travel4fun_sd

Great idea and good advice to have hard printed copy of the visa approval on hand. I wasn't able to pull up the app at the cruise terminal, therefore, unable to show my visa. I was directed to stand in another line so that Princess can verify my visa. Luckily, I had wifi for a brief moment (wifi in OPT is aweful, non-existent) and was able to pull up the approval email!

I was on Majestic Princess in early January. Princess provided complimentary shuttle bus service from the pier to Lyttelton and Port Chalmers. This complimentary shuttle bus service does not take to Christchurch and Dunedin, respectively. To get to Christchurch and Dunedin, I purchased private shuttle bus tickets from the shuttle bus company at the pier. These shuttle buses leave directly from the pier to the city (Christchurch or Octagon/Dunedin) and drop you off at the pier in the afternoon. Very convenient! Prices are the same in Christchurch and Dunedin: NZ$20 one way or NZ$35 return per person. I used credit card to pay for the tickets. In Christchurch, you can consider buying a one-way private shuttle bus ticket to Christchurch for NZ$25/person and buy a public bus ticket for bus#28 from the main bus terminal in Christchurch to get back to Lyttelton. Then take the Princess complimentary shuttle bus from Lyttelton back to the pier. Bus#28 also stops at the Gondola station. The cost for the public bus is NZ$2.60 one way or a day pass for NZ$5 if you plan to visit the Gondola or anywhere within a zone. Day pass can only be purchased at the main bus terminal in Christchurch. Gondola and Lyttelton are in the same zone. If you have local currency, you can take the Princess complimentary shuttle to Lyttelton downtown in the morning and catch bus #28 to Christchurch. It will save alot of money if you have more than one person in your group. I learned that bus drivers give priority to locals first. So you might need to wait a bit to get on the bus during peak hours in the morning or afternoon. The queue at the main bus terminal in Christchurch gets long starting around 2pm. Budget extra time to get ticket and the queue. I bought my tickets in the morning (because I walked by the bus terminal) to avoid queue in the afternoon. Lastly, you can buy a single ticket from the bus driver if you have local currency. I can't remember if they give change or not so best to have exact change. The public bus ticket prices are going up in February I think, so the prices I mentioned earlier may be higher. Princess gave us very good information about how to get around town using both private shuttle buses and public buses. If you choose to take the public bus, please keep in mind that there might a separate queue for locals. Don't be alarmed if someone jumps the queue. They might be locals :-).