Australia and New Zealand on Diamond Princess

[NAJNLA]

We're thinking about taking a 12 day cruise to Australia and New Zealand on the Diamond Princess next year.

 

Can anybody give their opinions of the ship, staff, meals, entertainment?

 

Is there anything special we should try to see in the various ports in Australia and New Zealand?

 

What's the best month to take this cruise?

[cactusrose]

I did this cruise two years ago on the Star. What a wonderful cruise this is. It's my all time favorite. I liked it so much I'm taking the Diamond from Sydney to San Francisco next April. Anyway, there are many great ports. One thing I wouldn't miss is the seeing the Albatross and Yellow Eyed Penguins in Dunedin. What a great experience.

[CKforensic]

Thanks for the positive comments, cactus. My wife and I are planning to celebrate our 10th anniversary and renew our vows as part of our trip to take this cruise. Did you take the excursions offered by Princess or did you make your own plans?

 

Thanks!

[KiwiIan]

We're thinking about taking a 12 day cruise to Australia and New Zealand on the Diamond Princess next year.

 

Can anybody give their opinions of the ship, staff, meals, entertainment?

 

Is there anything special we should try to see in the various ports in Australia and New Zealand?

 

What's the best month to take this cruise?

Please advise your Ports of Call in NZ and we will try and offer some advice, Jan,Feb and March are all good months. Regards Ian [Tauranga]

[juliejoe]

We did AU/NZ on the Regal in January 2001 and it is one of the itineraries we hope one day to repeat....Absolutely Wonderful!

 

My review of the ports is here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=634

 

Julie

[Druke I]

The Australia/NewZealand cruises is really one of the best cruises we have done.

 

We did it originally on Pacific Princess (the 1st - Love Boat) Jan 95, and have been back "down under" a couple/three times, on different itineraries.

 

It is a wonderful part of the world.

[emmalbrent]

We are going Jan 4 to 22, 2006. I have started a private roll call and we have almost 50 on it. We are doing 2 days in Sydney and 2 days in Auckland. If you write me a note and send to emmalbrent@juno.com, I will try to rememeber to send you photos and trip report.

 

We have mini-suite next to our traveling friends, Butch and Janet. Their long time neighbor is in an oceanview cabin. Were scheduled on Sapphire Princess Xmas & Nyears last year, but Lanny broke his leg and had to cancel. The gal in AU who took over the roll call for me, sent me picture of cruise critic group and she and Paul are coming from Canberra to Sydney to meet us Friday night and spend Sat/Sun with us.

 

We are still on Insignia Barcelona to Lisbon April-May ; still waiting to see if can get into Libya; only reason taking this cruise; been to all other ports on it. Then Nautica Istanbul to Singapore, Nov-Dec.

[Druke I]

See that you are doing Nautica, Istanbul to Singapore, 11-06 - we are also.

 

There is a roll call started on Cruise Critic's Roll Call Forum, Other Cruise Lines - please join in (if you haven't already done so).

 

Tried to e-mail you using info in your profile - but couldn't bring it up.

[juliejoe]

NAJNLA - I see that you are new to CC. In case you have not already found it, you will see a wealth of information at the CC ports of call board for AU/NZ. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=77

[emmalbrent]

On Insignia MAY-June, "not" April.

[emmalbrent]

I have been trying to get my emmalbrent@juno.com on my profile. So far no joy but did get the MSN one off.

 

I have posted on the Nautica roll call. Maybe need to gather of names and info for a private roll call.

[Trevoli]

We did Sydney to Auckland on the Star Princess in January 2004 (can't believe it was nearly two years ago) and had a wonderful time.

 

If you can, spend some time in Sydney. It's a wonderful city full of warm, gracious people and many, many things to do.

 

T

[CKforensic]

Please advise your Ports of Call in NZ and we will try and offer some advice, Jan,Feb and March are all good months. Regards Ian [Tauranga]

Thanks Ian. Here are the ports and the times that we will be in each. Thanks also to Juliejoe for a great review from her previous trip. Cheers!!

 

 

Day 1 Sydney, Australia -- 9:00 pm

Day 2 At Sea -- --

Day 3 Melbourne, Australia 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Day 4 At Sea -- --

Day 5 Hobart, Tasmania 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Day 6 At Sea -- --

Day 7 At Sea -- --

Day 8 Fjordland National Park, New Zealand 7:00 am - 5:00 pm

Day 9 Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Day 10 Lyttelton (Christchurch), New Zealand 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Day 11 At Sea -- --

Day 12 Tauranga, New Zealand 7:00 am - 6:00 pm

Day 13 Auckland, New Zealand 6:00 am --

[MKKruiser]

Did the trip on the Regal a few years ago and despite the fact that I had a few unhappy situations with the ship, I can still say it is one of my favorite trips. I did Sydney partly on my own and with a Princess excursion to the Great Barrier Reef. Also stayed with a friend for a week in Auckland.

It is a trip not to be missed as one of things you will enjoy are the people. They are so friendly.

Just returned from Egypt, and that is now my number one trip. But Australia and New Zealand is second.

The biggest problem you will have is trying to determine what excursions to take. The counties are so interesting!

Enjoy!

[MKKruiser]

Did the trip on the Regal a few years ago and despite the fact that I had a few unhappy situations with the ship, I can still say it is one of my favorite trips. I did Sydney partly on my own and with a Princess excursion to the Great Barrier Reef. Also stayed with a friend for a week in Auckland.

It is a trip not to be missed as one of things you will enjoy are the people. They are so friendly.

Just returned from Egypt, and that is now my number one trip. But Australia and New Zealand is second.

The biggest problem you will have is trying to determine what excursions to take. The counties are so interesting!

Enjoy!

 

Sorry if this is a double post.

[cactusrose]

Thanks for the positive comments, cactus. My wife and I are planning to celebrate our 10th anniversary and renew our vows as part of our trip to take this cruise. Did you take the excursions offered by Princess or did you make your own plans?

 

Thanks!

 

We did about half and half. The one in Dunedin was a private tour and was great. If you do go to the Australia Board, you will get a lot of good advice. I know you will love this cruise. The people in Australia and New Zealand are so friendly and they just seem happy. Have a great cruise.

[GeminiA]

We're thinking about taking a 12 day cruise to Australia and New Zealand on the Diamond Princess next year.

 

Can anybody give their opinions of the ship, staff, meals, entertainment?

 

Is there anything special we should try to see in the various ports in Australia and New Zealand?

 

What's the best month to take this cruise?

We went on an Australia-NewZealand cruise on the Sapphire last Christmas-NewYear & had an enjoyable trip. Lots of good sceneries & the people there are very nice. I particularly enjoy the thermal reserve in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Weather was perfect throughout the cruise except for some rough seas from Tasmania to New Zealand. I have some pictures of the cruise linked in my signature below.:)

[MVPinBoynton]

JulieJoe,

Thanks for the link to your excellent review. It was very informative. I have been surprised at how few people post on the Australia thread and how few reviews are available, so your review was really welcome. We leave for Aukland in 9 weeks to get on the Diamond to see these beautiful countries ourselves. We will be doing the airwalk, jet boats and several other places you mentioned. It is good to see that we chose some good excursions.

[emmalbrent]

You were on the cruise we had to cancel. Kim took over the private CC roll call for me. Kim and Paul are coming to Sydney on Friday night to meet us. And staying Sat and Sun til we board the ship. Kim sent me a pix of the CC meeting. I have about 50 on the Diamond private roll call now. Our friends have mini-suite next to us and their friend and now ours has an oceanview cabin.

[NAJNLA]

We're thinking about taking a 12 day cruise to Australia and New Zealand on the Diamond Princess next year.

 

Can anybody give their opinions of the ship, staff, meals, entertainment?

 

Is there anything special we should try to see in the various ports in Australia and New Zealand?

 

What's the best month to take this cruise?

 

Back to top. Any other feedback?

[NAJNLA]

Please advise your Ports of Call in NZ and we will try and offer some advice, Jan,Feb and March are all good months. Regards Ian [Tauranga]

 

Thanks, Ian-

 

We plan to arrive in Aukland 2-3 days ahead of the cruise. Can you recommend any reasonably priced (nice but not necessarily luxury) accommodations that would be walking distance (within 2-3 miles) from some of the local attractions?

 

Can you recommend any good walking tours in Aukland that could be completed in a 3-4 hours?

 

Can you recommend any bus tours in the Aukland vicinity that could be completed in one day?

 

Our other ports of call in NZ are Tauranga, Christchurch, and Dunedin. I would appreciate recommendations on what we should see in these towns during the several hours we have in each port.

[Cruisin Sal]

Thanks for your Australian review. We on on the 2/25/06 cruise. Did you go the Cairns and the Barrier Reef? We are spending 3 days in Cairns. Any infor would be helpful.

 

Sally

[pacmom]

My husband an I were in Cairns (cans) in 2003. We stayed at the Tradewinds. Every room is Ocean/bay side. It is a very walkable town. The food was great. Be sure to have some Moreton Bay "bugs". Never thought I'd find anything more succulant than lobster. We enjoyed our 5 days there. Try to go to the rainforest and the aboriginal theater. Also skip the Quicksilver trip to their own diving platform.. 2 hours there and two back. There is a closer trip right out of Cairns to either green or lizard islands. If you anymore info, I'd be glad to try to help. Pat

[juliejoe]

Hi Sally!

 

You'll love AU/NZ! We have Cairns and the Barrier Reef on our list of must do's when we return to AU. Looks like pacmom has some good info for you. We'll be looking for you to post all about your experiences when you return.

 

Julie