Australia New Zealand Excursions Questions.

[willtup5]

We are on Majestic Princess January 29 2023 cruise. Have noticed on these boards people posting that ship excursions are being cancelled with little to no notice in New Zealand.  Question. Should I go with cruiseline excursions that have been booked and payed for or should I go to my back up plan of excursions I have reserved through TripAdvisor.  I understand that lack of staffing is a big problem. (World wide). I would appreciate your thoughts.

[MicCanberra]

Go with the ships shorex's if you want security for your money back if it gets cancelled.

[buchhalm]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Go with the ships shorex's if you want security for your money back if it gets cancelled.

Agree. 👍🏻

[Over from NZ]

Princess (and presumably the other lines too) are stiffing people on excursions. You're in NZ & Aus where consumer laws are strong and tour operators are well respected. The problems you mentioned are going to affect the cruise-line just as much - I would book direct in those 2 countries. 

[Johhno]

We are currently on the Grand Princess NZ cruise. Some ports (for example,Tauranga) have tours dock side that you can book on the spot. We did miss Napier due to bad weather. 

Some ports there are shuttle buses offered from port to city but I also suggest you research before you leave home the cost of using public transport and local attractions you can book on the day.

 

 

 

[MMDown Under]

30 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

Princess (and presumably the other lines too) are stiffing people on excursions. You're in NZ & Aus where consumer laws are strong and tour operators are well respected. The problems you mentioned are going to affect the cruise-line just as much - I would book direct in those 2 countries. 

Agree, but confirm refund will be given if ship misses port.

[cruiser3775]

Some of the independent shore excursion companies only require payment on the day in local currency.  As long as you can get that (probably from an ATM in the port), you will not lose money if the ship doesn't get there.

[LuckiePuris]

I'm currently considering same thing.

 

The risk with non cruise ship excursions is that the ship won't wait for you if you're late back.

And it's also tricky to time what time you'll be able to get off the ship to miss your independent tour.

 

That being said, if you time your time with buffer time either side, independent tours can often offer more variety.

 

Of all the cruise lines however, the Princess tours do seem to be best priced, so if you find something that suits on Princess, I would go that option.

[lyndarra]

4 hours ago, Johhno said:

We are currently on the Grand Princess NZ cruise. Some ports (for example,Tauranga) have tours dock side that you can book on the spot. We did miss Napier due to bad weather. 

Some ports there are shuttle buses offered from port to city but I also suggest you research before you leave home the cost of using public transport and local attractions you can book on the day.

 

 

 

On my last NZ cruise (Feb 2020) I booked an independant tour from Tauranga. The tour mini bus was there waiting and another couple, who had also booked independantly, also boarded. However, the driver had another booking who did not show. While we were waiting  a few cruisers wandered over to the bus and asked the driver where we were going and if they could go too. No problem - as there were spare seats.

[lissie]

On 11/14/2022 at 7:25 AM, willtup5 said:

We are on Majestic Princess January 29 2023 cruise. Have noticed on these boards people posting that ship excursions are being cancelled with little to no notice in New Zealand.  Question. Should I go with cruiseline excursions that have been booked and payed for or should I go to my back up plan of excursions I have reserved through TripAdvisor.  I understand that lack of staffing is a big problem. (World wide). I would appreciate your thoughts.

Can  you cancel the tours via 3rd parties? Why not contact the tour operators directly and talk to them? They are far more likely to be flexible if they are not loosing 30% of the fee to an offshore company. If the company doesn't  have a website I probably wouldn't deal with them.  

[MMDown Under]

4 hours ago, Johhno said:

We are currently on the Grand Princess NZ cruise. Some ports (for example,Tauranga) have tours dock side that you can book on the spot. We did miss Napier due to bad weather. 

Some ports there are shuttle buses offered from port to city but I also suggest you research before you leave home the cost of using public transport and local attractions you can book on the day.

 

 

 

Good advice.  We caught local bus to Tauranga and had the best day's shopping in NZ.

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, lissie said:

Can  you cancel the tours via 3rd parties? Why not contact the tour operators directly and talk to them? They are far more likely to be flexible if they are not loosing 30% of the fee to an offshore company. If the company doesn't  have a website I probably wouldn't deal with them.  

Good advice.  I always book direct.  If the company won't give a refund if the cruise ship doesn't get in to port, I don't book with them.  

[LuckiePuris]

35 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Good advice.  We caught local bus to Tauranga and had the best day's shopping in NZ.

What sort of shopping did you find? Thanks

[MicCanberra]

Cruiselines tend to be around $30 pp or more for the same type of excursion but then you do get the security. It all depends on what sort of port ,tender or docked, and each person's risk assessment.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, LuckiePuris said:

What sort of shopping did you find? Thanks

Bras I'd been searching all over NZ for, so a good find.  I bought all the stock!!  Plus other misc travelling, camping and different stuff.  We don't shop when we are travelling around by car, except for craft and food shops, but love an odd day spent shopping.  We had previously stayed in Rotorua and Coromandel Peninsula and got sunburnt in Hot Water Beach.

[possum52]

2 hours ago, lyndarra said:

On my last NZ cruise (Feb 2020) I booked an independant tour from Tauranga. The tour mini bus was there waiting and another couple, who had also booked independantly, also boarded. However, the driver had another booking who did not show. While we were waiting  a few cruisers wandered over to the bus and asked the driver where we were going and if they could go too. No problem - as there were spare seats.

The same happened with us at Tauranga,  there were a two spare seats and the driver/guide was quite happy for a woman travelling by herself to join us. 

[MMDown Under]

34 minutes ago, possum52 said:

The same happened with us at Tauranga,  there were a two spare seats and the driver/guide was quite happy for a woman travelling by herself to join us. 

I found Tauranga to be the best NZ port for variety of independent tours offered at the wharf.  Plus a council bus stop to Tauranga. So easy!  

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I found Tauranga to be the best NZ port for variety of independent tours offered at the wharf.  Plus a council bus stop to Tauranga. So easy!  

Plus good beaches, both surf and harbour, and hot water swimming pools just a short walk away. Nice cafes at the Mount too.

[oz61]

We booked and paid for an excursion in Dunedin for the railway and our ship was diverted to Wellington due to the weather. The operator happily refunded us which was a huge relief. 
In Tauranga we booked a private tour as we wanted to go to Hobbiton and Rotorua and ship did not offer both. We only paid at the end of the day. It was one of our best days!

I only ever book ship tours if it is a tender port. In the other ports, we were there until 7 pm and 9:30 pm, so there was plenty of time to return before dinner time without any stress.

[LuckiePuris]

14 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Bras I'd been searching all over NZ for, so a good find.  I bought all the stock!!  Plus other misc travelling, camping and different stuff.  We don't shop when we are travelling around by car, except for craft and food shops, but love an odd day spent shopping.  We had previously stayed in Rotorua and Coromandel Peninsula and got sunburnt in Hot Water Beach.

That’s fantastic!

[Relaxing Robbies]

We had an independent tour booked in Napier last week. We received an email from the company the day before the tour advising that the tour was cancelled and a refund had been processed to our credit card because the ship was missing the port. The email arrived 5 hours before the captain made an announcement that the port would be missed due to bad weather!

[LuckiePuris]

30 minutes ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

We had an independent tour booked in Napier last week. We received an email from the company the day before the tour advising that the tour was cancelled and a refund had been processed to our credit card because the ship was missing the port. The email arrived 5 hours before the captain made an announcement that the port would be missed due to bad weather!

Wow very efficient from the tour company 

Edited November 15, 2022 by LuckiePuris