Sally Forth

We loved Tauranga so much we have rented a flat there for 2 weeks before our next cruise. Just a great spot if you like to walk around.

Hi guys.

Need to spend 1 night in Auckland pre cruise. Can anyone please recommend a great mid range hotel with brekkie within easy access to the cruise port and restaurants. Budget is $200-250.

Thanks Bob.

We just booked for the night before at the Hilton on the water. It was $100 Cdn cheaper on Expedia than on the Hilton site. I have both Hilton Honors and CAA/AAA discounts. I hit the "chat" function and complained and they have a lowest price guarantee. I got the Expedia rate minus 25%! We are now trying the same thing on our other hotel reservations.

Viv

It is high, but prices between Canada and Australia are typically high due to lack of competition.

 

If you can get yourself down to Seattle or San Fran, prices are around $1300-$1400 return AUD (which is similar to CAD) at that time.

We watched carefully as well. So many Canadians are refusing to go through the US that competition is way down on flights out of Vancouver. Cutting it into two segments and going Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong on the way back worked out way cheaper. Plus we took 3 nights in Hong Kong.

Viv

After living in Vancouver for over 10 years and then retiring to the country, my husband and I decided to do a Vancouver staycation day last week. We took the West Coast Express into town and with a day pack and walking shoes, looked like tourists.

As I was topping up my Compass card at Waterfront Station, a woman wedged in next to me and tried to sell me her Compass card with "$100 loaded on it" for only $50 because she was leaving town the next day. She was right in my face, so I said, "Sure, give it to me and I will do a quick tap to check it" and she quickly took off.

I reported it to Security and they said others have complained. File this in "if it sounds too good to be true."

We stayed at the Holiday Inn. It had nice rooms, floor to ceiling windows, close to the shopping/restaurants, and easy to walk to the ship.

We did, too. Nothing fancy but it was bright and clean and easy to pull our own luggage over.

Viv

First off, if he threatened you with violence... report it. This applies to anyone, anywhere... if anyone ever threatens you then you need to report it. Something may or may not be done about it, but at least there will be a record of it.

 

Secondly, this IS a public space in legal terms. Yes, you paid to be there... but so did the other guest. Furthermore, it is a public space on private property so RCL could establish some guidelines (there are a lot of laws that could affect the guidelines) but you do not have a right to shut someone up.

 

Third, I doubt your story. I am not saying that you are lying about him threatening you or the conflict between his anti-environmental views and your pro-environmental views..... what I am suggesting is that you left out a portion of the story between you guys disagreeing and then him getting mad enough to threaten you. I don't know if there was a portion there.... but I strongly suspect it.

No, this is true. Not one bit of anger or button pushing from me. Before this happened we were happily singing "Lineman for the County."

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Did anyone else overhear him say it? If someone literally said they would shoot me you better believe it would be reported. Is that what he actually said? Or did he say something similar? You left out a lot between the discussion about "endangered species" and his threat. How did it go from that to a political statement?

He and his wife started to talk about the Delta Smelt in California. I know nothing about this issue so asked for more info. He said he'd like to shoot environmentalists who stop industry from expanding. I said sometimes there isn't a choice other than to stop industry while choices are designed and explained about how my family worked with the power transmission company for a good outcome.

Then he said he would have to shoot me AND the frogs we saved. I jokingly said it's not likely he would get his guns over the border and then I realized he wasn't joking. He said I'd better believe he could get them over the border if it was his rights that were being threatened. At that point my husband and I moved.

Another man sitting in between us came up to me the next day and apologized for not stepping in but thought the man might take a swing at him. I agreed that any response would have just escalated the issue.,

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If someone threatened to shoot me, I would not be complaining on Cruise Critic. I would be talking to the Concierge and Security about having this person removed from the lounge and possibly the ship. If they were that loud and abusive, I would have expected someone in authority to deal with it immediately.

But he was also drunk and I was pretty sure he didn't have a gun on him.

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Now he is someone i would not want to speak to.

 

43 cruises and counting.

Ditto!

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It's a public place. If you here something you don't like. You don't have to be there.

 

If someone is talking to loud (about anything) it's fine to ask to tone it down. But as to the subject they have as much right to the space as you do.

 

When you are in your cabin you can control what you hear. In public it sounds to me like a case of ""free speech is fine as long as you agree with me".

I should clarify. I didn't just mean other people! I was kind of blaming myself for getting sucked into it. This conversation started as a friendly "getting to know you discussion" where we were talking about invasive/endangered species in Australia with another couple and a man sitting near us. My husband and I were explaining how my family saved an endangered species in Canada. The other couple became so loud and abusive we had to move. As in the man literally said he would shoot me!

And the Concierge Lounge isn't really a public place. I've paid for my right to be there.

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We have started going to the lounge at 4:30 to avoid a couple of blowhards on board who need to bleat about their country's politics. I guess nobody told them about avoiding discussion of politics, sex, and religion with people you don't know! The Concierge Lounge used to be a quiet dignified place for conversation. Not on this cruise.

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I was on a cruise with my mom and sisters. My DH and one of my sisters arranged for my birthday gift (50th) to be brought to the table by singing waiters under a silver dome.

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We hit Diamond on our trip leaving April 18. We are very excited because that means we can now go with our cruising friends to the big kids lounge before dinner. I am also close to the equivalent on NCL but my DH is far behind because I have 33 cruise days with my mom.

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I also read that article. I am by no means a newbie cruiser and have broken Rules 1, 3 and 4. If I like the service, I tip. Having a pool waiter who brings you fresh delicious drinks on crowded busy days is worth $1 here and there.

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I paid $75 on NCL for a nurse consult, $55 for urine test for UTI and $25 or so for meds. A small portion of this was covered by our provincial health insurance. I submitted to travel insurance for consult and tests and my work insurance for the meds.

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LOL! I read "jams" as "jeans." Which brings up that if you use cheater glasses for reading, there are some really pretty ones with native designs on the arms of the glasses.

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We had a couple in the cabin next to us who had loud and uninhibited sex on their balcony just after sunset. The first night, DH and I hightailed it back inside when we figured out what was going on. Second night, I cleared my throat loudly, and they barely missed a beat. Third night, I saw a series of flashes, thought it was lightning, and went onto the balcony in time to hear the lovers go inside and slam their balcony door. We later discovered the people on the other side of the au naturel couple had gone out with the "click" shutter sound on their camera phones turned on and both were laughing and started taking rapid fire pictures (of the ground) as if they were at a fashion shoot.

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Don't usually buy souvenirs at all. However, the native-owned gift shop at the top of the tram in Juneau is large and has a lot of authentic goods, including fine art. We were there in August and they had a great end-of-season sale. I did most of my Christmas shopping.

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Probably the best Cruise Critic advice we were ever given was to grab some wine and hop into a hot tub when leaving New York in November. It was very chilly getting out but wonderful sitting there after after walking about 7 miles that morning.

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If I get a massage from a registered massage therapist, I get it covered by healthcare. So, on board ships I get pedis and facials.

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We were on the Pride of Hawaii's last cruise in 2008 before it became the Jade. My sisters and I were in the thermal spa tub at the front of the ship all by ourselves. We passed by the north shore of Kauai. Waterfalls were streaming over the cliffs, rainbows rising up, dolphins in front of us. It was like a dream sequence. I swear there were unicorns!

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I have the best decorated door story. Two cruises ago, we met a couple in the concierge lounge and just clicked. We had the greatest evening. At the end of the night, we asked where their cabin was. They said they were on 9, next door to the "luvvvvvvvvvvers." It seemed to be an inside joke among the people gathered and we thought they must mean a particularly loud honeymooning couple. No, it was a couple nobody had met who had the Cupid decorations on their door.

Yikes! That was US! Our travel agent did it as a joke. We confessed, and after a lot of red faces, everyone had a good laugh. That night we switched the Cupid and put it on their door!

The couple has become good friends. Last year we cruised together and this year we are visiting them in Melbourne, Australia for a week!

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That's right, you can get off right at the library. The staff inside can give you tips on best view and photo points. There is also a small store, run by Friends of the Library, that has a fun assortment of stationery and book-related items, as well as some good handmade local items.

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If you are around Yaletown/BC Place, drop by Central Library. Stunning architecture and the centrepiece of a library system that is consistently voted among the best in the world.

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Our last cruise was RCI Hawaii to Vancouver. In addition to warning passengers to not take food off the ship, it said Hawaiian health regulations did not permit laundry to be taken off the ship. I've never seen this before so maybe it is just Hawaii.

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