Cruise Day #35 - Auckland, New Zealand

After our time in the Observation Bar and dinner in The Restaurant, we made it to our Cruise Director Ross’ show in the Grand Salon. The show was a perfect mix of outstanding singing and comedy. Ross is, without question, the most talented Cruise Director we’ve seen in all of our many cruises. We can absolutely see why he’s so in demand for Seabourn’s world voyages. When he wasn’t singing, he had the audience in tears laughing—truly great entertainment!

Today was turnaround day in Auckland. Eighty-seven passengers disembarked and 105 new passengers boarded, bringing the total to 431 passengers for this next segment between Auckland and Sydney. Sydney will be a major turnaround, with over 200 passengers leaving the ship.

Since we’ve been to Auckland several times in recent years, we wanted to do something a little different this time. Our New Zealand sommelier (and winemaker), Karan, suggested taking the ferry over to Waiheke Island—aka the Island of Wine. That sounded perfect to us, and he arranged a tasting lunch at Stonyridge Vineyards, well known for their Bordeaux-style red wines.

Waiheke Island has about 10,000 permanent residents, but that number swells to nearly 40,000 during the busy summer tourist season. The island is home to more than 30 wineries with tasting rooms, and the whole area reminded us a lot of Paso Robles in Central California.

After breakfast in the Colonnade, we walked over to the ferry terminal right next to the cruise pier for the 40-minute ride to Waiheke.

Once on the island, we hopped on the hop-on/hop-off wine bus for a 30-minute ride to Stonyridge. 

The winery’s tasting room and restaurant sit atop a picturesque hill, overlooking their lower-valley vineyards—stunning views.

They had a lovely table waiting for us and were incredibly hospitable. 

We were poured a four-vintage vertical tasting of their highly rated Bordeaux reds—wow, they were excellent. 

We also tasted their 100% Malbec, a GSM, and their outstanding Chardonnay. To go with lunch, we shared a full glass of the Malbec and a full glass of the GSM.

Lunch itself was amazing. 

They even substituted grilled Tasman salmon for the beef short ribs—much appreciated! Two dishes really stood out: the Big Eye Tuna Sashimi (almost too pretty to eat!) and the Il Casaro Burrata. 

The winery has hosted many celebrity visitors over the years, which you can see displayed in wall-mounted photo collages—there were at least ten of them.

After lunch, we walked back down the hill to our bus stop. Between the food and the wine, we were far too full to consider another tasting at nearby wineries. We returned to the ferry pier and headed back to Auckland.

Debbie tried to do a little shopping once we were back in the city, but no luck this time. She says she’ll wait until we spend a week in Sydney after the cruise.

We’re back onboard now and honestly not sure we’ll even have dinner tonight—we’re still too full! 😂 We’re overnighting in Auckland and will depart tomorrow at 3:00 pm.

Continued mañana…

Cruise Day #34 - Waitangi (Bay of Islands), New Zealand

We had a real blast last night in the Observation Bar! We haven’t laughed that much in a very long time. Charlie had many of us singing along with him—so much fun and such great energy all around.

Earlier in the day, we decided to try the Chef’s Market Dinner in the Colonnade. During lunch, we spotted the bulletin board listing the evening’s offerings—lots of fresh seafood—and we were instantly sold! We invited Mr. C to join us and sat out on the outside terrace.

What a perfect setting. The food was absolutely delicious, and we more than did our share of crab legs, mussels, and huge shrimp.

We finished dinner with the Croquembouche (small, cream-filled profiteroles stacked into a cone-shaped tower and held together with threads of caramelized sugar). Wow—what a finish! 

The conversation was intriguing, the laughs kept coming, and we were the last ones to leave.

We later returned to the Observation Bar and found it fairly crowded with many of our new friends. It turned into a roaring good time! We ended up staying until almost midnight—a definite record for us. 😄

This morning we arrived at our first New Zealand port, the Bay of Islands.

We’ve been here twice over the past several years and have already explored everything the port has to offer, so we decided to stay onboard. We enjoyed breakfast in the Colonnade with Mrs. B from Belgium while tackling two loads of laundry (living the glamorous cruise life!). Mrs. B is disembarking tomorrow in Auckland, and we exchanged contact information—she’s invited us to visit her in Belgium for a tour of her homeland. How amazing is that?

The Carnival Splendor is anchored nearby. 

The Observation Bar, usually very quiet during the day. 

We attended Ross’ noon Super Bowl party in the Grand Salon, and what an entrance it was! 

The place was decked out with decorations, and Ross was right there at the door in full football attire—too funny!!!

There was no shortage of food: sliders, hot dogs, wings, spring rolls, nachos, and popcorn.

They also had a full beverage table (always appreciated) and a delicious raspberry-filled cake to top it all off.

As you walked in, guests were invited to pick one football pool square per person, with gifts awarded after every quarter. 

The only thing missing? The Super Bowl commercials. We were stuck with ESPN ads—and honestly, the commercials are half the reason we usually watch the game. Bummer. And don’t even get me started on the halftime show. Spanish is my native language, and I maybe understood about 20% of what was said! 🤷‍♂️

Tomorrow is turnaround day in Auckland. 🚢

Cruise Day #33 - Sea Day 3 of 3

Last night was a repeat of our usual (and favorite) pattern—starting out in the Observation Bar. Once again, it was hopping, and Charlie had the whole place singing along with him. Always a good time! 🎶

We stayed until it was time for our 7:30 reservation at Solis, where dinner was another big success. We shared the table with two lovely solo ladies we’ve come to know over the course of the voyage. They are incredibly interesting and extremely well-traveled, especially with Seabourn. We’ve learned a great deal about the line through them—always fun swapping stories with seasoned cruisers.

Now, on to the food… Debbie and I both started with the grilled gamba (a huge shrimp—more like a langostino) as our appetizer. Wow, was it good! 

Next, I had the table-side prepared Panzanella salad… another wow! 

For our main course, we each ordered the (also huge) grilled swordfish and shared a Zeffirino Trofie with pesto.

So. Good. 😋 We were one of the last tables to leave—10:00 pm! We couldn’t believe we’d been there that long, but that’s always a sign you’re having a great time.

After dinner, we headed back to our stateroom to continue streaming a really good Netflix series, The Beast in Me. Before calling it a night, we turned our clocks forward another hour.

The seas were calmer overnight and are even better this morning. Today’s high is expected to be around 78°F with slightly overcast skies. Our plan? A relaxing day by the pool—which is exactly where we are right now, stretched out on our loungers. 🏖️

Tomorrow—Monday for us—we arrive at our first New Zealand port, the Bay of Islands. They’re hosting a Super Bowl party in the Grand Salon starting at 12:30 pm. Since we’ve been to the Bay of Islands a couple of years ago and didn’t find it especially memorable, we’ll be staying onboard and joining the “Super Bowl Monday” festivities instead. Sounds like a perfect plan to us! 🏈