Celebrity or Holland America??

[ashuma]

We are trying to decide which cruise line to take to Australia ad New Zealand for a late 2007 or early 2008 cruise. We've cruised on Penthouse and Deluxe Veranda suites on Holland America and were disappointed with our last cruise with them for several reasons. We would actually like to cruise on a luxury line like Silverseas or Regent but since they have no Australia/New Zealand cruises for 2 weeks, looks like we'll have to resort to HA, Celebrity or Princess. Princess is out for several reasons. Does anyone have any pros/cons of who we should go with? We would probably try for a Royal Suite if on the Mercury and a Deluxe Verandah suite if the Statendam.

[KiwiIan]

We are trying to decide which cruise line to take to Australia ad New Zealand for a late 2007 or early 2008 cruise. We've cruised on Penthouse and Deluxe Veranda suites on Holland America and were disappointed with our last cruise with them for several reasons. We would actually like to cruise on a luxury line like Silverseas or Regent but since they have no Australia/New Zealand cruises for 2 weeks, looks like we'll have to resort to HA, Celebrity or Princess. Princess is out for several reasons. Does anyone have any pros/cons of who we should go with? We would probably try for a Royal Suite if on the Mercury and a Deluxe Verandah suite if the Statendam.

Hi Annie

 

We have had mostly positive feedback from the passengers we have met off Statendam in the past. The Celebrity visit is a new one for us here in Tauranga so we can not give any advice, though from the postings i have read on their thread it does seem to be a well liked line and i think the cruise is close to sold out. Whichever you choose we are sure you will love NZ [i am biased i know] and we will be pleased to offer any help or advice as needed. hope you get some more useful replies. Regards Ian [Tauranga]

[ashuma]

Thanks for the reply!! I think we'll stay with Holland America.

[Desertbelle]

We just booked the Mercury for the Australia to New Zealand cruise. I am very excited. KiwiIan, I will probably have tons of questions for you, but first I am trying to put together this big family cruise in November, then I can turn my attention to this cruise. Thanks for being there and offering to help folks out!

[ashuma]

Think we opted for the 16 day Aukland-Brisbane HAL cruise in Noember 2007 on the Statendam. I plan to call tomorrow. We will be booking a Deluxe Veranda Suite.

 

Has anyone taken this 16 day-er before?

[Aussie Gal]

ashuma,

 

Does your itinerary go to Melbourne, Sydney or Hobart as these cities give you quite a contrast to the way we live here in Australia. Also there is so much history in these 3 cities as they were the first settled here.

 

Brisbane in summer is a very hot, humid city and can be quite uncomfortable. Even though you are going in November, it can be their hottest time and often they have bushfires then.

 

Jennie

[KiwiIan]

We just booked the Mercury for the Australia to New Zealand cruise. I am very excited. KiwiIan, I will probably have tons of questions for you, but first I am trying to put together this big family cruise in November, then I can turn my attention to this cruise. Thanks for being there and offering to help folks out!

Hi again. When your ready just start firing of the questions and we will be pleased to assist. Check out the MPVinBoynton cruise review which you can find in the AUS/NZ ports of call thread, great info and contacts for things to do in NZ. Regards Ian [Tauranga]

[Desertbelle]

thanks!

[Aussie Gal]

ashuma,

 

I have just looked at the itinerary of the Statendam and it is a good one as you will be visiting Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales before going on to Queensland. It will give you a good oversight of our cities and also a small look at the countryside of Tasmania (Burnie).

 

We are HAL cruisers and have always enjoyed our time on board their ships in fact we will be on the Veendam in 9 weeks time for a 34 day cruise.

 

If you need any help regarding information on Australia, just ask away.

 

Jennie

[cruisin'canuck]

Hi Jennie,

 

I thought Bill and I could pick your brain as well as Sandra's while we are on the Veendam. We are going on the World Cruise Jan/07; so may bring the shores excursions offered by HAL for Sydney and Darwin, and see what you think of them:confused: . We have already booked the Cairns excursion, but you may also give us some info on that port as well!

 

Donna

[Aussie Gal]

Donna,

 

Will gladly help in anyway we can. Unfortunately, you will be missing the best city, Melbourne, which has so much to offer and I could have shown you around. Never mind, you may want to return in the near future.

 

Jennie

[cruisin'canuck]

Jennie,

Unfortunately HAL doesn't always choose the best cities:confused: I see that on HAL's 2008 Grand World Voyage, there are 4 ports of call in New Zealand and also stops in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

 

See you soon

Donna

[Aussie Gal]

Donna,

 

You are so lucky to be doing the World Cruise. Our 34 day cruise will be a prelude to your longer trip. I don't think I could get Peter on a ship if the cruise was any longer.

 

Jennie

[cruisin'canuck]

Jennie,

LOL, as 4 years ago I couldn't even get Bill on a cruise!!

Now we are hooked.

 

Donna

[KiwiIan]

Jennie' date='

Unfortunately HAL doesn't always choose the best cities:confused: I see that on HAL's 2008 Grand World Voyage, there are 4 ports of call in New Zealand and also stops in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

 

See you soon

Donna[/quote']

What 4 ports of call are they, i hope one is our home town of Tauranga, HAL usually includes this in their trips as it is one of the most popular ports from the feedback we get from the passengers. If you want any info from a local just post here. Regards Ian [Tauranga] NZ

[cruisin'canuck]

Ian,

The ports in New Zealand are listed as: Feb 01 - Auckland,

Feb 03 - Wellington, Feb 04 - Christchurch and Feb 05 - Dunedin

 

Cheers

Donna

[Desertbelle]

What 4 ports of call are they, i hope one is our home town of Tauranga, HAL usually includes this in their trips as it is one of the most popular ports from the feedback we get from the passengers. If you want any info from a local just post here. Regards Ian [Tauranga] NZ

 

Tauranga is on our cruise, please, tell me what is special about this town? :D

[ashuma]

Tauranga is on our cruise, please, tell me what is special about this town? :D

 

It's also on our November 18, 2007 cruise. I'll be interested to read your reply.

[KiwiIan]

Tauranga is on our cruise, please, tell me what is special about this town? :D

Hi again, sorry for delay in reply, been skiing for 2 days on a volcanoe a few hours from here [Tauranga], great snow, blue skies plus sunshine.

 

Where to begin. Tauranga is the port of call for many cruise ships. Its one of the fastest growing regions of NZ and has a great climate, sitiated in the aptly named Bay of Plenty [by Captain Cook]. The ships stop here as its the closest port to the world famous geo-thermal activities of Rotorua, also a significant town for the Maori of NZ.

 

Theres a lot of options here in the area, plus also within a day tour drive time. You can visit Waitomo Glow worm caves, Hobbiton movie sets, Taupo for fishing and adventure, the previously mentioned Rotorua, plus of course the local sights.

 

The ship docks just a few minutes walk from the Downtown area of Mount Maunganui, one of the countries most popular holiday destinations for the locals. Great beaches, lots of cafes and restaurants and retail therapy opportunities.

 

Action and adventure such as rafting, kayaking, jet boating, sky diving are all easy undertaken.

 

Tauranga has a lot of local history, being one of the early settlement points for Maori and the Colonial settlers back in the 1800's, also important battles took place here between these two groups in the 1860's. So in NZ terms we do have historical sites worth seeing if thats what you are into.

 

We have a great walk within a few minutes from the ship, either up or around our extinct volcano, Mount Maunganui.

 

Check out some of my other posts for more info or slueth around to find mt web site where there is a lot more info.

 

Hope thats a help.

 

Regards ian

[Desertbelle]

Tauranga sounds wonderful, I can't wait! Do say a little bit about the LOTR tours. Are they just silly, or do you really get to see a lot of the areas where the movies were shot? I would love to see some of those beautiful parts of NZ.

[MVPinBoynton]

Tauranga itself is a lovely port, but Rotorua is an amazing place. You can check out what we did in our review at our website www.thepreismans.com

You have a long time to go before your 2008 cruise, but it is so worth the wait.

[suefalls]

We are trying to decide which cruise line to take to Australia ad New Zealand for a late 2007 or early 2008 cruise. We've cruised on Penthouse and Deluxe Veranda suites on Holland America and were disappointed with our last cruise with them for several reasons. We would actually like to cruise on a luxury line like Silverseas or Regent but since they have no Australia/New Zealand cruises for 2 weeks, looks like we'll have to resort to HA, Celebrity or Princess. Princess is out for several reasons. Does anyone have any pros/cons of who we should go with? We would probably try for a Royal Suite if on the Mercury and a Deluxe Verandah suite if the Statendam.

 

Actually Regent does have a 14 day Sidney to Auckland cruise on Nov 19 ,2007 (and hopefully will in 2008 also.) It is a segment in the Grand Asia Pacific Cruise ( Formerly Grand Circle Pacific) That is the section of RSSC.com that you will find info on it. I am also looking to do this cruise in 2008 hopefully. I also looked at the other lines, but am afraid that with Regent being all inclusive in 2007, and our great experience sailing to Alaska this year, I would have a hard time on the mainlines. I would not want to make a mistake in choosing the wrong line on a trip of a lifetime (especially after a long flight)

[KiwiIan]

Tauranga sounds wonderful, I can't wait! Do say a little bit about the LOTR tours. Are they just silly, or do you really get to see a lot of the areas where the movies were shot? I would love to see some of those beautiful parts of NZ.

Hi. LOTR tours here in Tauranga visit the movie location of Hobbiton, which was built just 45 minutes from the port. Most of the actual set has been demoslished [part of the deal with the film co] but you can see the hobbit holes, the party tree [an actual living tree] and the location is just stunning. The tours are well done with a lot of in depth back ground stuff. We take a lot of people over there and if the weathers good [its all outdoors] then they really love it. Small groups are beeter served by bokking an exclsusive tour [same price if 6 or more going] as those on the normal public tour. You can also take LOTR tours from Wellington and Christchurch to see more of the movie locations which were all through NZ. Hope thats a bit of help. Research my older posts on CC and you may be able to identify a more direct way to contact me as i often dont get time to sift through all the CC posts [[hence the delay in this reply] Pleased to help, regards Ian [Tauranga] NZ

[nansi]

Ian, we love reading all your great info on NZ. We are on the Nov. 18, 07 cruise Auk-Brisbane and your town is one of the first ports we stop at and we are there from 8am to midnight, which gives us plenty of time to sightsee. We're curious how your weather is in mid-November. We are expecting the south coast to be somewhat chilly, but we were hoping to have a couple of ports that are warmer.... is Tauranga one of those?

Nancy and Henry

[KiwiIan]

Ian, we love reading all your great info on NZ. We are on the Nov. 18, 07 cruise Auk-Brisbane and your town is one of the first ports we stop at and we are there from 8am to midnight, which gives us plenty of time to sightsee. We're curious how your weather is in mid-November. We are expecting the south coast to be somewhat chilly, but we were hoping to have a couple of ports that are warmer.... is Tauranga one of those?

Nancy and Henry

Hi Nancy

 

Yes, Tauranga will be one of the warmer ports here in NZ. Theres quite a difference north to south in NZ so you should bring some cloths to suit a range of temperatures. We are located in the north island and being on the east coast get a very mild climate. Though we do sometimes get unusual weather [thats true for most places these days it seems]. Expect a range of 18 to 24 degrees celsius for November as a guide. If you need any further info will be pleased to help. Regards Ian.