New Zealand Cruise 8th to 20th November 2019
Well, I’m pleased to report that we’re back and all who sailed are intact having had a wonderful time. Our days were filled with great food, multiple activity choices and lots of fun and laughter from early morning until late in the evening. We were certainly not lost for things to do and it was so nice to leave the cabin, go to a sumptuous breakfast and return later to beds made and the cabin in ship-shape order.
We began our holiday with 33 of the 35 of us having dinner together at the M Social Restaurant in Auckland the night before our 8th November cruise departure. With all in holiday mode, we were excited to catch up, enjoying a good meal and each other’s company. For most of us, the ship’s terminal was a short walk away and we all caught up again on board at lunch on the first day. Arrangements were then made with the ship’s dining co-ordinators (thank you Sue Hackett and Kathy Lewis for your assistance with this!) so that we could all be seated in the same area at the early dining session. This meant that we could be informed about what everyone had done for the day and be updated on what was planned for the following day. My gratitude to Mr ever-so-helpful Ridge for co-ordinating the table seating arrangements so that we were dining with different group members each night. This meant that we all got to know each other a little better and it worked a treat thanks to Terry’s nightly place card preparations!
On shore excursions were made either well in advance or by group discussion a day or two before docking. My thanks to Bev Davison for organising the trip for nine of us to visit Hobbiton - the movie set location for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit film series - when we docked in Tauranga, our first port of call. I organised two group excursions, the first being the Taieri Gorge Railway trip in Dunedin for sixteen of us and the second being the Five (more like eight) of the Best of Tassie trip in Hobart for twenty-three of us. There was so much to offer at each of the ports of call that whatever we did, wherever we went, we all had a great time and there’s a collection of photos to show our fellow Probus members that proves my point!
On ship activities were many and varied. The group’s interests were in the morning and afternoon card games organised by members of our group and held in the Ensemble Bar/Lounge as well as the afternoon music and general knowledge trivia and the Egg Drop and Golf Competitions. We didn’t do so well in the Egg Drop, however, our Terry (aka ‘Bob’ Carritt) won the golf and Bev and Bob Davison also won a USB for their efforts at trivia. We also had a new game introduced to the group by Mr Davison, namely ‘Where’s Bev?’ played along the same lines as ‘Where’s Wally?’ with numerous group members joining in throughout the day to find the whereabouts of the elusive ‘Bev’.
Raymondo “The Music Man” Heaton kept our group, the ship staff and a number of other cruisers entertained with various toe-tapping tunes during dinner and after the 9.00pm theatre shows on several occasions – thank you Ray! The theatre shows featured a variety of singers, musicians, comedians, a magic act and a couple of full stage productions – all were of a high standard and were thoroughly entertaining.
My thanks to Wendy Carritt for assisting with a number of phone calls to cabins re our initial dining arrangements as well as the competition timeframes. I’d also like to thank Hilda for her Australiana gifts to the dining staff that added the personal touch to our group’s monetary gifts.
Finally, a big ‘Thank You!’ To Margaret and Colin McGowan for offering their home for a pre-cruise get together where we discussed cruise plans and various on-shore excursion opportunities. This really helped to alleviate the cruise planning pressures and was a great opportunity to meet, familiarise ourselves and chat with those we were to spend a lot of time with over the upcoming two weeks.
This is your 2019 Cruise Coordinator, Donna Fraser, signing off on a very happy and relieved note!!!
We began our holiday with 33 of the 35 of us having dinner together at the M Social Restaurant in Auckland the night before our 8th November cruise departure. With all in holiday mode, we were excited to catch up, enjoying a good meal and each other’s company. For most of us, the ship’s terminal was a short walk away and we all caught up again on board at lunch on the first day. Arrangements were then made with the ship’s dining co-ordinators (thank you Sue Hackett and Kathy Lewis for your assistance with this!) so that we could all be seated in the same area at the early dining session. This meant that we could be informed about what everyone had done for the day and be updated on what was planned for the following day. My gratitude to Mr ever-so-helpful Ridge for co-ordinating the table seating arrangements so that we were dining with different group members each night. This meant that we all got to know each other a little better and it worked a treat thanks to Terry’s nightly place card preparations!
On shore excursions were made either well in advance or by group discussion a day or two before docking. My thanks to Bev Davison for organising the trip for nine of us to visit Hobbiton - the movie set location for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit film series - when we docked in Tauranga, our first port of call. I organised two group excursions, the first being the Taieri Gorge Railway trip in Dunedin for sixteen of us and the second being the Five (more like eight) of the Best of Tassie trip in Hobart for twenty-three of us. There was so much to offer at each of the ports of call that whatever we did, wherever we went, we all had a great time and there’s a collection of photos to show our fellow Probus members that proves my point!
On ship activities were many and varied. The group’s interests were in the morning and afternoon card games organised by members of our group and held in the Ensemble Bar/Lounge as well as the afternoon music and general knowledge trivia and the Egg Drop and Golf Competitions. We didn’t do so well in the Egg Drop, however, our Terry (aka ‘Bob’ Carritt) won the golf and Bev and Bob Davison also won a USB for their efforts at trivia. We also had a new game introduced to the group by Mr Davison, namely ‘Where’s Bev?’ played along the same lines as ‘Where’s Wally?’ with numerous group members joining in throughout the day to find the whereabouts of the elusive ‘Bev’.
Raymondo “The Music Man” Heaton kept our group, the ship staff and a number of other cruisers entertained with various toe-tapping tunes during dinner and after the 9.00pm theatre shows on several occasions – thank you Ray! The theatre shows featured a variety of singers, musicians, comedians, a magic act and a couple of full stage productions – all were of a high standard and were thoroughly entertaining.
My thanks to Wendy Carritt for assisting with a number of phone calls to cabins re our initial dining arrangements as well as the competition timeframes. I’d also like to thank Hilda for her Australiana gifts to the dining staff that added the personal touch to our group’s monetary gifts.
Finally, a big ‘Thank You!’ To Margaret and Colin McGowan for offering their home for a pre-cruise get together where we discussed cruise plans and various on-shore excursion opportunities. This really helped to alleviate the cruise planning pressures and was a great opportunity to meet, familiarise ourselves and chat with those we were to spend a lot of time with over the upcoming two weeks.
This is your 2019 Cruise Coordinator, Donna Fraser, signing off on a very happy and relieved note!!!