New Zealand on Majestic Princess November 24, 2018

[coo359a2]

Great review .  Looking forward to your review of the days to come. We are on a b2b in Jan/Feb.  you have given us directions for a nice walk in Auckland that we can do on our first stop there.  We are doing the Bridge Climb on the second cruise

[PurpleTraveller]

Wednesday November 28 - Tauranga

 

We woke to a beautiful morning where we were moored near Mount Maunganui. After breakfast we got off the ship and took a lovely walk along the boardwalk towards the Mount as the locals call it and took some time to simply enjoy our surroundings.

 

 

The previous time we were in Tauranga we had walked up to the top of the Mount and you get great views from up there. The seaside town is also very pretty.

 

This time as a mad Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit fan of both the books and movies I had decided that I would bring out my inner hobbit and go to Hobbiton. DH is not the slightest bit interested in the Lord of the Rings so he spent the day enjoying the seaside town. 

 

I always try to use local tour providers if possible and after doing some research settled on Zealandia Tours. Their Hobbiton tour was exactly what I was after, was a small group, they had good reviews and it cost less than the Princess tour. 

 

We met up just outside the port exit and we were a group of ten with 8 adults, an eight year old and a 21 month old. The two children were very well behaved and it was a pleasure to tour with all. Our tour guide was Jennifer and she was lovely and very informative. We left at 10.00am in a mini van and made our way to Hobbiton through beautiful countryside with Jennifer giving us lots of information about the area we were passing through. 

 

We arrived at Hobbiton at 11.10am and Jennifer went to get our tickets for the 11.30am tour. We had just enough time to use the restrooms and grab a snack before getting on the 11.30am Hobbiton bus that takes you from the main entrance to Hobbiton. It was a short drive through beautiful countryside. There was a short video played with Peter Jackson the director of the movies welcoming us to Hobbiton and also the farmer who owns the land where Hobbiton is located. Soon we saw our first view of Hobbiton.

 

 

Maggie was our tour guide and she led us off the bus and around a corner and there we were. Hobbiton was laid out before us looking exactly as it does in the movies. The valley was so pretty and the detail that has been built is amazing. Maggie told us lots of information about the making of the movies, anecdotes about filming certain scenes and the enormous detail that went into making everything just right. There were many hobbit holes, pretty gardens and beautiful scenery. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The walk was along dirt paths and there were some that went up and down the hills and some that were quite narrow. For those that are in wheelchairs or mobility challenged there was a golf buggy that drove them around on a different route on wider paths but still went past many hobbit holes and of course still see the lovely countryside. 

[PurpleTraveller]

I think I took a photo of every hobbit hole that we walked past and there were a lot of them!

 

We walked past the Baggins' hobbit hole and saw the tree above it that was made for the Hobbit movies. For the Lord of the Rings movies they had sourced a tree from elsewhere in New Zealand, cut it down, flown it to Hobitton, done the filming and then it of course died. When they went to film the Hobbit movies they were not able to find another tree the same and it had to be 60 years younger for the timeline so they made the tree that is now there. Even knowing that the tree is not real the only way you could tell was that it didn't move in the breeze. Maggie told us lots of stories like this as we walked around. 

 

The tree in the centre of the photo is the new tree above the Baggins' hobbit hole that was made for the Hobbit movies. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After an hour and a half we had made our way to the lake and the Green Dragon Inn where we were given a drink. The choices were beer, apple cider or a non-alcoholic drink. I had apple cider and it was delicious. We had 20 minutes to enjoy our drink and the beautiful surroundings. At 1.25pm we got on a bus and drove the five minutes to the main entrance. There we had 30 minutes to have lunch and visit the gift shop. 

 

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

At just after 2.00pm we left Hobbiton and drove back towards the coast. We pulled off the highway and made our way along a narrow road to McLaren Falls Park. This is where the benefit of a mini bus rather than a full sized bus comes into play. The park was beautiful with lots of lovely trees and a river.

 

 

We parked and went on a short ten minute walk along a pretty path alongside the bubbling creek to McLaren Falls. 

 

 

 

The falls were lovely and Jennifer pointed out some birds and silver ferns. A most enjoyable interlude during our day. 

 

 

We walked back to the mini bus and next made a quick stop at a Kiwifruit farm where they grow them using the old fashioned frames. I had no idea that this was how Kiwifruit is grown! 

 

 

Our last stop was at Mossops Honey. Here we got to see some of their bees (behind glass) and tried to find the queen bee. Can you see the queen bee? 

 

 

They make Manuka honey and we got to try four different types of their honeys including Manuka and one with ginger - Yum! Jennifer also shouted us an ice-cream - mine had toffee chunks and was delicious! They also had honey and gifts to purchase.

 

 

We now made our way back to the ship and had enough time for Jennifer to drive us through the town and along the beach front for a quick look. We were back at the ship at 4.30pm after a wonderful day. Many thanks to Zealandier Tours and Jennifer for a great day!

 

That evening we had dinner at the Symphony Dining Room and we were lucky enough to score a table for two next to a window. We had a great meal with wonderful service as we glided out of Tauranga and we had a great view as we sailed past Mount Maungani. After dinner we went to the 9.15pm show in the theatre of the Australian Beatles. I really enjoyed the show and everyone seemed to have a fun time. 

[PurpleTraveller]

1 hour ago, coo359a2 said:

Great review .  Looking forward to your review of the days to come. We are on a b2b in Jan/Feb.  you have given us directions for a nice walk in Auckland that we can do on our first stop there.  We are doing the Bridge Climb on the second cruise

 

Thank you. Hope you enjoy the rest of the review and maybe get some more ideas. The bus was really easy to get to Mt Eden and the walk up to the top was easy. We took the gentler (the road/pathway that is blocked to traffic to the left looking from the roundabout near the car park) but slightly longer way up and the steeper way (the road that is open to traffic to the right looking from the roundabout) down. The walk back to the ship took about three hours but we had a number of stops (the stop at the Winter Garden was fairly long) and we took our time. Enjoy the bridge climb! Hope you have a great B2B cruise next year. 

[Aesop081]

Big Hobbit fan here.  I have been reading the books since I was 8.  Almost 50 years.  Of all the sets they made for the movies I was most happy to see Hobbiton as I thought of it.  Have already made a note to book that same company for our tour.  I'd rather pay local tour companies than the cruise lines.  Working in tourism I know the huge range of percentages they keep for themselves.  Local companies = local jobs.  Not CEO bonuses.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, Aesop081 said:

 I'd rather pay local tour companies than the cruise lines.  Working in tourism I know the huge range of percentages they keep for themselves.  Local companies = local jobs.  Not CEO bonuses.

 

Yes, when you pay the cruise line the cruise line does keep a good bit of the money. But, they then are contracting with a local company to give the tours, so either way you are helping to provide local jobs.

 

Of course one of the main benefits to most independent tours is, as stated above, the lower number of people on the tour.

 

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, Aesop081 said:

Big Hobbit fan here.  I have been reading the books since I was 8.  Almost 50 years.  Of all the sets they made for the movies I was most happy to see Hobbiton as I thought of it.  Have already made a note to book that same company for our tour.  I'd rather pay local tour companies than the cruise lines.  Working in tourism I know the huge range of percentages they keep for themselves.  Local companies = local jobs.  Not CEO bonuses.

 

Plus you usually have less people, can get to places that the big buses can't and have a more personal tour. 

 

I first read The Hobbit as a child and then Lord of the Rings as a teenager and enjoyed all the movies so Hobbiton was wonderful to see. 

[sewgood]

In regards to finding the Queen bee-

I haven't searched so hard since I had a Where in the World is Wally book in my hand.

And I still did not find her. I am cross eyed now.

 

Note to self- must book a tour to Hobbit town next time the ship calls at Tauranga, instead of walking up the Mount and taking photos of sheep.

 

[PurpleTraveller]

2 minutes ago, sewgood said:

In regards to finding the Queen bee-

I haven't searched so hard since I had a Where in the World is Wally book in my hand.

And I still did not find her. I am cross eyed now.

 

Note to self- must book a tour to Hobbit town next time the ship calls at Tauranga, instead of walking up the Mount and taking photos of sheep.

 

 

That is so funny! 😄 I promise that she is there though I did have to search for her. In the interest of helping your cross eyedness here is a hint - she is near the middle of the photo and has a white dot on her back.

 

We also saw lots of sheep on our journey to and from Hobbiton! I am so glad that I went to Hobbiton as it was great to see. 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

Before I get to our next Sea Day I thought I would show you a few photos from around the ship. Majestic Princess really is a beautiful ship and I really enjoyed spending time on her.

 

First up is the pool area. These photos were taken on the first day so Sydney is in the background. 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed spending time on deck 17 on the port side near the entrance to the Hollywood Pool Club (aka the indoor pool) in these comfy seats. 

 

 

On the starboard side is an area the same as this which is a smokers area so if you don't like walking through clouds of smoke use the port side entrance to the Hollywood Pool Club or the middle doors from the lift lobby. I believe there is another smokers area on deck 7 aft on the starboard side. 

 

This is a terrible photo of Vines on deck 5 next to the Piazza and another one looking from the Piazza towards Vines.

 

 

 

La Mer the French restaurant is port side  on deck 7 overlooking the Piazza. I did not eat here but it was never full when I went past. I don't know if you hear a lot of noise from the Piazza (you'll see soon why I mention this)  but it could be a possibility. 

 

 

 

I didn't get a photo of Harmony as every time I went to take a photo it was closed and of course when it was open I never had my phone. Harmony is located starboard on deck 5 off the foyer with the Guest Relations and Shore Excursions desks. Whenever I went past when it was open there never seemed to be many people in there. 

 

I am keeping the photos of the Piazza until later - you'll see why then.

 

I'm afraid I didn't take many photos around the ship. I think I was too busy doing nothing much at all and enjoying being on her. 

[PurpleTraveller]

Thursday November 29 - Sea Day

 

Today was another lazy sea day. We went to morning trivia then spent some time in the sun on deck 17. We watched some of a Crowded House concert at MUTS before it became cloudy so went and watched Mamma Mia Here We Go Again in our cabin. 

 

The Captain's party was at 4.30pm in the Vista Lounge. For those that are interested the figures were - 

Gold - 625

Ruby - 411

Platinum - 895

Elite - 574

The most travelled passengers were

First - 2344 days

Second - 1348 days

Third - 839 days

 

We then went to dinner at the Crown Grill at 6pm. We have really enjoyed the fine dining experience and excellent food and service in the Crown Grill on other Princess ships. I really hate to complain but that is not what we got on this evening. 

 

Firstly there is a design flaw in the layout of the Crown Grill located port side on deck 7 in that it is open to the Crown Bar. We were seated at table 14 which is right next to the thigh high divider, dividing the restaurant from the Crown Bar. After only a few minutes we realised that the noise of a full bar of people talking made it very, very noisy in the restaurant. The people opposite us walked out as it was so noisy. We asked our waiter if we could move to another table and was brusquely told "No, we are full" and he walked away. Not "I am so sorry but we are full. What seems to be the problem?" Things didn't improve from there. 

 

As well as the noise which made it difficult to have a conversation, our table was about 60 cm or 2 feet from the divider to the bar. We had a continuous stream of people walking between our table and the divider so that they didn't have to walk around to the entrance to go in or out of the restaurant. As we were so close to the bar it was a little disconcerting to have the people in the bar watching us as we ate and we even had one couple ask us how our food was. Not exactly conducive to a pleasant, relaxed dining experience. 

 

When we first sat down the hostess asked if we wanted to see the wine menu but we said no we didn't want a bottle of wine but would like to order from the bar. No one came to ask us if we would like to place a drink order - at all - for the entire meal. As we were unable to order drinks we shrugged and decided to just drink the water. The only problem was that when our glasses were empty they were not refilled and we had nothing to drink for half our meal until just before our dessert arrived when our glasses were finally refilled. Not great! 

 

Another strange thing that happened was that when our main courses arrived the waiter put down a plate of mushrooms. We both dislike mushrooms and I can't stand the smell of them. I said to our waiter that we hadn't ordered mushrooms and he replied "I ordered them for you" and walked away before I could say anything else. What the? Is it just me or is that not strange? 

 

The food was good but we did not linger with coffee as we had had enough of the noise. On the way out I hoped to speak with the Maitre D about our experience but he was not available. The meal was not worth $7.00 least of all the $70.00 we paid. We had far, far better experiences and service in the Symphony Dining Room. 

 

I am just writing this to forwarn anyone who is planning to eat at the Crown Grill on Majestic Princess. Maybe you can ask to be seated as far from the Crown Bar as possible and hopefully you will receive far better service than we did. I did speak with the Guest Relations desk a few days later about our experience and she apologised profusely and made a report. Later that day the Assistant Maitre D rang me and said that he had read the report and also apologised.

 

[rimram]

We did the cruise from Auckland to Sydney Oct. 23 to Nov. 5th  It was a fabulous cruise, the ship was beautiful the food was very good and the entertainment was superb. Visiting those 2 counties was just fantastic. We did a land package thru Princess which was just great. Be from the US and seeing that part of the world was something very special.

[PurpleTraveller]

9 hours ago, rimram said:

We did the cruise from Auckland to Sydney Oct. 23 to Nov. 5th  It was a fabulous cruise, the ship was beautiful the food was very good and the entertainment was superb. Visiting those 2 counties was just fantastic. We did a land package thru Princess which was just great. Be from the US and seeing that part of the world was something very special.

 

I agree that Majestic is a beautiful ship. I am so pleased that you had a great trip and cruise. 

[PurpleTraveller]

Friday November 30 - Wellington

 

On our previous cruise to Wellington we had gone up on the cable car and walked back down through the Botanical Gardens. This time we planned to walk up Mount Victoria (Have you started to see a theme here? We like climbing or walking up hills, mountains, whatever to see the view) and go to the Te Papa Museum. 

 

We left the ship at 9.30am and unlike our previous visit when we had walked through the dock and into the city centre, you are now not allowed to walk through the dock as it is a busy working dock. The city provides free shuttle buses from the ship to the city centre wet it's two stops. Stop one is outside the Old Government Building on Lambton Quay opposite the Beehive and stop two is at Civic Square on Wakefield Street near the iSite Information Centre. The shuttles run continuously throughout the day and the last shuttle was at 5.00pm.

 

We waited about ten minutes to get on a shuttle and twenty minutes later got off at stop two. This saved us a lot of walking as we were quite near the base of Mount Victoria. We made our way through the streets to the base of the mountain and then started walking up through the parkland. The paths were dirt tracks and you had to watch your footing as there were tree roots sticking up on the paths but it was a lovely walk under the trees and was very peaceful. It took us 50 minutes to walk from the shuttle stop to the top with a few rest breaks along the way. 

 

When we got to the top of Mount Victoria we were glad we had made the effort as the view of Wellington was great. You could see all of Wellington in all directions. While we were there a couple of Princess tour buses came but it wasn't very crowded at all. 

 

 

 

Majestic Princess is docked to the right of Westpac Stadium. 

 

 

Looking in the opposite direction we could see the airport and watch planes landing and taking off. 

 

 

We made our way back down a different way towards Oriental Bay. This way was much steeper than the way we had gone up and I was very glad that we had chosen a gentler way up. Once we got past the parkland we walked down narrow lane ways and stairs past some very pretty houses to Oriental Bay. 

 

 

 

Oriental Bay has a lovely beach and wide promenade along the waterfront which we walked along towards the Te  Papa Museum. 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2018 by PurpleTraveller

[Aesop081]

15 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Yes, when you pay the cruise line the cruise line does keep a good bit of the money. But, they then are contracting with a local company to give the tours, so either way you are helping to provide local jobs.

 

Of course one of the main benefits to most independent tours is, as stated above, the lower number of people on the tour.

 

You are correct, in either scenario jobs are created.  But one thing the cruise lines do is that they start using a business and include a stipulation that they will take X% off of what the tour company charges as a "partner" in setting up the tour.  That number isn't what the price the cruise ship charges, but the portion of the excursions price that is the cost to the ship that the tour company wants.  Then when the tour company goes to renegotiate a year or two later, the cruise line says...you know what, we do all the work getting you the business, we now want X+20more% of your fee. I just want the local companies to get all the money.  That's all.

[PurpleTraveller]

21 minutes ago, PurpleTraveller said:

The city provides free shuttle buses from the ship to the city centre wet it's two stops. 

 

Darn auto correct! That should read that there are two shuttle stops. 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

We made our way to the Te Papa Museum. Te Papa is New Zealand's national museum. It opened in 1998 and has 36,000 square metres of exhibition space. There are many displays including History, Arts, Natural History and Pacific Cultures. It is free to visit the permanent exhibitions but sometimes there is an entry fee to special exhibitions.

 

Interestingly the site where the museum is was once occupied by a modern five storey hotel. The hotel was jacked off its foundations and moved 200 metres down the road on rail bogies and is now the Museum Hotel.

 

 

The reason that I wanted to visit the museum was to see its Gallipoli The Scale Of Our War exhibition. The exhibition follows the Gallipoli campaign through the eyes of eight ordinary New Zealanders.The museum partnered up with the Weta Workshop, the workshop that did the special effects for the Lord of the Rings movies, to make the models in the exhibition. The exhibition is open until March 31, 2019 and is free. 

 

The exhibition is wonderful and the models which are more than double life-size are amazing. We spent quite a lot of time looking at the displays, reading the information and using the interactive displays. It was well worth visiting. 

 

 

 

 

 

After we had seen all there was to see in the exhibition we made our way outside and walked along the waterfront. There are shops and a number of vans with food and coffee available. It was a lovely afternoon to be by the water. 

 

 

 

[coo359a2]

I was all excited after reading of your trip up Mount Victoria - another mountain for us to climb - yeah.  Then I remembered we climbed up there the last time we were in Wellington.  We did finish at the beach the same   as you and then walked to the Te Papa.  We will have to go there again to see the Gallipoli exhibit.  Were the Terra Cotta Soldiers exhibit still there.  Have heard mixed reviews about the exhibit.  We were able to walk into town when we were there.

[PurpleTraveller]

We had one more stop that I wanted to see so we walked along Lambton Quay through the shopping area towards the Parliament area. Across the road from shuttle stop one is the National War Memorial and across another road is the new Parliament Building known as the Beehive for obvious reasons. 

 

 

 

The Beehive is right next door to the old Parliament Building which is in a more traditional style and then on the right is the Parliamentary Library. 

 

 

 

Our final stop was just a couple of blocks further on at Old St Paul's. Old St Paul's was built in 1865 from New Zealand native timber and opened in 1866. It is a lovely old timber church with beautiful stained glass windows. 

 

 

 

 

On our walk back to the shuttle stop this sign outside a book shop made me smile. 

 

 

We had a chance to have a quick look at the Old Government Building. The building was completed in 1876 from native Kauri timber and was the second largest wooden building in the world until 1998. Originally it was going to be constructed from concrete and timber but due to the high cost of concrete it was made completely from wood but made to look like stone. It now houses part of the Victoria University of Wellington. 

 

 

We hoped on to a waiting shuttle bus and 15 minutes later were back at the ship at 3.15pm.

 

We spend the rest of the afternoon on our balcony in the sunshine. Dinner was at Alfredo's and this time the service was excellent and we had a very pleasant meal. 

 

Edited December 8, 2018 by PurpleTraveller

[PurpleTraveller]

12 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

I was all excited after reading of your trip up Mount Victoria - another mountain for us to climb - yeah.  Then I remembered we climbed up there the last time we were in Wellington.  We did finish at the beach the same   as you and then walked to the Te Papa.  We will have to go there again to see the Gallipoli exhibit.  Were the Terra Cotta Soldiers exhibit still there.  Have heard mixed reviews about the exhibit.  We were able to walk into town when we were there.

 

Got to love climbing a mountain! The Terracotta Warriors exhibition at Te Papa opens on December 15, 2018 and closes on April 22, 2019. The Gallipoli exhibition was great!

 

Edited December 8, 2018 by PurpleTraveller

[PurpleTraveller]

Saturday December 1 - Akaroa

 

We sailed into Akaroa Harbour on a peaceful morning with a rainbow to find Sea Princess already moored.

 

 

 

Akaroa is a tender port so after breakfast we went the Symphony Dining Room to get our tender tickets. We wanted to be on the first tender if possible as we were planning a trip to visit Christchurch. We got to the dining room just before 8.00am and received tender tickets 29 and 32. We were on the first tender that left at 8.10am and the trip took 20 minutes to get to the dock. 

 

At the town end of the dock is an iSite where I was able to buy tickets for the 9.30am shuttle to Christchurch with French Connection/Cityline. The tickets are half the cost of the Princess Christchurch On Your Own excursion. There was a very light drizzle falling but there was just enough time to walk to the Akaroa Lighthouse and through a few streets looking at the pretty houses. 

 

 

 

 

At 9.25am our new Cityline bus arrived and we loaded up and set off at 9.30am. The bus was completely full. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great on the way to Christchurch with rain and fog for a lot of the way so we didn't see much of the scenery. We did go past Lake Forsyth which is a favoured breeding area for black swans and saw hundreds and hundreds of black swans many with their cygnets. It was a remarkable sight. 

 

We arrived in Christchurch at 11.00am and we were dropped off outside the Canterbury Museum on Rolleston Avenue. We were told to be back at 2.45pm for a 3.00pm departure. 

 

As we walked down Worcester Boulevard towards Cathedral Square we saw some of the very cute phone boxes that Christchurch has. 

 

 

 

It wasn't long before we started to see some of the extensive damage caused to Christchurch in the February 2011 earthquake. On February 22, 2011 Christchurch was hit by a 6.2 earthquake at 12.51pm. The earthquake was followed by two major aftershocks in June and December of that year. Christchurch suffered enormous and widespread damage and 185 people lost their lives. While there has been huge progress in rebuilding the city there is still a long way to go. There are still many damaged and derelict buildings throughout the city and lots of building sites. As we walked through the city we saw many damaged buildings and it was very sobering and sad to see. 

 

 

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

We were soon at Cathedral Square where the once beautiful Christ Church Cathedral stands. The cathedral was extensively damaged in the earthquake and the tower collapsed. It is heartbreaking to see it now. 

 

This is how it used be be. 

 

 

And this is the cathedral now. 

 

 

 

 

We walked on to New Regent Street which has pretty coloured buildings with cafes and shops. A tram line goes down the street which is pedestrianised.

 

 

 

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

We next made our way to the Cardboard Cathedral. The Cardboard Cathedral was opened in 2013 and is a temporary transitional cathedral that can seat around 700 people while the Christ Church Cathedral is unable to be used. 

 

 

 

 

Just a block away is the 185 Empty Chairs Memorial representing the 185 lives lost in the Christchurch earthquake in 2011.

 

 

We walked back towards the Canterbury Museum through the new shopping area. We had lots of fun looking at the Christmas display windows at the Ballantynes Department Store.

 

 

We walked past the Bridge of Remembrance War Memorial and over the Avon River. 

 

 

 

We walked along the river and soon came to the Antigua Boat Sheds. The sheds were built in 1882 and we watched boats being punted along the river. 

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

We were now at the Botanical Gardens. In the real world I am a Horticulturist so DH is very used to me dragging him to gardens all over the world. These are lovely gardens with the Avon River running through them and different planting areas. The rose garden was very pretty. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We just had enough time after walking through the gardens past the Peacock Fountain to have a very quick visit to the Canterbury Museum where we saw the strangest room I have ever seen. Fred and Myrtle decorated their house with Paua shells and after their deaths their display was dismantled and then brought to be displayed in a replica house built in the Canterbury Museum.

 

 

At 2.45pm our bus arrived and after loading up we were on our way at 3.00pm. The weather had cleared up so we were able to see the beautiful countryside and the views as we came down the hills towards Akaroa on the left side of the bus were wonderful. (No photos as I was on the right side of the bus as I wanted to see the black swans at Lake Forsyth again but I was still able to see the views.)  We arrived back at Akaroa at 4.30pm and joined the queue for the tenders. The queue looked long but moved quickly and we were on a tender in 15 minutes and 20 minutes later were on the ship. This was the view from the dock while we were waiting. 

 

 

Sail away was lovely as we made our way back out of the harbour out to sea. We left before Sea Princess. 

 

 

 

After sail away we had another lovely meal in the Symphony Dining Room. 

 

Edited December 8, 2018 by PurpleTraveller