we have already booked majority of our shore excursions. we choose to book them through Royal Caribbean again this time, as after doing some research it really isn't that much cheaper to do them through a private tour company and i much prefer to have the piece of mind that if anything happens and you are running late, the ship can't leave without you (if you booked through RC themselves).

in Dunedin, we booked the Speights Brewery and Dunedin Panorama Tour which goes for a total of 4 hours. the tour includes a tour of the Speights Brewery (bae is into his beer so i thought this one would be a good one for him) where you get a complimentary tasting of 4 beers and obviously a demonstration on how beer is made etc. the second half of the tour gives us the opportunity to learn more about Dunedin's history where we can stroll the botanic gardens and explore the historic railway station.  the second half is more so for me, i think it will be a perfect time to take some photos and i enjoy learning about the history of places. the Dunedin Railway Station is also one of New Zealand's most photographed buildings, so that is exciting.
we initially wanted to go to the Cadbury World factory tour in Dunedin but it closed down (i was literally devastated it was half the reason i was going to NZ haha)

for Wellington we have a tour booked for the Lord of the Rings and WETA workshop which goes for a total of 3 and a half hours. to be honest i haven't actually seen any of the LOTR movies so i probably should watch them before we cruise but bae wanted to do some LOTR stuff and i am more then happy to tag along especially for the WETA portion of this tour. WETA is like a mini museum that has special effects, props and displays for all different movies which i think will be really cool and interesting. the LOTR portion of the tour is visiting places where the have filmed scenes and a tour of the middle earth. we will have a few hours left after the tour, so i am hoping we can get on the famous wellington cable car and maybe do some shopping.

finally the last shore tour we have booked through Royal Caribbean is one for Tauranga, which is the Lord of the Rings Hobbiton Movie Set tour which goes for a total of 4 and a half hours. even though i haven't seen the movies yet, i am already looking forward to this tour because it looks so picturesque and cute. the tour involves a walk around the hobbiton village at your own leisure and a drink at the famous LOTR Green Dragon Inn.
we were actually tossing up whether to do this tour through a private company as you were able to see a little bit of Rotoura on the way to Hobbiton however the we arrive in Tauranga at 6.45am and most tours don't start until 8am including the one we looked at, so it was highly unlikely we could do an 8 hour tour and make it back on the ship in time. (it would just send my anxiety through the roof all day worrying if we were going to make it haha)

for Auckland and Bay of Islands where we have nothing booked, we are going to try and navigate ourselves.
in Auckland, we are thinking of doing the bridge climb and bungee jump as well as the sky tower and the aquarium (probably some shopping to). for Bay of Islands we want to find a cultural tour to do. i have been looking at a few different options so hopefully we can narrow it down. but i do think it is important to experience the cultural aspect of New Zealand whilst we are there.

we are pretty much done with on-board purchases, we managed to purchase everything pretty early and during Royal Caribbeans pop up sales (which i highly recommend you look out for).

this cruise we are again going with the all inclusive non-alcoholic drink package. for me it is so not worth paying an extra $50 per day for the alcoholic package when i don't really drink and when for 6 out of the 12 days you are off the boat for 8-10 hours of the day.
we ended up paying $27 AUD a day (was on sale 30%) for the refreshment package but we had $130 AUD on-board credit so it only ended up costing us $258.82 each (or $21.50 a day). i really do recommend looking out for sales and when booking trying to get a deal that includes on-board credit because it really does help when selecting/buying packages that are normally expensive.

we also purchased the internet package again this cruise. we decided to go for the 1 device package and just share the usage like we did last cruise; which worked well considering we only really used it to check social media and contact our families. the internet package was also on sale when we purchased it (we choose to get the Voom surf + stream package, which is a little more pricey but has way better connection). we ended up paying $17.00 a day and split it between the two of us, so it was just over $100 AUD each. if you aren't too worried about internet and won't be using it all the time, i definitely think its worth splitting and sharing the package.

one thing we didn't do last cruise was try any of the specialty restaurants. so this time i have booked us to have lunch at Jamie's Italian restaurant and i am SO looking forward to it. the best part about a cruise is the fact you can order as much food as you want for no extra cost, so we will definitely be trying everything on the menu!
Royal Caribbean had a sale on select specialty restaurants for lunch dining so i managed to score dining on a sea day for $24 AUD each. this is SO cheap considering you can order as much as you like. so i would definitely keep an eye out for these pop up sales.

the last thing we have to purchase is the arcade credit, you can purchase this on-board but you save 20% if you pre-purchase online. last cruise we purchased $25 USD and use it all up before the end of the cruise so this time we might up it to $50 USD each which works out to be roughly $108 AUD total for the two of us. the arcade is a fun way to kill some time, on our previous cruise we would normally go before or after dinner.

the preparation for this cruise has been done a little differently to the last one. i think because we semi know what to expect, i haven't been so stressed and haven't tried to research every single detail which is nice because it has given a chance for the unknown for when we board.

this time we are going to take more USD to spend on-board. this will give us a chance to purchase alcoholic drinks if we wish to or do a little bit more on-board shopping. it will also allow us the opportunity to eat at more specialty dining if we choose to.
last cruise, we only took a small amount of USD and shared it between us which didn't give us heaps of room to move. so this cruise we definitely don't want to be worrying about money, we just want to enjoy our holiday.

i have also been more on top of the sales and new editions to the cruise planner this cruise. i have learnt to check the cruise planner daily and monitor the prices of things (especially stuff like the drinks package and internet package). by monitoring the cruise planner i was able to get shore excursions as they popped up on the planner and book things at a sale price. it is definitely an easy way to save money if you are willing to look everyday. i am 99% sure everything we booked/have brought has been on sale. so it is definitely worth the 5 minutes of your day.

considering we have been so prepared and organised there isn't much left for us to do.
we just have to check in which is available from the 90 day mark (as in 90 days to go until cruise day) and print all of our documents. i find this part the most stressful because it is crucial that it is done correctly otherwise boarding day is going to be a nightmare. so pray for me.

also available from the 90th day mark are bookings for the entertainment on-board. this is different to how our previous cruise ran, we could just show up to shows/entertainment during the evening. but considering the Ovation is so big, they have a booking system for the most popular shows and things (such as the Ifly and Northstar) so basically its a first in best dressed scenario (you are able to show up on the day but you have to line up and hope someone doesn't show for their booking).
so i highly recommend checking your cruise planner around check in time to avoid missing out on these bookings.

other than that we just have to buy some USD and NZD for on-board credit and spending.
i am currently watching the exchange rate and praying for some miracle that it goes up so we get more for our money but it isn't looking great. i normally try and purchase foreign currency about a month to two months out.

all in all i am starting to get SO excited for this holiday and it is sneaking up pretty quickly. i am excited to try a new ship and experience a new country. so stay tuned for more holiday prep blog posts as the countdown continues!

xxx