New Zealand to Sydney - Tasmania port of call

[Frequent Flyer]

Hello everyone - my guy and I have booked the Statendam for the Feb 07 tour of New Zealand and Australia. We have a stop in Dundedin (sp?), Tasmania. For all our other stops we're going to wing-it. Both of us have been to OZ before, we're 45-ish and enjoy taking a risk here and there. But this stop in Tasmania has me stumped. It sounds like there is just nothing there unless we book a tour in advance.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions/input for us? SHOULD we take one of HAL's tour's? If so, which one?:confused:

 

TIA!

[PRINSENDAM]

Hello everyone - my guy and I have booked the Statendam for the Feb 07 tour of New Zealand and Australia. We have a stop in Dundedin (sp?), Tasmania. For all our other stops we're going to wing-it. Both of us have been to OZ before, we're 45-ish and enjoy taking a risk here and there. But this stop in Tasmania has me stumped. It sounds like there is just nothing there unless we book a tour in advance.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions/input for us? SHOULD we take one of HAL's tour's? If so, which one?:confused:

 

TIA!

 

 

 

Dear Flyer,

 

I think the port that you will be calling at in Tasmania is Devonport. Dunedin is in New Zealand, South Island.

 

Tasmania is a great place but Devonport is rather a small port so if you are planning to go ashore and see something a ship's tour would probably be the best way to see something is Tasmania.... BTW.... is about the size of West Virgina.

 

Stephen

[Johanna7]

We were in Tasmania last year on a cruise and the port was Hobart. It was a nice place and we were there on a Saturday when they had their flea market not far from the actual pier and it was great. The vendors were so nice and the quality of goods was excellent and prices were good.

 

In the morning we took a ship's tour and went to an animal park and we saw the very rare platipus, the were able to pet a koala and took pictures of each other doing it and we also saw the Tasmanian devils up close. Not too close of course, we still have all our fingers.

 

I thought it was a lovely place. Dunedin in New Zealand was also very nice and we took the bus into town as the actual port is too far to walk and the very tiny town there has nothing much unless you like a hardware and small furniture store.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[cruisequeen10]

A few years ago I was on the NZ-Aug cruise with Princess. Of the whole cruise, we missed 3 ports, one being Hobart, Tasmania. I was looking forward to seeing the Tasmanian Devil. We encountered a tropical storm and the seas were so rough it was very dangerous to even go out on deck. We could hardly stand up and walk, and when we had to clear customs when getting closer to Australia, most of us crawled to the room where it was taking place. The outside cabin we purchased quickly turned into an inside 3 days into the cruise and stayed that way until we got off in Australia. It was very disappointing and it was to be a trip of a lifetime . So I hope that you make it to Tasmania and say hi to the Tasmanian devil for me. All in all it was a wonderful cruise and we ended up in Melbourne for 2 days instead of the 1. There is so much to do there that we were lucky we were there.

[cands]

Hi,

I believe Statendam stops at Burnie. If you search 'Burnie' under the Australia/New Zealand forum, there are a couple of review from people who were there on Statendam last season.

 

Regards,

Steve.

[RSGS315]

A few years ago I was on the NZ-Aug cruise with Princess. Of the whole cruise, we missed 3 ports, one being Hobart, Tasmania. I was looking forward to seeing the Tasmanian Devil. We encountered a tropical storm and the seas were so rough it was very dangerous to even go out on deck. We could hardly stand up and walk, and when we had to clear customs when getting closer to Australia, most of us crawled to the room where it was taking place. The outside cabin we purchased quickly turned into an inside 3 days into the cruise and stayed that way until we got off in Australia. It was very disappointing and it was to be a trip of a lifetime . So I hope that you make it to Tasmania and say hi to the Tasmanian devil for me. All in all it was a wonderful cruise and we ended up in Melbourne for 2 days instead of the 1. There is so much to do there that we were lucky we were there.

 

We were on the same cruise with you on the Sky Princess in April 1998.

My husband purchased 2 photos, that the photographer took from the top forward lounge, showing the waves crashing over the bow. We had the photos enlarged and framed, and they now hang in our den, reminding us of our own "perfect storm".

 

We cruised down under again in January 2001, this time on the Legend of the Seas, sailing from Singapore to Sydney, and continuing on to Auckland, NZ. We had perfect weather this time, and finally visited all our missed ports.

A couple from Melbourne, Australia, whom we had met on the Sky Princess, showed us their Melbourne, and we had a fabulous day there.

We enjoyed spending a day in Hobart, Tasmania, and loved finally seeing Christchurch, a port we had missed on our first cruise.

 

We took a wonderful boat tour around the harbor in Hobart, getting off about half way through the trip. We had a great lunch atop the casino's revolving restaurant, that the boat captain had told us about. We then picked up the rest of the boat tour later on to complete our tour. It was an enjoyable day in Hobart, Tasmania.

 

In Duneiden, NZ, we had booked the Taieri Gorge Railway, which leaves from the pier. We had a wonderful lunch onboard the train, as we were sightseeing. They made several stops, and the excursion was worthwhile and memorable.

 

Happy Cruising, Ginnie

[Frequent Flyer]

Hi everyone - thanks for clearing up my confusion on Burnie/Dunedin.

[byondthesea]

I was there last year and was a little bit disapointed with the stop in Tasmania. There is a train that is in service (check to see that it is running) that will take you to a small nearby town that is well worth the trip. Otherwise, get a tour or grab the worlds best fish and chips by the shoreside.

enjoy

[Juanita462]

That is right - Burnie has nothing to offer, the greeters were very friendly and handed out flowers and pins but the town is small with not much to see. We never heard about a railway but wished that we had booked a tour to see something of the countryside. We were disappointed that they didn't stop in Hobart instead.

[cruisequeen10]

We were on the same cruise with you on the Sky Princess in April 1998.

My husband purchased 2 photos, that the photographer took from the top forward lounge, showing the waves crashing over the bow. We had the photos enlarged and framed, and they now hang in our den, reminding us of our own "perfect storm".

 

We cruised down under again in January 2001, this time on the Legend of the Seas, sailing from Singapore to Sydney, and continuing on to Auckland, NZ. We had perfect weather this time, and finally visited all our missed ports.

A couple from Melbourne, Australia, whom we had met on the Sky Princess, showed us their Melbourne, and we had a fabulous day there.

We enjoyed spending a day in Hobart, Tasmania, and loved finally seeing Christchurch, a port we had missed on our first cruise.

 

We took a wonderful boat tour around the harbor in Hobart, getting off about half way through the trip. We had a great lunch atop the casino's revolving restaurant, that the boat captain had told us about. We then picked up the rest of the boat tour later on to complete our tour. It was an enjoyable day in Hobart, Tasmania.

 

In Duneiden, NZ, we had booked the Taieri Gorge Railway, which leaves from the pier. We had a wonderful lunch onboard the train, as we were sightseeing. They made several stops, and the excursion was worthwhile and memorable.

 

Happy Cruising, Ginnie

 

What a small world. My mother never purchases the pictures on board, but when she saw the one of the waves crashing over the front of the ship, she just had to have it. Now it is a conversation piece. When I show it to others, they cannot believe what we went through.