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Our good friend and fellow mature traveller, Robyn Buckley, has been on the high seas again
Hello fellow Cruisers, I am just home from a wonderful cruise on the Diamond Princess, from Sydney 10th March till March 22nd….New Zealand, lucky me got home on the 22nd and had to babysit my Grand-dog on the 23rd and got home on the 26th, so as you can imagine I am still unpacking washing and trying to do some shopping. On the day we were leaving all I say is that the traffic, due to Sydney’s roadworks was a shambles. When we arrived at the Ship, it was a breeze to embark , we went up to the 14 deck, for a light buffet lunch, I myself am not that keen on Buffet’s, the food was fine, sometimes, passengers come in with a cold, and I did not like them hovering over the food….We wondered down to the 8 deck midships where our cabin was, it was a obstructed view, when we walked in, we were surprised that the obstruction was only a pole, very lucky, as we had plenty of natural light, I thought the cabin was a good size and very clean, as usual the bathroom was very small, but adequate for our needs…While on board we had all our meals at the restaurant on the 6th floor.. 11th was a sea day, time to explore, and find our way around 12th was a sea day, found the morning Trivia and found a lovely couple that we formed our team with, and every day after, when not going on shore, the four of us really enjoyed the trivia, loved watching the Tai Chi and Zumba classes, big crowd in both classes…I love sea days, walking on the outside deck, just watching the water. 13th we reached our first destination Auckland around 11.30-12pm, we had to be back by 7pm, the disembarking was a bit of mess, as everyone wanted to get off straight away, long queues, unfortunately we did not do any tours, we walked around, and it was really very pleasant, a little windy but about 27 degrees C…. they do have hop on and off busses. 14th we reached Tauranga, Mount Maunganui. Some young ones climbed to the summit, beautiful views of the bay of Plenty… high winds here but still a nice 21 degrees C. we did a hop on hop off tour which was lovely, all the hot springs, Rotorua, Tamaki Maori Village. 15th Napier strong wind and 22 degrees C. another just beautiful Art Deco City another hop on hop off tour, you could go wine tasting, Cape Kidnappers for the golfers, Te Mata Peak, hang gliding, hiking mountain biking. 16th Wellington near gale winds and 20 degrees C. lots to see here, Botanic Garden, Cable car takes you up to the gardens, that was fun, Lord of the rings tour, Zealandia wildlife Sanctuary and much more. 17th Akaroa getting a little cooler now 17 degrees C wind not to bad, we had to go by tender, we just wandered around this lovely place, great fish and chips, you could go to the Giants House, build in 1880 for Akaroa’s first bank Manager, built of native timbers, with terraced gardens, you could visit with the Hector’s Dolphins, they grow no more 1.5 m in length, Akoroa village is nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano. |
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18th Port Chalmers (Dunedin) 17 degrees C and high winds…..Dunedin railway station is a must, we did a small tour from the dock, Taieri Gorge railway, Larnach Castle, lots of great things to see, a very Scottish influence .
19th Fiordland 17 degrees C, high winds and rain, rough sea’s love it when it is rough…. Unfortunately dues to the weather we could not get into Dusty Sound or Doubtful Sound, which was such a shame and disappointment, BUT we were able to get into Milford Sound, WOW what can I say, it was cold wet and windy, but what an amazing place, the waterfalls, the mist, I think the whole 1,600 odd passengers were all outside taking photos and oohing and aahing, I have never seen anything like it, I was drenched, but glued to the deck rail, unbelievable.
20th at sea gale winds 20 degrees C I was enjoying the rocking and rolling
21st at sea strong winds 20 degrees C getting to close to the end of the cruise
22nd back in Sydney, did not want the cruise to end, hope there will be a next time.
Synopsis:
I would recommend a cruise to New Zealand, it is a shame, it was the Diamond Princess’s last cruise from Sydney, as she is going back to Japan, where she was built… The ship was lovely, the entertainment was second to none, the food was ok, like all cruises sometime not so good other times excellent, the staff were top class, our cabin was always spotless, we had a problem with the loo, did not flush, less than an hour it was fixed. Well done boys. Last three days we had no TV, so Princess Cruises were kind enough to give everyone a $50 refundable credit… So yes, once again I would recommend Princess cruise line.
Robyn Buckley
For your P&O cruise: https://www.pocruises.com.au/
19th Fiordland 17 degrees C, high winds and rain, rough sea’s love it when it is rough…. Unfortunately dues to the weather we could not get into Dusty Sound or Doubtful Sound, which was such a shame and disappointment, BUT we were able to get into Milford Sound, WOW what can I say, it was cold wet and windy, but what an amazing place, the waterfalls, the mist, I think the whole 1,600 odd passengers were all outside taking photos and oohing and aahing, I have never seen anything like it, I was drenched, but glued to the deck rail, unbelievable.
20th at sea gale winds 20 degrees C I was enjoying the rocking and rolling
21st at sea strong winds 20 degrees C getting to close to the end of the cruise
22nd back in Sydney, did not want the cruise to end, hope there will be a next time.
Synopsis:
I would recommend a cruise to New Zealand, it is a shame, it was the Diamond Princess’s last cruise from Sydney, as she is going back to Japan, where she was built… The ship was lovely, the entertainment was second to none, the food was ok, like all cruises sometime not so good other times excellent, the staff were top class, our cabin was always spotless, we had a problem with the loo, did not flush, less than an hour it was fixed. Well done boys. Last three days we had no TV, so Princess Cruises were kind enough to give everyone a $50 refundable credit… So yes, once again I would recommend Princess cruise line.
Robyn Buckley
For your P&O cruise: https://www.pocruises.com.au/