New Zealand - Australia Port Question

[MrCheeky]

My wife and I will be going on our second Seabourn cruise in Jan or Feb 2021.  I am currently studying the current cruise itineraries in that area for 2020 as reference (as the 2021 itineraries have not been released yet).  We would like to cruise from Auckland to Sydney.  I note that there are a couple of itineraries that encompasses that routing, however, utilizing different Australian ports.  I have listed them below.

 

My question is for those who have sailed this route or those that are familiar with the area, what ports are recommended?  Bateman's Bay or Eden?  Thank You!

 

16 Day New Zealand & Australia 

- Auckland

- Tauranga (Rotorua)

- Wellington

- Picton

- Akaroa (Christchurch)

- Port Chalmers (Dunedin)

- Oban (Half-moon Bay)

- Melbourne

- Phillip Island

- Batemans Bay (Canberra)

- Sydney

 

 

16 Day Wellness in New Zealand & Australia 

- Auckland

- Tauranga (Rotorua)

- Picton

- Wellington

- Akaroa (Christchurch)

- Port Chalmers (Dunedin)

- Oban (Half-moon Bay)

- Melbourne

- Phillip Island

- Eden

- Sydney

 

 

The other aspect is that the Sydney > Auckland routing has different ports.  Is there any advantage to this routing over the Auckland > Sydney?

 

16 Day Australia & New Zealand 

- Sydney

- Phillip Island

- Melbourne

- Oban (Half-moon Bay)

- Timaru

- Lyttelton (Christchurch)

- Kaikoura

- Nelson

- Wellington

- Matiatia Bay, Waiheke Island

- Auckland

 

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by MrCheeky

[2SailingNomads]

We have sailed between Australia and New Zealand and have done many ports on all the lists but not the 2 you are inquiring about, sorry.  Glad to see SB going to different ports in that area of the world.  One I would like to visit is Christchurch.  

[Thecat123]

Matiatia Bay, Waiheke Island is a strange one to me and to have an over night there, strange

We were on the Encore on a different cruise and I asked the captain if they were going to drift down there with the tide as Matiatia Bay is only about an hour with the ferries which run there regularly from Auckland City

. Waiheke is worth visiting but one can do it with a day trip from Auckland. There are lots of wine tours etc there so I wouldn't be worried if you picked a cruise which doesn't go there as you could have a day in Auckland pre cruise or after