Boring! Mock-tail choices very few! For older gen.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Sydney, Australia, Overseas Passenger Terminal is a fast and efficient embarkation which has you on in no time. If you have mobility issues I would recommend you take them up on the offer of a wheelchair as the distance is quite large moving from area to area.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The main dining room I would rate slightly higher for quality, however, the menu was very repetitious even though a slight change in flavour, e.g., fish - always grilled, chicken, beef, pasta, vegetarian… The vegetarian seemed to have a better range as there was a couple of curries over the 11 nights.
The Oceanview Cafe was a disappointment, they had variety but too many bits and pieces which meant it was a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and nothing had that much flavour. Also, if the main dining room was closed it was hard to find a table for two.
We didn’t eat in specialty restaurants as they were too expensive at nearly $100 AU per head.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
What activities???
You could could use the games they had on board like scrabble, checkers, backgammon to self entertain.
You could try your hand at glass blowing and take home a souvenir for more than $100 US 😳
There was three holes for putting on the grass, or bocce balls that you could use for self entertainment.
Very little activities provided by the entertainment team unless you enjoyed trivia which went for half-an-hour and was followed by more trivia, and more trivia, and more trivia.
There was a gym/fitness centre.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The stage shows put on by the Celebrity singers, dancers and acrobatic team were exceptional!
Other shows were okay in the main theatre.
There was music in the afternoon and evenings in the centrum which was good.
Overall good! But nothing to write home about!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I couldn’t fault the staff… they were always friendly and efficient!
Big shout out to our room steward ‘Putu’ (Room 2106) and our waiters ‘Roger and Joshua’ (Table 136) who provided exceptional service every night of our cruise 😁.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Ship design didn’t allow for much walking which would be suited for older people with mobility issues… This made it very boring for us as we are in our 50’s and very active. Our cabin was close to the elevators and stairs, and it seemed you went up or down but no need to walk the length of the ship unless you were going to the theatre.
The ship was reasonably well maintained with some lounges looking a little tired.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We were in Concierge Class and had a larger balcony than anyone else which was good.
Our bed was closest to the window with the couch in-between the bathroom and bed which made the wardrobe virtually inaccessible from the right side.
Where my parents had room 2108 and that put the bed closest to the wardrobe with full accessibility the length of the wardrobe and the couch closer to the window. Their balcony was slightly smaller than ours but still a good size.
Ship tip
Just don’t do it! It was very expensive for what it was… Unless your older and just want to sit and read a book there wasn’t much else going on.
It’s a city. We stayed for a couple of nights close by at Darling Harbour which was nice and we went for a ferry trip to Manly which allows time for a relaxing stroll and nice restaurants overlooking the beach.
Port Chalmers is a pretty one street town with a couple of coffee shops and a supermarket if you want to buy stuff that you forgot or purchase chips, chocolate, etc.
Some of the shops were closed which was a disappointment, however, they had arts and craft stalls set up in the town hall for cruise passengers to take home souvenirs which were beautiful!
$10 US for the shuttle service to go into Dunedin Central.
My favourite little town in New Zealand! Plenty of shops with many types of souvenirs. We bought a metal artwork from one of the local souvenir shops which they wrapped for transportation when we arrived back in Sydney to go to Adelaide. The parcel measured 1.3m x 60cm x 10cm. There was also market’s happening nearby. We again played mini golf here which was a better course than Napier and well worth the money! Cute little bay which is very photographic!
Pretty! But we have seen it four times now while cruising New Zealand… I’m a bit over it now.
Nature at it’s best if you want to see mountains and hills dipping down into the ocean.
We had shuttle buses (FREE!) that took us from the ship to the heart of Napier which had a mall of shops. We had a game of mini-golf where the bus dropped us off at the foreshore and there were markets on the foreshore a short walk away.
Again, Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal was excellent and we were out of there quickly and efficiently!
We walked off with our bags as we had an earlier flight and if you weren’t in line early it was a long wait on the ship until they opened the flood gates so to speak.
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