? Best time of year for Aust/New Zealand cruise

[chiccruiser]

Just curious as to the best time to do the Australia/New Zealand cruise. We've never been there before and want to be able to enjoy the sights without worrying about the rainy season.

 

Also is there an add-on for a land trip after the cruise.

[leoandhugh]

since the seasons in the southern hemisphere are the reverse of ours, winter there is our summer months - june, july, august. australia does not get the amount of rain that new zealand does, so it depends where the cruise you are proposing goes to. the cruise line's brochure should tell you whether or not they offer a post or pre cruise add on - how many days, where and what hotel(s).:)

[cranethie]

'Best time of year for Aust/New Zealand cruise'

 

Anytime - there is no bad time to see our beautiful countries. :))

 

Theres no rain anywhere in Aus at the moment as we are still in the worst drought situation ever.

 

Cathy

[chasetf]

'Best time of year for Aust/New Zealand cruise' Anytime - there is no bad time to see our beautiful countries. :)) Theres no rain anywhere in Aus at the moment as we are still in the worst drought situation ever. Cathy

We are headed your way in Feb. We have plans for a stopover in Fiji, but watching that situation. May end up spending more time in New Zealand if things are too testy in Fiji.

 

Hope all your rain doesn't decide to come in Feb. At least we will missing our heavy months here in Calif.

[kiwichick]

February is an excellent time to come to NZ weather-wise so even if you don't get to Fiji I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

[JoeAndMichael]

Just curious as to the best time to do the Australia/New Zealand cruise. We've never been there before and want to be able to enjoy the sights without worrying about the rainy season.

 

Also is there an add-on for a land trip after the cruise.

I've been advised to avoid their summer: November thru early-to-mid March.

Check my accuracy on this (just in case I'm not remembering it correctly this late at night) by going to http://www.bulafiji.com, Fiji's info site.

[Chivalrygirl]

New Zealand and Australia are vastly different countries although our people have heaps in common and we get along just fine with each other.

The difference is this, New Zealand is a couple of smallish islands and Australia is a continent, therefore our climates can be vastly different. Probably the best time to visit NZ for good fine summer weather is in the New Year, January, February, March. More chance of settled fine weather, but never guaranteed! These are probably the worst months to visit Australia. If you are considering one of the NZ to Aust cruises my suggestion would be for you to board in Sydney(after overnighting) and sail over to Auckland.

 

If you are touring either country, what would suit you probably best in NZ would probably not be so good in Australia as it gets amazingly hot. In fact IMO they are two different visits, you can do neither justice by trying to fit them into one visit.

[Chivalrygirl]

We are headed your way in Feb. We have plans for a stopover in Fiji, but watching that situation. May end up spending more time in New Zealand if things are too testy in Fiji.

 

Hope all your rain doesn't decide to come in Feb. At least we will missing our heavy months here in Calif.

 

Fiji is pretty safe now, in fact NZ government has downgraded warnings to "keep clear of Suva". NZs are booking in great numbers once more as resorts hav discounted very heavily. Fijians are wonderful people so that is good news.

[Hlitner]

Avoiding the summer might be Ok for Australia, but it is not a good idea for NZ. I assume your cruise will go around the southern point of South Island so that they can take you into some of the fjords. This is fine in the NZ summer (Dec, Jan , Feb and even Mar) but in their winter it would be similar to going to Alaska in January.

 

Hank

[Aussie Gal]

The best time to visit Australia is from March onwards though up north the rainy season which includes cyclones does not finish until late April. It is getting later each year.

 

The best time to visit New Zealand is January, February and March so you cannot win if you are trying to visit both countries.

 

I would aim for March as it is still good in New Zealand and if you are cruising you do spend a lot of time in the South Island. March is also a lovely month in Tasmania where you will visit either Hobart or Burnie and also in Victoria where you will visit Melbourne, our lovely city. It is also a nice time in Sydney as a lot of the humidity has gone.

 

This year though, the whole of Australia is experiencing drought conditions, and we need and want rain desperately so we are all praying that we will have a wet autumn as all our water storages are so low. You will not see the best of our cities as we have not had the rain and everything is so brown, a great contrast to New Zealand where it is so green.

 

Jennie