Polly62 Posted August 23, 2019 #1 Share Posted August 23, 2019 First time cruisers to New Zealand on Majestic princess. Looking for recommendations on shore excursions. Stopping at Dunedin, Akaroa, Wellington, Tauranga, Auckland, Bay of Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OzKiwiJJ Posted August 23, 2019 #2 Share Posted August 23, 2019 (edited) Your question is too generic. We can't guess what would interest you. So, please, do a search here and on the Ports of Call forum, port by port, and you will find plenty of ideas. Then, if you have any specific questions, come back and ask them and we'll be hapoy to help. Edited August 23, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted August 23, 2019 #3 Share Posted August 23, 2019 11 hours ago, Polly62 said: First time cruisers to New Zealand on Majestic princess. Looking for recommendations on shore excursions. Stopping at Dunedin, Akaroa, Wellington, Tauranga, Auckland, Bay of Island. As OzKiwiJJ said, it is a good idea to search the Ports of Call section of this forum. I will make a couple of very brief suggestions: Dunedin - Otago Peninsula and wildlife. We weren't very impressed with the Tieri Gorge rail trip. Akaroa - enjoy the small town. Otherwise take the long bus trip (around 2hrs) into Christchurch. Wellington - Te Papa Museum (superb), the rack railway (in the city) and the rose garden. Parliament House. You can do all this on your own. Tauranga - take a tour to Rotorua. This will be offered on the dock at less dollars than the ship's tour. Auckland - hop on-hop off bus. Maybe Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. Bay of Islands - see if there is a small boat tour. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
possum52 Posted August 23, 2019 #4 Share Posted August 23, 2019 6 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said: As OzKiwiJJ said, it is a good idea to search the Ports of Call section of this forum. I will make a couple of very brief suggestions: Dunedin - Otago Peninsula and wildlife. We weren't very impressed with the Tieri Gorge rail trip. Akaroa - enjoy the small town. Otherwise take the long bus trip (around 2hrs) into Christchurch. Wellington - Te Papa Museum (superb), the rack railway (in the city) and the rose garden. Parliament House. You can do all this on your own. Tauranga - take a tour to Rotorua. This will be offered on the dock at less dollars than the ship's tour. Auckland - hop on-hop off bus. Maybe Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. Bay of Islands - see if there is a small boat tour. We really enjoyed the Taieri train, I guess it comes down to what your interests are. We booked it privately and not through the cruise ship - about half the cost. I agree with the other recommendations. Although in Auckland we took a privately booked half day tour which showed us around Auckland. We loved Akaroa and just wandered around the town, had a beer with friends at the pub not far from the dock and fish and chips for lunch further along the same street. Leigh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted August 23, 2019 #5 Share Posted August 23, 2019 20 minutes ago, possum52 said: We really enjoyed the Taieri train, I guess it comes down to what your interests are. We booked it privately and not through the cruise ship - about half the cost. I agree with the other recommendations. Although in Auckland we took a privately booked half day tour which showed us around Auckland. We loved Akaroa and just wandered around the town, had a beer with friends at the pub not far from the dock and fish and chips for lunch further along the same street. Leigh I suppose our opinions on the Taieri train trip were coloured by our expectations. We had heard good reports, but thought it was just so-so, but expensive. There are several places to see in Dunedin, even independently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
possum52 Posted August 24, 2019 #6 Share Posted August 24, 2019 4 hours ago, Aus Traveller said: I suppose our opinions on the Taieri train trip were coloured by our expectations. We had heard good reports, but thought it was just so-so, but expensive. There are several places to see in Dunedin, even independently. We did the Taieri train on the recommendation of DH's brother and SIL. They thoroughly enjoyed it so we thought we'd do it too. As well as the train, we had a tour of Dunedin as part of the excursion. We were picked up from the wharf and traveled to the train station by coach and after the train trip the coach picked us up and we spent an hour seeing the sights of Dunedin before returning to the Port Chalmers. Leigh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted August 24, 2019 #7 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Welcome to cruise critic, there are lots of threads like this both here and also in the ports of call. Have look and see if there is any useful info for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barwick Cruiser Posted August 24, 2019 #8 Share Posted August 24, 2019 10 hours ago, possum52 said: We did the Taieri train on the recommendation of DH's brother and SIL. They thoroughly enjoyed it so we thought we'd do it too. As well as the train, we had a tour of Dunedin as part of the excursion. We were picked up from the wharf and traveled to the train station by coach and after the train trip the coach picked us up and we spent an hour seeing the sights of Dunedin before returning to the Port Chalmers. Leigh We are booked in Dec with Good Company for a tour that sounds just like what you did. Who did you book through? Glad to hear you enjoyed the train. We've explored the city on a previous visit and are looking forward to the train and will enjoy saving a lot of $$ not taking the ship excursion on the same train. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
possum52 Posted August 25, 2019 #9 Share Posted August 25, 2019 10 hours ago, Barwick Cruiser said: We are booked in Dec with Good Company for a tour that sounds just like what you did. Who did you book through? Glad to hear you enjoyed the train. We've explored the city on a previous visit and are looking forward Yes to the train and will enjoy saving a lot of $$ not taking the ship excursion on the same train. Yes our excursion was with Good Tours. Our driver/guide was Josh, he was excellent with great enthusiasm and knowledge about Dunedin and surrounds. Leigh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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