jancy

Yes we are flying in late August. Very pricey especially if you want to fly direct. We are booking in January, sometime Boxing Day deals with Qantas.

Is there a certain time you have to use your vouchers by?

We have just got back from Explorer and went to 2 cooking classes. I would highly recommend. The cost was $20 each and there were Indian and Italian classes. Classes were in the Restaurant and the Chef cooks at a table in front of you. You then have a tour of the Galley which is interesting and we saw the Bakery in action. Classes include a 3 course themed lunch which was great. We received recipe sheets for the Indian class. This is a fun activity on sea days!

Stay with Legend. You do not need a big ship for a Pacific cruise. The staff are great on Legend! Explorer is so big and unless you have kids sticks to the smaller ships.

Jancye

Just did our first sampler cruise on Explorer of the Seas..Never again ..it was party central. The bar staff were rude and obviously stressed ..ordered Mojitas but told there was no mint on the ship! There was no table bar service so you had to queue at the bars and people would order 6 drinks at at time on behalf of their friends.

Everywhere you went ther were long queues..the lifts, coffee has a constant queue of 30 plus, breakfast was 1 hour wait at restaurant, mini golf ..no adult clubs available...pools totally cramped.

There were so many hens and bucks groups and their ultimate aim seemed to be how many drinks they could carry .... Tried to play trivia but staff gave up with groups of 12 plus.

The shops were really under stocked and staff uninterested.

The ships muster was the longest ever as some people just seemed to hide and staff had to find them.

I asked several bar staff did they enjoy the sampler cruises.. No they found us Aussies rude and demanding and the more we drank the worse it got..BUT they share the graditudes and make a lot of money.

No water for hours on Saturday morning with no announcements at all. Captain came on at midday as if it was all a bit of a joke..he should have tried the toilets!!!! Also the ship stops once it finds sunshine to save $$$$ so that is a joke.

We are diamond members and retreated to the Diamond lounge but even then were constantly harassed by people trying to break in for a look.

If you are used to "normal cruising" do not do the samplers..it reminded me of the old drunken days of Aussie cruises and we all know how that ended in tragedy.

RCI think again but if this is the market you want to attract ..ok..we will just Change our cruise preference.

Jancye

I have done a google search of car rental companies in Tauranga, the closest one to the port is NZ rentacar and they also provide a pick up/drop off service to the cruise ship terminal. The choice on their website is Tauranga or Tauranga Port, assume I should choose "Tauranga Port"?

 

NZ rentacar also seems to have a 300kms free per day and $0.00 per km thereafter and is priced the same as others who have 250kms per day and $0.25 per km thereafter.

 

Is this a reputable company?

Have others use this company?

 

Cruising on explorer of the seas which arrives at 8.30 am and departs at 7.30pm.

 

I am considering booking the car from 9.00 am and returning at 6.30pm.

 

Would appreciate any comments or feedback on this company and other comments please.

We used this company a couple of year ago and plan to use them again in February. Excellent service.

We were on voyager 15 mths ago and they had special permission to use the dart board.....great fun with a pub competition every night.

Well we will now wait to make the most of our free drinks in the Diamond Lounge but will be interesting to see what they will offer in there?

i was lining up to get a coffee one day at the Cova Cafe on Century when the woman in front of me started complaing that she did not want UHT milk but MUST have fresh milk.

The poor attendant was taken for words so I piped up with "Yes why dont you go up to the Pool deck and see if the cows are ready to be milked today!"....Needless to say she gave me a foul look and the attendant had to turn away he was laughing so much. P.S I drink black coffee.

I am leaving on 30 October and received notification today about Port maintenance but we are still checking in at Circular Quay ...They are just telling us that one of the roads are closed and allow extra time...also encouraging us to walk off with all our bags.

I Love:

Afternoon naps

Coming back from really hot days into the cool cool ship

Trivia,Trivia and more Trivia

Meeting Americans - Just love them!

Swimming every day

Cocktails-such a treat

What is there not to love about cruising!

Enjoy your cruise.

We are from Australia and start a BtoB on the Indy on 23 February so really looking forward to this and hope its worth the 27 hrs flying and $6,000 airfares for 3 of us.!

Then we are flying to Las Vegas for our sons wedding on March 14.

Have lots of fun!

regards

Jancye

Yes, the tour did spend time in Dunedin. The coach drove around the city, seeing the Cadbury factory, other downtown sites, and we got out briefly to inspect the Dunedin Train station. There was, however, no time to walk around the city, as the ship was to leave soon.

 

Please remember the direction my ship was heading, with Milford Sound the first stop (and ship friends said "the best" sound out of the three) with Dunedin set at the end of the excursion.

 

Without a doubt, this was indeed the best excursion of my trip. Getting a taste of inland New Zealand and viewing the South Island (with multiple photo stops and bathroom breaks) was breathtaking and totally worth it.

 

If you can only spend a limited amount of time on land in New Zealand, do this excursion!

Thanks so much for your review. We could not make up our minds but I have now just booked it for our March cruise! We have cruised N.Z before so have done a day in Dunedin and Milford Sound is by the fast the best.

Jancye

Hi all

Jancye from Australia. Been doing Pro points and Healthy and Filling days. Joined in November 2011 - have lost 62Ibs so far.

I am on my next cruise in November and already worrying how I am going to cope as i do like my cocktails...

Any hints for cruisng and sticking to points?

Jancye

On the Costa line a few years ago where one of the shops sold beautiful silk pieces that you could tie into formal wrap around dress.

Very snobbish Italian couple walking past the bar on formal night- she was gorgeous - her dress slips off onto the floor to revel a very tiny G -string and thats all!

Her husband was not at all impressed and started yelling at her.

Jancy