NZ port shuttles

[V_icki_e]

Hi everyone,

 

I am wondering if someone can please let me know how I get from the cruise ship to various NZ ports. I am wanting to know if there are shuttles or if you can walk into the main part of town please.  Ports are Dunedin, Wellington, Napier and  Tauranga and we are cruising with Princess. 

 

Thank you. 

[MargoK]

Dunedin, Wellington, Napier are all working ports where shuttle buses are available but cost.  Napier is the only port you CANNOT walk off on, you must shuttle. 

 

Dunedin is quite a distance from Port Chalmers.   Wellington is doable but recommend the shuttle bus. 

[Suzi66]

Since the earthquake that damaged Wellington a couple of years back, I thought Wellington stopped people walking off and on the port so you had to take the shuttle provided to the i-Site.  This was definitely the case March of last year.  They may have changed, but I doubt it.

[MicCanberra]

The shuttle at wellington is free as it must be used. The shuttle in Port Chalmers is the cheapest and easiest way to transfer into Dunedin and back and will cost around $25 return

[Aus Traveller]

Napier is a working port and passengers cannot walk on the wharf area. A free shuttle takes passengers into Napier (10 minute drive).

 

Tauranga - Ships dock at Mt Manganui. You can walk off the wharf and walk around this small town. You can get a bus into Tauranga, but I don't think there is much point. If you haven't been to Rotorua, it would be a good idea to hire a car and go there, or take a tour that you can buy through the ship or on the wharf.

 

The other posters have answered the question about Dunedin. Wellington - We have walked off the wharf several times by going through the cruise terminal building and out into the street. When we were there earlier this year, we went on a tour so I am not sure if passengers can still walk off as we have done in the past.

[GUT2407]

When we were in Wellington a few years back there was a fee, but it was minimal, a couple of $$$ ea.

 

i remember because one bloke was up in arms because they wouldn’t take US$

[V_icki_e]

Thank you everyone - I haven't cruised NZ since 2012 so was foggy with details.   Much appreciated! 

[SinbadThePorter]

4 hours ago, MargoK said:

Dunedin, Wellington, Napier are all working ports where shuttle buses are available but cost.  Napier is the only port you CANNOT walk off on, you must shuttle. 

 

Dunedin is quite a distance from Port Chalmers.   Wellington is doable but recommend the shuttle bus. 

 

In Port Chalmers (Dunedin) there are two berths for cruise ships, the Beach wharf and the C/T wharf.

 

I think that you can only walk off from the Beach wharf. The other one requires a shuttle for about 200 meters.

Edited November 3, 2018 by SinbadThePorter

[Russell21]

Couldn't reply yesterday for some reason. At Tauranga (Mt Manganui) there is a shuttle bus into Tauranga township itself that costs NZ$10.00 for the return trip. Last time we were there we enjoyed a walk around town and particularly the waterfront park, the Seven Sisters at the Northern end of the park, the ceremonial war canoe in its cage and most of all the feed at the blue fish shop on the waterfront. The feed of fish is the only time we have had a battered fillet of fish served up with 2 fried eggs sitting on it.

We are returning to NZ on the Sun Princess leaving 20th this month, and will be having the fish and chips again I can assure you.

[MicCanberra]

It seems the system was down for 24 hours. no one could respond to or post anything.

[rkmw]

On 11/3/2018 at 8:29 PM, SinbadThePorter said:

 

In Port Chalmers (Dunedin) there are two berths for cruise ships, the Beach wharf and the C/T wharf.

 

I think that you can only walk off from the Beach wharf. The other one requires a shuttle for about 200 meters.

we were in Port Chalmers  a couple of weeks and the Majestic and Golden Princess were both there and no shuttles needed to walk thru the gate to the street

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, rkmw said:

we were in Port Chalmers  a couple of weeks and the Majestic and Golden Princess were both there and no shuttles needed to walk thru the gate to the street

That is what I have found when we have been there with another cruise ship at the nearby wharf.

[boeckli]

6 hours ago, Russell21 said:

Couldn't reply yesterday for some reason. At Tauranga (Mt Manganui) there is a shuttle bus into Tauranga township itself that costs NZ$10.00 for the return trip. Last time we were there we enjoyed a walk around town and particularly the waterfront park, the Seven Sisters at the Northern end of the park, the ceremonial war canoe in its cage and most of all the feed at the blue fish shop on the waterfront. The feed of fish is the only time we have had a battered fillet of fish served up with 2 fried eggs sitting on it.

We are returning to NZ on the Sun Princess leaving 20th this month, and will be having the fish and chips again I can assure you.

Last month the shuttle into Tauranga was NZ$15 return. It was a public holiday with most places closed, so not very interesting as far as I was concerned.

YMMV

Shuttle into Dunedin was $20 return or $15 one way. Wellington I believe was free but not sure if compulsory, as I was on a tour.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by boeckli

[SinbadThePorter]

4 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

That is what I have found when we have been there with another cruise ship at the nearby wharf.

 

I was there last February on Diamond Princess and Ovation was at the Beach wharf.

 

We weren't allowed off except to directly board a shuttle bus to Dunedin or else one that traveled 200 meters to the Beach wharf.

 

We were kept waiting onboard for hours for either type of shuttle. It's actually more annoying to find out that this is not standard practice.

[MicCanberra]

Perhaps it depends on the day it arrives at the dock, a working day or not (public holiday /weekend)

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

I was there last February on Diamond Princess and Ovation was at the Beach wharf.

 

We weren't allowed off except to directly board a shuttle bus to Dunedin or else one that traveled 200 meters to the Beach wharf.

 

We were kept waiting onboard for hours for either type of shuttle. It's actually more annoying to find out that this is not standard practice.

Sorry - I don't know where the Beach wharf is. The couple of times that we have been docked in Port Chalmers with another cruiseship, the two ships have been very close to each other, both in the part of the harbour where the wharf virtually wraps around them in a 'U' shape. (I hope that makes sense.)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Beach is the wharf that runs along beside Beach Street.The other is called Container or CT

 

 

[Aus Traveller]

Thanks for posting the map. We have been at Beach Street Berth with another ship at the Container Terminal Berth, or vice versa. We have always been able to walk off, but kept to an area of the wharf that is close to the ship.