Mademoiselle22 Posted July 12, 2015 #1 Share Posted July 12, 2015 (edited) We are interested in going to Australia and NZ in December, 2016 to sightsee and visit family:). We were thinking of starting off with a cruise from NZ. We had RCI's Radiance 10 night Christmas cruise in mind starting off from Auckland. Would you mind taking a look at the itinerary and letting me know what you think about it? Ports of Call: Auckland Tauranga Napier Wellington Picot Akaroa Dunedin Dusky Sound Doubtful Sound Milford Sound Sydney We'll spend a few days in Sydney and Melbourne visiting family and sightseeing. We'll probably also spend a few days in either Hobarts or in Kangaroo island (but leaning towards Hobarts). Sadly we will probably only get to Auckland about 1.5 days before the start of the cruise. About us: I'm in my mid twenties and I'm traveling with my mom who is a fairly youthful for her age (but things like kayaking are probably out). For our cruise we're mostly interested in the wildlife, scenery, history, culture and shopping. If I have the urge to do snorkelling or anything like that, I'll save that for Australia with my cousins.... Also my mom did an Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago and really loved seeing the wildlife so I think a cruise of NZ will have a lot of appeal for us. I've done a bit of reading at the board, and I know that many people say that a land tour is the best way to see NZ… But I'm just not sure that it'll work for us. We did a few weeks of Europe on our own and she found the packing and unpacking pretty tiring and in general was lot more relaxed on our cruise without having to worry about that every couple of days. And in general the land tour seem to be a little bit out of our price range. So please let me know what you think about the itinerary? Would you consider it a decent chance for us to get a taste of NZ? Also let me know if you have any suggestions? Or must-sees in any of the ports? There's a good chance we'll come back in the future as we have A LOT of family in Australia. Edited July 12, 2015 by Mademoiselle22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MMDown Under Posted July 13, 2015 #2 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I think that is an excellent cruise of NZ from Auckland to Sydney. It is the same itinerary as we did, except for the addition of Picton. This is the official NZ Tourism website - http://www.newzealand.com/au/?cid=p:sem:AU:Google:Always-On:Tourism-New-Zealand-AU-Brand-Related-Exact:New-Zealand-Tourism which will help you find places/attractions of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OzKiwiJJ Posted July 13, 2015 #3 Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) Tauranga- I'd recommend a day trip to Rotorua. Napier is famous for it's Art Deco buildings from when the central city was rebuilt after the 1932 earthquake. Akaroa - you could do a dolphin watch boat trip to see the world's smallest and rarest dolphin, the Hector's dolphin. Dunedin - you could do a day trip to the albatross sanctuary, and the Penguin Place where you will see the endangered yellow-eyed penguin. Edited July 13, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jannandjohn Posted July 14, 2015 #4 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Its Hobart .....not Hobarts :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted July 14, 2015 #5 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Looks Ok, but you can get some cruises that include Hobart as well. That may be worth havng a look at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegasjunkie Posted July 14, 2015 #6 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Hi there, I agree that your trip sounds great. Certainly think about doing the day trip from Tauranga to Rotorua it is super and you get to see the local culture.In Auckland there is a tour company that is situated right by the ship termimal that has double decker bus hop on hop off tours of Auckland city well worth the time, the Auckland Museum one of the best of all I have been to, last year we paid $49 each.I dont know about other tour companies but Princess provides shuttle bus`s into Wellington and Napier cities.Akararoa is quaint, Foirdland and Milford sound are beautiful.I have done this cruise 3 times all with princess. Hope this helps.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mademoiselle22 Posted July 16, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Such great suggestions :) Thank you so much for posting your tips and advice^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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