New Zeeland (Dunedin)

Has anyone ever taken a two day - one night shore excursion - length approx 36 hrs? Fiordland, Queenstown & Dunedin Overland? It's coming off of the Diamond Princess in New Zeeland. If so could you give me any comments regarding this excursion? Interested, but it's expensive. Not sure it's worth the money.

Has anyone ever taken a two day - one night shore excursion - length approx 36 hrs? Fiordland, Queenstown & Dunedin Overland? It's coming off of the Diamond Princess in New Zeeland. If so could you give me any comments regarding this excursion? Interested, but it's expensive. Not sure it's worth the money.

We haven't done this excursion, but have travelled in this area by car. From what I have read, people say the excursion is great and is worth the money. I think it is likely more Americans do this excursion than Aussies or New Zealanders. We are more likely to travel that area by car. Maybe if you post on the main Princess section of this forum you might get some information. :)

only thing is you miss all the scenic cruising around fiordland, the boat picks you up in milford sound and off you go.

Celebrity also do this excursion and I've heard it's excellent. I certainly know that the scenery is spectacular and you'll see more of the South Island than you would just cruising around it. If it's your only chance to come to NZ then I think it's worth it, despite missing out on most of the scenic cruising in Fiordland.

US citizens have told us that it was well worth the cost to do the overnight excursion, to see one of the most scenic areas of New Zealand.

They thought it was a wonderful excursion.

Has anyone ever taken a two day - one night shore excursion - length approx 36 hrs? Fiordland, Queenstown & Dunedin Overland? It's coming off of the Diamond Princess in New Zeeland. If so could you give me any comments regarding this excursion? Interested, but it's expensive. Not sure it's worth the money.

dreamer1000,

We did this excursion off Celebrity Solstice a couple of years ago. Worth every cent enjoyed every moment - the lake cruise on the steamboat and dinner at the High Country Farm - from Queenstown had to be a highlight. Hopefully this is still part of it.

We did this excursion from Ovation in January. It was one of the top highlights of our cruise! We loved it!

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PS we are also from Michigan. Figuring that we won't (unfortunately) be back to Australia/New Zealand any time soon, this excursion was a fabulous way to see some wonderful parts of New Zealand that we would have missed!

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Has anyone ever taken a two day - one night shore excursion - length approx 36 hrs? Fiordland, Queenstown & Dunedin Overland? It's coming off of the Diamond Princess in New Zeeland. If so could you give me any comments regarding this excursion? Interested, but it's expensive. Not sure it's worth the money.

Appreciate these good questions from our "neighbor" to the north in Michigan. Below are some of my notes and pictures as to the options and potentials in doing such a Queenstown overnight excursion. For us, it worked well. More details on my "live-blog" of our full trip.

Here is a short summary: We got off of our Solstice ship and did, along with other several couples in our travel group from Central Ohio, the two-day, overnight Queenstown excursion. It's a choice, not cheap. There are pro's and con's to consider. As previously noted, Milford Sound is suppose to be the best of the three you will visit. BUT, the biggest roll of the dice is the weather. These fjords can be spectacular, but you can have iffy weather. Maybe great and sunny. Maybe rainy with overcast, etc. Possible a little of both as your travels that day cover a varied amount of distance/travel among the three different areas.

What did we do on this two-day excursion? WOW!! What a great trip. Loved it ALL so much. Not just charming Queenstown, but seeing a wonderful rainforest area, the charm of the interior of NZ's South Island, a cute old gold-rush town, a winery, the bridge where bungee jumping got its start, etc. On the Queenstown side of the mountains, there are less weather challenges, etc. With our tour, we still got a nice sampling of Dunedin, its very special train station, etc.

Either one can work well. Much depends on what you most like, seek and enjoy most. Below are a few visuals to give previews for what you can see in this excellent part of the world. Many, many more on the full live/blog starting late on page 15 and continuing at the top of page 16.

Worth it? It was for us and the others in our group. Personal choice!! The NZ South Island is amazing and being able to sample it was very important for us to "feed" our personal interests to see and learn more about this unique part of the world.

Added questions?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 179,676 views for this posting.

Going into Milford Sound on the Solstice, there were great views from our balcony on the tenth floor. We did not like the overcast skies and rain, but it added to the “drama” with the huge number of waterfalls in this area. In this picture, my wife is checking out these great sights from our balcony early this morning. It was a rocky crossing of the Tasman Sea.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger!)

Our first stop after getting off of the Solstice and boarding our bus was a major rainforest areas in the Fiordlands National Park. Amazing site and stop!! Yes, there was some rain that morning. But, here are some facts to consider. In the Milford Sound area, they get an average of 23 feet (that's right FEET) of rain each year. At times, it might go as high as 46' yearly. That means most ever day gets some rain as the churning Tasman sea air loaded with moisture hits these South Island mountains. By sharp contrast, just 25 miles away (across the mountains), Queenstown averages only 30 inches of rain annually. Big difference!!:

Here is a view of the main street in Arrowtown with lots of character and charm. Plus, many shops! High-quality ones!! Just the kind that my wife and others love. There were historic places for beers, cheese, etc., too! Not just clothing and jade/jewelry.:

Here is one of my visuals in connection with this steamship sailing leading to the dinner at the sheep station at the other end of this scenic lake near Queenstown during the two-day Solstice excursion. You will see lots of scenic mountains and areas during this sailing that is a key part of this evening fun. And, there was food!!:

Here is one of my pictures from the Kawarau Suspension Bridge and its dramatic gorge nearby to Queenstown. It's a classy bridge design in a setting that is world-class. This bridge is narrow, being built way before cars and trucks had been invented and built.:

Among the highlights in Dunedin was their rail station with its many special design touches. As our guide, John, explained, Dunedin was very rich at the time from its gold and other resources. Why did they make it so fancy? Because they could!! You can see some of the fancy tile work, a stained-glass window, etc., there. They do not build things like this these days. In this below picture, you can see our skilled guide John with some of the folks from our Central Ohio travel group outside in front of this landmark building.: