Down Under - February & March 2003

Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 20:38:01 -0800 (PST)
From: Cruise Buddies 
Subject: Wellington, New Zealand
To: the.wack@eloptac.com

Hello Kids, 

Right now we're in Wellington, New Zealand.

On a previous episode of "The Travels of Mom And Pops..."

Disclaimer: This email was written by Mom and Pops intermittently.  When ever it references 
the "I" it could be either one of us.  You have to decide.

We made our flight from Sydney to Auckland with out any problems.  We've decided that the 
Sydney airport is really cool.  There was a lot there to keep us entertained while we were 
waiting for our flight.  Boarded the plane on time and had a nice flight to Auckland.  We 
landed at 11:45 PM, went through customs and grabbed a cab to downtown Auckland.  Yes, 
Sarah, there are ATMs EVERYWHERE!  Let me tell you how nice it is to hear the response 
"Yes, we do!  We've been expecting you!" when you remind the Hyatt that they have a room for us.

We had been on the go for 48 straight hours.  It felt so nice to go to a room and collapse 
in a bed!  We felt like we had just finished a marathon.

After a good night's sleep, after all it was 2:00 in the morning NZ time, we were off for 
the day.  The hotel had tea and coffee service in the room so we started off with that, 
the bathroom was MARBLE for crying out loud, we had a typical English buffet breakfast, 
walked around the block, saw the ship and then we grabbed a cab.  Not before we saw a 
bunch of luggage with Princess tags and asked if we could get ours to go with theirs, 
got the bags dropped and We Were Off!  Not able to see much of Auckland sorry to say but 
what we saw was lovely.  

Boarded the ship with a minimum of fuss and started to explore the ship, Lovely ship, 
got an older world feel and elegance to it.  Lots of space, I keep looking for all the 
people.  The casino is on the top floor, IT HAS OUR YATZEE MACHINE.  I played it but Dad 
found something more fun.  Fitness center is on floor 2, the bowels of the ship but it 
works.  Took a yoga class yesterday.  Pizza parlor, outdoor grill, real movie theater, 
stage, lots of bars.  The best is that outside of our cabin and down the hall (maybe 10 
cabins stern ward) is a door outside to the aft and two hot tubs and our own bit of 
heaven, let me tell you.  The first night was fine, took a little nap and then we 
were set for the evening, went to the semi entertaining show.

Yesterday, the first full day on board, was Valentines day and a day at sea.  How Cool.  
Princess had a deal for a champagne breakfast, a split of Moet and Chandon champagne, 
Copper River salmon (Chip, this is for you, you would have LOVED this, the best I 
(this is both Mom and Dad writing!) have ever had) Quiche, pastries and fruit.  We 
had it delivered after my treadmill time so we had breakfast about 8.  The rest of the 
day turned warm so we sat out at "our" aft deck in the sun, went to trivia, came in 
second by one point, Sushi demo for lunch, more sun and more trivia.  Last night was 
formal night and you all know the drill on that.....

to be continued......