New Zealand Cruise

[suey]

We are cruising on the Dawn to NZ on Nov 27th and I am just wondering about shore tours. We are happy to do our own thing in Auckland, we are hiring a car in Tauranga and happy to do own thing in Wellington. Regarding the other places we are not sure so I was wondering if anyone can answer a few questions please,

* are there any local tours offered when you dock (at a cheaper price)?

* what P & O tours are worth a look at and which ones should we avoid?

* is it worth hiring a car in any other places?

* any ideas on what to do?

Thanks :)

Suey

[Sandielle]

Suey, there are suggestions in this forum, but you will have to wade through them.

 

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

[thied]

Here are some posted you can read , you make get all the answers you need, but please ask any thing about things you dont find the answers for.:D:D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1274989

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1266253

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1275694

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1256553

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1264412

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1264408

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1248455

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1264413

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1264414

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1262303

[thied]

We are cruising on the Dawn to NZ on Nov 27th and I am just wondering about shore tours. We are happy to do our own thing in Auckland, we are hiring a car in Tauranga and happy to do own thing in Wellington. Regarding the other places we are not sure so I was wondering if anyone can answer a few questions please,

* are there any local tours offered when you dock (at a cheaper price)?

* what P & O tours are worth a look at and which ones should we avoid?

* is it worth hiring a car in any other places?

* any ideas on what to do?

Thanks :)

Suey

we hired a car in Auckland which we found the it was the best way to see Auckland.

Tours off the ship are not cheap, If you do a tour off the ship choose wisely.

Most of all have fun and enjoy the cruise and take lots of photos .

[Australian family]

Go to the "search forum" tab on the right hand side of the link Sandy has provided and type in your port of interest, there is loads of information.

 

In Christchurch we hired a car and drove upto Arthurs Pass which we thoroughly enjoyed, was one of the big highlights of New Zealand for us. We hired a car through this company http://www.newzealandrentalcar.co.nz/ and they were very good to deal with. They actually picked us up at Lyttleton, and dropped us back to the port gates. This company is located in the centre of Christchurch, we have wondered how they got on after the earthquake. The car hire has to be prepaid, and we had no troubles at all.

 

The drive also takes you through where the epicentre was, Darfield.

 

Here are some photos taken going to Arthurs Pass, the 2 photos of the bridge and road and taken just past Arthurs Pass. We didn't drive any further then there, having to be mindful of times of getting back to the ship.

 

 

 

[Sandielle]

Your photos are stunning, Aus family. :)

 

We visited Howick Historical Village in Auckland and found that amazing for history buffs. Spent several hours there. Olveston House and the musem in Dunedin were other highlights for us.

 

I suppose we'll soon have to start thinking about what we want to do on our next NZ cruise in Feb. :rolleyes:

[Australian family]

Your photos are stunning, Aus family. :)

 

We visited Howick Historical Village in Auckland and found that amazing for history buffs. Spent several hours there. Olveston House and the musem in Dunedin were other highlights for us.

 

I suppose we'll soon have to start thinking about what we want to do on our next NZ cruise in Feb. :rolleyes:

 

Thank you Sandy. The scenery is just wonderful. I really wanted to do the Trans Alpine Train, but is was going to cost the four of us approx $1200, which the ships tour only goes to Arthurs Pass. The best bit of scenery is just past Arthurs Pass, which the ships tour doesn't do. My DH said for what HAL wanted for the shore excursion we could fly back to NZ for that amount of money.

 

If we went back for a fly/drive holiday, I would do the return train trip one day from Christchurch, and then drive back through the Alpine Highway.

 

Lesmmr

[suey]

Suey, there are suggestions in this forum, but you will have to wade through them.

 

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

 

Thank you so much for this great link:), I just spent an hour having a 'wade' and got heaps of info but the housework is still waiting:(

Thank you to everyone else as well, I am now going to check out all the great websites I wrote down, so still no housework today!!

[Sandielle]

Hehe, Suey. What's housework????;) I did actually do a couple of loads of washing.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Great photos Australian family :)

[The_Big_M]

Lovely photos Australian family.

 

Regarding booking you can get cheaper private tours, but I would suggest booking before you go rather than waiting when you dock. I don't believe they would be cheaper then, but some may have sold out, and some will pick you up, but not necessarily be there if not already ordered (plus it gets you going quicker).

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Love the photos Australian Family, especially the last one!

[staranice]

Suey I am on your cruise,have you booked your car hire in tauranga yet and if so may I ask what company you used.Thanks

[Australian family]

Suey I am on your cruise,have you booked your car hire in tauranga yet and if so may I ask what company you used.Thanks

 

Try Hertz, as they had cars ready for passengers to the wharf, and we knew some people who had one of their cars booked, it was a fairly new car, and cheaper than the old one we had booked. My DH wasn't very impressed with the one that we had.

[cazz0069]

We are cruising on the Dawn to NZ on Nov 27th and I am just wondering about shore tours. We are happy to do our own thing in Auckland, we are hiring a car in Tauranga and happy to do own thing in Wellington. Regarding the other places we are not sure so I was wondering if anyone can answer a few questions please,

* are there any local tours offered when you dock (at a cheaper price)?

* what P & O tours are worth a look at and which ones should we avoid?

* is it worth hiring a car in any other places?

* any ideas on what to do?

Thanks :)

Suey

 

 

Suey, At Tauranga, are you hiring the car from the dock? We had originally booked a rent a car that we had to pick up from the airport, but when the ship got in we saw all these rent a cars right on the wharf, so we cancelled the other and just got one from there. So convenient.....:)

[NSWP]

For those cruising or visiting NZ..Christchurch is open for business, I have a couple of friends working over there doing Earthquake damage collating for claims. 62,000 insurance claims in the pipe line. That is how much damage there is. Today they had two more 3.6 after shocks around Christchurch.

 

Been to ChCh twice, once on a coach tour in 98 and in 2007 on cruise, Regal Princess, LA Harbour to Sydney, nice place ChCh, just a little shakey currently.

[Sandielle]

Thanks for that info, Les. Hope the aftershocks settle down soon. :)