took a taxi back to the dock which only cost $25 which seemed like a good deal since we were tired from all the walking. We had a nice day but in hindsight I wish we had taken a tour and headed out of the city. We heard the Asustralian Open brings in 500,000 people plus two cruise ships, so that adds up to a crowded downtown area.

Tasmania

We booked a ship tour, the Mt Field & Bonorong by 4WD adventure and it was worth the money. This tour books up fast and was full long before the ship sailed. I think there were only 5 vehicles which take 4 people each. We had a great guide, Leon, who told us a lot of interesting facts about Tasmania and all of Australia.

First stop was Bonorong Wildlife Park, and since we arrived before the large tour buses, we had a nice stroll through the park and were able to pet the kangaroos, feed them out of our hands, and take pictures with them. They also had staff throughout the park talking about the animals. We were able to pet a Koala, the fur reminded me of wool, it was so soft and thick. The Tasmanian Devils were a hoot, they sound so ferocious but they are only about the size of a small dog, we thought they would be more the size of a wolverine. It was a great experience and they have a nice little gift shop to look over on your way out. They take in injured animals from all over the island and we felt there was a real sense of caring from all the employees. We loved this stop, we like animals, and it was just such a fantastic opportunity to be close up to animals that we don’t normally see.

From there we headed to Mt. Field National Park for scones and tea/coffee. The scones were delicious with fresh raspberry jam and whipped butter. The jam had that extra rich homemade taste which was perfect with the fresh from the oven scones. After the snack we continued to our next stop, which required our driver to pick up a key that allowed us beyond a locked gate in the national forest land. Along the way we saw a lot of hop fields, sheep, and raspberry fields. All the native trees are evergreens but not like we are used to, these were mostly eucalyptus and sweet gum trees. We needed the 4WD to make it to the top of a peak, where the panoramic views were incredible. It was a little breezy so I was glad to be wearing long pants and have a jacket along.

We then had a nice light lunch at a family run inn/resort. We were served a cheese plate, along with salmon lox, a spicy potato salad and wine. The food was great, and just enough after the heavenly scones. After lunch our guide drove us to the top of trail leading down to Russell Falls. This allowed us to hike down to the falls and out to the park center where we had enjoyed our scones earlier, this was about a 45 minute easy hike down. The sweet gum trees here are among the tallest in the world. We saw many wild Wallabies along the trail, and we had a pleasant hike down, Russell Falls was definitely worth visiting. Our tour guide was very informative, and had recently been to the Seattle and Portland. We were impressed that he had felt comfortable renting a car and driving in the states since we didn’t think we could do that in Australia. Our trip was a full day trip, and as we headed back to town he tried to let us get in some downtown shopping but the shops were closing as we arrived.

We ate in the buffet for dinner and were able to watch a sailboat race in the harbor. It seemed a perfect way to end the day. J

Milford Sound

We had booked the 2 day 1 night overland tour from Milford Sound to Dunedin. The tour was a bit spendy but we thought it was worth the price and highly recommend doing this trip. We met at the Savoy dining room; there were only 31 people in our tour group, and from there they lead us over to the exit on deck 4. A boat pulled up alongside the ship and we transferred over, this was fantastic because as we pulled away everyone was waiving from the ship and we took some great pictures of the Diamond Princess with the mountains around Milford sound in the background. The surroundings reminded me of time we spent on the west coast of Canada, except that the mountains come straight out of the water with no beach area around them. It was truly beautiful, and we missed going to Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound by taking this trip, but as was the theme we couldn’t see everything in one trip. The dock at Milford Sound housed several sightseeing boats and there was even an airstrip close by which seemed to be for sightseeing planes. We were met at the dock by our tour guide/bus driver and escorted to the bus. We felt very comfortable with our group, some we had been communicating with through our ship roll call on cruise critic, so it was nice to meet them in person.

Our first stop on our journey was a little hiking trail to the Chasm falls. The hiking path looped through the rainforest foliage and allowed us to view the Chasm which was rock carved out over time by the stream. The trees were all covered with moss and there were huge fern trees as well. When we returned to the parking lot there were a couple of Kea birds, these are large parrots about the size of a chicken. They are beautiful to look at but can be destructive as they seem to enjoy pulling off windshield wiper blades and the rubber gasket around car doors.

Next we passed through the Homer Tunnel, and stopped on the Westside to learn about the history of the tunnel and the upkeep. It was incredible to pass from the wet rainforest to the highland meadows and farm land. The rivers and creeks were a beautiful blue color that reminded me of the water in the Caribbean. Our tour guide provided us with plenty of information about the each area that we passed through.

Our lunch stop was in the town of Te Anua, which sets on Lake Te Anua. We would have enjoyed strolling through town but there is only so much time and so much to see. We ate a buffet style lunch in a local resort, the food was great and the variety was nice. There were several helicopter tours leaving from the lake, I’m sure that would be a wonderful way to explore the rugged surrounding countryside. After lunch, we passed through more open meadows and several large deer farms. It seems venison is big business here. The deer were very red in color and different from the Mule deer and Whitetail that we used to seeing. We also so a lot of sheep, we were told they outnumber people 30 to 1. We were also told that dairy farms are popular but we didn’t see any.

We stopped in a small town along the way that served up homemade ice cream. We shared a cone of Hokey Pokey which seemed to be a mix of vanilla and sponge toffee, and was very good. After our snack stop, we headed back into the mountains and arrived in Queenstown shortly before 4pm, and after a short tour though town our guide dropped us at our hotel. We were all booked into the Novotel Hotel Queenstown Lakeside for the night. We had never stayed in this chain before, but the rooms were very nice, with modern design furnishings and even towel warmers. We only had a short amount of time before dinner, so we hit the town in full shopping mode (which means I hit all the stores and my husband sits relaxes on a bench outside with a coffee minding the purchases from each store). The shopping was very good here and I found the best prices. The town is very extreme sports oriented so there were jet boat rides, luge rides, a world class ski resort (although not open in the summer), and various other activities that we would like to come back and try some day. I think it would be easy to spend a week in Queenstown and never run out of things to do.

At 6pm we boarded the steamship the TSS Earnslaw at 6pm for the trip across Lake Wakatipu for our dinner at the Walter Peak Station. The TSS Earnslaw will be 100 years old next year, they had bar service and a piano player onboard. The ride across the lake took about 40 minutes. We arrived at a lovely old homestead that was all painted up white with red metal roofs. We had a buffet style dinner, with plenty of good food. After dinner, we wandered around the park like grounds, and made our way to a barn that opened to the hilly pasture in the back. We had seen a tall black and white cattle dog wandering around earlier, he was nice but paid little attention to all of us tourists that wanted to pet him. As soon as the rancher arrived we realized that all the dog was concerned with was working the sheep. He moved the sheep off the hillside and through the pens without ever barking. It was amazing to watch. We also had a sheep shearing demonstration. After the show, we boarded the steamship for the ride back to Queenstown. We arrived back around 10pm and called it a night.

Overland Tour Day 2

We started our day with a buffet style breakfast at the hotel, which was included in our tour. Everyone met at the bus at 9am and we started on our way. The first stop was the AJ Hackett Bungee jumping. This was amazing, and one of my few regrets was not having the time to try bungee jumping off the bridge. I guess this gives us another reason to go back to New Zealand! We watched a couple people jump, the line to jump was very long, even this early in the day. The cost was $180. They also have a nice gift shop, we picked up a bungee Santa Christmas tree ornament, but they also had tees, sweatshirts, caps and other must haves.

As we headed out of the mountains, the land opened up again to fruit orchards and vineyards. We stopped at a large fruit stand in Cromwell. It was great to sample cherries in the middle of January! We shared a frozen yogurt that was blended with fresh raspberries and kiwi. My husband bought several bottles of jam which he is still enjoying and claiming it is the best. It seemed like a short drive down the valley to a resort at the town of Lawrence where we had lunch. Again it was a buffet style, we really enjoyed the ham and the opportunity for more fresh fruit for dessert. The plants at the resort were all in full bloom which was an extra treat. It was nice to wander around in the warm sunshine before continuing on our journey. Just before reaching Dunedin, we saw hay being harvested. It was all in round bales but the really unusual site for us was the machine picking them up and shrink wrapping the bales. We are still wondering how they keep the bales from molding in the wrap?

Dunedin

Since our overland tour was ending here we didn’t get to spend a huge amount of time exploring the city, but our guide did take us around to see some of the major destination sites. The University of Otago campus was absolutely beautiful and we really enjoyed walking through the Dunedin Railway Station, make sure to go upstairs and view the tile from above. We also were able to have a quick stop at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral. We loved the architecture in this town and wished that we had more time to explore.

This is great! So appreciate you taking the time to write it. Looking forward to the next chapter. Which part of E. WA are you from? Used to live there myself before I moved to Seattle area.

This is great! So appreciate you taking the time to write it. Looking forward to the next chapter. Which part of E. WA are you from? Used to live there myself before I moved to Seattle area.

Thanks glad you are enjoying it, I may have to finish next week but I will try to get a little more posted today. We have lived in Selah for the past five years, we also lived in the Seattle area and Winthrop for a while. Redmond has grown so much that I'm sure I couldn't even find my way around there now.

Thank you! A very interesting review of your cruise. It's a shame Melbourne was so crowded when you were there with the Aust. tennis open on. I know the free circle trams can get packed as locals use them for a free ride when they should leave them for tourists to enjoy. From your review I don't think you got to experience the best Melbourne has to offer. It seems you may have missed some of the best sights in the city.

Unfortunately Australia can be expensive for tourists from the US as the Australian dollar is at an all time high against the US dollar. A couple of years ago it would have been much cheaper for you. I would say that Australian prices are comparable with many European countries.

If anyone is stopping in Melbourne on a cruise please feel free to ask advice here as to what to see and do in the city from a locals perspective. I would be more than happy to give you some suggestions.

Christchurch

The ship actually docks in Lyttleton and there is a huge hill between the port and the town of Christchurch. In the 1950’s, a mile long tunnel was dug through the hill to make transportation easier. We were told that the population of Christchurch is around 380,000 making it the second largest town in New Zealand. The population of the south island is about 1 million people with the total population of New Zealand being around 4 million. We noticed here as well as everywhere we had been in New Zealand that there was very little graffiti, it seems not to be as popular with the kids, maybe there were too many other activities keeping them busy. We did see many public parks, skate parks, BMX tracks, cricket fields, rugby fields, soccer fields, etc.

We booked a ship tour that took us to the International Antarctic Center and Willowbank Reserve. This was a short excursion but again we enjoyed it very much. The Antarctic Center has some very informative displays, and we enjoyed seeing the blue penguins. They have a cold room also so you can experience the below freezing temperatures, but this felt too much like home for us so we didn’t stay for the full cold blast. We could also see the storage building and US Airforce plane across the street that is used for expeditions to Antarctica.

We absolutely loved Willowbank, it was a wonderful reserve with pathways that wandered through park-like settings. There are signs along the way to explain the animals, some being animals that were introduced and others being native animals. We also got our first peek at a live Kiwi bird. For us this stop wasn’t long enough and since we were on a schedule we felt a rushed. They had a beautiful gift shop and the food in the café looked delicious but we had to hurry back to our bus to stay on the timeline. We had a few photo shot stops in downtown Christchurch before heading back to the ship. If we were to visit again, we would book a private tour so that we could enjoy more time at each of these stops. We could see the damage from the earthquake that had occurred in September being repaired. We feel very lucky to have visited Christchurch and hope that all the wonderful, friendly folks that we met there are doing okay after the earthquake in February, our thoughts and prayers go out to the whole community.

Tauranga

One of the members on our roll call booked a private tour through Mount Classic for this stop, so there was a group of 14 of us. (Thanks Pat for making all the arrangements J) Mount Classic was great and we recommend them completely. We met up with our group on the dock at around 8am and our guide, Trev, was waiting for us.

Our first stop was Rotorua at Te Puia. We attended a Maori show and then toured the geysers and thermal mud ponds. The show was good but it was very crowded and it seemed we were at the show with a very pushy crowd of tourists. If we did it over again, we would pass on the show portion and save a little time for another stop.

We drove out of town a little way and had lunch at the Volt on the lake. After a nice fish and chips lunch, we watched the black swans that were plentiful around the lake. I’m sure this immediately identifies us as tourists since the black swans are considered to be somewhat of a pest according to our guide, I suppose it would be similar to us making a fuss over Canadian Geese on the golf courses. They were beautiful but we gave them some room as we were told they can be a little testy.

Our next stop was Rainbow Springs. Again, this was a wonderful, clean, park with beautiful foliage. They operate a hatchery for trout here and we saw some of the largest trout we have ever seen. Some looked to be 30 pounds or more. They are free to leave the park but many stay as the food source is good. We saw more local birds and were also able to see Kiwi birds again. When you first enter the park, they take your picture and photoshop Kiwi birds into the picture, we were happy with the results and purchased the packet for $25. It comes with a picture, postcards, a little calendar and a key chain. The park had a compost operation and advertised that they compost all the food waste from the facility, which we thought was nice.

Our last stop was the Spring Loaded Park where we were booked on a jet boat ride. The ride was fantastic! We had never done anything like this before, so it was a huge thrill when the driver threw the boat into a 360 turn. I don’t know how fast we were going but I had left my sunglasses on the bus, and it almost hurt to keep my eyes open. We hated to have the ride end we were having so much fun. Just outside the park the guide stopped at a Kiwi farm. The kiwi fruit are grown on vines that look similar to vineyards but only tall enough for people to walk under them. It was very interesting as the female plants are the only ones to produce fruit. We saw both the green and the gold kiwis.

After a trip through the town of TePuke, our guide had us back to the dock at 5pm. We couldn’t believe how fast the day had gone by. If we had do over’s, we would have shortened our time at Te Puia and allowed enough time to stop at the Kiwi 360 Park, but don’t get me wrong this was a great tour, and again we think Mount Classic did a fantastic job for much less than the ships tours.

Thank you! A very interesting review of your cruise. It's a shame Melbourne was so crowded when you were there with the Aust. tennis open on. I know the free circle trams can get packed as locals use them for a free ride when they should leave them for tourists to enjoy. From your review I don't think you got to experience the best Melbourne has to offer. It seems you may have missed some of the best sights in the city.

 

Unfortunately Australia can be expensive for tourists from the US as the Australian dollar is at an all time high against the US dollar. A couple of years ago it would have been much cheaper for you. I would say that Australian prices are comparable with many European countries.

 

If anyone is stopping in Melbourne on a cruise please feel free to ask advice here as to what to see and do in the city from a locals perspective. I would be more than happy to give you some suggestions.

I totally agree, we thought Melbourne was a great city but it was bad timing for those of us that wanted to see the sites due to the large crowds. Others we met were thrilled because they were able to see the Australian Open. We would love to go back to Melbourne. :)

Thanks glad you are enjoying it, I may have to finish next week but I will try to get a little more posted today. We have lived in Selah for the past five years, we also lived in the Seattle area and Winthrop for a while. Redmond has grown so much that I'm sure I couldn't even find my way around there now.

You are right about not knowing Redmond. I have lived here for almost 12 years and I don't recognize it from day to day. It's growing like crazy. I've been to Selah and Winthrop quite a few times following my daughter around in the 90s when she play sports for Cascade of Leavenworth.

Your review is great. I had a question about the show you said was PACKED in Tauranga. We really want to see this type of show. Did you see one any where else? The Maori culture is of great interest to us.

Jim

You are right about not knowing Redmond. I have lived here for almost 12 years and I don't recognize it from day to day. It's growing like crazy. I've been to Selah and Winthrop quite a few times following my daughter around in the 90s when she play sports for Cascade of Leavenworth.

 

Your review is great. I had a question about the show you said was PACKED in Tauranga. We really want to see this type of show. Did you see one any where else? The Maori culture is of great interest to us.

 

Jim

It could be we just picked a busy day but if you show up a little early to the show, they ask for a volunteer chief, this guarantees that the men in your group get the very first row and the women get the second row. Also as a show of respect, everyone needs to remove their shoes, hats, and sunglasses before entering the building being prepared for this would probably make it go a little easier. When we were in Auckland we stopped at the museum (I think there was a whole floor for displays of Maori items and history), they also had a show, but it was sold out when we arrived.

I'll try to wrap up the review tomorrow afternoon :)

 

I'll try to wrap up the review tomorrow afternoon :)

Thanks, can't wait!

Auckland

We received our luggage tags for disembarkation the evening we left Tauranga. Our tags were for a 9:30am disembarkation but since we only had one day in Auckland we went early the next morning, our last sea day, and requested an earlier time. The front desk gave us a 7:30am time which we thought was great. It was good that we went early as later on we saw a special table set up for tag changes and a line that stretched out quite a ways.

We think Princess does disembarkation very well, we went to our assigned meeting spot, our color was called and we disembarked. We went downstairs to pick up our luggage in the assigned area, and the staff available to help us locate it was great. One person brought us a cart and another person loaded it on. We booked the Auckland Hilton, which is at the end of the pier, so they told us to just take the cart and the bellhops would return it. This was super easy; we just rolled the cart down to the hotel, no need for a taxi, no waiting in line. We booked this hotel online at an internet site, I don’t think I’m supposed to name names, but it was one of the big ones, but the room was only $149.00.It was too early to get our room but we checked in and left our luggage. It was just a little after 8am so we were off to explore.

The area around the docks was super busy as people were still getting off the ship and right across at the next pier a P&O ship was also disembarking. Most of the shops were not open yet, but we bought a coffee at a shop called Seattle Espresso and sat out by the pier. Around 9am we walked towards the Ferry Building where we purchased day passes for the explorer bus. It was $35 per person for all day. Some explorer buses are double dickers with open tops and some are not, we road on both but prefer the open top ones which allow for good sightseeing along the way. Our first stop was Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World. We arrived with 3 bus loads of kids and two large busses doing ship tours, so in hindsight, we would have saved this stop for later or maybe skipped it. If you like to see Manta Rays, they had one of the best displays for that.

Our second stop was the Auckland Museum; we thought this was a terrific stop. If we had arrived earlier we may have opted for the Maori show here but when we arrived it was sold out. There were three floors of exhibits (People, Land, and War); we could have easily spent the entire day there. We also found out that you can arrange for a tour guide, I’m not sure if you can do this in advance but the guide takes your group on an hour tour that hits the highlights. The café in the museum turned out to be a great spot to eat lunch. I’m not sure how half the day had slipped away but it was already 1pm when we ordered lunch. I had a ham and pineapple tortilla that was excellent and my husband had a club sandwich that came with ham and egg salad, also excellent.

After lunch we lined up for the next explorer bus, by now the crowds were really increasing and they were having trouble getting everyone on buses. We heard the driver say that they were bringing in another bus. We made on board though so we were off to stop three which was the Auckland Sky Tower. My husband really doesn’t like heights so we didn’t go up in the tower. We stopped at the gift shop and looked around, then sat outside and watched people doing the sky jump off the side of the tower. It was nice to take a little break. It was nearly 3pm when we jumped on the explorer, so we decided to check on our room.

The bellhop had already put our bags in our room; we can’t say enough about the staff at the Hilton, they were friendly, informative, and efficient. The room was large and the amenities were nice. Our balcony looked right across to the Diamond Princess. We were even able to find the cabin we had on the ship. We didn’t get to see nearly all we wanted to in Auckland but we were getting hungry so we walked across to the mall and ate at the food court. After some shopping in the mall we figured that we were done. We made it back to the hotel in time to see the P&O ship sail away and later we watched the Diamond Princess sail out of the harbor.

Packing

As we mentioned earlier, we booked a room near the self laundry and then packed lighter than normal. We wore our gortex jackets along with a lightweight fleece jackets on the plane and used them to cover up with while napping. We were glad to have these jackets when we entered Milford Sound. Even though we were lucky and had a beautiful sunny day, it was still damp and chilly. We packed a couple pair of long pants and were glad to have them. My advice would be to pack a variety of shorts, and shirts that you can layer. The handheld scale was handy for weighing bags on the return.

We usually take a little bubble wrap and a lightweight plastic container to protect fragile items that need to go in the checked luggage.

Wrapping up the trip

We enjoyed this vacation and can honestly say that there was not a single port that we would have skipped, all were very interesting and worthwhile stops. We wished there had been less sea days, but with the distance we were travelling that just doesn’t seem to be an option. Since the long flights were really not bad for us, we are planning on returning some day, maybe in the not too distant future. Thanks for reading my long review.J

Your review is great. I had a question about the show you said was PACKED in Tauranga. We really want to see this type of show. Did you see one any where else? The Maori culture is of great interest to us.

Jim

Kia ora,

Te Puia, formerly known as the Maori Arts & Craft centre, is in Rotorua, the North Island's 'must see'. While you can see a marae etc. in the Auckland or Wellington (Te Papa) museums Rotorua is where you will see the real thing and experience the 'spiritual heart' of Maoridom, plus of course seeing the geo-thermal activity. There are a number of places where you can see a cultural show. Te Puia and Tamaki Maori village are among the most popular and present a professional show. Another Whakarewarewa, a Maori village adjacent to Te Puia is one of a number of places where you can see a cultural show and experience manaakitanga (= care for, entertain, show respect, hospitality etc.) which expresses some of the essence of being Maori/New Zealander, as well as wandering around the village (none at the two mentioned above) at the same time as seeing bubbling mud pools, steaming water etc. Living in Rotorua one gets used to seeing steam coming out of the ground and on occasions passing boiling mud pools. Maori, one of our official languages, is spoken widely. Also in Rotorua is Ohinemutu, well known as a Maori settlement with three marae within sight of the magnificent Maori Church of St. Faiths, which is well worth a visit. I do some gardening down there and find it a challenge, as on occasions; what I haven't lost by drought has been cooked by the heat of the ground! Thermal activity is all around the buildings there. In parts of Rotorua it is used for heating and in the region for generating electricity. Nearby is Kuirau park which has a small hot lake, plus various hot mud pools etc. Web sites which may help are www.rotorua.co.nz , www.whakarewarewa.com & www.tepuia.com

Trust this helps

Aquarians

Kia ora,

Te Puia, formerly known as the Maori Arts & Craft centre, is in Rotorua, the North Island's 'must see'. While you can see a marae etc. in the Auckland or Wellington (Te Papa) museums Rotorua is where you will see the real thing and experience the 'spiritual heart' of Maoridom, plus of course seeing the geo-thermal activity. There are a number of places where you can see a cultural show. Te Puia and Tamaki Maori village are among the most popular and present a professional show. Another Whakarewarewa, a Maori village adjacent to Te Puia is one of a number of places where you can see a cultural show and experience manaakitanga (= care for, entertain, show respect, hospitality etc.) which expresses some of the essence of being Maori/New Zealander, as well as wandering around the village (none at the two mentioned above) at the same time as seeing bubbling mud pools, steaming water etc. Living in Rotorua one gets used to seeing steam coming out of the ground and on occasions passing boiling mud pools. Maori, one of our official languages, is spoken widely. Also in Rotorua is Ohinemutu, well known as a Maori settlement with three marae within sight of the magnificent Maori Church of St. Faiths, which is well worth a visit. I do some gardening down there and find it a challenge, as on occasions; what I haven't lost by drought has been cooked by the heat of the ground! Thermal activity is all around the buildings there. In parts of Rotorua it is used for heating and in the region for generating electricity. Nearby is Kuirau park which has a small hot lake, plus various hot mud pools etc. Web sites which may help are www.rotorua.co.nz , www.whakarewarewa.com & www.tepuia.com

Trust this helps

Aquarians

Aquarians,

You have helped immeasurably. Thanks so much. What do you think would be the nearest port to Rotorua and so we can book a private tour including Te Puia? We also ask for a tour of the city and your church as well. We will look for a cruising gardner trying to save the hot plants so we can thank them.;)

Jim

Aquarians,

 

You have helped immeasurably. Thanks so much. What do you think would be the nearest port to Rotorua and so we can book a private tour including Te Puia? We also ask for a tour of the city and your church as well. We will look for a cruising gardner trying to save the hot plants so we can thank them.;)

 

Jim

Kia ora (= goodday/greetings)

Tauranga is the port. Rotorua is about one hours drive and on the way you pass through Kiwi Fruit country and are near to Maketu where the Te Arawa waka arrived about 1000 years ago. New Zealanders were sailing the Pacific well before Christopher Columbus sailed the Atlantic! Rotorua is not a big town with Te Puia and Whakarewa less than five minutes away from Ohinemutu which is an historic spot on the shores of Lake Rotorua. On the way in from the ship you will pass Lake Rotoiti before getting to Lake Rotorua.

Ka kite ano (=see you)

Aquarians

Auckland

We received our luggage tags for disembarkation the evening we left Tauranga. Our tags were for a 9:30am disembarkation but since we only had one day in Auckland we went early the next morning, our last sea day, and requested an earlier time. The front desk gave us a 7:30am time which we thought was great. It was good that we went early as later on we saw a special table set up for tag changes and a line that stretched out quite a ways.

 

We think Princess does disembarkation very well, we went to our assigned meeting spot, our color was called and we disembarked. We went downstairs to pick up our luggage in the assigned area, and the staff available to help us locate it was great. One person brought us a cart and another person loaded it on. We booked the Auckland Hilton, which is at the end of the pier, so they told us to just take the cart and the bellhops would return it. This was super easy; we just rolled the cart down to the hotel, no need for a taxi, no waiting in line. We booked this hotel online at an internet site, I don’t think I’m supposed to name names, but it was one of the big ones, but the room was only $149.00.It was too early to get our room but we checked in and left our luggage. It was just a little after 8am so we were off to explore.

 

The area around the docks was super busy as people were still getting off the ship and right across at the next pier a P&O ship was also disembarking. Most of the shops were not open yet, but we bought a coffee at a shop called Seattle Espresso and sat out by the pier. Around 9am we walked towards the Ferry Building where we purchased day passes for the explorer bus. It was $35 per person for all day. Some explorer buses are double dickers with open tops and some are not, we road on both but prefer the open top ones which allow for good sightseeing along the way. Our first stop was Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World. We arrived with 3 bus loads of kids and two large busses doing ship tours, so in hindsight, we would have saved this stop for later or maybe skipped it. If you like to see Manta Rays, they had one of the best displays for that.

 

Our second stop was the Auckland Museum; we thought this was a terrific stop. If we had arrived earlier we may have opted for the Maori show here but when we arrived it was sold out. There were three floors of exhibits (People, Land, and War); we could have easily spent the entire day there. We also found out that you can arrange for a tour guide, I’m not sure if you can do this in advance but the guide takes your group on an hour tour that hits the highlights. The café in the museum turned out to be a great spot to eat lunch. I’m not sure how half the day had slipped away but it was already 1pm when we ordered lunch. I had a ham and pineapple tortilla that was excellent and my husband had a club sandwich that came with ham and egg salad, also excellent.

 

After lunch we lined up for the next explorer bus, by now the crowds were really increasing and they were having trouble getting everyone on buses. We heard the driver say that they were bringing in another bus. We made on board though so we were off to stop three which was the Auckland Sky Tower. My husband really doesn’t like heights so we didn’t go up in the tower. We stopped at the gift shop and looked around, then sat outside and watched people doing the sky jump off the side of the tower. It was nice to take a little break. It was nearly 3pm when we jumped on the explorer, so we decided to check on our room.

 

The bellhop had already put our bags in our room; we can’t say enough about the staff at the Hilton, they were friendly, informative, and efficient. The room was large and the amenities were nice. Our balcony looked right across to the Diamond Princess. We were even able to find the cabin we had on the ship. We didn’t get to see nearly all we wanted to in Auckland but we were getting hungry so we walked across to the mall and ate at the food court. After some shopping in the mall we figured that we were done. We made it back to the hotel in time to see the P&O ship sail away and later we watched the Diamond Princess sail out of the harbor.

I loved your review! I just wondered did you choose the hotel in Auckland or was it assigned after bidding? The rate you got was very good and I would like to see if I can get the same or a simlar rate. Did you book early or leave it till the last minute? Was it a US site or a local site? Perhaps I may be able to narrow it down based on your answers.

I loved your review! I just wondered did you choose the hotel in Auckland or was it assigned after bidding? The rate you got was very good and I would like to see if I can get the same or a simlar rate. Did you book early or leave it till the last minute? Was it a US site or a local site? Perhaps I may be able to narrow it down based on your answers.

I booked this hotel in March 2010 for our stay in January 2011. Can I say the site starts with an E and not get in trouble? We booked the lowest category, I think it was one of those that you can't cancel once you book and the charge comes through immediately on your card. The hotel staff warned us when we checked in that there was a cruise ship in port and that there would be another one arriving in the morning. I guess some people must be unhappy to have their balcony looking out at the ship but we thought it was fun. We also didn't spend a lot of time in the room anyway.

I booked this hotel in March 2010 for our stay in January 2011. Can I say the site starts with an E and not get in trouble? We booked the lowest category, I think it was one of those that you can't cancel once you book and the charge comes through immediately on your card. The hotel staff warned us when we checked in that there was a cruise ship in port and that there would be another one arriving in the morning. I guess some people must be unhappy to have their balcony looking out at the ship but we thought it was fun. We also didn't spend a lot of time in the room anyway.

Thanks. That helps a lot!

Kia ora,

Te Puia, formerly known as the Maori Arts & Craft centre, is in Rotorua, the North Island's 'must see'. While you can see a marae etc. in the Auckland or Wellington (Te Papa) museums Rotorua is where you will see the real thing and experience the 'spiritual heart' of Maoridom, plus of course seeing the geo-thermal activity. There are a number of places where you can see a cultural show. Te Puia and Tamaki Maori village are among the most popular and present a professional show. Another Whakarewarewa, a Maori village adjacent to Te Puia is one of a number of places where you can see a cultural show and experience manaakitanga (= care for, entertain, show respect, hospitality etc.) which expresses some of the essence of being Maori/New Zealander, as well as wandering around the village (none at the two mentioned above) at the same time as seeing bubbling mud pools, steaming water etc. Living in Rotorua one gets used to seeing steam coming out of the ground and on occasions passing boiling mud pools. Maori, one of our official languages, is spoken widely. Also in Rotorua is Ohinemutu, well known as a Maori settlement with three marae within sight of the magnificent Maori Church of St. Faiths, which is well worth a visit. I do some gardening down there and find it a challenge, as on occasions; what I haven't lost by drought has been cooked by the heat of the ground! Thermal activity is all around the buildings there. In parts of Rotorua it is used for heating and in the region for generating electricity. Nearby is Kuirau park which has a small hot lake, plus various hot mud pools etc. Web sites which may help are www.rotorua.co.nz , www.whakarewarewa.com & www.tepuia.com

Trust this helps

Aquarians

Excellent info.

The middle link does not work by the way.