salmn Posted April 6, 2018 #1 Share Posted April 6, 2018 We are looking at a New Zealand cruise on Celebrity Solstice. What they do during the three days listed as "Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, and Dusky Sound" Just wondering if this is worthwhile or should we be doing a land based tour? Thanks for any input from someone who has done this cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted April 6, 2018 #2 Share Posted April 6, 2018 We are looking at a New Zealand cruise on Celebrity Solstice. What they do during the three days listed as "Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, and Dusky Sound" Just wondering if this is worthwhile or should we be doing a land based tour? Thanks for any input from someone who has done this cruise. I expect it’s one day, not three. Some truly spectacular scenic cruising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sscohen Posted April 6, 2018 #3 Share Posted April 6, 2018 There is two sea days from either direction (Melbourne or Dunedin) before a day of cruising the sounds. My itinerary was from Dunedin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swissmiss6253 Posted April 6, 2018 #4 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Cruising the Sounds was one of the absolute highlights for me. So much so that we are booked to do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted April 6, 2018 #5 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Just wondering if this is worthwhile or should we be doing a land based tour?On this question, you might want to have a look at this recent thread: Is a cruise a good way to visit New Zealand? There are pros and cons to both, but much depends on what your personal priorities are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
We-R-Off Posted April 7, 2018 #6 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Cruising the Sounds was one of the absolute highlights for me. So much so that we are booked to do it again. We are taking this cruise at the end of January 2019. We'd welcome tips for the NZ ports for independent tours. We have some OBC so we'll take one of the ship tours at one of the ports, most likely the Maori experience. We're spending 4 days pre-cruise in Port Douglas, 5 days with friends in Melbourne & a week in Sydney, so we're all sorted there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swissmiss6253 Posted April 7, 2018 #7 Share Posted April 7, 2018 In Akaroa we took a cruise around the bay in a small boat https://www.akaroadolphins.co.nz/. My kids were very keen on the very cute dolphin spotting dogs. It was a lovely trip and allowed us to be stress free about how long the tender process was as we booked for, I think, midday. We then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the lovely town of Akaroa spending money in their very attractive shops! Dunedin we took the Taieri Gorge train. We arranged it ourselves rather than take the ships tour as this was much cheaper. However I have read that sometimes the ships book the whole availability so if you want to do that, you may have to take the ship tour. We also would have enjoyed getting on the train from the ship, which is only available if you take the ship tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wansbrough Posted April 7, 2018 #8 Share Posted April 7, 2018 We are looking at a New Zealand cruise on Celebrity Solstice. What they do during the three days listed as "Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, and Dusky Sound" Just wondering if this is worthwhile or should we be doing a land based tour? Thanks for any input from someone who has done this cruise. We cruised the Sounds in 2017 and it was amazing. Here is a link to my blog which was written onboard during the cruise. It will give you some idea of what to expect and as GUT2407 has already explained, its all done in one day. Celebrity Solstice Postcard #12 – A Sea Day Cruising the Sounds 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salmn Posted April 7, 2018 Author #9 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Wow--that makes me feel better. They listed the three sounds separately but they are all on the same day. I thought it might be three more sea days in addition to the ones we already have. Think we will proceed with booking.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portcbob Posted April 7, 2018 #10 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Hi salmn. Just returned not long ago on the solstice. We completely missed the sounds and Dunedin due to weather conditions. Just hoping you actually get to experience it as lots of people miss it like us due to adverse weather, and yes it is only 1 day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshli Posted August 21, 2018 #11 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Has anyone done the overnight trip (the only shore excursion available) from the sounds and if you have, is it worth it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted August 21, 2018 #12 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Has anyone done the overnight trip (the only shore excursion available) from the sounds and if you have, is it worth it?Is this thread discussing the trip that you're referring to? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1722130 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshli Posted August 21, 2018 #13 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Yes, that is the one. Based on the many positive comments, we will go for it. Thank you for directing me to this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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