Sun Princess in Port Chalmers, Dunedin today (08/04/2012)

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Sun Princess in Port Chalmers, Dunedin today:

 

 

 

SUN PRINCESS at ShipWatcher

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Being Easter Sunday most things will be closed.

Looks like the tourist busses have the centre of town to themselves today..

 

[Sandielle]

Aaahh memories. We were there not long ago! Yes, it was a tad busier than today.

[cjm66]

A beautiful day - driving around the Otago Peninsula catching glimpses of Sun Princess from the bays - hard to stop on the winding roads! Managed not to run into a coach. Here she is docked at Port Chalmers.

 

 

Only Fjords to go and wo sea days!

 

Colleen

[Kiwicruiser25]

Great shots everyone, really enjoy them, keep them coming!!!

 

Cheers

[Sandielle]

Colleen that's a great shot at Port Chalmers. Love the background.

[erewhon]

Thanks for the photos.

 

Colleen,

You had a lovely day to be driving aound, from where did you take the photo of the Sun Princess?

[cjm66]

Thanks for the photos.

 

Colleen,

You had a lovely day to be driving aound, from where did you take the photo of the Sun Princess?

 

From a side road off to the left from the Portobello road - between Portobello and Otaku - towards Harwood I think. With a good telephoto lens you can get an even beter one from the Albatross Centre on the way up the hill. Photobucket is playing up so I cannot post my rather fuzzy one - a very bright but hazy day. It IS a wonderful drive - hard to keep your mind on your driving!

 

Colleen

[Kiwi Kruzer]

How were the fiords today?

I checked the cam a couple of times and it looked overcast and a bit showery.

 

 

 

[cjm66]

How were the fiords today?

I checked the cam a couple of times and it looked overcast and a bit showery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overcast and blustery until we were right into the first two - Dusky and Doubtful. I reckon they are both better fair weather sounds, less dramatic so need some blue sky - IMHO. We were late into Milford - after 5:30 - but even in the fading light people on deck agreed with the Captain that he had left the best to the last. The waterfalls were falling freely - some were almost rising in the side winds and the fading light made it rather dramatic and brooding.

 

Colleen

[Sandielle]

Great that you got into them all, Colleen. Twice we've had the dark and brooding for the first ones, then when we got into Milford it has been a perfect sunny day. We were late into Milford last time, too. Only trouble last time, we had to get ready for the Captain's CP so couldn't see it all! :( Had to dash out onto the front deck in our finery - it was freezing.

[diy dave]

How were the fiords today?

I checked the cam a couple of times and it looked overcast and a bit showery.

 

 

 

 

Can big ships like voyager of the seas tie up at Dunedin, or would it have to use tenders?

[erewhon]

From a side road off to the left from the Portobello road - between Portobello and Otaku - towards Harwood I think. With a good telephoto lens you can get an even beter one from the Albatross Centre on the way up the hill. Photobucket is playing up so I cannot post my rather fuzzy one - a very bright but hazy day. It IS a wonderful drive - hard to keep your mind on your driving!

 

Colleen

 

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, we know the road.

[erewhon]

Can big ships like voyager of the seas tie up at Dunedin, or would it have to use tenders?

 

Ships berth at Port Chalmers, which is the port for Dunedin.

[diy dave]

Ships berth at Port Chalmers, which is the port for Dunedin.

 

Ok, port charmers, sorry, but question not answered

[diy dave]

Ships berth at Port Chalmers, which is the port for Dunedin.

 

Just looked up port charmers on google earth and that's not where we berthed last time we were there.. That's where MY confusion lies. I remember walking into Dunedin from the ship, an easy walk. But it was on a much smaller cruise ship and it was 18 years ago. Looks like big cruise ships don't berth there anymore, is this the case? Is that because of size? . Or do some ships still go to Dunedin .

[Sandielle]

Dave, I haven't heard of any cruise ships going to Dunedin these days. (I may be wrong regarding the small cruis ships.) They tie up at Port Chalmers and there is a shuttle bus into Dunedin. It costs about $10 to $15 dollars return, depending on whether you use Aus or NZ currency.

 

The only places in NZ where the ships use tenders are Bay of Islands and Akaroa.

[diy dave]

Dave, I haven't heard of any cruise ships going to Dunedin these days. (I may be wrong regarding the small cruis ships.) They tie up at Port Chalmers and there is a shuttle bus into Dunedin. It costs about $10 to $15 dollars return, depending on whether you use Aus or NZ currency.

 

The only places in NZ where the ships use tenders are Bay of Islands and Akaroa.

 

There you go, on the same cruise we tied up in the bay of islands. I figure it was time I went back to apologies for the last time I was there..lol I heard they've got electricity there now, oooops. Lol

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Great photo cjm66 :), Thank you for posting!

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Can big ships like voyager of the seas tie up at Dunedin, or would it have to use tenders?

 

Yes, Voyager of the Seas, should be able to tie up at Port Chalmers.

 

Just looked up port charmers on google earth and that's not where we berthed last time we were there.. That's where MY confusion lies. I remember walking into Dunedin from the ship, an easy walk. But it was on a much smaller cruise ship and it was 18 years ago. Looks like big cruise ships don't berth there anymore, is this the case? Is that because of size? . Or do some ships still go to Dunedin .

 

Yes, some cruise ships do dock in Dunedin, but they are only the small ones (one ship that comes to mind is the Oceanic Discoverer, I found her in Dunedin one day on AIS).

 

but the rest of the ships dock in Port Chalmers.

 

Dave, I haven't heard of any cruise ships going to Dunedin these days. (I may be wrong regarding the small cruis ships.)

 

See above :)

 

There you go, on the same cruise we tied up in the bay of islands. I figure it was time I went back to apologies for the last time I was there..lol I heard they've got electricity there now, oooops. Lol

 

:eek:, you tied up in the bay of islands! :eek:, you must have been on a very small ship!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Heres some info on Port Otago, which operates Port Chalmers and Dunedin.

 

http://www.portotago.co.nz/3/1.html

 

 

Within the entrance, the harbour extends 9.6 kilometres to Port Chalmers and then carries on a further 12 kilometres to the port and city of Dunedin.

 

The harbour is dredged to accommodate vessels with a draught of 12.5 metres, from Taiaroa Head to Port Chalmers, where the container facilities are located. This draught enables the largest containers ships in the New Zealand trade to make Port Chalmers their final port of call in New Zealand. From Port Chalmers to Dunedin the channel is dredged to handle vessels with a draught of 8.0 metres.

 

 

As for the Bay of Islands. The official wharf is at Opua which was where the northern rail link terminated. It was only ever built for coastal trade and so cannot accomodate the large cruise ships which now have to anchor in the bay ,off Russell , and tender ashore.

 

[diy dave]

Thanks for the good info. The ship I was on was the Mikhail Sholochov. Along with sister ship the Russ, they were only about 12000 grt. Ringing wet. They were converted black sea ferries and we enjoyed it very much. That was about 1994, Sydney to Sydney.

[rescue]

I'll have some photos up and a review written soon after all we've only been back a couple of days. But apart from Napier, and a small problem in Wellington made a whole lot bigger but one of Princess's staff (Bernard from Canada @ Purser's desk - never assume the passenger's knowledge) it was a great cruise and thanks to this forum I enjoyed my shore excursion in Port Chalmers a lot more than those in the "expensive" seats on the train.:)

[johndon]

There was a lone piper on the wharf piping us off as we cast off. It was very moving and drew much applause from the passengers on the promenade deck and the upper decks. Dunedin was our favourite port for the whole cruise and the weather was fabulous. The Taieri Gorge train trip was absolutely stunning, both trains (the ship train and railways train) completely booked out. I have posted my Cruise Review if anyone is interested. It should appear in the reviews in a couple of days after the Moderator checks it out. There may be some objections to my observations on Simon but it should be ok.

 

John

[Sandielle]

There was a lone piper on the wharf piping us off as we cast off. It was very moving and drew much applause from the passengers on the promenade deck and the upper decks. Dunedin was our favourite port for the whole cruise and the weather was fabulous. The Taieri Gorge train trip was absolutely stunning, both trains (the ship train and railways train) completely booked out. I have posted my Cruise Review if anyone is interested. It should appear in the reviews in a couple of days after the Moderator checks it out. There may be some objections to my observations on Simon but it should be ok.

 

John

 

Oh yes, I think the sound of a lone piper rates up there with the sound of a ship's whistle. I still haven't done my review.......will have to get around to it before I forget.