Cruising New Zealand & Australia March 2013 NEED ADVICE

[mamanett]

Will be on Celebrity Ship first going to New Zealand (Tauranga, Wellington, Akaroa, Dunedin, Melbourne. Then going to Sydney, Cairns, Port Douglas, Airlie Beach, Brisbane.

Question: Do we really need to book expensive excursions on ship OR can we get tours from ports? Suggestions really appreciated!!!

We are in our 60s and can walk, love historical sites, siteseeing, historical sites, shopping, good food. Not interested in beaches or water sports as we live in a state with all of that.

Cruising in March. How to pack? Cool? Cold? Warm?

Suggestions

[MRSBITS]

Originally Posted by mamanett

Will be on Celebrity Ship first going to New Zealand (Tauranga, Wellington, Akaroa, Dunedin, Melbourne. Then going to Sydney, Cairns, Port Douglas, Airlie Beach, Brisbane.

Question: Do we really need to book expensive excursions on ship OR can we get tours from ports? Suggestions really appreciated!!!

We are in our 60s and can walk, love historical sites, siteseeing, historical sites, shopping, good food. Not interested in beaches or water sports as we live in a state with all of that.

Cruising in March. How to pack? Cool? Cold? Warm?

Suggestions

Hi mamanett,

Welcome to Cruise Critic!! You will find wonderful input from fellow-cruisers by going to the roll call for your cruise under Celebrity "Connections" Roll Calls. I'm assuming that you are on the Solstice and roll calls are posted by the date.

We are on the Jan. 20, 2014 Solstice AU/NZ cruise and have a fabulous group planning private excursions for several ports. Take a look at what we have organized.

Carolyn

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by mamanett

Question: Do we really need to book expensive excursions on ship OR can we get tours from ports?

Just think about this: The vast majority of visitors to any city do not come on cruise ships, but nevertheless manage to explore the cities without the aid of ships' excursions - and, in most cases, without the aid of organised tours of any kind.

So if you're used to seeing cities on your own, there is absolutely no need to do anything different from what you'd normally do when visiting somewhere, so long as you know how and when you're going to get back to the ship.

[JacintaH]

I agree with the advice above with the one caveat.

If you plan a trip to the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns then you should consider the cruise ship's offering.

Solstice will not dock in Cairns but will be moored off Yorkey's Knob (one of our beach suburbs) and passengers will tender into shore. All of the commercial trips to the reef leave from the wharves in the CBD which are approx 20 mins by taxi or shuttle.

If you arrange a private trip you would need to ensure you were able to get yourself into the CBD in time to catch the boat out to the Reef and then make sure you get back in time to depart with the Solstice.

The ships excursion will be arranged specifically for your trip's arrival and departure time and will avoid any requirement to make a mad dash in a taxi risking missing the day out or the departing ship.

Unfortunately it will be horrifically expensive but if the GB Reef is on your list of trips to make then the ships excursion will be the easiest logistically.

[JacintaH]

oh, and in terms of what to pack - in Queensland you will be travelling in our wet season. This means that the weather will be hot and wet (as opposed to hot and dry).

Light clothing, avoid synthetics.

The first part of your trip will be milder conditions and the conventional wisdom is to pack lighter clothes but bring along some windproof jackets and other clothes to layer up.

The winds around the bottom of NZ can be very cold so you would need something to allow you to enjoy being out on deck or on an excursion if it gets cool.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I agree with all the above.
If you want a reef trip...go with the ships offering ,simply due to time and logistics.
Tauranga...if you want to visit Rotorua and the Thermal Areas , a tour is a must here. You could hire a car and DIY, but if you dont know the area you could miss out on a lot.Ships tours here will take you over, its about an hours run, but you will be in a bus with about 50 other passengers and that can be time consuming. There are many private tour opereators that will meet you on the dock, or just outside the port gates , and show you so much more in the time available.
The other ports are all doable on your own.
Melbourne especially is very easy to do , and is a joy to wander around in.

[Flipper133]

I have to disagree somewhat.

There are some private operators that know all the factors involved in looking after cruise ship passengers (including getting back for departure time)
These operators survive, grow and expand because of their professionalism.

One of these operators advertises in a banner on these boards and from personal experience I can recommend them. Their General Manager (Iain) used to be a regular, and highly regarded contributor here some years ago, but was banned because the moderators thought he was promoting his own business too much. Many thought this was harsh particularly as they still take his advertising dollars.

Their web site is www.shoretrips.co.nz

They provide tours in all ports in NZ (they are actually based in Tauranga NZ) as well as a few in Australia...including Cairns.

Perhaps you could consider these...much more economical than the ships overpriced tours

cheers

[kiwijo]

Given your list of interests, Wellington is going to be a great option for you when it comes to food, sightseeing and historical sites. I'd highly recommend a tour with Zest Food Tours followed by an afternoon at Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum and home of the national art collection too. Te Papa is vast - although entry is free, when time is short a guided tour really makes sure you hit the highlights and they're not expensive. Have a look at www.zestfoodtours.co.nz and www.tepapa.govt.nz

[Valley Girl of VA]

We will be on HAL Oosterdam gong to many of the same ports. We have not booked one single ship's tours and do not intend to. In Wellington, there is their equivalent of the Smithsonian, the Te Papa Museum. I think it is about $15 NZD. In Dunedin, you go on your own do the Taieri Gorge Railroad unless there are two ships in ports or take an excursion with one of the tour guides to the Otago Peninsula to see penguins, albatros, sea lions, etc. Lots to do that does not include a ship's tour.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

In Auckland and Wellington buy a 24 hour ticket on the HOHO (Hop On Hop Off) bus $45NZ each and do it yourself....

In Wellington the Te Papa Museum in Wellington is free, I believe. The Cable car to the top for views of Wellington is $6.00NZ return.

[CruisinGrandpa]

We are just back from the Dawn P New Zealand cruise
Highly recommend Jim Archer of Archer tours in both Tauranga and Auckland
(know you didn't indicate this port, but others might be interested)
Also recommend John Hanlon of Hawks Bay scenic if you stop in Napier
Also hired a private car in Dunedin at $100 NZ pp for 4 of us to tour - great day
and intro to NZ (our first port) email me at Dall dot barley @ sbcglobal dot net
If you want more info
You can find reviews and contact info for both operators upon Trip Advisor

In Akaroa we did the ships walking tour - VERY small town -
In Wellington we took the ship shuttle into town, walked about 3 blocks and took
The tram to the top of the Botanical gardens. Walked down hill through the
gardens, stopped off in Parliament, and then walked to Te Papa - VERY good
museum
Dall