Trying to choose between two cruise itineraries to Australia/New Zealand

I'm trying to choose between two different itineraries of the Australia/New Zealand cruise but not sure which one is better. Which itinerary would you choose and why? It would be great to hear from people that actually cruised to Australia/New Zealand. Thank you!

Itinerary 1

Sydney Australia; Hobart (Tasmania), Australia; Fiordland National Park (Scenic Cruising); Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand; Akaroa, New Zealand; Picton, New Zealand; Napier, New Zealand; Tauranga, New Zealand; Auckland, New Zealand

Itinerary 2

Sydney, Australia; Melbourne, Australia; Milford Sound, New Zealand (cruising); Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (cruising); Dusky Sound, New Zealand (cruising); Dunedin, New Zealand; Akaroa, New Zealand; Wellington, New Zealand; Picton, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You may also want to post this in the port of call forum, where you might reach more cruisers with experience in the area:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=77

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

You may also want to post this in the port of call forum, where you might reach more cruisers with experience in the area:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=77

Thank you for the tip, I will post there too!

Thank you for the tip, I will post there too!

Good luck.:)

I'm trying to choose between two different itineraries of the Australia/New Zealand cruise but not sure which one is better. Which itinerary would you choose and why? It would be great to hear from people that actually cruised to Australia/New Zealand. Thank you!

 

Itinerary 1

Sydney Australia; Hobart (Tasmania), Australia; Fiordland National Park (Scenic Cruising); Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand; Akaroa, New Zealand; Picton, New Zealand; Napier, New Zealand; Tauranga, New Zealand; Auckland, New Zealand

Itinerary 2

Sydney, Australia; Melbourne, Australia; Milford Sound, New Zealand (cruising); Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (cruising); Dusky Sound, New Zealand (cruising); Dunedin, New Zealand; Akaroa, New Zealand; Wellington, New Zealand; Picton, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia

Without a lot more information such as number of sea days, port arrival and departure times, number of days in each port and a lot of other stuff, nobody can give you an intelligent answer.

DON

I have been to all of these places multiple times.

You can't go wrong with either itinerary.

My suggestion is to look at the cost and the ease of flying to these locations from your home city.

R/T Sydney has the benefit of flying to and from the same city.

If you can spend time pre and post cruise (a few days on both ends) and flying is about the same I would go with the second one.

Keith

Thank you everyone for your feedback! It really helped me to consider different aspects of the itinerary and make a choice!

Neither.

Bay of Islands is missing of both itineraries. That is where NZ was founded.

Annie

All the 'Sounds' in Itinerary 2 are basically "Fiordland National Park', so there's less difference in the 2 than it might appear. The only thing I see that would be a deciding factor for me is that I like Hobart (mostly nostalgic, due to an absolutely perfect day our first visit there) more than Melbourne. As Keith says, you really can't go wrong with either.