Vangrizz

I want to gamble with your MIL! A couple more wins and the next cruise is on her!

Day 6 - Napier
Our progress so far...

Our first glimpse of the port.

Napier is a fairly technical port to sail into and it requires the use of tugs to complete the maneuver into the pier.  That little sliver of water to the left in this photo is where we need to navigate but the aft has to go in first.

It's like backing into an "F" where the ship will dock at the horizontal top of the "F".  The sharp turn requires the use of tugs. 

This is a shuttle port.  The port is industrial and meant for cargo ships so it's not a port you can walk off the ship and into town.  Free shuttle buses are used to go through the secure port area to reach town.  Like with tenders, tickets are used to manage crowds.  
Since I had a Royal excursion we met in the theater and left as a group not requiring a shuttle ticket.

Sunrise was beautiful this morning,  and everyone woke up relatively refreshed. The mattresses are a lot better than what we had on Liberty in September. We went to Chops for breakfast, but it will probably be the last time we eat there this trip. ? DH is dying for some hash, MIL only eats eggs with salsa on them, and DS likes the eggs better in the Windjammer. We dropped the kids off at Adventure Ocean and headed back to the casino where MIL won another $400. ? DH and I broke even on the low limit blackjack tables.
We picked up the kids and headed to the Windjammer for lunch. I tried to just stick to salads today, but I may have had 3 desserts. I've found my favorite bar tender, Troy, who mixes the Kraken in with the strawberry for my lava flows. And he calls me "Princess", so he's been getting good tips. ?
According to the windy app we have a 20 mph cross wind and the ship is rocking a little, but it's not too bad. I'm hanging on the pool deck in the wind while my crazy kids are swimming,  and DH and MIL are napping. 
Tonight's "formal night", and we're going to try to catch the late production show.

MIL and DH took a nap once rooms were open and I took the kids to register for Adventure Ocean and to walk around the ship a bit. We got back in time to meet our room steward, Yopi.
After muster, we all went up to the top deck for sail away with a Bahama Papa. Then back to the room briefly and we noticed the pilot ship waiting on our side. It's always cool to see them jump between ships, but it's not something I would try! Next it was off to the concierge lounge for a pre dinner drink and snack. We had MTD reservations for 6pm, and we were seated between two huge tables for 10+. Service was very slow. 
After dinner, we came back to the room where Yopi had made a towel birthday cake for MIL - she loved it! DS wanted to go to Adventure Ocean. DD and DH stayed in the room, and MIL and I headed to the casino where she hit a minor jackpot and walked out with $500 more than she walked in with...after only putting $20 in the machine! Not a bad birthday!

Yaaaaaay!! The power just came back on!!
celebrating with this....it’s been an interesting few days

Well that was an experience getting to the port...
We signed up for the shuttle service from the hotel but someone jumped on our spot.  The staff did not stop the people from doing this so we sat at the hotel for another 30-45 minutes.  When the driver came back he picked us up and we then went to a different hotel and picked up a van full of Norwegian Cruise passengers.  We went there first and dropped all them off.  Then he said he was going to pick up more people to bring back.  We sat for a bit at a gate but no one came so he drove to our dock and then stopped.  He came over to the door and opened it and we asked if this was our spot to which he said it was.  It’s been a strange morning getting here.....but WE MADE IT.  It was about a 2 hour adventure to get to the port!
In regards to the coronavirus stuff, we did not notice anything different other than that they asked more questions about where we had been and who we had been with but other than that we did not see anything different (but we did get there later than normal as mentioned above).
Here was security...not too bad


We went to the diamond/diamond plus line and had about 12 couples in from of us.  Then we looked at the platinum/emerald line and there was 1 couple!  We should have payed better attention to the lines!
Check in was a breeze and took no time at all.  Walked right on the ship with no real wait!
We went straight to the shore excursion desk to try and get a bed-thingy for labadee but they were sold out!  We are number 1 on the wait list!  He said we might be able to get 1 since people book 2 since they don’t realize that 1 reservation is for 2 people.
 
more to come soon....we did our usual rounds and then sat at the “mouth-jammer”! 

Quick update this morning.  Woke up to HEAVY rain pretty early.  This is what it looks like outside!

This is not what we had in mind for our first day of this trip and boarding the ship!  

We signed up for the hotel shuttle service which was $10 a person.  Not too bad of a price.  
 
The issue with luggage tags and set sail pass was solved!  The hotel had an area where they had a desktop computer with a free printer to use!!!  CRISIS AVERTED!!  ?
 
Leaving for the ship in about 3 hours so stay tuned!  Thanks to all that are following along!
 

After the presentations we were given some free time to explore on our own.
We had been told there area is dry right now and in need of rain.  Normally these would be mud puddles bubbling with steam.

The geysers were going off again.




It's kind of weird seeing steam coming from the ground in every direction.




With that it was time to meet our driver and move on to our lunch stop.

I believe that is the famous "Hole in the Rock" (not sure why they call it that ? ). I have sailed through it on a jetboat on a tour I did back in my misspent youth.
I enjoy your blogs Twangster, but I am especially enjoying this one!

 
 

I decided to get the Deluxe package on my upcoming cruise on Grandeur. The penny-pincher side of me figured out how many adult beverages I'd need a night to make it worth it (I also drink a lot of Coke during the day, as well as coffee now and again). We'll see how close I stay to that line...or how far I stumble over it. ?

We checked ours one night on Harmony.. We had the deluxe package.. The screen went on for about 8 pages.. Yep.. we got ship-faced lol 

That's what I was afraid of. Probably just as well. I can imagine some of the people with the Deluxe Beverage Package probably don't want a list of what they drank at the end of the cruise.
Thanks.

It's something you would need to track manually. They don't always swipe the card - sometimes they just see you have the code on your sea pass and give you the drink.

If they swap your card (they will 98% of the time, excluding for bottled water), you can see the list of all the times and places card was used. It is recorded on your account. So for your stats, you can check it on your TV the evening before debarkation.

I would say that most of the time they do process your card.  When they are real busy I've noticed they just glance at the card and give you the drink.  I'm guessing this helps them with their inventories on product and to make sure they are profitable.   

Many of my fellow lunch cruise guests immediately went back onto a tender.  I chose to walk the 25 minutes to that little town we passed by.  The free shuttle buses were nice looking, plentiful and waiting but I wanted to stretch my legs.  

Bridge jumping was a popular local youth activity today.


It's a very beautiful area.




This small park had many local artisans with booths set up.  I must confess I flexed my credit card a couple of times.   It's always nice when you can meet the artist that actually created an item and so I supported the local arts community on this day.  

With my backpack full of memories that will bring this day back to me it was getting quite warm so I hopped on a free shuttle bus back to the tender dock.

Day 11 Sea Day
We had breakfast this morning at CK. 



Followed by backstage tour of Royal Theater. 








Followed by lunch at Izumi. We had a couple farewell “She’s A Geisha” cocktails and a few rolls: crispy shrimp, spider crab,  and champagne lobster.  



 

I work in a facility that you have to key punch to gain access to the work spaces. That is a virtual hot-zone of sickness so I have started wearing gloves when I have to punch in. Yes, everyone laughs at me but I feel like the picture above...don't mess with my cruise with your sickness. Germ-X is going fast at my desk  - is it good as a mouthwash  ?

This is our only tender port and they started giving out tender tickets just before the first tenders started.  The expectation for tenders is that you are ready to go when you collect your tickets.  Tickets were handed out near Vintages then guests were asked to wait until the ticket number were called. 
New Zealand is particularly strict about bringing food or beverages to shore.  Only commercially bottled water is allowed and there was a sniffer dog on the shore to inspect us.
Since I had booked a Royal excursion I didn't need a tender ticket, instead tours met in the Royal Theater and we were escorted down to a tender.
Quantum class of which Ovation is a member carry eight lifeboats that are designed to also function as tenders.  They are very comfortable and the Ovation crew has this down to a science as the largest cruise ship tender in operation. 
Two tenders before our group are just about to make it to shore.

The ride is about 10-12 minutes and we had a full size dolphin playing in the waves of our wake.  I didn't manage to get a picture of the dolphin but it was quite something to see up close just a few feet away.

Upon arrival to the dock a group of dignitaries greeted us.  Actually they weren't there for us but in honor of Waitangi Day festivities.  This national holiday is actually tomorrow but like any independence day like celebration events occurs over several days. 
This day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Waitangi treaty that is a founding document for New Zealand.

My excursion boarded another boat for a Bay of Islands lunch cruise.

The glass divider hasn’t been a problem. Even our 8 yr old son is not bothered by it, so it’s not really an issue of height or lack thereof. 

Day 10 Continues 
We saw the 230PM showing of We Will Rock You today. It was pretty crowded because all of the other showings start in the early evening and conflict with those eating early (5:30PM) dinner. They were admitting only people with reservations. 


Yen reserved seats in the front row of the upper section on the main level. We made good use of the snack shelf today.

I really liked the show. It reminded me a bit of The Who’s Tommy. 

We had dinner at MDR Silk tonight. The idea was to try to get an idea of what MDR dining would be like if we did not sail Star class. Well, there is apparently no way to roll incognito while Star class. Not gonna happen. We arrived a little before Yen. Julius, our server from Izumi and sushi making class, was stationed there for the evening to assist because lobster night is apparently crazy! He recognized us, and insisted on showing us to our table. Then, before we were seated, Yen arrived. Then, as we were seated the head waiter and manager arrived. ? It felt like our presence was causing undue stress to the waiter, who constantly was asking if everything was OK and if they could do anything more for us. So, it didn’t feel exactly like a typical MDR experience. 
The food, while clearly prepared to feed massive quantities of people, was good. I have no complaints. 
Caesar Salad - our son said it was the best Caesar salad that he has had for the whole cruise.

Artisanal Cheese Plate 

Broiled Lobster Tail

Baked Alaska

Pineapple Upside Down Cake 

When we returned from dinner, we found a few surprises. Yen had left a few stuffed animals for our son: 

And Jesus, the most wonderful room steward, left us some treats on our bed upstairs. That really floored me. I had read about genie gifts, but room steward gifts?!?!

Tomorrow is our last full day. Will be doing behind the scenes theater tour and bridge tour. 

Forgot the photos!

One more Star Class tip for tonight.  I sat in the front row aisle seat 5 times in the main theater. It was great.  But if you sit there while you are seeing Cats, be rested and don’t yawn - because you will be eye to eye with a Cat. Or two.  ?

The hotel has a happy hour Monday-Thursday. Tonight was bbq sliders, fries, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, coleslaw, salad, and minestrone soup. They had lemonade, tea, water, and some sort of house white and red wines in carafes and beer. No labels on the beer or wine. We have a couple bottles in the room so we didn't partake of the mystery libations. We over ate Mexican food at lunch, so this was a good snacky type meal for us. Kids said the mac was just "eh", but they ate it. The sliders were pretty good, and MIL said the potato salad was delicious - she had seconds. Since I'm not any good at Windjammer recon, here's a very poor substitution. 
 

Thank you so much for posting this. I wasn't checking in often as I didn't think there was a sale going on, but after I read this I checked and our refreshment package was on sale for $3/day less than the "sale" price that it was on for last week. Appreciate your suggestion to check constantly.