New Zealand question

[polarized]

Hi all,

 

We are looking at cruises to NZ from Aus later in the year and i am curious about the scenic cruising. Princess cruises  ( which is the one we are keen on) state Fiordland scenic cruising but most other companies state Milford, Doubtful, Dusky sound scenic cruising. So my question is are they the same thing, as in the sounds are part of Fiordland or are we talking two separate areas all together. If they are different which one do we want to see?

Thanks in advance, Gary

[The_Big_M]

Yes, same thing. They are part of the 'fjords' so Princess tries to use a catchy name to make it more appealing.

[polarized]

Excellent, thanks for that

 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Yes . As stated all cruise ships follow the same path. It is a National Park and they can only cruise a designated route.....weather permitting of course.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, The_Big_M said:

Yes, same thing. They are part of the 'fjords' so Princess tries to use a catchy name to make it more appealing.

 

It's not a catchy name, it is the correct name for that region of New Zealand. However many overseas cruisers may not realise that which is probably why some cruise lines list the three sounds individually.

[The_Big_M]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

It's not a catchy name, it is the correct name for that region of New Zealand. However many overseas cruisers may not realise that which is probably why some cruise lines list the three sounds individually.

 

Thanks for the correction. I've only heard it referred to as that by Princess, likely due to the otherwise small population so few references to that area. Happy to get today's lesson. 🙂

[Barwick Cruiser]

I've been told that technically they are fjords, not sounds, so Princess has it right there.  We'll be on Celebrity through there in December, whatever is the correct term we're super excited to see it!!  Fingers crossed we actually get in!!

[OzKiwiJJ]

Yes, they are fjords not sounds. I'm not sure why they got called sounds, I guess the early explorers didn't really appreciate the differences. The Marlborough Sounds are true sounds though.

 

They are all beautiful but Milford gives you the most spectacular appreciation of the power of the glaciers that created them.

[Bubbeh]

We did the Princess NZ cruise early in 2018.  The weather was really bad as a result of Cyclone Debbie and this affected the crossing and also prevented out entering Fjordland.  As the crossing had been terribly rough the Captain slowed the ship considerably and then, in order to meet the schedule for other locations, he decided not to go to the National Park.  All passengers were reimbursed via a ship's credit for the entry fee to the area, which had been included in the fare. 

 

I had no issue with the Captain making his call but it was a terrible shame personally as we'll not return to this part of the woods.  With so much to see in the world, life's become far too short to return to anywhere but Bali.

[GUT2407]

50 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

We did the Princess NZ cruise early in 2018.  The weather was really bad as a result of Cyclone Debbie and this affected the crossing and also prevented out entering Fjordland.  As the crossing had been terribly rough the Captain slowed the ship considerably and then, in order to meet the schedule for other locations, he decided not to go to the National Park.  All passengers were reimbursed via a ship's credit for the entry fee to the area, which had been included in the fare. 

 

I had no issue with the Captain making his call but it was a terrible shame personally as we'll not return to this part of the woods.  With so much to see in the world, life's become far too short to return to anywhere but Bali.

Yep the fjords are frequently missed, I’ve been lucky so far.

[OzKiwiJJ]

The entrances to the fjords are quite narrow so rough seas from certain directions could make it dangerous for the ships to attempt to enter them. It really is the luck of the draw. I wasn't expecting to get into the fjords on our recent Solstice cruise as it was very late in the season but we were lucky and it turned out to be the best Milford Sound experience to date.

[SeaDog-46]

Coming from Australia it would be the local pilot saying it is too rough to board.

Coming from Port Chalmers the pilot usually joins there & will decide if it is OK to go in the sounds when they get there.

Not sure about the other two but James Cook named Doubtful Sound - because he was doubtful he would get out if he entered.

[OzKiwiJJ]

And James Cook missed Milford Sound completely. You can see why if the ship approaches it from a certain angle.

[MicCanberra]

21 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

It's not a catchy name, it is the correct name for that region of New Zealand. However many overseas cruisers may not realise that which is probably why some cruise lines list the three sounds individually.

Now that is sound reasoning.

[MicCanberra]

46 minutes ago, SeaDog-46 said:

Coming from Australia it would be the local pilot saying it is too rough to board.

Coming from Port Chalmers the pilot usually joins there & will decide if it is OK to go in the sounds when they get there.

Not sure about the other two but James Cook named Doubtful Sound - because he was doubtful he would get out if he entered.

Dusky was also named by Cook on the Endeavour and they returned 3 years later for an extended stay when on the Resolution.

[getting older slowly]

Weather is the thing So far we got in once on four cruises..... so good luck... we tried November, December , end of January and end of February... end of January was the one we got in......

 

We are going for two bites of cherry November- December this year 

 

Cheers Don

  

[Kiwi_cruiser]

On 5/9/2019 at 2:21 AM, SeaDog-46 said:

Coming from Australia it would be the local pilot saying it is too rough to board.

Coming from Port Chalmers the pilot usually joins there & will decide if it is OK to go in the sounds when they get there.

 

When we did Fiordland in October 2018 on the Majestic Princess we came from Port Chalmers the pilot, did not get on in till we got near Fiordland.

 

If I remember correctly.

 

 

[banzaii]

The cynic in me says that the other cruiselines like to make seem like they call on 3 extra ports instead of Fiordland.

[MicCanberra]

12 hours ago, banzaii said:

The cynic in me says that the other cruiselines like to make seem like they call on 3 extra ports instead of Fiordland.

Sounds like a busier itinerary that way.

[GUT2407]

Funny my Princess itineraries have always listed the three sounds, though when we were there a couple of years ago Capt ended up doing about 12 if memory isn’t as bad as it’s getting.

[MicCanberra]

Sounds good.

[kowhairob]

A beautiful part of New Zealand that is still relatively untouched . 

We went to the Sounds in February on the Seabourn Encore and the crew had commented that when they had been there 2 to 3 weeks previously the weather was shocking , high winds and torrential rain and low temperatures . We had a spectacular sunny , warm ,still day that brings a smile to my face when ever i think about it .  We had a zodiac take us around the Milford Sound and we went under the Stirley Falls . That experience was phenomenal .

[erewhon]

On 5/13/2019 at 3:24 PM, Kiwi_cruiser said:

When we did Fiordland in October 2018 on the Majestic Princess we came from Port Chalmers the pilot, did not get on in till we got near Fiordland.

 

If I remember correctly.

 

 

When a ship goes from Dunedin(PC) to Fiordland the pilot often travels on the ship, but sometimes he makes his own way by car, and the same arrangement can occur in the opposite direction.

[MicCanberra]

What sort of car doe the pilot drive to the ship?

[GUT2407]

59 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

What sort of car doe the pilot drive to the ship?

Maybe one of these