How cute it that? Can't wait to wear it!!!

Are there any "Dingbats" staying on for the Auckland-SF cruise?

David, we were booked to stay on to SF but it just did not work out, so we are only doing the first part.

Oooo, I love the pin!

This Dingo is going all the way to SFO. Couldn't miss the longboats in Fiji and seeing Masaki and Amanda and hopefully kids in Oahu. I do know a few getting on in Auckland. David, I assume you are saying you are getting on then. Only 2 for pooch? Pat, we need you.
Just now seeing the pin. It's wonderful with all those colors.

This Dingo is Doc Dancing

Are resident Dingos allowed a pin? I love it.

Sally: Just read your request - my social secretary (Beth) must have forgotten to pass the message along.

This is just my opinion but I feel the Hunter Valley is just another winery area which you could see elsewhere in the world.

The Blue Mountains are unique and you'll get to see a lot of Australian bush including the 'three sisters'. A must is the inclinator to the valley floor and the skyway which now has a partial glass floor - if you like that sort of thing!

The south coast is pretty and the roadway (once there) is an experience (if you're used to driving on the wrong side of the road). Michael said if you've done the drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, this is similar but perhaps not as scenic. When we drove from SF to LA, all we could see was mist, so I'm not in a position to comment on it.

Obviously, if it's wet, anywhere you go will be disappointing, so I won't do any dancing until after your visit!

Lee

The designs and colors on this pin though not really "accurate" are supposed to look like aboriginal designs.

As a native Australian Lee I am sure a pin could make it way to your kitchen refrigerator!

We do not have the pins yet what we post here is the design we send to the "pin maker" in China. Sometimes they do not come out quite like our design but most of the time they are pretty close.

Thank you Lee for your kind advise! We have decided to decide what to do when we get there. I have heard that the Blue Mountains are alot like the Smokies here in the South. I really enjoyed the Great Ocean Road (pictures of the Grand Pacific kind of reminded me of that drive) when we were in Melbourne many years ago and thought my sister and brother-in-law might enjoy getting to see areas/countryside around Sydney. Can't wait to get there and we will see what the weather is like. I got one quote for a private driver and it was $250/person, which I thought was kind of pricey. I don't think we will attempt driving it ourselves.

Ngaire: Thanks so much for your kind offer for the pin. I really wasn't trying to get something I didn't deserve - well .......

Sally: I don't know how much time you have but to go to the Blue Mountains would a very full day. I know they run coach tours if driving didn't appeal and that price for a driver certainly isn't attractive! If you only have a couple of days before the cruise, I would probably just spend it exploring Sydney, which although not very large, has a bit to look at.

Betty: Just read you're (read 'we' as I plan to stowaway with you) staying on until San Francisco - wow - I'm doubly excited now!

Lee - see you soon. :app:

Don't worry Dingbats, the Navigator does not have "pods"!( Just a few "dodgy" generators)

Ah, yes, how well I remember those dodgy generators. And here I am volunteering to test them again.

Crystal,
It wasn't dodgy generators on Discovery, it was a single cooling system that fed all the engines (propulsion & generators) except for the emergency generator on the jogging deck. The diesels are all Wartsilla (made in Finland)just like Mariner & Voyager. All the problems on all three ships have been with equipment run by the diesels, not the engines themselves.
Jim

Just saw this commercial . It is certainly getting me ready!!!

Very cool video Beth. There are several of them on YouTube I got distracted for awhile watching them. I can't wait!

Great video, it definitely is adding to my excitement for DINGO to get here!

do we have an updated roll call list?

Doug, This is the most up-to-date roll call I have from the first posting. If there are any corrections, let me know.

Ngaire & Ken
Tonya & John (FFMilesJunkie) - 5??
Lauri (ssclbc) - 518
Carolyn (Yallcruise) and Don - 525
Beth & Crystal (wishIwerecruisin) - 608
Carla & Frank (FDV72)- 617
Andi (sedona)& Doug - 722
Susan(S.A.F.)- 724
Fred (Freddie)& Pat (IslandCruiser)- 725
Betty - 726
Sally (Dixiechick) & husband
Dixiechick's sister & husband
Kathy (ChatKat) & Frank
Cheron & Mark

Thanks for the post Beth. We are looking forward to meeting everyone. We are in cabin 520.

So excited!
Sally and Ron

We're on but still cabinless.

Sally & Kathy, Thanks. I've updated your suites #s on the first post.

I'm so ready! I leave one month (!!!!!!) from tomorrow.
I'm so psyched as I got my hotel stays at the Park Hyatt Sydney and the Hyatt Regency Auckland for "free" when I got the new Hyatt branded Visa. More cash for shopping! It's especially going to come in handy since the $USD against the $AUD is at an all time low. I suppose things could change in the next month.

You will love the Park Hyatt in Sydney, Lauri!

I'm planning to get that Hyatt Visa too and use it for the PArk Hyatt in Moscow that runs a staggering $900 a night. Oh to be a Russian oligarch!

Lauri - the PH Sydney for "free" is tremendous - Auckland less so since its fairly inexpensive anyways.

I know the hyatt in Auckland isn't much of a deal but I don't have any definite plans to stay at a hyatt anywhere else in the next year. If I'd known I could pull this off I'd have come into Sydney a day earlier and used both days there. Too late to change my flights though.

OK, Dingbats, it's become real now..... 30 days from right now we will be on the Navigator. WOOO~HOO!!

:banana: :banana: :app:

Ok..sounds like we can start thinking about packing now. I hope that anyone who wanted to buy something new to wear realizes that they will need spring/summer clothes for the cruise. :woh:

Kathy, I've been laying out clothes in my guest bedroom for months..... Have started packing my carry-on and will try a test pack in my smaller suitcase first to see if I can get everything in it first.

Oh,yes, Kathy, spring clothes with a few cool weather clothes for Tasmania and the South island.

Definitely - clothes for cooler temps. I needed a jacket or sweater in Auckland.

Definitely be prepared for cooler weather in New Zealand. The last couple times we've been there in November, it was in the 50's.

Thanks, Peggy for that. Frank will need to pack for snow then (lol) I will be really happy at 50/60

Melbourne had snow yesterday.

brrrrrr...... Andi, you could have gone all month without saying that! :rolleyes:

flurries I bet Beth....you dust yourself OFF AND GO... :) :) ;) ;)

If it were the Voyager I would use the word "Go" lightly. As for snow, we have a month to recover and we can bring the sunshine ourselves

Oh, I will, Joanna. A little dusting won't stop me!! I just don't know if the clothes I'm taking will be warm enough. We do have a month, so we can think warm!!

It better not be cold.... Not traveling across the world to freeze my A off. Can do that right where I am for free... SNOW!!!! I see any snow and I am coming home.... No more cold vacations for me..... Very excited that the countdown has begun........

FV

Frank, I've been counting down for over a year!! :app:

It's only early spring there now. In another month I think it will be significantly warmer. Just think of the difference between April and May here.
If nothing else it's an excuse to buy some nice local woolen products!