This cruise was our 6th overall and third with Holland. We did our first 3 cruises with Princess but they were full of noisy and unruly children whose parents did not even try to control them. The staff and crew of our Princess cruises did not seem to care that many of the children were running amuck with no parental supervision. We found that Holland caters to a more mature clientele and that suits us just fine. I believe that there were only 5 or 6 children on the Maasdam out of 1138 passengers. The service was outstanding and the port stops were more than satisfying. I particularly want to give a shout out to the management and crew of the Lido dining room as well as the people who ran room service. We like to hike and found several very nice trails at Mauganui, Picton and Akaroa. These trails were all within walking distance of the port. I have seen some not so good reviews of the Maasdam but all I can say is that these folks would probably complain if their heads were in a vise.
Not a fan of large cities. The botanical garden is a must see and it is free.
The Tirohanga Trail affords beautiful views of Picton and is easy to locate. About 3 to 4 hours of hiking.
Stayed in Port Chalmers and enjoyed the city and it's people who were all friendly
Large city with a fly problem. They were everywhere.
Hiked the Children's Bay Trail.
Hiked up Mount Mauganui. Nice little beach town.
Burnie Park is a must see.
Our least favorite port.
OK for a port city. We stayed at Shed 23 and walked to our ship.