Background information - We are 'young', active 59 and 64 year olds. This was our 4th cruise with Holland America. Our reasons for choosing the NZ Discovery cruise were (1) It fit our available time slot (we had originally chosen the South Pacific cruise immediately before this one but the scheduling of a family wedding necessitated a change) but, more importantly, (2) it gave us a chance to see all of the eastern side of New Zealand and (3) it was a round trip cruise from Sydney, eliminating extra flights.

Hotel information (if any) - Having stayed at the Sydney Sofitel for a conference in 2013, we chose to make our own hotel arrangements and stayed at the Intercontinental in a Club room prior to the cruiseOur room had a view of the city towards the inner harbour to the west and a tiny slice of view of Circular Quay. But we also had access to the Club Lounge on the 31st floor with 360° views of the Opera House, Harbour and Bridge. The view, together with breakfast, all day snacks and 'happy hour' drinks and cold and hot nibbles included, certainly justified the additional cost over the Sofitel with no views, no breakfast and a smaller room.

Ship information - The Oosterdam is the largest ship we have sailed on. Part of the reason we chose this cruise was that it was a 'try out' to see if we would enjoy a cruise on a significantly larger ship farther away from home. In short, the answer is no. Even on day 13 I was still not able to tell whether I was going forward or aft without looking out the windows at which way the water was flowing. However, even with the additional deck of balcony staterooms, she doesn't have the ungainly, 'apartment block' look of many of the larger cruise ships. Like all HAL ships, the blue hull, raked bow, white superstructure and teak decking combine to make her look like a real cruise ship, rather than a party boat. Inside, the decorations are a bit over the top and the colours are BRIGHT but, aside from the Lido buffet, it never felt crowded to us and, as it was the last NZ cruise of the season, the ship was full. We really enjoyed the glass elevator as it was right outside our stateroom but, as it reduced the number of stairs we climbed, it probably wasn't a good thing. Internet is an issue - slow, expensive and non-existent above Deck 3 when one of the modems went out on Day 5. Read more