Kiwi Brenda

I have only been on two ocean cruises and had it both times. After first cruise it was severe and I had an infusion which stopped it (antiemetic). Just home from a two week Alaska cruise and I had it during (port stops) and afterwards. I took prescribed  Metoclopramide (Maxalon) and this helped and it stopped completely after 3-4 days.
FWIW I’ve also had BPPV (Vertigo) and they feel completely different. 

Boujie is used in New Zealand as well. Learnt about it from my kids (as you do) 

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Our cruise was 25 May 2020 to Alaska (our first with Oceania)
Cancelled by Oceania 25 April

Refund requested 29 April

Refund received 29 June in three amounts - deposit, final payment and excursions - directly to our credit card. 

I booked directly with Oceania, no TA involvement, no communication since 30 April when they confirmed receipt of my refund request and I am in New Zealand. 
 

We are happy to have our refund so we can rebook our adventure for 2021. Unfortunately Oceania don’t have an equivalent cruise so we will try again another year in another part of the world 

Possibly referring to the Greg Mortimer?

@ridethetide this would’ve been our first Windstar cruise so will not cruise with them after this as we booked a five week holiday around the cruise and had to scramble to reorganise our entire holiday - very stressful and a lot of work and extra $$$ because I booked everything so far in advance at good prices. Long way to go for a holiday and no way we could just reschedule.

The location of Star Breeze was from an app called Shipmate which I’ve just found so no idea how reliable it is 😉

I have Star Breeze showing in San Juan. My TA finally received the refund of our deposit two days ago. Have still heard nothing about the reimbursement of our non-refundable costs but we were advised they would pay a maximum of USD350 each so good luck with your claim for $3000 @ridethetide unless of course us Kiwis don’t qualify for a refund of our actual costs. Thankful for insurance!

We haven't even received our deposit back yet. Can't wait for the likely drama over refunding our "non-refundable" expenses given the above comments. Makes us even less likely to ever book a cruise with them.

@katz we have booked our first Oceania cruise. When we selected shore excursions it automatically used the OBC but you had the option to not use it and pay. From memory there was a box to un-tick and then you enter your credit card details and pay for them. You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone. Enjoy your cruise!

@clowe call them pants or trousers

We don’t have country clubs or Dockers in NZ and slacks are an old term for women’s pants or trousers. If I were to use NZ slang or brand names that Americans didn’t know I certainly wouldn’t be disparaging of you. We have booked our first cruise with Oceania and will follow the dress code but I literally couldn’t care care less what others around me are wearing (unless it’s obscene). We care about where we’re going, what we’ll see - scenery, architecture etc., the people we’ll meet, the photos, the experiences we’ll have and the memories we’ll make...

So we have found three (more expensive) options for cruises within our limited time window - Silverseas, Lindblad or Uncruise. Any thoughts?

@CanadianKate thanks for your message. We leave NZ on 8 May and head to Toronto for a few days before a land tour of Canada ending Vancouver 23/05, Amtrak Cascades to Seattle for 3 nights, fly to Anchorage 26/05, train to Seward 27/05 for our now cancelled cruise which ended in Vancouver with 2 extra nights until we fly home 8th June. We too tried to find a replacement cruise that suits but couldn’t keep my eyes open and didn’t sleep well. Off to our travel agent this morning for help but fear we will lose a lot of money on this once in a lifetime trip and it’s certainly killed off my excitement! Glad you’ve found an alternative and wonderful that you love our little corner of the world 

I agree that the $350 each is ridiculous. Imagine how much we lose from New Zealand. Our flights from Seattle to Anchorage alone were more than that! And yes there’s travel insurance but we booked an entire five week holiday around our first Windstar cruise 27th May.  Won’t ever sail with them now. They were happy to take thousands for shore excursions as well. Our bucket list trip has been devastated by this cancellation! Nice Christmas present

Definitely visit Craggy Range and eat there too! Just awarded Two Hats for their restaurant. Our favourite but there are a lot of excellent vineyards there!  We’ve used a private car service called My Chauffeur many times (google them in Hastings). They have lovely drivers and are reasonably priced and they do winery tours as well. You can book them well in advance if you want.  Enjoy your trip to NZ!

Thanks donaldsc for the link to the article - very useful as we plan our Alaskan cruise. We'd been wondering about the best way to protect our camera while kayaking, on zodiac's etc. Also scubacruiserx2 love the puffin photos! Wow.