We are planning to cruise to New Zealand next year--anytime from late January into March and are looking at different cruise lines. They all seem to show a different itinerary as to ports. Most do cruising the Fiords. Some also show cruising the Bay of Islands. We don't particularly care which ship or departure port. Budget matters since we also want to spend 2-3 weeks touring Australia.
What are the must see ports? We want to see as much as possible, of course, mostly interested in scenic beauty and I really want to go to Hobbit Town. I've noticed some of the shorter cruises leave out Tauranga, Napier, Wellington. And some leave out Aukland. Most seem to have Dunedin and Christ Church. Some have Picton.
We will probably only do this once, so don't want to miss anything truly spectacular.
