Good Evening Fellow Single Parents Active Kids how are we and those terrific children?? Bucket list items are there to be ticked off, this Cruise to a country that has so much to offer looks sensational or perhaps better. The fact we are leaving from Melbourne saves us a heap already. Also we are visiting both the North and South of New Zealand and spending plenty of time on shore all works great.

SHARING:
Keeps the cost right down for sure, but you need to keep in mind it is a 13 day cruise, so if you want to share great, I will do my best to get in you with a like minded family (best case scenario is you tell me who you want to share with and I can hopefully get that organised), but keep in mind that means people will be coming in and out of your cabin.
Parents are more than welcome to come by themselves like we had 6 do for South Pacific, it’s all about the communication.
RSVP:
Please only rsvp if you are a million per cent sure, as a few members know pulling out of a Cruise and getting a refund is really hard to do, so be totally sure before you give me the following details:
Full name as per passport including middle name/s.
Date of Birth of you and your kids.
Current Address.
Mobile Phone Number.
Cabin type, if you are looking at sharing, e.g. you are coming with your youngster and would like to share with another family in the same boat.
You are more then welcome to come by yourself, as 6 parents did for South Pacific and they all had a ball and credit to all of them, they were definitely part of the fun.
If you have 4 kids or more, you are still more then welcome to attend, one of your kids can share with another family, it will make their trip even cheaper.

FROM MELBOURNE/TIME OF THE YEAR-SCHOOL HOLIDAYS:
The fact this Cruise leave and comes back to our home state is so convenient. No accommodation required no flights required, boy does that keep the cost right down or what?!
Leaving 30th of December is perfect, most of us are off work anyway. Xmas is enjoyed with family, looking for something to do, well New Zealand offers a heap.
Obviously School Holidays, about mid way through as well, such a good date.

CRUISING:
The best part about cruising other then the breath taking scenery to take in is once you have paid for the Cruise, all your food/entertainment/activities and accommodation on the ship are paid for. You can do some paid activities on the ship if you choose, but believe me when I say there is always plenty happening anyway.
Put as simply as possible, you can do as much or as little as you like all the way through the cruise including when we are docked for shore tours.

CRUISE ITINERARY:
There is a lot to like about the itinerary, the different parts of New Zealand we get to enjoy is one element, but the item that stood out to me most was how long we actually stay on the Islands, 10 hours in Auckland, 11 and half in Tauranga, 8 hours in Gisborne and then 10 hours in Wellington, Akaroa and Dunedin. Love the fact we get to go to both South and North Islands.
ITINERARY

DAY    DATE                                   PORT                                                  ARRIVE  DEPART
Fri      Dec 30                                  Melbourne, Australia                      4:00pm
Sat      Dec 31                                  At Sea
Sun      Jan 1                                   At Sea
Mon     Jan 2                                  At Sea
Tue      Jan 3                                  Auckland, New Zealand                     10:00am    8:00pm
Wed    Jan 4                                  Tauranga, New Zealand                    7:00am     6:30pm
Thu     Jan 5                                  Gisborne, New Zealand                     8:00am     4:00pm
Fri      Jan 6                                 Wellington, New Zealand                   8:00am     6:00pm
Sat      Jan 7                                    Akaroa, New Zealand                       8:00am     6:00pm
Sun    Jan 8       Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand                  8:00am     6:00pm
Mon   Jan 9      Fiordland National Park, New Zealand (Cruising)
Tue    Jan 10                                         At Sea
Wed  Jan 11                                          At Sea
Thu   Jan 12                            Melbourne, Australia                                6:00am
WHEN ON THE ISLANDS POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES:

http://www.aucklandnz.com/things-to-do

http://www.newzealand.com/au/tauranga/

http://www.newzealand.com/au/gisborne/

https://news.experienceoz.com.au/top-10-things-to-do-wellington/

http://www.akaroa.com/things-to-do

https://www.dunedinnz.com/visit/see-and-do

THE SHIP WE ARE SAILING ON:

http://www.vacationstogo.com/cruise_ship/Golden_Princess.cfm

Here are just a few of the highlights:
Outdoor Cinema
Kids Facilities
Babysitting                                  Yes
Children’s Playroom                 Yes
Kiddie Pool                                 Yes
Supervised Youth Program     Yes
Teen Center                               Yes

Lotus Spa Pool
Movie Theatre
Refurbished 2012.
4 Swimming Pools including fresh water swimming pool looks out of this world.
Princess Theater looks incredible.
The Sanctuary.
Kids Club.
CABINS:
Twin Share, Triple Share or Quad Share. Your beds are made for you, towels are replaced everyday, so don’t need to take towels along as you can also take towels off the ship! That’s the main reason we all must pay gratuities! Gratuities basically means compulsory tipping, works out to
I have got 8 cabins held for us (8 is the number required for a group booking), they consist of:
2 quad
3 triples
3 twins.
I can add more if required, but I also know more then half the cabins on this ship are already taken. Luckily we have 10 booked for our group!
PULLING OUT AFTER YOU HAVE RSVP’D:
The only way this can happen is if you are sharing with another family, then we can replace you, but if you have booked a cabin just for your family it will be hard very hard to get you a refund.
If you are in a parents only cabin, say there are 4 of you, if one of you pulls out that is okay as long as we can replace you.
The general rule is need a minimum of 1 person from the original booking in that cabin, that has been confirmed by the company we are dealing with!

BOND PER CABIN:
$420 per twin cabin
$440 per triple cabin
$490 per quad cabin
This is much less then I expected which is great, we can pay this straight away and then pay in instalments as we go.

GRATUITIES/VISAS:
There are none as we are leaving Australia, so the price you see below is final price for this cruise.
No visas are required for this cruise either.

INCENTIVES/ADDITIONS/ON BOARD CREDITS:
$150 on board credit each cabin. You can use this anyway you like, shore excursions/alcohol/on board activities that require extra money (only a few normally) getting merchandise, it’s your money, use it how you like, personally I will be using it for on shore excursions.
$50 on shore excursion per cabin
Speciality restaurant cover charge valued at $62.50 per cabin
If we can secure 6 cabins, the on board credit will increase to $175 per cabin.
If we can secure 8 or more cabins, the on board credit will increase to $200 per cabin.

COST/CABINS:
Twin share $2399 (Works out to $184.50 per night) per person total cost total cost of cabin is $4798, these prices include about $$303.38 worth of government taxes per cabin
Triple Share total cost $1825.66 (Works out to $140 per night) per person total cost of cabin is $5477, these prices include about $606.76 worth of government taxes per cabin
Quad share total cost $1524 (Works out to $117.23 per night) per person total cost of cabin is $6096, these prices include about $910.14 worth of government taxes per cabin.

$10 CAMP/HOST ADMINISTRATION FEE:
Every parent needs to pay $10 camp host/administration fee, this fee is not included in the above prices.
WHAT YOU GET:
On board:
All meals in the silver-service main restaurants, food courts and daytime grills
Daytime activities, including the sports court, whirlpool spas, pools and fully equipped gym
Evening entertainment featuring live comedy, theatre, nightclubs and cinema
for the family:
Dedicated age specific children’s clubs
Discounted children’s fares
PASSPORTS:
Must have a valid and current passport for this adventure.

INSTALMENTS:
First instalment needs to be the bond for your cabin, as in $490 for quad, $440 for triple, $420 for twin. This payment needs to be paid straight away please.
Second instalment Friday 25th of March.
Third instalment Friday 20th of May
Fourth instalment Friday 15th of July
Fifth instalment Friday 9th of September
Final instalment MUST be in our account no later than Friday 7th of October.
What we are asking with instalments is the first one must be paid for on time and the last one, the middle 4 are all guides.
If you wish to make a large payment for first instalment you are welcome.
You are more then welcome to do what I have done and set up a weekly deduction (based on sharing in a quad cabin and taking away my bond payment, $70.33 per week until final payment is due 7th of October is what it will cost for Renae and I) out of my account straight into Single Parents Active kids account, info below.
ACCOUNT DETAILS/DESCRIPTION:
Single Parents Active Kids bsb 033073 acc 412883 NZ Cruise is the description we need!

SUMMARY:
Everything about this cruise looks great. We leave from Melbourne and come back to Melbourne, about a saving of at least $500 each if you think about flights/accommodation and food going interstate. The fact we are going to the whole of New Zealand is brilliant.