Auckland to Bali on Odyssey February 2014

[corballa]

Have just booked our first Seabourn cruise as above and very excited. Previous long voyages mainly with Oceania and Cunard. Flying out from UK a few days early with stopover in Kuala Lumpar.

Have toured New Zealand in 2014. Its a lovely country and very safe. I would welcome hearing from anyone who is organising tours at any of our stops before I do so myself.

 

CORBALLA

[wripro]

You might want to check to see if there's a roll call for your cruise on the roll call board. If not, start one. That's where you will find lots of information re: tours and others on your sailing.

[Roxburgh]

We did Auckland to Sydney last January and it was fantastic. The only places we took tours were at Oban (Seabourn Tour) and Melbourne (private tour). We did take a local trip to go whale watching at Kaikoura but, other than that, just wandered around.

 

As you say, New Zealand is a lovely country and very safe. One of the highlights for us was just hiking down the shores of Queen Charlotte Sound from Picton.

[corballa]

You might want to check to see if there's a roll call for your cruise on the roll call board. If not, start one. That's where you will find lots of information re: tours and others on your sailing.

Many thanks.

 

CORBALLA

[CraftyEC]

... and if you have not already done so, remember to check the 'sticky' thread on this Seabourn forum for information about how to acquire $400 on board credit :)

[nomads2]

I have a referral coupon available for a new Seabourn Cruiser which will entitle you to a $400 onboard credit. If you are interested email me at 2meisters@comcast.net.

[wripro]

There is a sticky for referral coupons.

[frantic36]

Have just booked our first Seabourn cruise as above and very excited. Previous long voyages mainly with Oceania and Cunard. Flying out from UK a few days early with stopover in Kuala Lumpar.

Have toured New Zealand in 2014. Its a lovely country and very safe. I would welcome hearing from anyone who is organising tours at any of our stops before I do so myself.

 

CORBALLA

 

We did this journey this February/March and it was great. Since you already have toured New Zealand you will know what a friendly, helpful nation they are.

Just a tip in Timaru, as pretty a town as it is there isn't a lot to see in town and some were disappointed. We hired an Avis car beforehand and went out to the country and the lakes and it was wonderful. Using a GPS made life much easier - and stopped any potential navigation disagreements;). The Avis lady brought additional cars to the site where the shuttle bus dropped people off....though it was easy enough for a reasonably fit person to walk to. Other's from the ship took the opportunity to get out of town because of this and also enjoyed the scenery.

 

Tauranga we booked ahead but there were tour guides at the port waiting to take people who hadn't made prior arrangements. Again we bumped into a couple at the Hot Springs who had taken this option and they were very happy with the guide and the tour they were getting. Our guide from Zealandier Tours was great and we got to see Hobbiton...I'm a Lord of the Rings fan...the Hot Springs and Cultural Show.

 

If I can help with any other stops feel free to ask.

 

Julie

[corballa]

Dear Julie,

Thank you for your help.

Hiring a car for full days on shore is a good idea, Can I do this when I arrive or did you book ahead ?

 

CORBALLA

[frantic36]

Dear Julie,

Thank you for your help.

Hiring a car for full days on shore is a good idea, Can I do this when I arrive or did you book ahead ?

 

CORBALLA

 

We booked ahead online with Avis. But the lady was pro active and set up a temporary spot at the shuttle drop off. There was a little parking spot just across the road and she had brought a few extra vehicles for people to hire on the spot. I'm not sure if this was because she was coming down for us anyway so she brought extra or she always does this.

 

If you don't want to book ahead maybe email the Timaru Avis and see if they are doing the same thing for your sailing.

 

I have to say I was very impressed with how well set up for making it easy for tourists they seemed to be in New Zealand. I'm afraid we Australians could learn a few things in that regard. IMHO

 

Julie

[Roxburgh]

We booked ahead online with Avis. But the lady was pro active and set up a temporary spot at the shuttle drop off. There was a little parking spot just across the road and she had brought a few extra vehicles for people to hire on the spot. I'm not sure if this was because she was coming down for us anyway so she brought extra or she always does this.

 

If you don't want to book ahead maybe email the Timaru Avis and see if they are doing the same thing for your sailing.

 

I have to say I was very impressed with how well set up for making it easy for tourists they seemed to be in New Zealand. I'm afraid we Australians could learn a few things in that regard. IMHO

 

Julie

 

We found New Zealand extremely well organised for tourists. The whale watching at Kaikoura was a superb operation. But, in fairness to Australia, the toursit authorities in Geelong also did a fantastic job.

[frantic36]

We found New Zealand extremely well organised for tourists. The whale watching at Kaikoura was a superb operation. But, in fairness to Australia, the toursit authorities in Geelong also did a fantastic job.

 

It wasn't one of our stops but Australian friends who did the cruise with this stop in did say it was well done as well.

 

The other place I quite liked the help given was in Cairns. We had an overnight there and it was a great spot. Again we hired a car on the second day and went out to the Atherton Tablelands. We chose to do the really twisty section of road in the morning while we were still fresh. Also we didn't want to try and drive it if we were in a rush to get back to the ship before sail away. Not a good road to attempt in a rush!

 

Julie

[ailmarsh]

Hi Everyone,

 

Corballa, we are also doing this itinerary so I will look for you on the Roll Call page :-)

 

Everyone else, thanks for the info. So glad those of you who have done this route enjoyed it so much!

 

Happy cruising to you all :-)

 

 

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