Private Guides

[namest]

We are sailing on Pricess Diamond in January to New Zealand and Australia. We prefer to hire private guides in ports instead of using the ships tours. Does anyone have any suggestions for Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hobart and Melbourne? Thanks,

[eh2zed]

In Dunedin, try Chris Roberts of Back to Nature tours. www.backtonaturetours.co.nz We did the Otago Peninsula penguin, albatross, Lanarch Castle tour. Chris has a van and you join a few others from your ship. Best tour we had on the NZ/Oz cruise

[CRUZGAL53]

We are sailing on Pricess Diamond in January to New Zealand and Australia. We prefer to hire private guides in ports instead of using the ships tours. Does anyone have any suggestions for Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hobart and Melbourne? Thanks,

 

We just returned from a cruise from Sydney- LA on the Star Princess and while in New Zealand used Indigenous Trails http://www.itrails.co.nz. We had the most wonderful tours in Dunedin, Wellington & Auckland. We also went to the Otago Penisula and the Penguin Colony in Dunedin. We would highly recommend Indigenous Trails. Des and his group are fantastic and made our time in NZ very memorable.

[namest]

thanks for your response. we are getting excited about the trip, but not the flight. we have never been on a princess cruise. we usually travel on much smaller ships. we hope it proves to be good. would love to hear your feedback. thanks for your help.

[CRUZGAL53]

thanks for your response. we are getting excited about the trip, but not the flight. we have never been on a princess cruise. we usually travel on much smaller ships. we hope it proves to be good. would love to hear your feedback. thanks for your help.

 

The Diamond is a great ship. This was our 45th time on Princess (guess you can say we love it). Australia and New Zealand are fantastic!! This was our 2nd time there.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

[namest]

thanks joyce. have you been on oceania? how does it compare. we arent used to big ships and am a bit concerned. since you have been to australia/new zealand, do you feel tours are a good idea? we prefer private to the bus and load tours. any suggestions. what do you recommend seeing

in hobart?

[CRUZGAL53]

thanks joyce. have you been on oceania? how does it compare. we arent used to big ships and am a bit concerned. since you have been to australia/new zealand, do you feel tours are a good idea? we prefer private to the bus and load tours. any suggestions. what do you recommend seeing

in hobart?

 

We have not been on Oceania, however have been on a couple of Princess Cruises smaller ships...we like all size ships. Princess has great food and entertainment.

 

As for tours, we prefer to do independent tours and do not take the ships tours. We have not been to Hobart, but in any of the NZ ports we highly recommend Indigenous Trails . Their website is http://www.itrails.co.nz. The tours were fantastic!!

 

In Sydney we used Activity Tours to see the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley (our guide was Mark).

Joyce

[sk8teacher]

We used Back to Nature Tours with Chris Roberts in November on the HAL Grand Australia/New Zealand cruise and loved it. Best tour of the whole cruise in my opinion. Very comprehensive tour, and Chris really knows the area and the types of plants and flowers that abound there. I definitely highly recommend him.

 

Cheers,

[Bill the Builder]

We will be pulling into Hobart aboard the Diamond Princess on 8Jan10. We have found a wonderful tour that we would like to take:

Tasmanian Wilderness, Wildlife & Waterfalls Personalised Day Tour.

If we can find 4 other people that would like to take the same tour, the price will drop from $200NZpp to $140NZpp. It is basically an all day tour in a comfortable luxury 4WD vehicle. It has many options and we can see and visit just about whatever we wish within the scope of what is offered.

 

If you are interested in the tour, please go to: http://www.tasmaniandaytours.com.au/personalised.html for details.

 

You can tell the tour operators, Janet and Richard Onn [rjonn@ozemail.com.au] that you would like to go on the same tour with Bill & Jane.

 

All the best -- Bill the Builder

[namest]

Naomi,

 

We are interested in seeing Tasmanian wildlife. I have read about Bonorong Wildlife Conservation Center. I have also heard about Russell Falls and Mt. Field National Park. Please let me know if there is a private company to contact. THanks, Nanci

[namest]

Bill the Builder,

 

I noticed that the tour you are talking about doesnt get back until 5:30. Is this enough time to catch the ship. What else are you doing on this trip? There were options available. There are four of us traveling and we may be interested in joining you. Nanci

[Winesome]

Naomi,

 

We are interested in seeing Tasmanian wildlife. I have read about Bonorong Wildlife Conservation Center. I have also heard about Russell Falls and Mt. Field National Park. Please let me know if there is a private company to contact. THanks, Nanci

You could try Let's Show you Tasmania, Heather Henri. She will take the 4 of you where ever you want, around the ships times. We are doing a tour with her, on Jan. 24th. I think you are on our sailing. She has 3 vehicles,

[Bill the Builder]

Bill the Builder,

 

I noticed that the tour you are talking about doesnt get back until 5:30. Is this enough time to catch the ship. What else are you doing on this trip? There were options available. There are four of us traveling and we may be interested in joining you. Nanci

 

Hey there, the tour operators are well aware that we are on the Diamond cruise and they promise to have us back in plenty of time to catch the ship. Bill

[Bill the Builder]

Bill the Builder,

 

I noticed that the tour you are talking about doesnt get back until 5:30. Is this enough time to catch the ship. What else are you doing on this trip? There were options available. There are four of us traveling and we may be interested in joining you. Nanci

 

My wife and I are going to do the city trams and local sites in both Melbourne and Christchurch but we have the Elm Wildlife Tours scheduled in Dunedin and Indigenous Trails company – Cultural Legacy Trail tour in Taranga. We would enjoy some constant companions, we have done that on other cruises where we tour with the same people each time. I usual hire a guide and try to tour with 4 to 6 people. All the best -- Bill

[namest]

Hi Bill,

 

there are four of us who might want to join you. the only concern we have is in melbourne. the day we are there is australia day and we hear it is a nightmare to get around due to all the traffic. as much as i dont like the ship tours, i am concerned with getting stuck and not making it back to the ship. we are interested in a tour in hobart and would like to see the wildlife conservation park and falls.

 

nanci

[lil menehune]

I will be on the Australia/New Zealand cruise from Auckland on the Diamond Princess on the January 16, 2010 sailing. I am interested in finding a private guide in Chirstchurch. Has anybody heard of a company called Akaroa Shuttle? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[merlot101]

We we were very disappointed with Indigenous Trails at Duneidin. The guide was a taxi driver who drove us places, but didn't explain about the areas. At the Albatross center he just dropped us off. I said is there a guide here like at the Penguin center. He said that if we wanted to pay the center, we could go on to the grounds. At the Laranch castle, we asked who built this place, and said some people, but they don't own it now. After we got back to the ship we got the interesting story about the owners and what happened to them. I wished that we would have used a different company.

 

In Napier, we used www.baytours.com.nz. We had a great wine and history tour of the area. At the tourist (I) area where the ship bus lets you off, there are many tours available. We waited until we got to town bafore we booked this tour. We had a fabulous guide --and great wine. We went to a lemon grove where they have many products to taste made from lemons. Very interesting.

 

Have fun, Australia and New Zealand are wonderful

[SheilaNC]

Point of information. If you'd like to arrange tour groups, go to the Roll Call forum and look for a roll call for your particular sailing (or begin one yourself). Those threads are great places for group planning and getting to know some folks who will be sailing with you.

 

Also, if you have a private tour that doesn't meet your needs or what you had anticipated, it's a good idea to contact the tour company to discuss the issues. In our experience, the tour company owners want their customers to be satisfied and want to know about anything that isn't working.

[s2ks2k]

We are sailing on Pricess Diamond in January to New Zealand and Australia. We prefer to hire private guides in ports instead of using the ships tours. Does anyone have any suggestions for Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hobart and Melbourne? Thanks,

We just returned from a Princess cruise that went to some of your stops. In Christchurch, we had one of the best tours ever, any location. Terry Thomsen of The Inside Story Tours was extremely knowledgeable and more than willing to go the extra mile. He even volunteered to hike with me at an inpromptu stop. You won't go wrong with any of his tours no matter what you want to do. In Auckland, Coast to Coast Tours provided a nice variety of activities from rainforest to honey-tasting to gannet colony to a home visit that included delicious homemade pavlova and feeding baby lambs. In Dunedin, we used a small tour company, Monarch Wildlife Tours that was well organized and included a small boat ride where we saw seals, sea lions, penguins and albatross.

[luv-the-country]

We just returned from AU/NZ cruise and we did a private tour with Judy Livingstone with Eye See Personalised Tours. She was very knowledgeable of the area and took us to Mt. Field National Park, Russell Falls, Horse Shoe Falls, Bonorong Wildlife Park, and a short tour of Hobart plus lunch. It was an excellent tour.

[luv-the-country]

We also used Terry Thomsen (The Inside Story tours). I also would recommend his services. It was one of the best tours of the entire cruise.

[love2learn]

We were scheduled to arrive in Auckland about 5 days before our cruise to Sydney would begin. We had contacted Des with Indigenous trails and planned a 4 day tour which included the Bay of Islands, and a one day tour of rotorua. Peter was our guide for both of these tours and he was truely the best. My husband and one of our friends are totally blind, and I and our other friend have only partial eyesight. Peter made sure that we were able to touch and experience everything. His wife Eve arranged for us to go to a bird sanctuary so that we could touch a real live Kiwi bird. I'm sure they can't do that for everyone, but they really made every effort to be sure that we were able to get the most out of our tours. We had a wonderful afternoon with Hone, a Maori Chief. We had a Hangi lunch at Whakarewarewa that was delicious, and learned a lot about the maori people. We have some incredible memories, and I would definately reccomment Indigenous trails and Peter for tours in these areas.

 

Sharon

[and1e6]

Hi

 

You might have already made your tour arrangments. However, you could try www.blackpearltours.com.

 

They have Qualmark status and the word is they're excellent. They can arrange tours and transfers nationwide.

 

Jan

[rokalada]

Namest --- I wonder if we are on the same sailing of the Diamond? We leave Auckland on 1/3/11. Like you, we have never sailed with Princess before --- usually Celebrity is our choice. We are also not looking forward to the flight to NZ from Texas! I splurged and did premium economy on Air NZ, hoping the extra space would be worth the expense. Also like you, we are looking for private tour guides, since there are four of us travelling.

[scvgirl]

Namest --- I wonder if we are on the same sailing of the Diamond? We leave Auckland on 1/3/11. Like you, we have never sailed with Princess before --- usually Celebrity is our choice. We are also not looking forward to the flight to NZ from Texas! I splurged and did premium economy on Air NZ, hoping the extra space would be worth the expense. Also like you, we are looking for private tour guides, since there are four of us travelling.

Rokalada -- you are on our sailing. Have you joined our roll call yet? Perhaps we can share some private tours. We are from Los Angeles.