Wheelchair access in NZ?

[ChollaChick]

My husband and I just booked a cruise from Sydney to NZ for spring 2019. We have never been there and I am wondering how wheelchair accessible it is? We will be going to Dunedin, Auckland, Akaroa, Tauranga and Bay of Islands. Any advice would be appreciated!

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Bay of Islands and Akaroa are tender ports, so who every is in the wheelchair might not be able to get off the ship in these ports, unless they can walk a few steps to get in to a moving (up& down) boat/tender.

 

This depends on which cruise line you are going with as they all have different wheelchair rules and it also may depends on what the seas are like on the day you are there.

 

Auckland, Tauranga, and Dunedin ports are wheelchair friendly.

 

Just be aware that in Dunedin the ramp could be steep.

[sweetp12]

Once you get off it should be fine. We have laws requiring buildings to be wheelchair friendly and provisions for bathrooms for people with disabilities.

[ChollaChick]

Thank you for your responses. We are hoping that we could at least get off in Akaroa because the pictures I have seen are pretty amazing. But we totally understand about tenders. I've heard about steep ramp in Dunedin. How steep are we talking? We will be on Radiance of the Seas, if that helps any. :)

[lyndarra]

From what we have seen at tendering ports a wheelchair cannot roll on to a tender. The passenger needs to be able enough to leave the chair and board with assistance from crew if needed. The chair is then folded and stowed on board the tender and the passenger occupies a tender seat.

[MargoK]

Once you get off it should be fine. We have laws requiring buildings to be wheelchair friendly and provisions for bathrooms for people with disabilities.

 

As a wheelchair user living in Auckland this is not necessarily so unfortunately. BUT most tourist attractions will be. Buses are accessible as are trains.

 

May be best in Auckland to do the Hop on Hop Off Bus to get around. Wheelchair accessible taxis are extremely hard to book and find in most NZ ports unfortunately. Shuttles from ports will be wheelchair accessible into the town centres.

 

I would recommend as soon as your excursion become available that you book any accessible tours especially in Tauranga and Dunedin. The Tairei Train trip comes highly recommended by others but the accessible spots go very quickly.