Discovery New Zealand, March, 2006

[Sandel]

Will be on Discovery cruise on March 14 to New Zealand. Anyone else on this fantastic voyage?

 

Sandy and Del

Nederland, TX

[Tony & Trevor]

Yes we are on too. New Zealand to Papeete.

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony.

[Sandel]

Anyone else going with us? Anyone booked excursions you may want to share?

 

Sandy

[pralientje]

We will be joining the Discovery in Auckland on March 25th. We will stay on till May 13 Nassau. I find their excursions quite expensive and would like to know if somebody has made his/hers own arrangements. Seven weeks to go and then we will be flying from Amsterdam to Auckland. A journey on its own. Looking forward to it.

Pralientje

[Sandel]

Pralientje - We have made arrangements in Tauranga to see the Glow Worm Caves and Maori Culture. If you are interested in joining us please contact me at sandel0@aol.com. We are also looking to book a wildlife tour to see the albatross and yellow-eyed penguins in Dunedin.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Sandy

[Lalibela]

We will be on board MV Discovery from Auckland to Nassau. Would be interested in finding excursions outside the cruise offerings. Have a great guide book for Easter Island--looks as if that might be walking/taxi territory. Curious to know about arrangements for Galapagos. We are the first cruise ship of our size to be going in. Read Paul Theroux's book Happy Isles of Oceania as intro to the trip and think that we may just wander in several of the early stops. Have map of Arica with suggestions--may also be a taxi type setting. Doing Internet research, but have not actually come up with a lot, but willing to share taxi costs.

[Debbie and Tom]

We'll be onboard as well for the New Zealand portion only (plus the three day pre-cruise addon in Auckland). We've booked two tours so far:

 

March 14: Hobbiton and Waitomo Caves (Glowworms) departing from Auckland

(http://www.freewheelingnz.com/?Function=Display&Item=Hobbiton_plus_Waitomo.txt)

 

March 25: Rover Ring Tours in Wellington

(http://www.wellingtonrover.co.nz/rover_rings_tour.htm)

 

We're Lord of the Rings fans, and we didn't see any LOTR offerings in the Discovery shore excursion booklet, so we booked our own. We plan on doing several of the tours offered through the cruiseline, such as the Rotorua Thermal Wonder tour and the Taieri Gorge Rail Excursion. I'm not sure what we'll do in Christchurch -- it looks like there is so much to choose from there, but none of the cruise line tours appeal to me so we'll probably just wing it.

 

Debbie

Indianapolis, USA

[sable1]

Greetings to you all,

Just wondering if you could post a report on your impressions of the ship.

 

What category cabin did you have? Was it comfortable, well laid out, any glitches? Any suggestions? Evening pillow mints?

 

Did you enjoy the food? What score would you give it on a scale of 1-10?

What was your favorite menu item, least fav? I'm a dessert fiend - were they delicious or just so-so? Lots of chocolate? Did you get to eat in the Yacht Club and how was the food in comparison to the main dining room?

 

How was the service? Any problems?

 

How would you rate the lecturers? Informative or not?

t cruisers.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Happy cruising,

Joanne, the chocolate

I am thinking of booking the Antarctic cruise and want some more specific feedback from

[Sandel]

We had a very nice cruise. It was better than we expected in many ways. We got our cruise off SkyAuction and felt it was a very good deal for the money paid. There were, I think, over 100 others who had bid the highest price during the last six months. We ran across several at the airport and others on the ship and had a very good time.

 

We had booked a couple of excursions in Tauranga and Dunedin with tour operators that had been used by others on CC and were very pleased.

 

Some people were on the ship for a total of over 100 days. They embarked in Argentina and will leave the ship in Nassau. Most of them seemed to be having a great time. We were only on the NZ portion of the trip. Those that we talked to who had been to Antartica loved it. They lit up as they spoke of the penguins and the zodiacs.

 

The ship was built in 1971. It is smaller than any ship I have been on and we have taken over 25 cruises. Our inside stateroom had two small twin beds, a dresser and a closet. The only drawers were in the dresser. We used our suitcases under the bed as drawers for heavier clothes. All other aspects were as any cruise. Yes, we got chocolate mints on our pillows at night.

 

Service was good. I am usually not too picky when it comes to food but I was not too keen on most of it. The desserts were so-so. There was always a fish, beef, pork, chicken, pasta dish on the menu. Maybe I just chose the wrong ones. There was always 3 main desserts to choose from and a couple of ice creams also.

 

We had breakfast in the dining room a couple of times and it didn't impress me either. Once they had no syrup for the pancakes after they were brought and they didn't have this or that. Lots of eggs though.

 

The Yacht Club was the best night. It is always Oriental but the food is very good. We had sweet and sour salmon - the other choice was duck. There are 2 appetizers a soup and dessert. Very good.

 

The lecturers were excellent. One on the National Park and ports and one on whales, birds, etc. The former being the best of the two in my opinion.

 

The ship is mostly informal to casual. There were two formal nights but most tended not to dress too formally. I believe there were more British then Americans then New Zealanders.

 

All in all it was a wonderful cruise. We saw lots of beautiful country and met lots of nice people. Any other questions, please let me know.

 

Sandy

[lagunaman]

Sandel, I was pleased to read your informative review,have been awaitng comments for some time!

 

I am luckily more interested in the itinerary than the food, seems that most things were as one would expect on a much older ship.

 

Personally, having been on a few Crystal / Holland cruises, feel quite happy to have less GLITZ and a smaller more intimate cruise experience is hard to find these days, apart from the astronomically priced Seabourne / Silverseas.

 

So, I am now looking forward to my April 26 departure--THANK YOU !

[sable1]

Thanks for the information. I called to see about booking, still undecided. Especially after your review of the food. I love to eat and wouldn't want to be disappointed. Not a picky eater, but like it to be good. Especiallly desserts.

 

Lagunaman, could you please post your impressions of the ship, service, food after your cruise? I'd really appreciate it.

 

Thanks again,

Happy sailing,

Joanne, the chocoholic

[Sandel]

I have my pictures ready and if anyone would like to see them you can send me your email address at sandel0@aol.com. They are on Kodak Easyshare and are easy to view.

 

I forgot to mention that we thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment on the ship. The singers and dancers were superb and had beautiful costumes. There was also a trio - a violinist, piano and bass that were extremely good. We also had a murder mystery play and it was a barrel of laughs.

 

I really wouldn't let my opinion of the food hold you back. It was truly a memorable cruise.

 

Sandy

[sable1]

Sandy" Well, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go to Antarctica & So. Pacific. Have been to So. Pacific on the Aranui and Paul Gauguin, but will be stopping in Easter Island this time.

I think we got a pretty good price which included $100 p.p. shipboard credit.

It's an inside cabin on deck 4, John likes it dark for his naps and we really aren't in there very much during the day.

Hopefully we won't be disappointed. I understand the weather conditions determine whether we can land in Antarctica. Keep my fingers crossed.

I did e-mail you for the photos. Did you get it?

 

Lagunaman: If you have any questions about the Galapagos, I would be glad to answer. We were on a small, 16 pax., boat for 2 weeks about 8 years ago. It was my very favorite cruise. It's amazing how the sea lions came right up to me and sniffed my leg. Also, the boobies were nesting and we had to watch our step so as not to step on the chicks. The tropic birds are so beautiful, frigate birds colorful and aggressive. It is all so amazing.

 

If you have time in Belize, the Zoo is very nice. Not your typical city zoo. Very enjoyable. Just hop on the city bus to get there. If you have an interest in Mayan ruins, you could go over to Tikal. We flew there on the smallest plane I ever saw, stayed two nights and flew back. You could probably do a one day trip though.

And could you please post your impressions of the ship. I know you are more interested in the ports, but I am curious about the ship and all. Also about the Galapagos & other ports.

Thanks. Enjoy your cruise.

 

Happy sailing,

Joanne, the chocoholic

[kk-l]

Have been to So. Pacific on the Aranui and Paul Gauguin, but will be stopping in Easter Island this time.

 

Happy sailing,

Joanne, the chocoholic

 

Hello Joanne,

We are contemplating a "Solar Eclipse" sailing on the Aranui 3 in late June/early July 2010 in the Marquesas. I was wondering what your experience was aboard ship? I noticed that the Aranui 3 is a freighter.

While we do enjoy adventure and don't want the "glitz" of the big ships, we appreciate some degree of comfort and niceties at this stage of the game. (My husband actually expressed concern at the freighter concept...and I have to make him happy :)).

We've sailed on Cruise West through Alaska's Inside Passage and enjoyed the small ship experience. I was wondering how the Aranui 3 compared to those ships.

Thank you for your help with this,

Kathy