Best itinerary for New Zealand

We are starting to look for a cruise and tour of New Zealand and Australia. Since it is unfortunately likely that we will make this long trip only once, we would like to see the best that a cruise to New Zealand has to offer.

We are still in the beginning of planning, but thinking of cruising in New Zealand and then adding on a land tour in Australia. There are many ships doing various itineraries in New Zealand and we just don't want to miss those great ports and scenic cruising. What are not to miss tours or places?

We love nature and scenery the most; big cities are ok and I am sure we would want to spend some time in Sydney or other Australian cities, but mostly we would want to focus on smaller towns, nature and scenic tours.

We will probably book our own overland tour in Australia, but definitely want to do New Zealand mostly by ship. Thanks in advance for any help. We are not particular as to cruise line, but prefer affordable options rather than the luxury lines.

We love nature and scenery the most; big cities are ok and I am sure we would want to spend some time in Sydney or other Australian cities, but mostly we would want to focus on smaller towns, nature and scenic tours.

...... but definitely want to do New Zealand mostly by ship.

If you really want - as you say - nature and scenery, then a cruise is not the best way to see NZ. Yes you will probably sail into and out of Doubtful/Dusky/Milford Sounds, but most of NZ's spectacular scenery is too far from the usual port stops.

I'd do it the other way round - land trip to NZ and cruise round Australia.

But then I might be biased:D

We are starting to look for a cruise and tour of New Zealand and Australia. Since it is unfortunately likely that we will make this long trip only once, we would like to see the best that a cruise to New Zealand has to offer.

 

We are still in the beginning of planning, but thinking of cruising in New Zealand and then adding on a land tour in Australia. There are many ships doing various itineraries in New Zealand and we just don't want to miss those great ports and scenic cruising. What are not to miss tours or places?

 

We love nature and scenery the most; big cities are ok and I am sure we would want to spend some time in Sydney or other Australian cities, but mostly we would want to focus on smaller towns, nature and scenic tours.

 

We will probably book our own overland tour in Australia, but definitely want to do New Zealand mostly by ship. Thanks in advance for any help. We are not particular as to cruise line, but prefer affordable options rather than the luxury lines.

I would recommend you look at Azamara for your New Zealand cruise; they spend many more days in port than most of the other cruiselines. We cruised New Zealand with them last year; many ports on both the north and south islands.

You could consider car hire in Northern NZ, then cruise from Auckland to Sydney, or visa versa.

NZ being a small country is best toured by car, but the cruise from Auckland to Sydney is an enjoyable one, because of the short scenic cruises between ports. It is port intensive vs a circumnavigation of Australia, which has more sea days.

You could consider car hire in Northern NZ, then cruise from Auckland to Sydney, or visa versa.

 

NZ being a small country is best toured by car, but the cruise from Auckland to Sydney is an enjoyable one, because of the short scenic cruises between ports. It is port intensive vs a circumnavigation of Australia, which has more sea days.

as long as you're comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road. My issue with road trips is that the driver generally misses out on seeing all the beauty since they need to concentrate on the road. Now I can see flying into several of the beautiful cities and taking tours there

The problem with driving around NZ is that there are too many beautiful places to stop. DH and I hired a car to drive around NZ a few years ago. We spent two weeks on the South Island and never made it to the West Coast. Queenstown is magical, and the area around Dunedin is fascinating too.

We ended up having only one week left to see the North Island and we ran out of time. Rotorua is great (you will get used to the sulphar smell very quickly), Napier and Hastings were beautiful as is the Bay Of Islands.

If you like small towns/medium size cities, I would definitely recommend visiting Tasmania. Hobart is such a beautiful, historic city. I think Norwegian Cruise lines visit Tasmania as well as NZ on a cruise out of Sydney.

Fly to NZ, spend some land time, then do a one way cruise to Sydney, Celebrity offer some that include Hobart and Melbourne, spend time in and around Sydney, then fly home,

More good ideas! Right now it depends on if we can get enough miles to fly business--not doing that trip in economy!

As mentioned if you can handle driving on the other side of the road, definitely plan land trip in New Zealand.

another recommendation if you take a self drive, is to get a small car. Many of the roads on the south island are narrow and curvy. We had been upgraded to a larger car and I had thought how lucky we were. Wrong! Would have done better being downgraded to a smaller car.

As mentioned if you can handle driving on the other side of the road, definitely plan land trip in New Zealand.

 

another recommendation if you take a self drive, is to get a small car. Many of the roads on the south island are narrow and curvy. We had been upgraded to a larger car and I had thought how lucky we were. Wrong! Would have done better being downgraded to a smaller car.

I would love to travel by car but don't want to handle driving on the left side at my age, plus the driver doesn't get to enjoy the scenery. We are planning on a 9 day landtour in Australia, followed by 14 day cruise ending in Auckland, with 4 to 5 days after for the city and Bay of Islands area.

I would love to travel by car but don't want to handle driving on the left side at my age, plus the driver doesn't get to enjoy the scenery. We are planning on a 9 day landtour in Australia, followed by 14 day cruise ending in Auckland, with 4 to 5 days after for the city and Bay of Islands area.

Sounds lovely. While cruising the South Island, I would suggest doing your best to get into the interior. Beautiful.