Exchange

[Pather]

Hi - could someone tell me exchange rate NZ$/USA$? Looking at Taieri RR excursion from ship - $305 US/person. Look at Taieri site and says $79 NZ/person. How much is that in US$? Unless exchange is large ratio, seems like excursion is way over-priced. Thanks!

[robinph]

Hi - could someone tell me exchange rate NZ$/USA$? Looking at Taieri RR excursion from ship - $305 US/person. Look at Taieri site and says $79 NZ/person. How much is that in US$? Unless exchange is large ratio, seems like excursion is way over-priced. Thanks!

 

Hi Pather, $79 NZD equates to approx $62 USD, so yes it is far cheaper to do it yourself, we have booked it ourselves for our trip in March next year, the only drawback is that you have to be at the Train station by about 9am which means you have to be off the ship first thing as it is about 30 klm from the port, you can catch a cab but is about $50 NZD ea way, we have joined the roll call for our cruise and are sharing a taxi with others doing the train journey, we have hired a cab for 7 and it is costing us about $14 each return, even if you can't find anyone to share ,it is still a lot cheaper than the cruise ship, taxi into Dunedin ,and shuttle bus back(about $10 ea run by the ship). Then again as many will tell you, you have security on the ship ,that is what you are paying for:rolleyes: but if you don't mind doing things on your own, I say go for it, we have been to NZ twice by ship and have always organised our own tours and never had a problem. What ever way you decide to do it I hope you enjoy, it looks like a great journey. Robin:)

[moyaroo]

Hi - could someone tell me exchange rate NZ$/USA$? Looking at Taieri RR excursion from ship - $305 US/person. Look at Taieri site and says $79 NZ/person. How much is that in US$? Unless exchange is large ratio, seems like excursion is way over-priced. Thanks!

 

 

You pay for the convenience. This is not as easy as the Skagway Alaska train (walk across the dock area, board train) so you have to watch train return times (In Christchurch/Akaroa TranzAlpine tour from ship comes back by coach so that they can make the ship on time) and plan accordingly, but it can be done you just need to take care and prepare.

[The_Big_M]

There's a couple of other benefits/costs for the ship version. Theirs includes pick-up direct train service from the dock normally, so this is a substantial extra cost that the ship version incurs i.e. the special train service that runs just for ship passengers. There's also a more substantial lunch included normally. I'd say these explain the bulk of the differential (in addition to the profit that normally exists).

 

However, you certainly can do it cheaper as mentioned and if you're happy to then it's not likely to impact the experience much, assuming everything goes to plan.

[Pather]

Thanks everyone. 20 years ago it would've been an easy decision, go on our own. I'm now at the stage of my life where I have more money than time which makes the decision harder. We always hear how beautiful NZ is. Does this rr trip show that beauty? We sail from Sidney to Auckland, 16 days. Any must see areas that take in NZ's grandeur?

[Pather]

Oops - forgot to ask some things. On an excursion, how long are you on the train? If we bus back, are we missing some of the fun? I assume that the train is round-trip for non-excursion folks. The train has a few stops - do you book all the way to the last one? Thanks again.