Auckland cruise terminal

[Cali82]

Hello All,

 

I was hoping someone could answer this question for me. We will be arriving in Auckland next month and thanks to NCL and not adding the requested flight deviation, we are arriving the day of the cruise. So, arriving at 6 am, how early can we drop our luggage at the cruise terminal? Our cruise leaves at 6 pm and would like to get a few hours out to explore. Thank you to anyone that has some answers.

[buchhalm]

This may help....

 

https://www.poal.co.nz/ops-information/Pages/cruise-faqs.aspx

[Jean C]

Hi, another option would be to store your luggage at the Britomart Train Station facilities. I'm not sure what wharf your cruise ship will dock at, Queens Wharf is the usual one, however the other wharves are all in the same general area as Queens Wharf.

 

You'll be bang in the heart of the tourist district so plenty to see for a quick wander around - either turn left or turn right, scenic eye candy either way.

 

If you want to grab any provisions before boarding, there's a big supermarket on Quay Street, to the east (if facing the harbour, head to the right).

 

[Cali82]

25 minutes ago, buchhalm said:

This may help....

 

https://www.poal.co.nz/ops-information/Pages/cruise-faqs.aspx

Thank you so much! This is what I was looking for.

[Cali82]

7 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Hi, another option would be to store your luggage at the Britomart Train Station facilities. I'm not sure what wharf your cruise ship will dock at, Queens Wharf is the usual one, however the other wharves are all in the same general area as Queens Wharf.

 

You'll be bang in the heart of the tourist district so plenty to see for a quick wander around - either turn left or turn right, scenic eye candy either way.

 

If you want to grab any provisions before boarding, there's a big supermarket on Quay Street, to the east (if facing the harbour, head to the right).

 

Thank you. I usually grab a few things before getting onboard and it’s nice to know I can get what I need nearby.

[buchhalm]

10 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Hi, another option would be to store your luggage at the Britomart Train Station facilities. I'm not sure what wharf your cruise ship will dock at, Queens Wharf is the usual one, however the other wharves are all in the same general area as Queens Wharf.

 

You'll be bang in the heart of the tourist district so plenty to see for a quick wander around - either turn left or turn right, scenic eye candy either way.

 

If you want to grab any provisions before boarding, there's a big supermarket on Quay Street, to the east (if facing the harbour, head to the right).

 

Britomart? Is that where they sell British people?

[Jean C]

3 minutes ago, Cali82 said:

Thank you. I usually grab a few things before getting onboard and it’s nice to know I can get what I need nearby.

Good place to buy your wine allowance for boarding - much nicer and cheaper wines than those supposedly sold duty free at the airport. Also soda of course 🍷

[Jean C]

2 minutes ago, buchhalm said:

Britomart? Is that where they sell British people?

Hehehe, not sure where the name comes from 🤣

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, Jean C said:

Hehehe, not sure where the name comes from 🤣

 

It was named for HMS Britomart. Which was the ship of Capt William Hobson, the first Governor of NZ.

 

Britomart was originally a character in Spenser's poem The Faerie Queene.

[buchhalm]

32 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

It was named for HMS Britomart. Which was the ship of Capt William Hobson, the first Governor of NZ.

 

Britomart was originally a character in Spenser's poem The Faerie Queene.

I'll lock that pearl of wisdom away for the next geek pub quiz. 

😉 

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 hours ago, buchhalm said:

This may help....

 

https://www.poal.co.nz/ops-information/Pages/cruise-faqs.aspx

We dropped our luggage off at Queen's Wharf around 10am on Dec 20th and they didn't have anything set up outside the terminal at that time. Rolf had to take the bags into the terminal and even then he said they didn't quite seem to know what to do with them. Our check-in time was 12 noon so we wanted to drop off our luggage before returning our rental car, do we only had our carry-ons to deal with. By the time we returned to the terminal at 11:50am they did have a baggage drop area outside the terminal.

 

We'd had no problems in 2019 when we embarked from Princes Wharf. They were very organised then. 

[Jean C]

2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

It was named for HMS Britomart. Which was the ship of Capt William Hobson, the first Governor of NZ.

 

Britomart was originally a character in Spenser's poem The Faerie Queene.

Very knowledgeable, thank you. Being a Brit in a previous life, I'm pleased to learn that I have nothing to fear entering the "mart" area👍😄

[chubbypiggy]

According to the link given above, our ship (Majestic Princess) will be arriving in Princes Wharf.  There is a half-day tour offered by Viator that I am interested in, but shows pick up point is Queens Wharf.  How long does it take to walk from Princes Wharf to Queens Wharf?   Thank you.

[arxcards]

39 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

According to the link given above, our ship (Majestic Princess) will be arriving in Princes Wharf.  There is a half-day tour offered by Viator that I am interested in, but shows pick up point is Queens Wharf.  How long does it take to walk from Princes Wharf to Queens Wharf?   Thank you.

Around 15 minutes from gangway to the foot of Queens Wharf.

[chubbypiggy]

2 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Around 15 minutes from gangway to the foot of Queens Wharf.

The travel company site says "There's a pick-up & drop-off area on Queens Wharf, to the right of the Ferry Building. That’s the spot.".

 

So it is only a 15-minutes walk from Princess' debarkation terminal, Princes Wharf, to the above mentioned pick-up point?  Is it an easy walk?  Easy to find the pick up area?  

 

Princess indicates ship arrival at 8:30 a.m.  We are in-transit passengers (from Sydney to Auckland), continue same ship on next cruise (Auckland to Los Angeles).  I don't know how long to take  before Princess will let us depart the ship for our independent tour.  The Viator tour starts at 10 a.m.  Do you think we will make it to the meeting point by 10 a.m.?

 

Thank you!

[Belmont Babe]

Looks to be about 200m from gangway at Princes wharf to meeting point at Queens wharf, easy walk along the waterfront. You can "walk" it on GoogleMaps streetview.

 

[Jean C]

10 minutes ago, Belmont Babe said:

Looks to be about 200m from gangway at Princes wharf to meeting point at Queens wharf, easy walk along the waterfront. You can "walk" it on GoogleMaps streetview.

 

Yes, I was surprised at the 15 min walk time. I googled it and came up with 13 mins - still much longer than I would have thought, it's a short stroll, the wharves are next to each other. Maybe Google measured it from the seaward end of the wharves. Regardless, it's just a stone's throw away, nothing of concern 🙂

[chubbypiggy]

18 minutes ago, Belmont Babe said:

Looks to be about 200m from gangway at Princes wharf to meeting point at Queens wharf, easy walk along the waterfront. You can "walk" it on GoogleMaps streetview.

 

Thank you !!

[chubbypiggy]

4 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Yes, I was surprised at the 15 min walk time. I googled it and came up with 13 mins - still much longer than I would have thought, it's a short stroll, the wharves are next to each other. Maybe Google measured it from the seaward end of the wharves. Regardless, it's just a stone's throw away, nothing of concern 🙂

Thank you.  I think we should be able to get to Queens Wharf by 10 a.m. for the tour.  Just need to make sure we don't get lost walking from Princes to Queens.

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, chubbypiggy said:

Thank you.  I think we should be able to get to Queens Wharf by 10 a.m. for the tour.  Just need to make sure we don't get lost walking from Princes to Queens.

You'll be right.

Just past the brown ferry building is Queens.

Less than 10 mins between the two terminals.

As you are in transit pax, you should be off the ship with minimal delay once cleared.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Tranquility Base

[chubbypiggy]

13 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

You'll be right.

Just past the brown ferry building is Queens.

Less than 10 mins between the two terminals.

As you are in transit pax, you should be off the ship with minimal delay once cleared.

 

 

 

 

Thank you.

 

The ship is scheduled to arrive at 8:30 a.m.  Hopefully by 9:30 a.m. we will be all cleared and be allowed to get off the ship freely.  Then can immediately walk to Queens Wharf. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Jean C said:

Yes, I was surprised at the 15 min walk time. I googled it and came up with 13 mins - still much longer than I would have thought, it's a short stroll, the wharves are next to each other. Maybe Google measured it from the seaward end of the wharves. Regardless, it's just a stone's throw away, nothing of concern 🙂

The Princes Wharf terminal is in the Hilton conference centre in the last "shed" on the right so it is a decent walk to Queens Wharf. 10-13 minutes would be about right. It's surprising how long that wharf is - I've stayed in apartments opposite the Hilton a couple of times.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, chubbypiggy said:

Thank you.  I think we should be able to get to Queens Wharf by 10 a.m. for the tour.  Just need to make sure we don't get lost walking from Princes to Queens.

You can't get lost. Just head down the wharf then left to the lovely ferry building and Queens Wharf is next to that. If enough people from your cruise book the same tour they might even pick up at Princes Wharf. It would be worth mentioning your ship will be docking there.

[Jean C]

1 hour ago, chubbypiggy said:

Thank you.  I think we should be able to get to Queens Wharf by 10 a.m. for the tour.  Just need to make sure we don't get lost walking from Princes to Queens.

Hahaha, impossible, even for the most navigationally challenged 😄 Turn left exiting Princes Wharf, walk past a couple of harbour cruise boats and you're there, just next door to the original old (dominating) sandstone Ferry Building 😊 

[Jean C]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

If enough people from your cruise book the same tour they might even pick up at Princes Wharf. It would be worth mentioning your ship will be docking there.

Definitely worth asking but don't be disappointed if they say no, parking and pickups are very difficult from Princes Wharf, much easier from Queens Wharf 🙂