This was our first cruise so was not sure what to expect. Had a great time. My favorite on board activity was the computer classes given by Toni. He did windows 10, Cortana, edge, photo gallery, cameras, internet security and was very informative. The food was delicious. We found ourselves eating in the lido as it was faster and had the same food but more variety. The dining room took 2 hours for a meal. Felt like the service in the vista dining room was not good. Did not clear dishes in a timely manner nor did they keep water glasses full. We did our own shore excursions as the the ship ones seemed expensive. The shore excursion desk of course=rse was promoting the ship's excursion but I felt like they tended to make you think you could not find anything just winging it off the ship. Ex: on one of the small islands was told their was not much in the way of tours or independent drives. When got there, there were plenty. This happened more than once. Boarding and leaving was very efficient. Did have a problem with the port in Sydney that was not the main port. We docked and to get anywhere to start sightseeing, it cost $16 ferry ride or taxi ride. Think the ship should have provided some sort of transport to a central area.

I could have done with less nice clothes as we ate mostly in the Lido. Did some shore excursions via Viator. Most were very good. Seemed like the smaller ports had more set ups to help us find tours and were more organized. Could have just waited to get a tour in those smaller ports. This itinerary is really two cruises put together and thus some of the entertainment was repeats. Even in the summer, New Zealand can be chilly. I threw in my long johns just in case and ended up wearing them a lot as we cruised the fiords and on the deck of the ship. The gym on the ship was great. Was crowded the first couple days and then thinned out.