Statendam 2006 Oct 3 LA-Auckland Oct 26

[wwwmarge]

Just found away to get to Auckland. On Oct 3, 2006 - Statemdan leaves LA for 24 days cruise arrives Auckand on 26th.

 

Our orginal plan was to take only the Oct 27 from Auckland to Sydney 14 days. That's a lot of days. Do they have a self laundry room? Or I can just see myself taking a suitcase full of dirty clothes to someone to wash at maybe the stop at Lautoka, Fiji.

 

Has anyone done or planning on either or both of these cruises.

 

Marge

[garydm]

Yes, there are a number of self service laundry rooms on Statendam, as well as "stuff as much as you can in a bag" laundry specials.

 

Gary

[SDHALFAN]

Hi Marge,

 

Yes, as Gary stated, there are indeed self-service laundry rooms on the Statendam, so need to worry about "being stinky".:D

 

I have actually done both cruises you mentioned - well sort of in that we went from Sydney to Auckland instead of vice versa. It's too bad that you won't be able to spend much time Auckland since it's a great city to visit and there's lots to see and do. Sydney, too, is beautiful - very large (about 8 million people as I understand it) and I am lucky enough to have a brother who used to live there (now lives just outside of Brisbane) who came down to be with us for three days so we got the "grand tour".

 

We took the LA-Auckland segment of the Rotterdam's Inaugural Grand Voyage. We were supposed to visit Funafuti, Tuvalu, on our cruise but couldn't get there because of "weather conditions" so ended up spending a day in Suva, Fiji, instead. I have to admit that I did not like Suva at all but that's mostly because we were constantly hounded by people with their hands out asking for the "Almighty American Dollar" (well, at least some people think it's worth something:D ). The next morning we awoke to find ourselves in Lautoka, which was a scheduled stop (the ship must have sailed around in circles all night), and what a difference! The people in Lautoka were laid-back, friendly and most gracious in their welcome to us. The bad taste that was left in my mouth in Suva was certainly washed away by the wonderful people of Lautoka.

 

Several years later we took the Sydney to Auckland cruise aboard the Prinsendam. I thought that it was a wonderful cruise and would do it again in a heartbeat if only I didn't have to spend 11-12 hours on an airplane in a very cramped environment in order to get there.

 

You are going to have an experience of a lifetime and I really, really do envy you. I doubt that you will find anyone to do your laundry in Lautoka so do it aboard the ship and have a wonderful cruise.:)

 

Enjoy and don't worry too much about the laundry - just relax and have fun. You can always buy new clothes in Sydney - an American dollar will get you about a dollar thirty-five in Sydney so you are already ahead of the game.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[gbc]

Hi Marge, I am planning the Oct. 27 Auckland/Sydney cruise. The big condition is my ability to procure two business class tickets using FF miles. I am too old and too fay to fly steerage for 20 hours ;)

 

So, it will be about 6 months before I know for sure.

Gail

[Bill S]

We are also booked on the Auckland-Sydney October cruise on the Statendam! We dread those long flights, too! I don't think we will have enough FF miles to use but we are working on it!

[wwwmarge]

Thanks for all the great replies especially on laundry. We have just come back from 46 days away from home and know how to pack light. That is the problem when you combine cruise and land. I said I would never do it again and here I’m just 4 wks home and looks like we’re at it again. Tux & dancing shoes are just to heavy to lug around. I ended up sending home a box of cruise clothes from Spain. Believe me you don’t want many #s getting on and off trains in Italy. We had only one stop where we had to change trains that went from 11 mins to 4. That is no fun at our age.

 

I wish we could spend more time around Auckland. I’ve got a list already but if we combine these two cruises we'vre got one day. Because Statendam has so many great stops on the NZ cruise.... that will make up for it.

 

On FF I used up all of our Delta ones on this last trip and my hubby said next time we go Bus/1st class but there is no way I’ll get enough for 2 on AA. I guess I sit in coach or ask for donations.

 

I don’t know if I would trust 6 mos out getting FF tickets….. I think more like 9. Any other thoughts on that? How many hours is it flying from AUS to west coast? I'm shaking just thinking about that. The most we have ever done is 9 hrs. non stop.

 

Speaking of 16 months out I sure hate to have to pay a big depsosit now without interest. Any suggestions?

 

We have cruisemates in Sydney and will spend a week in OZ if I can talk hubby into that. I’m pushing it with 24 + 12. He loves to cruise but he thinks ship, airplane,home.

 

I’m getting so excited about this….how am I going to wait 16 months?

 

Marge

[gbc]

Actually, you can book the FF tix 330 days in advance. However, sometimes, the airlines don't release the tickets that early. I said 6 months figuring that gives me almost 5 months of trying (that's a polite way of saying I will be calling the airline twice a week until I get a ticket). If we don't have the tickets by 6 months beofre the cruise, then we will have to execute the "Plan B" vacation. We're two old friends traveling together. I have enough miles for my ticket on 2 different arilines. My friend Kathy has enough on one airline. We would like to fly together since it is such a long flight and would make us a little nervous not knowing if the other one was going to make it on time. But, if it comes down to separate flights to take the cruise, we will go separately. I think it is 14 hours from LAX to Auckland. I add 5+ hours from NYC to LAX.

[localady]

My DH Bob and I will be also taking the Oct. 27th Auckland to Sydney!:D

We are both very excited about the cruise, but like the rest of you, we are dreading the flight. We will follow the cruise with a trip to Cairns as I want to snorkle the Great Barrier Reef. I would love to sail the 21 trans-Pacific trip prior to that from SF, but time nor finances are available for that at this time.

WWWmarge- We will want to hear all about your trans-Pacific cruise!

We should probably continue this discussion on the roll-call board. Look forward to cruising with you all.:)