March 2016 Diamond Princess

Hello fellow cruisers. Now that Europe has been crossed off my list, am looking into Australia/New Zealand on the Diamond Princess March 2, 2016. It's one of the few Princess cruises that visits both. Unfortunately no time to do the land tour, will probably take an extra day in Auckland before and Sydney after. Any advice on the ports?

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART

Wed Mar 2 Auckland, New Zealand 6:00pm

Thu Mar 3 Tauranga, New Zealand 9:00am 8:30pm

Fri Mar 4 At Sea

Sat Mar 5 Wellington, New Zealand 7:00am 6:00pm

Sun Mar 6 Picton, New Zealand 8:00am 5:00pm

Mon Mar 7 Akaroa, New Zealand 8:00am 6:00pm

Tue Mar 8 Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand 8:00am 6:00pm

Wed Mar 9 Fiordland National Park, New Zealand (Cruising) 9:00am 7:00pm

Thu Mar 10 At Sea

Fri Mar 11 At Sea

Sat Mar 12 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 8:00am 6:00pm

Sun Mar 13 At Sea

Mon Mar 14 Melbourne, Australia 7:00am 5:00pm

Tue Mar 15 At Sea

Wed Mar 16 Sydney, Australia 7:00am

Hi,

Hobart is a town you can self explore, and the ship berths very close to the centre.

Sites to visit include, Mona, Slamanca Markets, The female factory(Convict history)

Melbourne, you have to get a tram from the ship to the centre of the city, if you want to self explore, but if the ship is doing excursions it may be a good idea to check those out and see what floats your boat.

Sydney, so many tour operators, also easy to get around by public transport, or the hop on hop off bus which goes through the city then out to Bondi.

The Blue Mountains is a popular tour which takes a whole day, check out Australian Wild escapes they specialize in small group tours.

Hope this helps

Tauranga has good dolphin watching or trips up to prince Charles geyser etc at rotorua

Dunedin has speights brewery tour

Cadbury and seal colony with penguins near albatross lookout

Napier has art and winery tours

Wellington has gardens plus cable trolley

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Hobart also has the historical Port Arthur convict prison which is worth a visit. We hired a car for the day and drove out there. We also drive up Mt Wellington for lovely views over Hobart.

In Dunedin one of the best things to do in my opinion is the Taieri Gorge train trip. We were very organised and got off the ship early onto the shuttles provided and the driver happily dropped us at the train station. It is about half the price compared to doing a ships tour but you have to be organised.

http://www.taieri.co.nz

Many people travel from Tauranga to Rotorua which is about 1.5 hours drive. There are geysers, as well as mud pools and Maori cultural experiences. If yu stay around Tauranga you actually dock at Mt Manganui which is a popular holiday spot for New Zealanders. It's small enough that you can walk to the beach and around the shops. If you like walking you can also walk around the Mount, just head for the hill that you can see in front of the ship and walk along the foreshore to it.

Wellington is easy to do on your own you can go to Te Papa Museum which is good and take the Wellington Tram to the Botanic Gardens and the Kelburn lookout.

Akaroa is a quaint and beautiful town. We did a cheap bus tour around the hills that was being offered onshore by locals. We stopped at a beautiful lookout. When we returned we wandered around and found the old cemetery which had most of its tomb stands broken by the earthquakes. there is a nice view from up at the cemetery as well. (near the lighthouse).

Fiordland scenic cruising. You are in for a visual feast. This is one of the most beautiful places on earth. :)

Thanks so much for all of the advice! :) I just dont know where to start haha

Thanks so much for all of the advice! :) I just dont know where to start haha

I suggest you do two things to help your research and narrow down what you are interested in.

The first is check out the Princess' shorexs, it will give you ideas of what can be done and what is popular, also check out other cruiselines' shorexs for ideas(X, RCI, etc).

The second is Trip Advisor, where you can look at things to do and filter out or in the types of things you like (i.e. adventure, sights, wildlife, family, etc).

Good luck.:D

Hello fellow cruisers. Now that Europe has been crossed off my list, am looking into Australia/New Zealand on the Diamond Princess March 2, 2016. It's one of the few Princess cruises that visits both. Unfortunately no time to do the land tour, will probably take an extra day in Auckland before and Sydney after. Any advice on the ports?

 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART

Wed Mar 2 Auckland, New Zealand 6:00pm

Thu Mar 3 Tauranga, New Zealand 9:00am 8:30pm

Fri Mar 4 At Sea

Sat Mar 5 Wellington, New Zealand 7:00am 6:00pm

Sun Mar 6 Picton, New Zealand 8:00am 5:00pm

Mon Mar 7 Akaroa, New Zealand 8:00am 6:00pm

Tue Mar 8 Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand 8:00am 6:00pm

Wed Mar 9 Fiordland National Park, New Zealand (Cruising) 9:00am 7:00pm

Thu Mar 10 At Sea

Fri Mar 11 At Sea

Sat Mar 12 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 8:00am 6:00pm

Sun Mar 13 At Sea

Mon Mar 14 Melbourne, Australia 7:00am 5:00pm

Tue Mar 15 At Sea

Wed Mar 16 Sydney, Australia 7:00am

I did most of these same ports on the Diamond Princess back in December 2013. I am just now posting my review of my trip (slacker). Feel free to check it out, I might have some ideas from things we did or something.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2112413

Thanks so much! This is perfect timing, as we tentatively booked our trip today! Much appreciated.

As far as Dunedin goes, I also recommend the Taieri Gorge train trip. I also highly recommend Elm Wildlife Tours. We did a wonderful full day tour with them last time and it was a fantastic day. You can check them out here.

http://www.elmwildlifetours.co.nz/

Have fun planning. It is almost as exciting as the cruise itself!

cheers

Stu

Thanks so much! This is perfect timing, as we tentatively booked our trip today! Much appreciated.

Good work, now start planning, researching and booking the various aspects to make your cruise even better.:D