Celebrity Solstice in Dunedin

[debshomespun]

We will be on the Celebrity Solstice at the end of the month. From what I have found, the ship docks in Port Chalmers, which is about 15 minutes from downtown. Anyone know if Celebrity provides a shuttle to town for passengers? And if so, is there a charge? We want to rent a car, and would prefer to rent from a downtown area as the only one at the Port Chalmers is Pegasus, and it is almost twice as much as downtown locations. Thanks!

[Ethel6666]

Hi. We were on the Solstice last month and there was a $15 per person charge for the bus. $US.

[mtn_couple]

We rented from Pegasus from the dock last November, they even had a car seat for our son (we pre-booked it). It was fantastic! With 3 of us that would have had to pay for the shuttle bus + the time lining up for the shuttle (both ways) + the time on the actual shuttle getting to Dunedin, then time walking to the car hire company, we thought the few extra $ hiring from Pegasus was well worth the convenience.

 

If you do hire from Pegasus, when you get off the ship you walk through a shed and they are waiting there with a sign. You complete the paperwork and they take you to your car. On return they tell you where to leave the car and you just lock the keys in the boot. Very simply, very convenient and you are on your way exploring instead of still lining up with 2000-3000 others to get on a shuttle bus. They also leave in the car a selection of brochures from local attractions, we were very impressed and would do this again without hesitation.

[debshomespun]

Thank you both for the replies. We have a reservation with Pegasus right at the port. There will be 4 adults, and I agree, it's not worth the time issue of going into town. We are thinking of driving over to the Larnach Castle, the around the Otago Peninsula. When we return through Dunedin, we plan to stop at the famous train station. Anything else you might suggest? We also got a gps for the car.

[mtn_couple]

That was our exact itinerary, however, we also went to to Cadbury Chocolate factory.