Ellen495

Where do you see the kiwis?

This sounds perfect. I had a TA post about 6 days prior to the cruise, but I should probably start a new thread. This has been so helpful - thank you!

Thank you! I will look at them!

So skip Queenstown? (I'm fine with anything - I know about zero - though someone told me that Nelson was our dream town as we love small towns, fine wine, the sea, and hiking (not long hikes and not cold ones). Okay - I'm up for the drive if it's not more than 5 hours per day. You're suggesting we base in Christchurch and do day drives and then fly to Auckland? Yes and I've heard go to Rotorua over and over - so yeah! How do we figure out how and where to drive? I hate to just get a travel agent to book things - I much prefer to figure them out on Tripadvisor - but WOW - THANK YOU for helping off topic of a cruise. I organized our 3 week in Australia with the help of TA and no travel agent (other than air)

Thanks Aus. I don't know what cities and where to start. Thinking fly to Queensland from Australia. Fly to Christchurch. Drive to Nelson. Fly to Wellington. Fly to Auckland (and drive the Rotund as suggested on Tripadvisor). But that seems like so much flying - packing, unpacking ....... After 3 weeks in Australia. I wish it was closer and we could just do Australia and come back to NZ next year. The flight cost is astronomical (business).

Hi! I started a new thread. We were set to do 3 weeks land Australia on our own and then cruise to NZ. But the idea of days at sea is turning us off. We'd like to fly to NZ from Australia and simply cruise (alternate is skip the cruise and do land only) but I'd prefer to cruise. I looked at Windstar - nice and small and maybe more ports of call? Any thoughts appreciated. Ellen 🙂

Hi again and thanks for such great replies. We are rethinking - looking into other cruise lines rather than HAL where we won't have to sail from Australia (wasted time at sea) and get into smaller ports. I'm feeling overwhelmed at the idea of 3 weeks in Australia, a week by land NZ and then 2 weeks cruise. I'm feeling that we should do EITHER land in NZ no cruise or only a cruise no land...................

Such great advice. So I won't mind the cold if we're on a cruise (recently did Alaska) so if it's cold - just go back on the boat. Australia we are doing totally by land and much ourselves (with a little advice from TA) - most information I received was from Tripadvisor. I prefer making my own plans, but Australia/NZ I felt I needed a bit of help from a TA (plus the air - expensive as all out) I love islands and beaches - but we have those in the Caribbean and we travel there regularly. I just want to figure out what I will mostly MISS by taking a cruise and do a few days beforehand. I would prefer land that is warmer - I don't like to hike in 50 degrees (for example). Here's the itinerary. If Auckland is just another city, then I agree - not worth more than a day. My TA said Queenstown is extremely beautiful. I love beautiful - but what I really love is cliffs over the sea, small quaint towns where we can sit outside and have dinner, and areas to hike if it's at least 65 degrees. We are mid 60s in good shape (no 10 mile hike - but we're good). We like wildlife - excited to see the kangaroos in Australia. We decided on a cruise for NZ because the idea of living out of a suitcase from hotel to hotel for more than 4 weeks was more than I could bear. The nice part of the cruise is our luggage stays put. THANK YOU so very much. Ellen

Ah I think you're suggesting staying in Coramandel and the Bay of Islands in the North Island. I can look into that - thanks!

Thanks - that makes sense to fly straight there if I go there. I was considering 3 days in Queenstown (I heard it's beautiful) and 3 in Auckland. Or is there another area you think better in the north along with Auckland? I'm no longer worried about the weather thanks to both of your replies. THANKS! Ellen

Hello All, We are tentatively planning a cruise on Holland America (paid 1 dollar - open to suggestions) November 26 for 14 days. We will start in Australia (non cruise) for 21 days land on our own. TA suggests we fly to Auckland and down to Queenstown for 3 days and back to Auckland for 3 days prior to the cruise. My only real concern is weather. When I suggested we go a month later, she said it's the kids' holiday and not a good time to visit either county. Any advice/thoughts appreciated from this somewhat ignorant (about Australia/NZ) American. THANKS! Ellen

They gave us two Pinnacle dinners free. We finally have a functioning toilet. Our porters and the concierge were lovely, but it was a huge hassle. We used their TP (didn't bring our own) FYI.

Definitely didn't put anything in it other than TP and yes, I hope it's resolved soon. Yes - moving to a new room is a great idea!

We are in a Neptune suite and the toilet doesn't work. It really doesn't matter that we're in a Neptune suite - EVERYONE deserves a working toilet. They are working on it. Apparently other rooms are having issues as well. At this point, I think they owe us some kind of compensation as we have to walk all the way out (we are in the aft at the end) to go to the bathroom. Frustration. Glacier Bay is beautiful and the food is good and the people are very, very nice - having a great time other than the bathroom. Has this happened to others? Ellen

Is it worth going to Seward to do Major Marine Fjord trip if it's raining all day? We are spending about 1200 for one day (at least). 400 for a taxi from the airport at 8:30 pm, 400 for hotel, whatever the cost of the trip, and the cost of the gold star train back to Anchorage the next day. Personally I thought that was nuts in the first place, but my husband wanted to see Seward (and the cruise is now out of Whittier) but if the fjord trip will be unpleasant, we may as well stay in Anchorage and not spend the money and the hassle. Thoughts?

Our excursion is through HAL and it's out of Juneau at noon. Fingers crossed.

Were you given the option of canceling completely or just doing part of the trip and did you get a partial refund?

Yeah I repacked very warm clothes. I don't mind cool. Drizzle is okay. Downpour would be a drag. I wonder if the rain cancels the helicopter to the glacier....

I ignore weather channels when traveling to the Caribbean (rain could mean for 10 minutes). How about Alaska? How accurate is Accuweather? We leave July 10 and the weather shows rain and 50's daily. Should I assume that's correct ? (It is what it is - we'll have fun regardless - but packing differently if so) THANKS! Ellen

We can handle that! It will help close the Apple activity ring. 🙂 THANKS How about the Pinnacle breakfast area? (Our "kids," won't get up early for breakfast, so we'll take advantage of that without them and without guilt).

Is it close to the gym? I know we'll use that on sea days.

How far is it? I've never been on a ship - just seen it from Caribbean ports.

Can anyone tell me about the 7 day thermal suite? What is it like and what is included? THANKS! Ellen

Where does one find this health assessment? I didn't know anything about it (first time cruiser)

Daughter should have put Mom and Dad in the Neptune after all you've done for her! Yes we intend to use the free laundry (they won't know the difference) and they already changed the "kids'" embarkment time to join with us. The only thing I really care about as to the food is morning coffee easily accessible. We're excited about the suite - and Alaska. We're bring our Comfy's (Do you know what they are?) to use to sit on the aft balcony to watch the glaciers!