if miss boarding in SYD, can US citizen embark in NZ?

[elaine5]

We're flying on Qantas arriving the in SYD from HNL (9 hr flight) at 7pm the evening prior to a cruise. If, for some reason, our Qantas flight was cancelled (weather/mechanical, etc.) does anyone know if US citizens would be allowed to board in NZ? We have trip insurance, but would much rather get on the cruise. 

[yarramar]

New Zealand is a separate country to Australia. That is like asking if an Australian could embark on a cruise from New York in Nova Scotia. You will also need visas for each country, i.e an ETA for Australia and a nzETA for New Zealand.

If your trip insurance includes cruise insurance they may pay for a flight to New Zealand

[beatleman]

15 hours ago, elaine5 said:

We're flying on Qantas arriving the in SYD from HNL (9 hr flight) at 7pm the evening prior to a cruise. If, for some reason, our Qantas flight was cancelled (weather/mechanical, etc.) does anyone know if US citizens would be allowed to board in NZ? We have trip insurance, but would much rather get on the cruise. 

Gee you are very close to the wind with the way airlines are performing post covid. I would suggest a flight a day earlier, if your carrier is Qantas, if it is Jetstar a week earlier.

[The_Big_M]

19 hours ago, elaine5 said:

We're flying on Qantas arriving the in SYD from HNL (9 hr flight) at 7pm the evening prior to a cruise. If, for some reason, our Qantas flight was cancelled (weather/mechanical, etc.) does anyone know if US citizens would be allowed to board in NZ? We have trip insurance, but would much rather get on the cruise. 

 

You'd presumably already have your ETA for NZ, since the cruise is visiting there already,

 

That said, you'd need to inform the cruise ASAP - before departure - that you were delayed, and then get agreement with them for the alternative plan. If you didn't they may upgrade/assign someone else to your cabin as a no show.

 

Given a verifiable situation (i.e. the cancelled flight) and advance notice, and that the alternative NZ port allows immigration processing (which is likely but depends on the port), then I expect the cruise would allow it and hold your cabin. If you didn't do that though and just showed up in NZ without agreement I expect not. You'd also obviously lose 3 nights cruise at a minimum, which is a substantial hit.

[elaine5]

18 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

If you didn't do that though and just showed up in NZ without agreement I expect not.

Yes, we'd inform Princess ASAP, so it's be a day prior to embarkation. It would not be ideal, but not awful to miss the beginning if we could embark in Auckland. 

[LindaD22]

Can you change your plans to arrive at least 2 days prior? We are on a NZ cruise, flew DTW-LAX-SYD and arrived exhausted. We did nothing the first day, just enough the next day, then a Blue Mountain tour on the 3rd day. If you fly in the night before, you will likely start your cruise very tired and cranky. 

[MMDown Under]

On 2/8/2024 at 3:54 PM, LindaD22 said:

Can you change your plans to arrive at least 2 days prior? We are on a NZ cruise, flew DTW-LAX-SYD and arrived exhausted. We did nothing the first day, just enough the next day, then a Blue Mountain tour on the 3rd day. If you fly in the night before, you will likely start your cruise very tired and cranky. 

Good advice.  I don't think people realise just how exhausting long haul travel is.  Elaine 5 - When does your cruise depart after your arrival?  

[elaine5]

On 2/8/2024 at 12:54 AM, LindaD22 said:

Can you change your plans to arrive at least 2 days prior? We are on a NZ cruise, flew DTW-LAX-SYD and arrived exhausted

We are from East Coast USA. We're flying to Hawaii for 3 days beforehand, where we'll just veg and recover from jet lag. We are then flying from HNL-SYD the day prior to our cruise (arriving SYD early evening). As we then have 2 sea days, we should be able to adapt by the time we get to the 1st NZ port. We've decided to keep original schedule--it's quite inconvenient to fly any earlier. Thanks for all who responded. 

Edited February 13, 2024 by elaine5

[RaeBay]

Really depends how n what migration in Auckland they may not be manning the cruise terminal that day.