Nebr.cruiser

I didn't read the whole list, but after the disaster of either Princess losing, or someone taking, either accidentally or on purpose, my husbands suitcase, I bought some large neon green straps to put around our luggage--cheap at Walmart and at least makes it much more difficult for someone to take a bag by accident. We don't bring much of the other things, mostly a medical kit in case--which we have used on occasion and of course international plugs, if needed.

The steaks I had in the MDR were actually not too bad! And this from Nebraskans who have some of the best steaks around. Our prime ribs didn't even look good--so over-cooked and thin. i will say we ate late that day, maybe ten until nine or so. We even asked if it was too late--not wanting to make waiters, etc. stay over the 9:30 ending time, but they insisted not.

We found the MDR and the buffet food seriously lacking compared to other cruises. Lower quality meat, for sure. Our prime rib was so bad it was laughable. It looked kind of like shoe leather. Now I will say that our waiter, the head waiter, the head dining guy all came over and apologized for our maybe 1/4" prime rib and would have gotten us new ones, but it was fairly late, we were already full and it wasn't worth waiting. This was the Discovery Inaugural and why I understood the glitches with service and other things, food should have been similar to other Princess cruises we have taken.

The problem with shoe recommendations is that everyone's feet are different--what I can wear with comfort another person can't, and vice-versa. I really can't buy shoes that I can't try on (like on the internet) unless I have bought the same exact shoe before. And even if shoes feel great in the store doesn't mean they will feel great after a long day of touring/walking, etc.

Thank you--sounds like just what we are looking for. I'll check it out for sure.

We are planning to cruise to New Zealand next year--anytime from late January into March and are looking at different cruise lines. They all seem to show a different itinerary as to ports. Most do cruising the Fiords. Some also show cruising the Bay of Islands. We don't particularly care which ship or departure port. Budget matters since we also want to spend 2-3 weeks touring Australia. What are the must see ports? We want to see as much as possible, of course, mostly interested in scenic beauty and I really want to go to Hobbit Town. I've noticed some of the shorter cruises leave out Tauranga, Napier, Wellington. And some leave out Aukland. Most seem to have Dunedin and Christ Church. Some have Picton. We will probably only do this once, so don't want to miss anything truly spectacular.

I have seen mention of this tour company here. Has anyone used them and can report back? They sound great, but we would need an English-speaking guide.