What to do in Napier, Picton, Dunedin and Wellington NZ.

Hello. Our cruise above has stops in Dunedin, Wellington, Picton and Napier and I would like to know if private operators will be at the docks, should I book in advance, what to see and do, etc. This is the first time for us to NZ so any help would be appreciated. We usually skip ships tours. Thank you.

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Hi, jacketwatch. I saw your post on the RCI board and thought I would come here to share what we did in several of your ports when we were in NZ two years ago.

In Dunedin, I recommend reserving in advance if you want to take a tour. We did a morning Otago peninsula hike with Back to Nature Tours: https://backtonaturetours.co.nz/ We had a very good time, but as with all walking tours, you are only moving as fast as the slowest person. We had fantastic weather and great scenery and viewpoints for photographs. We arranged with the tour company to drop us off at the train station in town after the tour. We looked around the station, walked around town, went to the Cadbury factory tour (where we purchased chocolates for some of the crew members who had mentioned to us how much they liked visiting Dunedin for the chocolate), visited the New Zealand gift shop for some souvenirs and gifts for folks back home had lunch on the patio of a restaurant on the town square and then grabbed a shuttle bus back to port. We had a great laid back day.

We spoke to others who took the Elm Wildlife Tour or went to Speight's Brewery (https://speights.co.nz/age-gate?next=%2Fbrewery-tour%3F) for a tour, and both were also recommended.

In Picton: Cruisers were required to take a shuttle into town as this is a working port. It was a bit of a hassle especially for those not on a ship's tour. Luckily, we had access to a great concierge who gave us tickets to get off on the 2nd bus into town, otherwise as independent tourists we would have had to wait quit awhile onboard ship. Once we got to town, we just walked around, saw a few sights, had lunch and drinks, etc. Others we spoke with took a winery tour through Marlborough Tours and said they had a great time. http://marlboroughwinetours.co.nz/ If we go back, we will take a winery tour.

If you are mobile, Wellington is a great DIY town. We walked to the Wellington Cable car (https://www.wellingtoncablecar.co.nz/English/TimetableFares.html)

took some great photos of the city and the port from the overlook at the top, walked down well marked trails through the botanic garden to town. We did a bit of shopping at the Simply New Zealand gift shop, then walked to the fantastic Te Papa museum (https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/) where we spent several enjoyable hours. The museum is really well done and has free wifi. Afterwards, we had a late lunch and headed back towards the ship, stopping on the way for photos and to see some art galleries. It was a very enjoyable day.

I hope you have a great trip to NZ - we did! I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Very good info you provided. Thank you. So good you mentioned about Picton. We may do a ships tour there to avoid transport hassles.

Yes we are mobile so Wellington seems a good DIY port.

Cheers, Larry.

Napier is famous for it's Art Deco architecture. Again, it's a working port so shuttle buses are provided. These drop off at the iSite information centre. There are walking tours of the town, or you can just wander around by yourself.

Napier is also a gateway to the Hawkes Bay wine region so if that interests you, you might like to research that sort of tour.

Napier is famous for it's Art Deco architecture. Again, it's a working port so shuttle buses are provided. These drop off at the iSite information centre. There are walking tours of the town, or you can just wander around by yourself.

 

Napier is also a gateway to the Hawkes Bay wine region so if that interests you, you might like to research that sort of tour.

Very good. Thank you. :)

Napier is famous for it's Art Deco architecture. Again, it's a working port so shuttle buses are provided. These drop off at the iSite information centre. There are walking tours of the town, or you can just wander around by yourself.

 

Napier is also a gateway to the Hawkes Bay wine region so if that interests you, you might like to research that sort of tour.

Hello OzKiwiJJ, if I'm not mistaken you were on our cruise in February. (y)

Just to add to this we were asked to carry real photographic ID with us to get back to the ship in NZ. Photo copies were not allowed and despite being told this it caught many out. They did get back on eventually but no wherenear as quick as those who obeyed the instruction.

In Napier we used a company called Hawkes Bay Scenic Tours who we found to be very good. Many on our roll call used a company called Grape Escapes to tour round some of the wineries.

Celebrity Solstice Postcard #8 – Napier, New Zealand

We are going to have to go back and some point, it was an amazing cruise. :D

Hello OzKiwiJJ, if I'm not mistaken you were on our cruise in February. (y)

 

 

Just to add to this we were asked to carry real photographic ID with us to get back to the ship in NZ. Photo copies were not allowed and despite being told this it caught many out. They did get back on eventually but no wherenear as quick as those who obeyed the instruction.

 

In Napier we used a company called Hawkes Bay Scenic Tours who we found to be very good. Many on our roll call used a company called Grape Escapes to tour round some of the wineries.

 

Celebrity Solstice Postcard #8 – Napier, New Zealand

 

We are going to have to go back and some point, it was an amazing cruise. :D

More good info. Thank you. I found HBST and I may have to use them as my first choice, tours by locals I can't do as you need a minimum of 6 and they don't combine parties so as it's two of us that's our.

Very cool postcard too. My interest is definitely piqued! :)

Azamara Journey will be visiting all the ports you mention except Wellington. If you look at the roll call for the February 8, 2018 sailing, you'll see the private excursions arranged by passengers. Hope this is helpful.

The walking tour of Napier with the preceding video at the art deco centre is really enjoyable. In Wellington we were very pleasantly surprised by the Museum of Wellington where we spent much more time than we had intended. Very interesting little museum.

Thank you. i did not mention that we will be on the Ovation of the Seas which leaves Sydney 12-7-17. However cruisevirginia your advice does apply.

Swissmiss thank you too. The shuttle into town to be on our own sounds just right for us.

I love museums but my better half is not so crazy about them. Is the museum in Wellington smallish so it would not take so much time to get through?

It is. We expected to be in and out in 30 minutes and we were there for 2 hours.

Thank you!

Hello OzKiwiJJ, if I'm not mistaken you were on our cruise in February. (y)

 

Just to add to this we were asked to carry real photographic ID with us to get back to the ship in NZ. Photo copies were not allowed and despite being told this it caught many out. They did get back on eventually but no wherenear as quick as those who obeyed the instruction.

 

We are going to have to go back and some point, it was an amazing cruise. :D

Yes, we were. :D It was a great cruise despite the soggy start. Perfect weather for the Fiordland scenic cruising though.

We were sitting behind a couple that got pulled off the bus because they only had passport photocopies. Napier seems to be the only port that does that and we've done that cruise twice already, and have another booked for March 2019. It's a great way for us to catch up with friends and family in NZ so we're planning on doing it every two years if we can.

Noordam and other ships of that size, berth at Waimahara Wharf, Shakespeare Bay , Picton.

A shuttle bus is provided from the ship to the Information centre in the town.

We had to show government issued photo ID as well as our ship card, on the shuttle bus when arriving back at the gateway to the Noordam.

Hello. Our cruise above has stops in Dunedin, Wellington, Picton and Napier and I would like to know if private operators will be at the docks, should I book in advance, what to see and do, etc. This is the first time for us to NZ so any help would be appreciated. We usually skip ships tours. Thank you.

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Hi

If you want to do private tours it is best to book before hand.

Been to NZ 5 time and Dunedin 4 times and we always use Good Company tours as they offer great value for money tours and are very reliable. The ship docks at Port Chalmers which is about 20 minutes drive from Dunedin.We did the Taieri gorge train trip with them and it was $200 cheaper than booking it thought the ship.

https://www.goodcompanytours.co.nz/cruise-ship-shore

In Napier and Picton they normally run a free shuttle bus into town and both lovely towns to walk around or do a wine tour. Picton also has some great cruise tours around the sounds .Wellington run a Shuttle bus into town which cost NZ$10 last time we were there. Once in town you can do some great walking tours and a trip up the cable car is worth the view even on a cloudy day.

Your going to some lovely ports so I hope you enjoy your cruise.

Be aware that sometimes the Taieri Gorge Train cannot be booked independently. If a large ship is in port they book up all available space on the train.