Cruise Day #38 - Wellington, New Zealand

Our dinner last night in The Restaurant was amazing! I started with the Polynesian Fresh Tuna with coconut milk — wow! 

For our main course, we both had the seared Hapuku fillet. 

This was our first time trying this New Zealand delicacy, and it did not disappoint. We also shared a Trofie Pasta Pesto — still our favorite onboard pasta dish.

Afterwards, we did a little dancing at The Club. We needed to do something physical to help digest that meal! 😂 Once the band finished their set, we almost called it a night… but instead decided to check out the violinists’ show in the Grand Salon. Boy, are we glad we did — it was impressive. The headliner, Sarah Moir, was incredibly talented, and the highlight came when her daughter made a surprise appearance. What a show!

This morning we woke up docked in a cloudy and cool Wellington. Since we’ve visited a couple of times recently, we were looking to do something different. So we signed up for a wine tasting lunch at the highly acclaimed Noble Rot Wine Bar, which is said to have the best wine selection in all of New Zealand.

Around 10 am, we took the free ship shuttle downtown in very heavy rain. 

Thankfully, after about 30 minutes of sloshing through puddles, the skies cleared. Debbie managed to sneak in a little shopping as we made our way toward lunch.

We wandered along Cuba Street — an eclectic pedestrian district that reminded us a bit of Melrose Avenue back home. 

By the end of the day, we had logged 8.7 miles!

At lunch, our sommelier Marek was outstanding — knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate about showcasing New Zealand wines and their origins. 

Each wine was perfectly paired with the menu. 

The veal was substituted with Hapuku and the lamb with King Salmon — both expertly prepared.

The dessert was beautiful and also delicious!

We sat with our friends from Virginia and had a fantastic time. 

The six wines were all amazing, but the standout for us was the Felton Road Pinot Noir.

We eventually made it back to the shuttle and were onboard by 5 pm.

Tonight? A very relaxed evening is definitely in order.

And for the record — it didn’t rain again after the morning downpour!

Last night, we received notification that we will be missing two ports due to a forecast of bad weather, bummer!!!

Cruise Day #37 - Sea Day

Last night turned into another Groundhog Day–type evening in the Observation Bar… and we are not mad about it one bit. 😄

Mr. C and I seem to have developed a nightly comedy routine that several guests now apparently look forward to. No pressure! Let’s just say we were all having a bloody good time. See how I’m working in the regional vocabulary, mate?

Dinner in The Restaurant was fantastic. We had “next door” tablemates we hadn’t met yet. They’re from Hollywood — not our Hollywood, but the one in Florida. This is their first world cruise (they’re doing the full 129 days 😳) and they are absolutely loving it. They usually sail with Norwegian, but like us, they’ve ventured over to Seabourn. We had such a fun time getting to know them and comparing cruise notes.

After dinner, we briefly considered hanging around for Charlie’s 9:30 set (about a 45-minute wait), but Netflix in our stateroom won that battle. There was also a new comedian performing in the Grand Salon, but unless it’s Chris Rock—or someone of that caliber—we tend to pass. Cozy pillows and streaming won. No regrets.

This morning we had breakfast in The Restaurant. We learned last night that it will now be open for breakfast every day, including port days. On port days, the hours are 8:00–9:00 am only, which works perfectly for us. We definitely eat healthier in The Restaurant than we do in either the Colonnade or the Patio. Fewer temptations… fewer “how did that pastry get on my plate?” moments.

After breakfast, Debbie secured our favorite loungers by the pool (priorities), while I bravely endured a visit to the Fitness Center. I met up with her afterward, feeling very virtuous for at least a solid 20 minutes. 💪

Today’s plan: another relaxing day poolside.

Tonight, we’re heading back to The Restaurant. The Groundhog Day pattern continues… and honestly, we’re loving every minute of it.

Tomorrow, we will be in Wellington. 

Cruise Day #36 - Auckland, New Zealand

We still weren’t very hungry by 7:30 last night, but we also knew that if we skipped dinner entirely, those familiar hunger pains would show up right around 10 pm—never fails. So we compromised and headed to The Restaurant for Caesar salads. We got dressed up, went in around 7:45, enjoyed our salads (no wine! 😲), and then called it an early night back in the stateroom. I know we could have ordered Room Service, but we are just not fans of eating in our stateroom. We wrapped things up by finishing "The Beast in Me" on Netflix.

This morning we actually slept in until almost 8 am! Of course, that peaceful start didn’t last long. Overnight, I received a notification from our alarm company that something wasn’t working properly on the alarm panel at home. That led to about 45 minutes on the phone with them—and our nearby daughter. She’ll need to stop by the house this afternoon to take care of it. Why do these things always happen when you’re away? Oh well… not the end of the world.

After breakfast burritos at the Patio (still a favorite!), Debbie claimed our loungers by the pool—temps are heading into the mid-70s today—while I made my way to the Fitness Center. Once I finished there, I joined Debbie poolside, where we plan to happily spend the rest of the day.

There’s also a sail-away party at 3 pm, so that should be fun.

That’s it for today, unless something interesting pops up. Tomorrow is a sea day and formal night… always a good combo. ✨🚢

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 our 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…