Excursions

[westmount]

Trying Silverseas for the first time after many years on the other  great lines. As a solo traveler now, I must say I was impressed on the value they gave me on a fabulous trip from Sydney to Auckland in a room of my choice. The question I have is whether the excursions offered are worth perusing, or should I simply plan my own, as I don't really want to visit a cigar store or church, but wish to bike, hike or explore the wonderful countryside of New Zealand and Australia. 

Westmount 

[Catlover54]

When DH and I cruised New Zealand (and little Australia) with SS a few years ago, when we were fitter than now, we were pleased with the excursions offered for moderately strenuous hiking, though the average age and health on the ship seemed to be 80 with various kinds assistance needed. You can look at the offerings right now for your ports, to get a sense of whether or not you will be challenged enough.  Look for excursions labeled "strenuous." 

 

If not satisfied, since you speak English, research and book on your own online but confirm with your guide a few times as you get closer to sailing, well in advance at the less populated ports.  Make sure you can cancel short notice and not have to pay penalty up to 100%   (on that and other cruises in the area, we experienced several short notice  port cancellations due to weather, or undersubscription).

 

Depending on your budget and desire for company, you may also want to post on a roll call, in advance,  to look for some company.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Catlover54
Typo

[Mocamps]

We have mainly been on expedition cruises with SS and they’re a bit different. But we recently went on our first ‘classic’ cruise on Silver Dawn and most of the included excursions were great! We’re very active and our worst nightmare is sitting on a coach with loads of other people then all traipsing off together to look in a church or museum or similar. Only one of our trips vaguely fell into that category! We did 3 kayak trips, one bike tour, a couple of train rides and several hikes. We returned from the holiday feeling we’d had plenty of exercise and probably as much as we did on expeditions.