Over from NZ

Oh ok. We found American's were the predominant nationality.. followed by UK and Canada. Maybe they've changed the tone of dining dress in the Med to suit the Americans if you say it's going to be different in the UK compared to the Med.

Are UK cruises different to the Mediterranean? Different clientelle?

What do you reckon with Heineken 0.0s.Thry're true zero-alcohol beer.

Mediterranean.. shorts and T-Shirts are now acceptable in the dining room on Forma night.. so would expect out of UK to be similar?

You would generally get away with $AUD in those places (notes, not coins).. but otherwise you'll need local currency for the markets etc (bigger shops likely to accept c/cards).

Based on what you're into - you're better off heading to the South Island post cruise and not Wellington; which gives you more of the "nature, hiking, and smaller towns versus large cities" which you're going to miss on the cruise.

That there - bingo!! 🙂

I wonder how they define zero-alcohol beer? Technically meets the criteria?

You'll even get away with shorts nowadays on formal night in the MDR. You will attract some stares from those that don't like it.. up to you if that's a problem or not. Given that Princess have dumped traditional dining and gone for a much more casual approach to attract new cruisers.. it's not your problem if somebody else doesn't like your shorts. 🙂

They're a poor excuse for a scone! 🙂 They're more like some sort of biscuit.

Look at it this way - the medallion is your card. You don't have to use it for anything you wouldn't have done in the past with your card. Simply use it to open your room door and hand over to the barman when you buy a drink - the same as you did with your card. Hide it in your pocket or wear it on your lanyard the same as you did with your card. The only difference to you between the card and the medallion is the shape 🙂

You won't get school kids on a 15-day, one-way trip anyhow.

To put it in context. Milford is just about always cold and rains a LOT. The central South Island has the hottest records in the country and can be parched and very dry. Christchurch (about the middle of the South Island.. but near the coast).. can be sweltering some days.. with mild evenings.. but by the same token.. a couple of years back we lit the log-fire on boxing day! Most kiwis wouldn't bother taking a jacket.. but many Aussies visiting might (given it's warmer over there and they're acclimitised accordingly). Take a light jacket - just for possible rain. You won't need a big heavy one (you can rug up when cruising through Milford). Other than that though.. go for layers.

You really need to put some effort in. Otherwise.. why go? Florence is about 2-hour drive from Livorno.. wouldn't recommend just turning up on the day and thinking you will get there. Messina - many people go to the likes of Taormina.. Mt Etna.. the Godfather excursion etc. They're a good hour away. Naples - it's the gateway port to the likes of the Amalfi Coast.. Pompeii etc. Rome is over an hour from the port so you need to have our act together for that one too. 🙂

Which Port?

Expect everything from (Farenheit) high 40's to low 90's in January in the South Island. And you'll probably get the range too! The South Island gets both the hottest and the coldest extremes.

You're welcome. It was a great cruise. The formal night that I wore shorts - the food didn't taste any different. I think when Princess ditched formal dining.. that was just another step in the direction of casualising things. 5.5 weeks in Europe.. wish I had known as I could have left the suit, extra shoes, business shirts etc at home as luggage space was tough. Enjoy your cruise!

So we had 6 formal nights in June on the Enchanted. First 5 of them I wore a suit and Tie. I observed everything from Tuxedos to shorts and t-shirts in the MDR. On the 6th formal night, I too wore just shorts and a polo to dinner in the MDR. There you go. Not an opinion. - an actual "did". Good luck 🙂

So far, we've done the 50-shades of lemon tour (best meal of the whole Mediterranean trip) and we've done the Pompeii and Amalfi Coast with this company - https://italytoursharing.com/ports/naples-port Works out cost effective if you get a group of 8 and far better than the ship tours. We've also done Capri from Naples.. but we just did our own thing (the Ferry is right next to where the Ship docks). Capri was ok.. but not as good as the Amalfi Coast. 50-shades of Lemon took us to Amalfi and Ravello as well as the lemon tour/restaurant. Highly recommended!

The cruise lines can be a bit extortionate in their pricing for that one. Give them a wide berth haha. Uber should be quite a bit cheaper than taxi (depending on their dynamic pricing and whether it spikes when a cruise-ship hits port). It's about a 30-min drive depending on traffic I would think. You could catch a public bus.. but that would be a lot of fluffing around and eat into your day far more.

No - that's easy to do (and pretty much what we did last visit there). Pre-book your tickets for Sagrada for 9am. Get a taxi there - it's cheap and not far from the port. Then do those other options.. have lunch somewhere in the Gothic quarter or down La Rambla. Easy-peasy.

Politely disagree somewhat. You can dock right near the city in Barcelona, Gibraltar, Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Istanbul and quite a number of places in the Mediterranean. Although I do still think land is a better way to go. You can do that type of cruise and see a good number of the instagram bucket-list type places relatively close to where the ship docks. SE Asia - you're never going to see "a big chink of it in one hit". Not close. And if they're coming from the other side of the world for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.. yet doing it this way.. you've really got to question what they're doing. Arguably cruising isn't much cheaper.. and you don't really get to see the place you're coming for - so it doesn't make a lot of sense. You might get a snap-shot in say the Mediterranean.. Aussie, NZ, Alaska.. The Caribbean.. where ports and attractions aren't too far apart (even then, the likes of NZ you don't really get to see what all the fuss is about).. but Asia (and by the sounds of it Norther Europe) you get a very poor experience (albeit a nice cruise). If a nice cruise is the driving factor.. why bother flying round the world for that.. do it local 🙂

Nah.. I'd give it a miss. It's not a good way to see Asia at all. The cities you're wanting to see are too far away from the ports. Ho Chi Minh City for example.. we were 2.5 hours in a 40-seat bus down one long highway.. then about 4-hours at max in the city.. before back on the bus for 2.5 hours back to the ship. It's rubbish. If you want to see those places.. fly over there instead.

We've just been in June. Did Ephesus and Mary's place with Curio Travel. They picked us up at 7.30am and had us back to the ship at noon. It was an excellent excursion. It cost us US$84 each for 4 people. If you're departing at 12.30pm though.. you would want to shorten it. Probably drop off Mary.

You're totally correct. As a non-drinker.. there's absolutely no point of a package for me. Yet they're using a mix of the blow-torch theory, death by a thousand cuts and Fomo (which I don't buy into) to coerce people across. All that does is further put me off them. Already I'm questioning the value of cruising anyhow.. this helps lead me and other non-drinkers on a different pathway 🙂