This was our 1st time in a Signature Suite.  Usually we book a verandah stateroom.  We  liked the extra space & amenities very much.  Overall we were very happy with the condition of the room & particularly with the service from our stewards.

Took shuttle bus offered by city of Melbourne from port to central business district.  Walked around & discovered Melbourne on our own, shopped and had lunch.  Highlight for us was the arcades and laneways.

Melbourne

Visited Dunedin in early morning & saw highlights - train station, world's steepest street (Baldwin Street), University of Otago, beautiful views from Signal Hill.  Had absolutely breath-taking scenery on drive to Larnach Castle.  Enjoyed gardens of castle & had so-so lunch there.  Highlight of excrusion was visit to Penguin Place, where saw several yellow-eyed penguins & some happy looking seals sun-bathing on rocks.  Also made brief stop at Taiaroa Head where we saw albatross soaring overhead

This was the nicest of the animal parks we visited while In Australia & NZ. Park's mandate of rescuing injured & abandoned animals and returning them to the wild where possible resonated with us.  Also liked the open spaces, beautiful views all around.  Enjoyed feeding the kangaroos and seeing my 1st wombat.

1st stop on our all day tour was at Mount Field National Park.  Enjoyed our brief walk in the tropical forest very much as well as Russell Falls. Would have liked to spend more time there but we were on a one day multi stop excursion.

2 hour harbor excursion was a lot of fun.  Didn't manage to stay in the water a long time because sea was choppy & water was very cold, but got to see Hectors dolphins in the water & even more from the boat.  Staff from Black Cat were very accommodating (we were late for the early morning trip so they re-booked us on the afternoon trip) and staff on board the boat were excellent.  Was a lovely adventure.

Guide (Carol) was great - took us to 5 different wineries.  She chose an excellent mix of different wineries.  Also enjoyed stop for lunch at Geisen very much.  When guide saw that I had a particular interest in a winery not on our program, she arranged for us to make a brief stop there as well.  She also managed to have us stop on route back at a chocolate factory & at a couple of lookouts for excellent views of Picton & the Queen Charlotte Sound.  Great excursion!

Highlight was Te Papa museum.  A must see.  Was very much worth paying for a 1 hour guided tour.  Highly recommend that.  Also enjoyed walking around & exploring the city on our own.  Spent a very nice morning & early afternoon in the city

Wellington

We were there on Easter Friday when most shops & all other attractions (e.g. Mission Hill winery) were closed.  Enjoyed scenery of Hawke's Bay very much.  Excursion included stop at Te Mata for absolutely beautiful views of  Bay of Plenty and the region.  Art deco buildings of Napier were really cool and would have liked to have had more time to look around.  Tour did not provide for enough time in Napier itself.

Highlight was Te Puia park.  Really enjoyed geysers, mud pools, geothermal activity, Maori village & especially Maori cultural show.  Spent 2 hours there & could have spent more time.  Rotorua itself was interesting & there were some nice sites.  Enjoyed tour very much & guide (Robin) gave excellent explanations.

Spent morning in Blue Mountains.  Started with stort stop in Leura, which was nice.  Spent most of morning at Scenic World.  Took skyrail & cable car,  Had excellent views of 3 Sisters, Orphan Rock and various other sites.  Enjoyed short walk in tropical forest a lot.  Lunch at Conservation Hut with beautiful views of the Blue Mountains was extremely nice.

Covered a lot of ground in 1 day but still had a chance to briefly leave the coach & explore certain areas, e.g. Manly Beach, Bondi Beach.  Enjoyed the optional lunch Sydney harbour cruise very much.

- lovely stateroom - despite comments in earlier reviews, we found our stateroom in an excellent state of repair

  - BB King Blues lounge - this was our 1st Holland cruise where the ship had a BB King Blues lounge.- on one occasion where many people were coming back late from activities, the ship staff kept the LIDO open so people could still have a late lunch  

But there were several negatives:

   - most importantly for us, the overall quality of the food in the main dining room (MDR) was ordinary at best.

Oosterdam Review

Nice Cruise but not our best....

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Cabin Review

Signature Superior Verandah Suite

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Melbourne

Wellington

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