Hettie outdid herself with the hotel selection! It is actually situated right on the pier. Our ship, Celebrity Solstice, was docked outside the door when we woke up this morning. See why She’s the cruise director? All we had to do was walk out the door of the hotel and get in line to in-process for the cruise. We had that accomplished by noon and were among the first people enjoying the lunch buffet.

We had a low-key day unpacking and getting acquainted with the ship. We met for cocktails at 5:00. Cleone volunteered to choose a location each day for our little happy hour. I volunteered to be in charge of cocktail conversation, so I brought along a box of conversation cards that Matt and Emily had given us. For the duration of the cruise we’ll pull cards from the box and each share our answers. The questions tonight were: what time period would you like to go back and visit? Happy conversation hour was followed by dinner and then we headed to our rooms to get organized for tomorrow. Dan is in charge of the seating arrangement each night for dinner, by the way.

Our spacious staterooms are on the 12th floor at the very back of the ship. Hettie is a keeper!

High of 59 with sun and rain playing tag all day.

FUN FACTS

New Zealand was first settled in the 13th century by the ancestors
of the present day Maori.

Europeans immigrated to New Zealand looking for a better life.
Most were from Britain with a substantial number from Scotland.

In 1840 New Zealand became a British colony. By 1852 the colony’s settlers
were granted the right to self-governance.

Rugby rules the extensive sports world here. The All Blacks is the national team
and  Australia is their arch enemy.

Sailing/yachting is the second most coveted sport.