Fiordland Shore Excursion...thoughts? Is it worth $$$

Has anyone ever taken the Fiordland Shore Excursion in New Zealand? One can stay on the Ship and cruise around the south coast and view the outer Coast/ Fiords from afar or take a Tour leaving the Ship and going inland. The Tour is pricey and would mean being in a Bus being hulled around with a window view. We don't mind paying the money, it's just since we are coming from so far away we want to make the most of our Trip. I'd appreciate any information one might have. Best Regards

What cruise line and what ship? I've been to Fiordland a couple of times and if I knew the particulars of the shore excursion, I could tell you whether I thought it was worth the time and money.

I imagine you're referring to the Milford Sound to Dunedin overnight excursion. I initially thought it was pretty pricey for two days, so we were planning to fly to Queenstown from Auckland after our cruise ends. After adding what it would cost for the flight to Queenstown, a bus tour + scenic cruise to Milford Sound from Queenstown, the dinner and cruise on the TSS Earnslaw, hotel in Queenstown for 2 nights (the ship's tour spends one night, but we would need 2 nights post-cruise), breakfast and lunch the day we leave Queenstown, and the tour to Arrowtown/Gibbston Valley Winery/Clyde - the $575 pp price tag (on Celebrity) was pretty comparable.

You need to decide whether you'd prefer to see Dusky and Doubtful sounds and tour Dunedin, or travel through Fjordland National Park and visit Queenstown. I want to see the latter more than the former, so we will probably book the ship's excursion.

Here is a trip report from Dec. 2011 on Celebrity Century (begin with post #71): http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=31673358#post31673358 This couple traveled in the reverse direction from Dunedin to Milford Sound on the ship's excursion.

I imagine you're referring to the Milford Sound to Dunedin overnight excursion. I initially thought it was pretty pricey for two days, so we were planning to fly to Queenstown from Auckland after our cruise ends. After adding what it would cost for the flight to Queenstown, a bus tour + scenic cruise to Milford Sound from Queenstown, the dinner and cruise on the TSS Earnslaw, hotel in Queenstown for 2 nights (the ship's tour spends one night, but we would need 2 nights post-cruise), breakfast and lunch the day we leave Queenstown, and the tour to Arrowtown/Gibbston Valley Winery/Clyde - the $575 pp price tag (on Celebrity) was pretty comparable.

The headline price tag isn't quite the whole story.

You also have to factor in what you've paid for the time on the ship which will in effect be wasted while you're not on board, which is wasted money that should be added to the headline cost to get the true financial picture.

In addition, the overnight ship's excursion really won't leave you with a lot of time to see either Queenstown or the areas in between Milford Sound and Queenstown. Even Queenstown requires more time than this. If you were to fly to Queenstown and stay there for two nights, you'd see many many times more of Queenstown and its immediate environs than you could on the ship's excursion. In addition, the ship's excursion shows you much of the area through a hermetically sealed coach window, which is not the best way of experiencing this part of New Zealand. Many people will think that this reduces the value of what you get from the ship's excursion.

If that is the excursion being referred to, there is another recent thread on this: Queenstown or Not?

 

The headline price tag isn't quite the whole story.

 

You also have to factor in what you've paid for the time on the ship which will in effect be wasted while you're not on board, which is wasted money that should be added to the headline cost to get the true financial picture.

 

In addition, the overnight ship's excursion really won't leave you with a lot of time to see either Queenstown or the areas in between Milford Sound and Queenstown. Even Queenstown requires more time than this. If you were to fly to Queenstown and stay there for two nights, you'd see many many times more of Queenstown and its immediate environs than you could on the ship's excursion. In addition, the ship's excursion shows you much of the area through a hermetically sealed coach window, which is not the best way of experiencing this part of New Zealand. Many people will think that this reduces the value of what you get from the ship's excursion.

Globaliser,

Have you actually done this trip?

As I replied on the other thread, my advice to the OP is to take the trip if this will be their only visit to NZ. This is because you can only see a small part of NZ from the port visits, and the overland trip shows much more of the inland scenery. It's not just about the towns. Also. Dusky and Doubtful Sounds are not as specatcular as Milford.

However, if the OP is planning to spend time later on shore in NZ, and will then see Queenstown etc, they should stay on the ship.

If that is the excursion being referred to, there is another recent thread on this: Queenstown or Not?

 

The headline price tag isn't quite the whole story.

 

You also have to factor in what you've paid for the time on the ship which will in effect be wasted while you're not on board, which is wasted money that should be added to the headline cost to get the true financial picture.

 

In addition, the overnight ship's excursion really won't leave you with a lot of time to see either Queenstown or the areas in between Milford Sound and Queenstown. Even Queenstown requires more time than this. If you were to fly to Queenstown and stay there for two nights, you'd see many many times more of Queenstown and its immediate environs than you could on the ship's excursion. In addition, the ship's excursion shows you much of the area through a hermetically sealed coach window, which is not the best way of experiencing this part of New Zealand. Many people will think that this reduces the value of what you get from the ship's excursion.

I posted on that thread, and at that time - I planned to visit Queenstown post-cruise. I have since reconsidered.

Any time one is off the ship could be considered "wasted money" if you don't fully utilize the pre-paid, onboard amenities. We'll miss the shipboard lunch while in each of the 7 ports we visit, and we'll probably pay for it again out-of-pocket or as part of an excursion. If we do the ship's Queenstown excursion, we will miss 1 breakfast, 1 additional lunch, and 1 dinner - plus 1 overnight on the ship. Rather than look at a missed onboard meal as "wasted money" - I consider never missing a meal to be a wasted opportunity to do something more worthwhile. You can't be in two places at once.

Since you are factoring the value of pre-paid time/amenities on the ship, you should also factor the value of an additional 2 or 3 vacation days needed to go to Queenstown post-cruise. I have all the time in the world, but my DH has 3 weeks for this trip. With a 14-night cruise and a lost day flying to Sydney - would you shorten the time in Sydney at the beginning or the time in NZ at the end? For us - choosing the Queenstown excursion over the three Ds (Doubtful, Dusky, and Dunedin) allows us to not skimp on Sydney, see Auckland for a day or two, and still see some of Fjordland National Park and Queenstown.

By the way, if you read the section of the trip report (the link is above) from someone who did the ship's excursion to Queenstown - the writer never complained about viewing the scenery through a "hermetically sealed coach window."

Globaliser,

 

Have you actually done this trip?

Since you are factoring the value of pre-paid time/amenities on the ship, you should also factor the value of an additional 2 or 3 vacation days needed to go to Queenstown post-cruise. ...

 

By the way, if you read the section of the trip report (the link is above) from someone who did the ship's excursion to Queenstown - the writer never complained about viewing the scenery through a "hermetically sealed coach window."

Whether it's worth it or not depends on many things, including the overall time available - you are quite right to mention this. It seemed to me to be worthwhile to point the OP of this thread to the previous thread where there's more detail and discussion, so that the pros can be fully weighed against the cons.

I haven't done the specific cruise line trip, but I do know this area of the country from a tourist perspective. I have covered it using different forms of transport, in different circumstances and with different degrees of regimentation about timetabling. There is a lot that is inevitable if (a) you are doing an excursion through this part of the country by coach; and (b) in two days, you must cover over 350 miles on single-carriageway roads that are often winding through hilly country. That reviewer may not have complained about it, but that is inevitably what one will be doing on this trip.

 

Whether it's worth it or not depends on many things, including the overall time available - you are quite right to mention this. It seemed to me to be worthwhile to point the OP of this thread to the previous thread where there's more detail and discussion, so that the pros can be fully weighed against the cons.

Our cruise isn't until Jan. 2014, so we have plenty of time to tweak our plans. If my husband isn't particularly interested in seeing Fjordland National Park and Queenstown, or would prefer to stay on the ship to see Dusky & Doubtful sounds and Dunedin - I might fly to Queenstown on my own post-cruise. No matter how I/we visit Queenstown - the trip to Fjordland National Park will be on a coach tour. (We aren't interested in renting a car and driving on the left!)

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and plans. We are coming from Europe and only have so much time to enjoy. I was contemplating on either Land or Sea. We unfortunately don't have enough time for both. Let's see if we can get our fill of it all in the two days. If not, then we'll just have to come back. I'm mostly curious about the long flight and how my body will handle it.

Cheers and enjoy your journeys!

I haven't done the specific cruise line trip, but I do know this area of the country from a tourist perspective. I have covered it using different forms of transport, in different circumstances and with different degrees of regimentation about timetabling. There is a lot that is inevitable if (a) you are doing an excursion through this part of the country by coach; and (b) in two days, you must cover over 350 miles on single-carriageway roads that are often winding through hilly country. That reviewer may not have complained about it, but that is inevitably what one will be doing on this trip. Whether it's worth it or not depends on many things, including the overall time available - you are quite right to mention this. It seemed to me to be worthwhile to point the OP of this thread to the previous thread where there's more detail and discussion, so that the pros can be fully weighed against the cons.

Appreciate the above post by Globaliser, plus Nancy's comments, etc. We will be on the same Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, cruise with Nancy and are kicking around the various pro/con factors. Our leaning, right now, is to fly down to Queenstown after our cruise finishing in Auckland and before going back home to Ohio.

From several friends who have been there, the main bottom line is that Queenstown is definitely worth the extra effort, time and cost to get there. Everybody has love that town, its scenic setting, the area, etc. Will keep considering our options and appreciate the various wise comments and info.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 107,487 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

I tend to agree with Globaliser. My DW and I did a one month road trip by car through NZ and we did the overnight Milford Sound cruise.

It was spectacular, and if you love waterfalls, sheer cliffs and fjords and a very special experience on board go for it. The negative is the effort and distance and hence time expended to get there. The trip to Milford Sound is special, traveling through the Southern Alps with unbeleivable lakes and mountain ranges. If you have the time, its worth it, if not see other sites, they are beautiful too. like Franz Josef Glacier, Bay of Islands.

Hint, the old library books on NZ tour sites are just as timely today since there is not much change in the natural beauty. Except for the likes of Hobbit Village and Bungi jumping/jetboat experiences, not much is different, a great attribute to non development of the country. Auckland is modern but great.