Celebrity Solstice New Zealand Shore Excursions - Tauranga/Akaroa/Bay of Islands

Hi,

I am new to this forum, so I may be posing this in the wrong section?!

Just hoping for some advice from anyone that has cruised around New Zealand regarding Shore Excursions.

We are confused as to what tours to choose in Tauranga, Akaoroa and Bay of Islands (we have selected tours in other ports already)

We will be booking the tours through the cruise-line as we prefer the peace of mind.

I have listed the tours we are leaning towards below..but we are open to suggestions. I am concerned that as there are so many different tours on offer we may choose the wrong one and be disappointed that we missed seeing a particular place in each of the ports. Obviously we cant do or see everything in such limited time!

We are in late 20's and have cruised before with Celebrity (Mediterranean cruise last year) and we booked most shore excursions for that cruise through the ship.We were very happy with them and the amount we saw in each port, so we are hoping for the same experiences this time.

TAURANGA: Jet boat and mud pools (Hells Gate) - Includes bathing in mudpools and swimming in hot pools after.

or

Hells Gate tour (not including mudpools/hotpools)

AKAROA: Akaroa jet boat and then explore town on our own.

or

Christchurch on your own (Transfer to Christchurch then we have free time to explore - we were hoping to go to the gondola and perhaps punting on the avon and explore the city.

or

Christchurch punting on the Avon and gondola - All included in the tour but will have limited free time to explore on our own.

BAY OF ISLANDS: Not sure what we should do in this port as we will see alot of the islands on the way in on the ship. As we are from Australia and we live by the beach dolphins and boat trips are something we see/do alot, so we are not really interested in the dolphin tours or boat trips.

Any advice is greatly appreciated :-)

Thanks

Elisha

We did a tour to Arthur's Pass a few years back with Princess.

https://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.do?tourCode=AK1-110

If Celebrity do anything similar I would highly recommend. This was one of the reasons we have flown back to NZ twice since for almost 2 months to see more.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/spa/#/pcp-excursions/single-detail?itemID=100000002432655243 seems to cover some of the same parts.

Can only suggest you sample what you can and fly back later to see in more detail.

From reading your post it looks like you like to be organised. We have cruised NZ 3 times and enjoyed the ports on our own. Cruise is all about ports. You will not see New Zealand on a cruise. Ports are the highlights. Why travel distance just to soak in the mud. New Zealand deserves proper land holiday.with car hire and time,

In Bay of islands we took free bus to Paihia, looked around town and markets then walked back, stopped at Maori Marae then to Maori Museum, Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Maori War canoes, Maori meeting house with show. Fantastic day on our own.

Akaroa is nice little town to walk on your own. We have seen groups walking following the flag. We love our freedom.. To the right is lighthouse and monument. To the left is nice town to admire and stop for a meal and beer. A wonderful day.

Tauranga.port is located near Mount Maunganui. We walked over the Mount Maunganui for wonderful views and down to Maunganui waterfront.. Another time we took helicopter ride for $35 when it was available..

From Tauranga I recommend a trip to Rotorua. A tour can be bought on the dock or you can travel by hire car.

Akaroa - I advise against going to Christchurch. The centre of the city is still devastated after the earthquake so there is not a log of exploring to do in the city. It is a long way to drive just to go punting on the Avon. From Akaroa you can take a dolphin cruise.

Bay of Islands - take the ferry over the Russell and wander around. There is usually a market near where the ship's tender will drop you off (town of Pahia).

Have a look at Hinterland Tours. My wife and granddaughter used them when on Diamond Princess in NZ, January 2016. Very impressive tour operator and as usual a bit better pricing than ship's shorex.

Welcome to cruise critic, Bay of islands is a fairly easy port to do on your own if you wish. The tenders take you to the marina wharf right by the Waitangi treaty grounds.

There is also the shuttle to take you to Pahia. Then you can take the ferry from Pahia to Russell, which is easy and Russell is an interesting historic area with some nice points of interest to see.

Welcome to cruise critic, Bay of islands is a fairly easy port to do on your own if you wish. The tenders take you to the marina wharf right by the Waitangi treaty grounds.

There is also the shuttle to take you to Pahia. Then you can take the ferry from Pahia to Russell, which is easy and Russell is an interesting historic area with some nice points of interest to see.

Maybe different ships take their tenders to different wharfs. We have only tendered into Pahia. A ferry goes from there to Russell near the Waitangi Treaty grounds (entry fee applies!).

Maybe different ships take their tenders to different wharfs. We have only tendered into Pahia. A ferry goes from there to Russell near the Waitangi Treaty grounds (entry fee applies!).

Not sure where in Pahia they took you as they generally cannot use the ferry wharf.

But we have always gone to the little wharf at Waitangi (by the bridge) which is just down from the Waitangi treaty grounds.

Not sure where in Pahia they took you as they generally cannot use the ferry wharf.

But we have always gone to the little wharf at Waitangi (by the bridge) which is just down from the Waitangi treaty grounds.

We have been to Bay of Islands a few times with Princess and have tendered to a jetty near the ferry wharf. Immediately 'inland' is the park with a craft market.

We were on the Solstice and stopped at these places in 2016

We walked to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds at the Bay of Islands. It took 5 minutes to walk and I use a walking stick. On the jetty we were given a pass? that gave us a discount when we payed at the entrance. We did exactly the same tour as the ship's passengers and it ended up costing us for two people almost half what the ship was charging for one. The Treaty grounds had the best show of traditional Maori dancing that we have seen in several trips to New Zealand.

At Tauranga - look at the thermal pools, the geysers etc I'm assuming this is the Hells Gate tour? If you decide to do a private tour instead you can often go in a small minivan for half the cost of ships tour.

At Akaroa I have done the Punting on Avon and Gondola Tour. It was a long quiet day but very interesting. More aimed at those that are older. Is the Antarctic Centre on the list? I took my 18 yo to that a several months ago. He found looking at Christchurch fascinating and sad and the Antarctic Centre with the ride in an Antarctic vehicle one of the highlights of his day. My husband took our 27yo and his fiance on a trip on the bay and exploring Akaroa itself. They enjoyed that too. Because of earthquake activity in NZ especially around Christchurch and the distance from there to Akaroa it is one that I happily paid for a Ship's Tour for at least the first visit.

We did a tour to Arthur's Pass a few years back with Princess.

https://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.do?tourCode=AK1-110

If Celebrity do anything similar I would highly recommend. This was one of the reasons we have flown back to NZ twice since for almost 2 months to see more.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/spa/#/pcp-excursions/single-detail?itemID=100000002432655243 seems to cover some of the same parts.

Can only suggest you sample what you can and fly back later to see in more detail.

Thankyou for your reply. I have looked at that tour although it was quiet expensive so wasn't sure if it was worth it.

Did you do the jet boat component aswell?

We are definitely wanting to see more of the interior and countryside as opposed to the cities so this might be the way to go. Appreciate your help.

We were on the Solstice and stopped at these places in 2016

We walked to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds at the Bay of Islands. It took 5 minutes to walk and I use a walking stick. On the jetty we were given a pass? that gave us a discount when we payed at the entrance. We did exactly the same tour as the ship's passengers and it ended up costing us for two people almost half what the ship was charging for one. The Treaty grounds had the best show of traditional Maori dancing that we have seen in several trips to New Zealand.

 

At Tauranga - look at the thermal pools, the geysers etc I'm assuming this is the Hells Gate tour? If you decide to do a private tour instead you can often go in a small minivan for half the cost of ships tour.

 

At Akaroa I have done the Punting on Avon and Gondola Tour. It was a long quiet day but very interesting. More aimed at those that are older. Is the Antarctic Centre on the list? I took my 18 yo to that a several months ago. He found looking at Christchurch fascinating and sad and the Antarctic Centre with the ride in an Antarctic vehicle one of the highlights of his day. My husband took our 27yo and his fiance on a trip on the bay and exploring Akaroa itself. They enjoyed that too. Because of earthquake activity in NZ especially around Christchurch and the distance from there to Akaroa it is one that I happily paid for a Ship's Tour for at least the first visit.

Thankyou for your help Suzi. There are so many options! The bus ride from Akaroa to Christchurch is very long so I am thinking we might skip Christchurch and do one of the tours that show more of the countryside. The hell's gate tour in Tauranga includes entry into the thermal park to look at the geysers etc aswell.

From Tauranga I recommend a trip to Rotorua. A tour can be bought on the dock or you can travel by hire car.

 

Akaroa - I advise against going to Christchurch. The centre of the city is still devastated after the earthquake so there is not a log of exploring to do in the city. It is a long way to drive just to go punting on the Avon. From Akaroa you can take a dolphin cruise.

 

Bay of Islands - take the ferry over the Russell and wander around. There is usually a market near where the ship's tender will drop you off (town of Pahia).

Thankyour for your advice. I think we are going to give Christchurch a miss and instead opt for the tranzalpine shore excursion.

Have a look at Hinterland Tours. My wife and granddaughter used them when on Diamond Princess in NZ, January 2016. Very impressive tour operator and as usual a bit better pricing than ship's shorex.

Great, thankyou. I will check them out!

Thankyou for your reply. I have looked at that tour although it was quiet expensive so wasn't sure if it was worth it.

 

Did you do the jet boat component aswell?

 

We are definitely wanting to see more of the interior and countryside as opposed to the cities so this might be the way to go. Appreciate your help.

No, we did the jet boat (Skippers Canyon, check their site and YouTube) on a later tour. Interesting bus ride. [emoji12]

I'm sure a land tour won't disappoint.

I loved the Akaroa dolphin cruise. It is short and easy to organise yourself. My kids where there for the dogs who spot the dolphins

https://www.akaroadolphins.co.nz/contact/book-now/?gclid=CMPFlrDdt9YCFZ0HKgodPAcE7w