Wellington shuttle to town with RCI

[Chanel#5]

Hi everyone

 

We will be in Wellington soon on Radiance and are trying to plan for a shuttle to town for 5 people. Does RCI provide shuttles into town? How much does this cost and is it return or one way. We may walk into town if the weather is nice and shuttle back. The walk looks about 20-30 mins maybe?? If we decided to taxi it, would we need to book a maxi taxi or are they usually at the port? Does anyone know the cost of a maxi taxi? How about public buses, are they a viable option?

 

Thanks

[Goldygolfer]

We were in Wellington on the Radiance about 14 months ago and RCI did provide shuttles to 2 different locations. One was to a department store in the centre of the shopping area (and quite close to the funicular railway) and the other to the I Site office (quite close to the Te Papa Museum). We went to the centre of town first, rode the funicular to the top of the Botanical Gardens, then walked to the Museum and caught the shuttle back from the I Site. The cost was $5pp

each way. Sorry - can't help with taxi info. But others may chime in with more recent info.

[Chanel#5]

Thanks heaps GoldyGolfer, great info, it all helps in the planning process

[spirit28]

20-30 min walk sounds about right. There is a glass covered walkway some of the way as you go past the rugby stadium.

 

Bit of exercise helps get rid of the excess from breakfast and build an appetite for lunch!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Just a tip if you decide to walk back to ship.....Cross over from the Stadium side to the wharf side early , as further down , near the ship , the road forms into a freeway with a median barrier and you can not cross , so you have to walk back and start again . .:eek:

 

 

 

[Bodogbodog]

One was to a department store in the centre of the shopping area (and quite close to the funicular railway)

That store would be Kirkaldie & Stains and its the Cable Car (reached via Cable Car Lane) which takes you from Lambton Quay up to the Botanical Gardens and view of the city and the harbour (on a nice day that is!)

I've never heard it referred to as the funicular - technically correct I guess but people would look at you sideways if you asked how to get to the funicular :eek:

Edited February 15, 2014 by Bodogbodog

[cassamanda]

Hi everyone

 

We will be in Wellington soon on Radiance and are trying to plan for a shuttle to town for 5 people. Does RCI provide shuttles into town? How much does this cost and is it return or one way. We may walk into town if the weather is nice and shuttle back. The walk looks about 20-30 mins maybe?? If we decided to taxi it, would we need to book a maxi taxi or are they usually at the port? Does anyone know the cost of a maxi taxi? How about public buses, are they a viable option?

 

Thanks

 

There are ample shuttle buses and taxis at the terminal and as you say it is only a 20 min stroll into town. The shuttle buses are put on by the city, not RCCL. I think they were NZ$4, could even have been free. No public buses. The terminal has an information centre.

Hugh

[annabell.4006]

Princess cruise January 2014 when we came off the boat we were walked into tent and all had to pay $10 NZ for a return bus trip into town. Real waste of money for able bodied people.

All settled into bus and silence . Did not even pretend to be for the tourists. just drove us into town about 4 blocks and dumped us all into a random street. Nowhere near information centre. Couple blocks walk to trolley tram, took it thinking we might find some tourist information there. Nothing just gardens.

And to add insult after we had paid for our return trip we were told last bus would leave random street drop off one hour before we were due back at the boat. We all knew how short the trip was and no one really explained. Why one hour early. Probably wanted the bus for local school run.

I mentioned this to princess in my feed back sheet. So maybe in the future they might suggest alternative ways to get off the wharf .

Princess should have paid for the shuttle bus in my opinion. As one lady on trip said taxi fare was $3. And the taxi driver would give you some information and could take you to information centre.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[cassamanda]

What tent? Which pier did you come in at, Queens Wharf in town or out at the Footy Stadium?

Seems you were given a rough trot. Hadnt heard of any problems before.

[Chanel#5]

Thanks everyone for your replies and tips. I am a bit of a planner, and the "go to " person for our group, so it helps to have this info, thankyou :D

[avalon007]

We have been in Wellington twice in 2013 on cruises & both times walked into town, it takes us about 15 minutes but we are fairly brisk walkers.

 

The cable car is fun, the entry is just in a small arcade amongst the main street shops, so could be easy to miss if you are not paying attention.

 

This time we went to the planetarium just a short walk from the cable car stop at the top inside the botanical gardens - a really good show & cheap at only $18NZ. Would be very good with kids as well as lots of interactive displays. First visit we walked back down through the gardens, also quite nice.

 

Te Papa museum is good value since a lot is free, but some of the paid exhibits are also very worthwhile.

 

We caught taxi back from out the front of the Museum the first visit, 2nd visit we just walked back again from the bottom of the cable car but along the waterfront which is quite nice.

 

Wellington overall I found to be a clean,tidy, & attractive city, & easy to get around.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

A further idea if you have been to Wellington before is to take the guided Tour of Parliament. Its free and operates hourly every day.

Heres the link for times etc...

 

http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/about-parliament/visiting/