mr walker

On our last visit to Dunedin in Jan '19 (Ovation OTS), we did a wonderful tour with Russ at Tourworks Dunedin Tours For Small Groups » Tourworks We did Mainland Peninsula Tour - picked up at ship & visited some city sights & then went to see Penguins, Seals & Albatross - great trip, thoroughly recommended

Good luck with it all mate. We are thinking of you & look forward to good news & catching up again soon. Cheers, Neil & Tracey

10am might be a bit early for a couple of schooners at the Ship Inn if your name dropping doesn't work 🙂 . Maybe you can try one of Les' big breakfasts at City Extra or visit Pancakes on the Rocks for a pre-cruise feed.

When we first started cruising in 2011, I read something that I have found true in our experience - "mainstream cruiselines are more similar to one another than different". We have cruised mostly on RC, but have done 2 Carnival & 1 Princess cruise & enjoyed them all & we would have no hesitation in going on any of these again. If the timing/itinerary/price works for you, go for it & board with an open mind!

I am reminded of the lemons and lemonade outlook on life 🙂

I too was amazed that this ridiculous comment went to air. Clearly he is living in a fantasy world & I hope he gets the help he needs, & it is a sad indictment of Ch9 that they would allow that to be broadcast. The so-called experts who were the witnesses for the 'prosecution' (2 pollies and 2 academics) were a collection of agenda driven knuckleheads. I'm not sure that Quinton Long would have appeared on the show if he had seen the 'performances' of the other guests beforehand. Guess there will be no live crosses to ships & no free cruises for Ch9 celebrities for a while.

For Wellington, if you have interest in LOTR, suggest you do tour to WETA workshops which includes some location sites. For Dunedin suggest Otago Peninsula tour thru Russ at Tourworks

That plane is a much better option - is it the same plane from NZ to Honolulu? Good luck with finding the best options

Agree with you on this. 737's are for 'short' flights & are not suitable for 3 hr + flights to NZ etc. A big issue is toilets as there is just not enough to cater for a full plane with 'free' drinks & food. There would be people lined up all down the aisle for the whole second half of the flight. I complained to QANTAS a few times about my travels to NZ (from Sydney & Melb) on 737's. I ended up flying to AKL and ChCh on Emirates A-380's - much more suitable for those flights.

I'm not sure of the reason(s) but it seems that the cruiselines maybe have misjudged demand for cruises out of Brisbane. I have been getting a lot of emails offering deals for both Carnival Luminosa & Quantum OTS which suggests that the demand is not there to fill those big ships.

My first 'cruise' was when I was as a youngster with our family on the Empress of Australia from Sydney - we took the car & caravan. My next cruise was in 2011 & was a REAL cruise 🙂

Wow, it was there yesterday as I took a quick look and considered maybe booking after Chilli alerted me. Not sure if we could have gone or not, but will wait and see what maybe pops up for that time - must be some explanation?? OOPS just realised I was looking at Nov 16th departure. Well, it is Sunday today after all 🙂 .

@ NSWP - Les, we are both thinking of you mate & hoping for a positive outcome. Tracey & I are looking forward to another dinner with you at Raymonds! Take care & get yourself the best help. As others have said you've had a bit of a rough trot in recent years, but please keep your sense of humour & get well soon Cheers Neil & Tracey

Strewth Les, take care of yourself mate.

Wow, sounds great - certainly something to look forward to!!

We used to regularly go to the DL for a pre-show/pre-dinner drink during happy hour, but more & more we gave it a miss. People staking out the DL an hour before happy hour to get a seat, then lining up for a drink with a drink already in hand & then repeat again & it was just too crowded to enjoy. We mostly grab a couple of 'voucher' drinks from a nearby bar and relax on our balcony & get dressed for show/dinner at our leisure. We regularly use the DL at non happy hour times for a quiet relax, a coffee & a snack & we actually get to sit and talk with some guests we meet.

With the A$ going down so much vs USD, & the drinks pricing increasing onboard, those C&A benefits are becoming more value every day!! 5 drinks will cover me pretty well most days. I like a drink, but also like to remember my cruise 🙂 If the drinks costs keep rising, the 5 drinks will end up covering the daily fare, and we will start travelling for free 😦

It was my understanding that ‘white shoe brigade’ was a generic term from a few years back that referred to retired folk who lived in retirement villages in Florida & Arizona, & perhaps Gold Coast, as they seemingly all wore white shoes??

I travelled to NZ on business with a colleague from Vietnam. He was sold on the health benefits of Manuka honey & brought a whole heap of it in NZ. When we arrived back in Sydney airport, he disclosed he had honey & the officer was amazed at how many jars he had. The officer asked my colleague “do you have any more food” & he replied yes. The officer asked “what do you have” & he said “more honey”😳 The officer just shook his head & let us through. He told me that commercially packed honey from NZ is fine 😁

I worked with a bloke for many years, who's wife showed Red Setters around the Sydney & surrounding areas. He would always say that the judges judged the handlers rather than the dogs. He claimed that they would turn up to a show and see who the judges were, and knew immediately that they had no chance 🙂 I guess the ones that didn't win each time would have had a similar story.

Rolf is looking really good - life at sea must be doing him good 🙂 Cheers

Well you can’t take it with you mate. Life is for living Cheers

Les, that's my go to drink for when I want a special drink - nectar of the gods I call it. I had a quiet drink at the end of the night after the Panthers GF win - a tradition I started last year & hope to continue for a good many more 🙂

I’m confused. Here in Penrith, today is Mon 10th 😳

Strewth Gut, sorry to read of your health problems. I truly hope that they can do something for you to give you quality of life once again. Having Maxy must be a real blessing for you mate. Take care - we are all cheering for you. Neil