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Akaroa Christchurch options


Alphen
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We are visiting Akaroa in December this year, where (tender) port times are listed as 08:00 – 17:00. We would like to have another way to go to Christchurch, other than with a ships tour. I have located the local website, where there are several cheaper options, to go to Christchurch (http://akaroa.com/cruise-ships/akaroa-tours-transport),but they all arrive back at 16:30 and I assume this is not in time for last tender. Anybody any experience here?

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Akaroa is one place where I would recommend taking a ship's tour, especially across to Christchurch. The road over to Christchurch goes over some steep hills, and is narrow with significant bends in places, so delays can occur.

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Akaroa is one place where I would recommend taking a ship's tour, especially across to Christchurch. The road over to Christchurch goes over some steep hills, and is narrow with significant bends in places, so delays can occur.

 

Thank you for your response and I am also leaning toward taking the ships tour to be on the safe side.

I have also contacted people from the Akaroa District Promotions, who list the tours and transport on their website. They assured me that the tours and transport listed (like “Cityline/French Connection. Christchurch Direct Shuttle”), all cater especially to the cruise ship, so arrival times will be in compliance with departure of last tender. I am hoping that somebody that has taken this transport opportunity can shed some light on this, with personal input and experience.

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Yes, I'm sure they will. NZ tour operators are very professional and are well aware of the requirements of cruise ship passengers.

 

However I was on Celebrity Solstice last year when there was a serious accident involving a bus full of cruise ship passengers coming back from Christchurch. The bus was a Celebrity tour so the ship delayed it's departure until all passengers that did not need hospitalization had been treated and released as fit to continue their travels. A ship's officer stayed ashore to assist the 2 or 3 people that required overnight hospitalization, and to arrange for them to rejoin the ship. I don't think there were any really serious injuries, thank goodness.

 

I'm not sure what would have happened if that bus had been a private tour, perhaps the ship would still have waited but ...

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I agree a ship's tour to Christchurch is the best option for this port, unless you intend to stay locally.

 

When I cruised to Akaroa, I didn't get to disembark, despite smooth seas. Later, I discovered the previous ship's visit passengers didn't get back on board until 9 pm, due to changed sea conditions.

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Akaroa itself is gorgeous. It's a charming little village in a very beautiful harbour. There are quite a few things to do in and around Akaroa, including visiting the amazing Giants House with it's wonderful garden and mosaic sculptures. There are local wineries around the harbour, and a cheese factory as well, so a local tour might be a nice way to spend part of the day. Plus there are rare dolphins in the harbour and "swim with dolphins" excursions.

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In November we used Back to Narure tours for a tour to Christchurch with arrival in Akaroa from the Celebrity Solstice. It was part of a three port package in New Zealand. The trip to Christchurch had spectacular scenery. When we did get to Christchurch, we had a lovely lunch of mussels at the beach. But to be perfectly honest, the city is still under a lot of construction. We did go to the Botanical Gardens but not much else. I do agree that Akaroa is a charming town and if I went back I would simply explore the immediate area unless Christchurch undergoes a remarkable recovery.

 

Janice

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We have cruised to NZ 5 times and always used private tour operators and never had any trouble having to get back in time to catch tenders. All the tour operators know what time they need to get you back by. both Akaroa and Christchurch have a lot to offer . If you email the tour operator that you want to use and let them know the date and what ship .They will tell you what tour is best for you.

here are just a few websites

http://akaroa.com/cruise-ships/akaroa-tours-transport

http://www.theinsidestory.co.nz/private-day-tours/private-day-tours-from-akaroa

http://www.toursouth.co.nz/

https://www.shoretripsandtours.com/Port/Akaroa-Christchurch.php#!

http://www.akaroa-tours-charters.co.nz/

Edited by Jasp 0401
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We have cruised to NZ 5 times and always used private tour operators and never had any trouble having to get back in time to catch tenders. All the tour operators know what time they need to get you back by. both Akaroa and Christchurch have a lot to offer . If you email the tour operator that you want to use and let them know the date and what ship .They will tell you what tour is best for you.

here are just a few websites

http://akaroa.com/cruise-ships/akaroa-tours-transport

http://www.theinsidestory.co.nz/private-day-tours/private-day-tours-from-akaroa

http://www.toursouth.co.nz/

https://www.shoretripsandtours.com/Port/Akaroa-Christchurch.php#!

http://www.akaroa-tours-charters.co.nz/

 

Thank you for this input, will look into the suggested information, thanks for sharing :-)

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Thank you for this input, will look into the suggested information, thanks for sharing :-)

your welcome .I another thing I forgot to mention was to make sure you ask the tour operator what their policy was if the ship misses a port due to bad weather.Most won't charge you or if you have already paid give you a full refunded .You can also wait until you get off the ship and try your luck at getting on a tour that are offered at the port.

We are also cruising to New Zealand in December and this time we are planning to stay in Akaroa as it is such a charming town and there are some wonderful walking tours or cruises you can do .

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  • 1 month later...
I have been looking at what there is to see in Christchurch. Am I missing something? Is it just the scenery getting there?

 

We recently returned from our cruise on Solstice. Akaroa is a tender port. It is very scenic but small. As a tender port it might be better to take a ship's tour to get priority tenders or you might have to wait. We took a Celebrity tour and had a very nice and scenic bus drive to Christchurch. It is actually a pretty large city and it still has quite a bit of earthquake damage. The botanical park is nice. Just outside of Christchurch we visited Willowbank Wildlife Reserve which is one of the only places in NZ that you can see live Kiwi's. When we got back to Akaroa we still had time to visit the small town and shop before the last tender back to the ship.

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