Non cruise line excursions New Zealand

[plymouthcruiser]

Has anyone done any non cruise line excursions in New Zealand that they recommend? Also, interested in information on multi port cruise excursion packages that some of the independent travel companies offer in NZ.

[Rosee]

We did the Lanarch Castle Tour on "Castle Cruiser" in Dunedin. Great trip and tour of the beautiful Castle. Driver did guide through the Castle too. Highly recommend this one.

 

A lot of tour operators meet the ship on the dock to sell their 'wares' as you come onshore, so you can organise your tour then, but I would do my homework beforehand.

This helps if the ship can't make it to that port, so no problems(?) over refunds will occur.

 

Generally find tours organised by yourself work out much cheaper and better trips than those from the ship line. The worry about being back in time for departure is a 'furfee' as ALL operators are aware of, and mostly run tours expressly for, ship's passengers, and advertise they will get you back on time. Never had any problems, but.......there's always a first time I expect !!!!!

Hope this helps,

 

Rosee

[happybos]

Are you doing Picton?

[Miamia65]

we are interested in picton

[lazy day]

We used non cruise ship tours in Auckland http://www.Milestonetours.co.nz, Dunedin Back to Nature tours which took us all around the Otaga Pensinula out to the Pengiun colony and to the albatrose well worth it. Also we went to Akaroa http://www.toursouth.co.nz we went on the morning tour and they drop you of up at the Giants House which is up a steep hill.

 

Hope this helps.

[Dizziedi]

we are interested in picton

 

I can highly recommend Helen at Naclachan Wine Tours.

Her email is: helen@naclachan.co.nz

Her website is: http://www.naclachan.co.nz

This is a youtube funny:

 

I am about to introduce yet another van full of people when we are in Picton on the Diamond in a few weeks. I promise you a very fun day with a highly respected tour guide in Helen. This will be about our sixth time with Helen. If you put it up on your roll call, you will find a van fills very quickly.

 

Sorry, I am editing this because if you tell her Di sent you - the price will be better.

 

Cheers

Di

Edited November 14, 2015 by Dizziedi

[Miamia65]

thanks Di

[to_dee]

If you want to do your own thing in Tauranga i highly recommend Rite Price Car Rentals. We used them for a one day rental on our port day in Oct this year and visited various in places in Rotorua. They prepare forr you a handy pack of guides, maps & even some discount coupons for local tourist places. I was happy with that as we saved a few dollars on entries :D

[sheridan318]

Hi can you please tell me if you booked a car in Tauranga beforehand or did you wait till you got their.

Also how far was the pick up point from the wharf ? we will be going in January next year so we are interested in looking into this option for this port :D

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Hi can you please tell me if you booked a car in Tauranga beforehand or did you wait till you got their.

Also how far was the pick up point from the wharf ? we will be going in January next year so we are interested in looking into this option for this port :D

 

If you google Price Rite Tauranga, they advertise that they are the closest to the port and cater for cruise ship passengers, they also stress the importance of booking ahead.

Hobart and Tauranga seem to be the most popular ports for car rentals.:)

 

[sheridan318]

Thanks for that reply David

[to_dee]

If you google Price Rite Tauranga, they advertise that they are the closest to the port and cater for cruise ship passengers, they also stress the importance of booking ahead.

Hobart and Tauranga seem to be the most popular ports for car rentals.:)

 

Exactly as David said :D

 

 

We prepaid for our one day rental in NZD via their website.

 

There was a Rite Price white van doing continuous shuttles from the Port to their office which was less than 5 min drive away. When we dropped the car back we just walked back to the ship. Nice friendly shuttle guy who gave lots of good tips about things to see & do.

 

Originally when we booked we were doing a Celeb cruise then I had to amend and we ended up booking a Princess cruise for completely different dates and I emailed Rite Price and they had no issues and were happy to amend our rental dates, no fees, no drama. They replied promptly to emails too.

 

I would definitely make sure you prebook they were booked out for the day we arrived. Also when we arrived in Tauranga Port there was a white tented kind of area where you could speak to & I guess book hertz & other car rentals & omg the lines was LONG!

 

To be fair when we arrived at the Rite Price office there was also a queue and I think we may have waited 20 mins but it was a LOT shorter than the queues we saw at the port. It's a small office but it was all smooth and we have booked them again for our next cruise stop in Tauranga.