Tom F

We're looking at doing this cruise, but have never done a world cruise before and have no idea what to expect in in terms of incentives from our TA, who we've only just begun working with (to complicate things, we're in New Zealand, so I expect TAs here may operate differently than in the US and elsewhere). @mrlevin mentioned 8-10%. Is that typical? Is that in the form of a straight discount, or a portion discount and OBC? Do agent affiliations with Virtuoso or other associations mean anything? Any other tips or things to look for (or look out for?). 

Hi, we're also new to Seabourn and just discovering this. Would love to understand it and work with someone. In Dec 2023 we booked a July 2025 cruise on Encore through our travel agent.

8 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Caveat,  this trip dates pre Covid, things may have changed.

 

Dunedin

Started here, lots of places to say, charming town. Easy flight from Aukland, picked up car. 

 

Curio Bay

Drove through a hellacious storm so can't comment much on the drive. Got a place on the ocean to chill and explore for a few days, wild and remote. Loved it. Gave us a feel for the real people in the country. So warm and welcoming. 

https://www.bookabach.co.nz/

 

Te Anau

You might begin your trip here if there are time constraints.

Great lodge and place to explore from.

https://www.fiordlandlodge.co.nz/

They arranged for a private heli tour (must do). Picked us up from the lawn. We did the short version and wished we had done the long.

We did a  Dusky tour on our own, take the early boat, less crowded with tour busses. Dusky is much bigger than Milford.  There is a small boat ride and then a bus to get to Dusky, all crazy scenic and part of the experience.

Left our luggage and car at lodge and did an overnight on Milford.

https://www.fiordlanddiscovery.co.nz/

These folks were fantastic.  We arranged a pick up at the lodge. They gave us a mini tour on the way to the boat with a few stops and very short hikes. Overnight on Milford was as perfect as it gets.  The fiord is actually quite small. To spend the evening and morning without crowds of tourists, the light, the silence, oh ya. Food and wine excellent.

 

Queenstown/Wanaka

Another stunning scenic drive. We had 3 nights booked but only spent one.  Things may have changed post Covid, but at the risk of offending some, we didn't want to stay in a town that catered 95% to Chinese tourists.  We hightailed it to Wanaka. Just charming.  As a side note, our friends who went to Mt. Cook felt the same as we did about Queenstown.  Perhaps others can chime in to what it's like post Covid.

 

Franz Joseph Glacier

Another gobsmacking scenic drive. Again lots of places to stop with mini hikes/walks. Perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 mile walks to see more amazing things. Longer ones if you like.

 

https://rainforest.nz/

Stayed in a Deluxe TreeLodge. We loved this place. Simple and charming. Every morning they bring a delightful breakfast tray to your door. Did a glacier hike and had some great food at King Tiger. All very memorable.

 

Hokitka

One nighter.  A charming beach town known for its jade. I like jade.😃  You will find the usual tourist stuff, but also some excellent carvers.  FYI, a lot of the jade sold in NZ is from Alaska or Canada which isn't necessarily bad. Find some locals if you want NZ jade.  Plenty of little hotels on the beach with balconies to sip wine and watch the waves roll in.

 

Greymouth to Christchurch

Drove in morning to Greymouth to catch the train to Christchurch. Easy drive and you drop your car off next to train station.  Check in, drop your luggage and have a walk around and a pint.

 

Here things become a bit fuzzy for me, picked up a nasty bug. Between the weather and sleeping, didnt see much on the train and nothing of Christchurch. Folks do like the train and Christchurch, but I remember very little. Perhaps others can chime in.  

 

Christchurch to Aukland. Easy flight. You do need to transfer from domestic to international terminal which is a short walk, unless things have changed.   Air New Zealand had some great fares in biz. 

 

I hope this helps. Reach out if you have any more questions. 

 

 

 

This is a strong itinerary with lots of great suggestions. I'll toss in a few more!

Queenstown, in my view, is a fabulous base for exploring portions of the South Island. It has a bit of an Aspen CO vibe (and is actually a sister city) and has heaps of tourism for good reason, with a tremendous range of adventure activities and day-trips organised through established tour providers. Take a day trip to Glenorchy for stunning scenery (used in various movies), toward Cromwell to the east for Otago wineries with some of the best Pinots (Gibbston Valley, Mt Difficulty, others have cellar doors and restaurants), before heading to lovely Wanaka and up the west coast toward the glaciers. And maybe reserve a day or two in QTN with no plans because you'll probably find something of interest to do on the spur of the moment (preorder your Fergburger online to avoid the line though, haha).

NZ has a number of "great walks" and likely the most famous is the Milford Track through Fiordland. There are a limited number of spots, so reservations are essential when the booking window opens. We've done the glamping version (departs from QTN or Te Anau) and very, very highly recommend it: https://www.ultimatehikes.co.nz/multi-day-guided-walks/milford-track (it ends with a lovely boat ride from the aptly-named Sandfly Point to the Mitre Peak lodge with stunning views of the sound). 

There are helicopter tours from the Fox/Franz glacier area to the top, possibly with an opportunity to go into a wee ice tunnel, if that's of interest. We enjoyed this and learning about the glaciers and visiting the top was interesting, but the stunning scenery from the air was the highlight, tbh.

Hokitika is part of the "west coast wilderness" bike trail from Greymouth to Ross, if cycling is of interest: https://www.westcoastwildernesstrail.co.nz - we're not avid cyclists, but we've rented e-bikes in Hokitika for an out-and-back towards Lake Kaniere, which takes you through some fairy-tale like forest scenery for a fantastic day trip.

We live in Christchurch, so some suggestions there: it's a lovely mid-size city and great place to live, but not a lot of wow factor for tourism. Take a day to walk through Hagley Park and the botanical gardens, do punting or rent kayaks on the tranquil Avon River, walk over to Riverside Market for lunch and up past the historical cathedral (under repair from the quakes) to New Regent St to view some of the city vibe. Hop on/off Christchurch Trams are beautiful and convenient, and you can even have a dinner on a tram at night and see the city that way. Sumner beach / Taylor's Mistake hike for a taste of beach life here. Highly recommend a day or two to the beautiful Banks Peninsula with hiking, kayaking, or a short harbour cruise out of french-influenced Akaroa to see the world's smallest/cutest dolphins in their natural habitat. Maybe a stay at Otahuna Lodge (Relais & Chateaux) between Akaroa and ChCh to recover from all your activities. 😃

We love living in NZ, but a drawback is that's it's quite remote, obviously. But I guess that's all the more reason to encourage others to combine a land portion of their NZ trip with a cruise, since getting here is a long flight for most. I don't think you'll regret taking extra time in NZ. Back to your original question: you can't go wrong with #1 or #2, but if doing the south island land trip, then #2 itinerary would certainly edge out #1 for my tastes (unless you want to also do a land trip in the north island as well, haha). Hope this helps!

Surely the answer has to be to do a back-to-back! 😃

As someone who lives in NZ (south island), I'd say you can't go wrong with either. I don't think #2 is getting the love it deserves, tbh. Overall good ports and an overnight in Napier is interesting and would allow more time to explore that beautiful region, especially if you enjoy wines, along with Gisborne. Some interesting excursion opportunities from the north island ports, especially Tauranga, with more opportunity to learn about Maori culture. While there may not be a lot to do in New Plymouth (hiking Taranaki?), some ports on #1 aren't exactly flash either (looking at you, Timaru, Dunedin, and Bluff...). 

For my tastes, #1 wins hands down for scenery and #2 for ports, but you will have a fantastic trip with either! (P.S. Since both itineraries stop in Napier: if you rent a car or arrange other transportation, lunch at Craggy Range followed by a visit to Te Mata Peak is quite something).

Ok, so not just us down here in NZ, thank you very much.

My wife and I are soon-to-be empty nesters and looking forward to trying some luxury cruises. Thanks to all the experts on this board: your info is so helpful, and the "Live from..." threads are really fun. 

Now for the question... we live in NZ and last week I was on silversea.com happily looking at cruises, doing some mock bookings to see which cabins were available, etc, with no problems. A couple of days ago I started getting an "It looks like there's a problem..." error when I went to "Book Your Cruise" on the page that asks for number of guests. I called the phone number shown, and she was very nice in providing more cruise info and offering to book us, but said they had no access to IT help and wasn't familiar with the issue. I've tried different devices, clearing cookies, etc, and get the same result.

Are you in NZ or elsewhere and familiar with this error? Wondering if it's temporary while Silversea loads new itineraries or updates airfares or something like that, or if it's something on my end and/or specific to NZ. Not sure why it was working last week but not the past couple of days! In the end we'll be working with a travel agent, but it's nice to be able to use the site to check availability, etc.