want to cruise down below, but

[JMorris271]

Hello cruises.

I am looking into a 14 day cruise to NZ and Aust.   i notice that most of these cruises have very few port calls and is mostly just cruising without having much chance to  visit the mainlands. Is this pretty much the way a cruise to down under works?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Most NZ cruises typically stop at a port every day, except when going south from Tauranga or north to Tauranga where there is usually a sea day as it's a fair distance around East Cape. Most cruises usually stop at 5-6 NZ ports plus have a day scenic cruising in Fiordland (which is one of the highlights of a NZ cruise).

 

However Australia and NZ are two full days cruising apart, across the Tasman Sea, so if you choose a cruise that embarks and disembarks in Australia you'll always get those four sea days.

 

Quite a few cruise lines offer one way cruises from Australia to NZ which cuts down on the number of sea days on each cruise and also allows you do do some land based travel in each country before and after the cruise. That's probably your best option if you don't want many sea days.

Edited November 18, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[ShawninFL]

4 hours ago, JMorris271 said:

Hello cruises.

I am looking into a 14 day cruise to NZ and Aust.   i notice that most of these cruises have very few port calls and is mostly just cruising without having much chance to  visit the mainlands. Is this pretty much the way a cruise to down under works?

 

Celebrity just released a 14-night New Zealand cruise round trip out of Sydney, Australia that stops in 7 ports, plus cruises the Sounds in Southern, NZ, and includes 5 days at sea.  Doesn't depart until October 2021.

[GUT2407]

You will have sea days on most cruises down under, due to the distances involved.

 

The image may give you some concept of distances you are looking at, also some concept of weather as it lines up degrees south with those North in your area.

[GUT2407]

Or just for pure size

[roothy123]

Yes, it's pretty much the way it has to be.  But if you look enough, you may find some cruises that are more port-intensive than others.  We're on two cruises.  The first, a 16 night cruise, leaves from Bali, takes 2 days to get to Australia, and then visits 8 ports in Australia, waking up the last day in Sydney.  I believe the second is 15 days.  It leaves from Sydney, visits 3 other Australian ports, cruises Milford Sound one day, and then visits 6 New Zealand ports before arriving in Auckland where we leave the ship and fly home.  In New Zealand, the ports come one day after another, with one day at sea in between Australia and New Zealand.  In Australia, there ARE some sea days. The two cruises I mention are on Oceania, a cruise line that is pretty port-intensive.  But as my husband likes to remind me, Australia is a continent, not just a country, so there's only so much you can see in one trip!

 

If you have the time and money, consider booking two cruises, or fly in a few days early or stay a few days late and see more on land  (including inland if you can) before/after you cruise. Besides, the flights are pretty grueling - my husband insisted that we splurge on two cruises after the very long pair of flights to get down under. 

Edited November 19, 2019 by roothy123

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, roothy123 said:

In New Zealand, the ports come one day after another, with one day at sea in between Australia and New Zealand.  

You might want to check your itinerary again. Unless Oceania has developed some revolutionary cruise ship technology, it is impossible to go between Australia and NZ in one day.

[roothy123]

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

You might want to check your itinerary again. Unless Oceania has developed some revolutionary cruise ship technology, it is impossible to go between Australia and NZ in one day.

Oh, yes, sorry, you're right.  I did check my itinerary, and had counted two days at sea as one. We leave Tasmania and have two sea days, not one, until cruising Milford Sound.  Then each day is a different port.

 

Question: (hopefully not too off-target for this thread):  I've read transit around Burnie and Tasmania can be a little rough, and that sometimes a Taz stopped is missed by a cruise ship.  Just where might the trouble spot(s) be?  Is the Tasman Sea (in general) rough or what?  Are there particular months when this is possible?  We go from Melbourne to Burnie (Bass Strait), then Milford Sound.

Edited November 19, 2019 by roothy123

[GUT2407]

Bass Strait is the most likely rough spot. Though we have never missed a Tas port, (and if I am counting correctly this year is out 14th trip) had a few re arranged but never missed. The Tasman Sea can also be rough and the Sounds are sometimes missed as it can be to rough to get in the narrowish entries, we have also missed Akaroa?? (I think that wasthe one) in NZ as conditions were worsening and the Captain decided that while it was safe to anchor, predicted conditions could necessitate a quick departure with no notice to get everyone back onboard 

[Host Jazzbeau]

There are cruises just in New Zealand, although I couldn't find any with the mass-market cruise lines.  We are going on Ponant in March:  10 nights from Dunedin to Auckland [can also be done in the opposite direction] with 5 port stops (Picton, Wellington, Napier, White Island, and Tauranga) plus 2 days scenic cruising in the fjords and only 1 other day at sea (between Milford Sound and Picton).  Ponant also offers a 2-night pre-/post- excursion in Queenstown to cover the scenic mountains and lakes, or you can DIY in Dunedin to visit the Otago Peninsula.  The big advantages are:  you don't sail across the Tasman Sea, and flights from the US to Auckland are 2 hours shorter than to Oz.

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's a shame that one of the mass market lines doesn't operate NZ only cruises over the summer. It would be ideal for the smaller ships of P&O or Princess. There are enough ports on the sheltered east coast to offer decent length itineraries especially if they did the run around to Fiordland to and from Dunedin over two days, and that would allow them to offer the overnight excursion through Queenstown. They could also offer overnight stops in places like Tauranga where day trips to Rotorua, Hobbiton or even Waitomo Caves are popular thus giving people a chance to go to two or more of those places instead of just one.

[GUT2407]

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's a shame that one of the mass market lines doesn't operate NZ only cruises over the summer. It would be ideal for the smaller ships of P&O or Princess. There are enough ports on the sheltered east coast to offer decent length itineraries especially if they did the run around to Fiordland to and from Dunedin over two days, and that would allow them to offer the overnight excursion through Queenstown. They could also offer overnight stops in places like Tauranga where day trips to Rotorua, Hobbiton or even Waitomo Caves are popular thus giving people a chance to go to two or more of those places instead of just one.

Yep there could be some fantastic itineraries.

[GUT2407]

On 11/19/2019 at 5:42 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

You might want to check your itinerary again. Unless Oceania has developed some revolutionary cruise ship technology, it is impossible to go between Australia and NZ in one day.

Could ski behind it.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Yep there could be some fantastic itineraries.

Like this? 

Auckland

Bay of Islands

Tauranga 2 days

Gisborne

Napier

Wellington

Picton

Akaroa/Lyttleton

Dunedin (port stop)

Fiordland Scenic cruising 2 days

Dunedin disembark / embark then reverse the itinerary. A nice 12 night cruise each way. 

[Budget Queen]

On 11/19/2019 at 12:49 AM, ShawninFL said:

 

Celebrity just released a 14-night New Zealand cruise round trip out of Sydney, Australia that stops in 7 ports, plus cruises the Sounds in Southern, NZ, and includes 5 days at sea.  Doesn't depart until October 2021.

This is a typical sailing that other lines do as well.    

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 11/20/2019 at 6:36 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's a shame that one of the mass market lines doesn't operate NZ only cruises over the summer. It would be ideal for the smaller ships of P&O or Princess. There are enough ports on the sheltered east coast to offer decent length itineraries especially if they did the run around to Fiordland to and from Dunedin over two days, and that would allow them to offer the overnight excursion through Queenstown. They could also offer overnight stops in places like Tauranga where day trips to Rotorua, Hobbiton or even Waitomo Caves are popular thus giving people a chance to go to two or more of those places instead of just one.

 

When I was researching our New Zealand trip we were originally thinking of a Celebrity cruise that offers this, but I read that because of weather issues in Milford Sound it is often cancelled.  That's why I'm glad we are doing it as a land extension at the beginning of our cruise out of Dunedin.

[roothy123]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

When I was researching our New Zealand trip we were originally thinking of a Celebrity cruise that offers this, but I read that because of weather issues in Milford Sound it is often cancelled.  That's why I'm glad we are doing it as a land extension at the beginning of our cruise out of Dunedin.

A land extension out of Dunedin sounds great - so much to do!  But as for Milford Sound, I've seen plenty of cruise ships on Marine Traffic that are cruising through Milford Sound, so I'm curious just how many cruise days there are cancelled.  But I'll probably never know.  But I DO hear that, without a doubt, it rains a lot in the Sound!  

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

When I was researching our New Zealand trip we were originally thinking of a Celebrity cruise that offers this, but I read that because of weather issues in Milford Sound it is often cancelled.  That's why I'm glad we are doing it as a land extension at the beginning of our cruise out of Dunedin.

I've been on three Celebrity NZ cruises so far and everytime we've had glorious cruising in Milford and the other sounds. But yes, some cruises are unlucky especially those too early in the season. The best time for NZ is usually February/March. 

[the mice]

Just returned from 5  weeks in Australia/NZ, with 24 days on Celebrity, a B2B up to the Great Barrier Reef and back, then on to Hobart and across the Tasman Sea, with a smooth, uneventful crossing.   In 5 weeks (springtime there - Oct 9-Nov 10)  we encountered about 1.5 hours of rain, most of it coming on our last day in Auckland just before we left for the airport.   In Milford Sound we did have fog early on, but no rain, not too sunny, just mix of clouds and sun when cruising the fiords.    We saw one of the boats boarding passengers for the Queenstown overnight.   No issues and this was an early season cruise.  

Overall weather was quite pleasant.   Never experienced any of those 3 or 4 seasons in one day.   We realize we were very fortunate weather-wise.

[GUT2407]

We went through the sounds on a cruise, the ships scheduled to do them the day before and day after both missed out.

 

unfortunately I don’t think anyone can really predict with any certainty.

[Chiliburn]

On 11/24/2019 at 10:06 AM, GUT2407 said:

We went through the sounds on a cruise, the ships scheduled to do them the day before and day after both missed out.

 

unfortunately I don’t think anyone can really predict with any certainty.

Check your cruise planner gut.

The specialty restaurants are on special for RC

s]

Edited November 27, 2019 by Chiliburn

[GUT2407]

30 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Check your cruise planner gut.

The specialty restaurants are on special for RC

s]

Thanks just nabbed my drink package at about 35% off.