Cruise Control – Rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a pub … and three women too!

Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

After a bit of early rain this turned into a beautiful day We hadn’t booked any tours but had researched the local ferries and had decided to catch the ferry across to Devonport to visit the local markets. Unfortunately we’d miscalculated and it was the wrong weekend.

Cruise Control – Don’t Rock the Boat

Three full days at sea. Bliss.

And, apparently, a reason to take no photos. Not that we did nothing. We did lots of not-very-much.

• Breakfast in the dining room after watching sunrise over coffee.
• Morning and afternoon trivia – fun, but no success.
• Lying around on deck.
• A Cruise Snooze.
• Dinner time celebration for friends’ wedding anniversary.
• Strolling around the promenade deck to “take the air”.
• Winning a bit, but losing slightly more, at the Casino.

A couple of downsides, though. The main one is the night time noise in our cabin. I can’t count how many cruises our entire party has done between us. For me, this was my 5th. Stu’s 4th. Friends’ 3rd. My sister’s umpteenth, maybe 13th. Dad’s possibly 15th or more. So, between us we’ve had a lot of experience at picking cabins. But, apparently, none of us have ever had a cabin above a bar that has music ’til  after midnight. If the company had identified the noise as a potential issue then we’d have chosen different cabins. A party animal probably wouldn’t have cared. Multiple complaints to Passenger Services elicited apologies and offers of ear plugs but no solution. The cruise was fully booked so there was nowhere to move us. And, I found out later, we weren’t the only ones to complain. At least 5 other cabins around us felt the same. On our last day we also met people who’d been over one of the other bars and had the same complaint. An issue for Princess Cruises.

Some sleep would be nice.

So, on Saturday morning I decided to lie in while Stu went to the buffet (aka “the trough”) for coffee and breakfast. The joke was on me. The ship started to roll. Well, you expect that on a ship. Then, usually, it rolls back. This time it didn’t. I heard all the drawers in the cabin fly open. Things slid off the bench. When the chair went flying across the cabin I knew this wasn’t normal.
Stu was in the buffet at the time. He ended up with peaches and crockery on his feet. Lots of broken glass and a great big mess in all public areas. A couple of people hurt, according to ship gossip. A cruise ship is a bit like a small town. Rumours are rife.

Apparently, there was some issue with switching from auto-pilot to manual steering. The roll was, allegedly, 12 degrees.

On the plus side, Stu finished the day by winning the Blackjack tournament … with the winnings going straight onto our onboard account.

Not as much sleep as I would like, but still having fun.

There will be photos in upcoming posts, I promise.

Cruise Control – All Aboard

Cruises are so relaxing. Maybe that’s why I’ve had trouble starting this post. Every time I think about it, I’m back on the Lido Deck with a cocktail and a book and just generally feeling good. And lazy.

One of the great things about cruising is unpacking once. Get to the cabin, unpack the bags, hang the clothes and that’s it.

After that, explore the ship (ie bars)

before our early sitting at dinner. 5.30 is a bit too early for me but it was Dad’s preference and turned out not to be too bad.

Oh, and don’t forget lifeboat drill and the very flattering life vests.

Now that I’ve started, I might make it to Part 2. Hopefully it won’t take me too long.

2014 – 2 weeks in New Zealand’s South Island

On our first trip to New Zealand 2 years ago we thought, perhaps a little naively, that we’d see right around the South Island in our 3 weeks. What we ended up doing that time was 3 weeks across the middle. So this time, with only 2 weeks, we were a little less ambitions but were determined to see at least some things we didn’t see last time.

Our main reason for this trip was to visit No 1 Son who is working over there at the moment, but who knows for how long, so seeing him at work was a good excuse to go. And also a good opportunity to go to the Wild Foods Festival at Hokitika, which is why we chose this particular time.

Day 1:

As always, we started with compulsory drinks at the upstairs bar at the international airport. No matter the time of day.