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Which HAL itinerary would you choose?


stickey_mouse
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Hello! I have just begun looking into Australia/New Zealand (early 2022) as a possible alternative to last summer's cancelled cruise to Norway (sadly, I haven't found any comparable Norway itineraries yet). Holland America is currently offering the following itineraries, roughly priced the same. Which would you choose, and why? I assume the one-ways (A & B) are preferred (less sea days)? Also, any preference of starting in Sydney vs. Auckland? Any general comments about the itineraries are also welcome. Thank you!

 

ITINERARY A:

Date Port Arrival Time Departure Time

Jan 20, 2022

Sydney, Australia

-- 5:00 pm

Jan 21, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 22, 2022

Burnie, Tasmania

8:00 am 5:00 pm

Jan 23, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 24, 2022

Hobart, Australia

8:00 am 11:00 pm

Jan 25, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 26, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 27, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 27, 2022

Milford Sound, New Zealand

8:00 am 9:00 am

Jan 28, 2022

Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand

8:00 am 4:00 pm

Jan 29, 2022

Picton, New Zealand

1:00 am 6:00 pm

Jan 30, 2022

Christchurch, New Zealand

8:00 am 7:00 pm

Jan 31, 2022

Wellington, New Zealand

8:00 am 5:00 pm

Feb 1, 2022

Napier, New Zealand

8:00 am 2:00 pm

Feb 2, 2022

Tauranga, New Zealand

8:00 am 7:00 pm

Feb 3, 2022

Auckland, New Zealand

7:00 am --

 

ITINERARY B:

Date Port Arrival Time Departure Time

Feb 3, 2022

Auckland, New Zealand

-- 5:00 pm

Feb 4, 2022

Tauranga, New Zealand

8:00 am 5:00 pm

Feb 5, 2022

Gisborne, New Zealand

8:00 am 3:00 pm

Feb 6, 2022

Wellington, New Zealand

9:00 am 6:00 pm

Feb 7, 2022

Christchurch, New Zealand

7:00 am 7:00 pm

Feb 8, 2022

Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand

8:00 am 6:00 pm

Feb 9, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Feb 10, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Feb 11, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Feb 12, 2022

Hobart, Australia

8:00 am 6:00 pm

Feb 13, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Feb 14, 2022

Burnie, Tasmania

8:00 am 5:00 pm

Feb 15, 2022

Melbourne, Australia

8:00 am 6:30 pm

Feb 16, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Feb 17, 2022

Sydney, Australia

7:00 am --

 

ITINERARY C :

 

Date Port Arrival Time Departure Time

Jan 5, 2022

Sydney, Australia

-- 5:00 pm

Jan 6, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 7, 2022

Hobart, Australia

8:00 am 6:00 pm

Jan 8, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 9, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 10, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 10, 2022

Milford Sound, New Zealand

7:00 am 8:00 am

Jan 11, 2022

Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand

8:00 am 6:00 pm

Jan 12, 2022

Lyttelton (Christchurch), New Zealand

8:00 am 6:00 pm

Jan 13, 2022

Wellington, New Zealand

8:00 am 4:00 pm

Jan 14, 2022

Napier, New Zealand

7:00 am 2:00 pm

Jan 15, 2022

Tauranga, New Zealand

8:00 am 6:00 pm

Jan 16, 2022

Auckland, New Zealand

8:00 am 5:00 pm

Jan 17, 2022

Cruising

7:00 am 2:00 pm

Jan 18, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 19, 2022

Cruising

-- --

Jan 20, 2022

Sydney, Australia

6:00 am --

 

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I would say it depends on what you are hoping to see and do on the particular cruise, and if you have visited either country before. 

 

DISCLAIMER - I have not yet been to Australia or New Zealand, but have booked a cruise & cruise tour for Nov. 2021, with fingers crossed!  Since this will be our first and probably only trip to the area we wanted to see as much as possible that our limited time (and funds!) would allow.  With that in mind, I would choose Itinerary B because it includes an additional port in Australia (Melbourne).  I would also encourage you to arrange a few extra days at the beginning and end of the cruise for further explorations, if possible.  Itinerary B gives you that option more easily than a round trip itinerary.

 

Hopefully, folks from the region will chime in with their wisdom and suggestions.

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If I was coming all that way, I’d do one of the one way ones.

 

Fly in to Auckland or Sydney, spend a few days, do the cruise, stay a few days, fly home.

 

personally I’d say the one that includes Melbourne as you get to see a bit more of Aus and depending on your likes Melbourne is a bigger place with more yo see than Burnie.

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I would fly into Auckland from DFW ,spend 1or 2 nights do itinerary B.
 

On your return home fly from Sydney directly to Queenstown NZ spend a few nights.
then on to Auckland and back home.

 

Queenstown is a must.

Edited by Chiliburn
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17 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

If I was coming all that way, I’d do one of the one way ones.

 

Fly in to Auckland or Sydney, spend a few days, do the cruise, stay a few days, fly home.

 

personally I’d say the one that includes Melbourne as you get to see a bit more of Aus and depending on your likes Melbourne is a bigger place with more yo see than Burnie.

I agree, I'd do this one too. Spend a few days (if you have it) in Auckland and then the same in Sydney.

 

Good luck!

 

Leigh

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It's highly unlikely any of these itineraries which have a NZ destination will happen. Our borders are to remain closed to international travellers until at least 2022. Only returning Kiwis are being allowed in and they have to quarantine for 14 days on arrival. 

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18 minutes ago, Korimako said:

It's highly unlikely any of these itineraries which have a NZ destination will happen. Our borders are to remain closed to international travellers until at least 2022. Only returning Kiwis are being allowed in and they have to quarantine for 14 days on arrival. 


All of these itineraries are for 2022. God help us all if this is still true in February 2022. 

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Sticky Mouse, I did option "b"  a few years ago on the Maasdam in January. Crossing the Tasman Sea can be a bit rough. The winds blow from New Zealand towards Tasmania/Australia. We had some 2 rough days at sea. I would not want to cross into the wind, that is from Australia to New Zealand.

That cruise was great. I have looked at the Feb 3, 2022 from Auckland, may wait until 2023. As a note, you may want to spend a few days in Auckland and in Sydney.

I see you are from St Louis, I am in Alton. John.

 

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5 minutes ago, Jolokia said:

Sticky Mouse, I did option "b"  a few years ago on the Maasdam in January. Crossing the Tasman Sea can be a bit rough. The winds blow from New Zealand towards Tasmania/Australia. We had some 2 rough days at sea. I would not want to cross into the wind, that is from Australia to New Zealand.

That cruise was great. I have looked at the Feb 3, 2022 from Auckland, may wait until 2023. As a note, you may want to spend a few days in Auckland and in Sydney.

I see you are from St Louis, I am in Alton. John.

 


Thanks! I am from So. Il originally. Good to have someone in the area. I’ll let you know if we end up going down under, and you can join our group. We’re a nice bunch. 

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55 minutes ago, Korimako said:

 

Thanks. I remain optimistic that by early next year, all vaccinated travelers will be allowed to travel to New Zealand. If not, then something went horribly wrong, such as ineffective vaccines or uncontrolled virus mutations. Time will tell. 

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5 hours ago, Jolokia said:

Sticky Mouse, I did option "b"  a few years ago on the Maasdam in January. Crossing the Tasman Sea can be a bit rough. The winds blow from New Zealand towards Tasmania/Australia. We had some 2 rough days at sea. I would not want to cross into the wind, that is from Australia to New Zealand.

 

The wind across the Tasman from the South Island to either Hobart, Tasmania or Melbourne, Victoria are more likely to be westerlies, south westerlies or from the north or north west which is what is happening at the moment. Tasman Sea Winds

 

Leigh

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Leigh, thank you for correcting me about the prevailing winds. That will have an impact on the selection of my next cruise to Australia/New Zealand.

I just remember the seas were relatively calm until we got away from New Zealand and then rough for more than 24 hours. Rough seas do not bother me too much, but some people have an issue with motion sickness. The long flights to and from are more of an issue to me.

John.

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We chose itinerary A. I liked that it had 6 port stops versus 5 in New Zealand.  Personal choice really, as we're not big city people and the Melbourne stop didn't hold as much appeal for us. I also liked that we would be in Hobart until 11 PM allowing for a night time tour at Port Arthur. The extra 2 hours in Tauranga also worked better for us.

Of course, as time goes on, I'm having real doubts that we will be able to do this sailing. But I figured the planning keeps me off the streets and out of trouble😉

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17 hours ago, possum52 said:

The wind across the Tasman from the South Island to either Hobart, Tasmania or Melbourne, Victoria are more likely to be westerlies, south westerlies or from the north or north west which is what is happening at the moment. Tasman Sea Winds

 

Leigh

 

In layman's terms, which direction has better potential for smoother sailing? 

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6 minutes ago, stickey_mouse said:

 

In layman's terms, which direction has better potential for smoother sailing? 

From a comfort perspective, I don’t believe there is any great preference however, if I had to choose, I’d take the New Zealand to Australia route in the event bad weather (with westerly or northerly wind) comes up.  Ships will ride a little better into the wind and waves.

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I don’t think going east or west would make much difference.

I would suggest the westbound because it would be easier with flights.

 I think by the time you left home until you got to sydney would be over 24hours.

Auckland would be a few hours less.

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8 hours ago, Jolokia said:

Leigh, thank you for correcting me about the prevailing winds. That will have an impact on the selection of my next cruise to Australia/New Zealand.

I just remember the seas were relatively calm until we got away from New Zealand and then rough for more than 24 hours. Rough seas do not bother me too much, but some people have an issue with motion sickness. The long flights to and from are more of an issue to me.

John.

 

Our cruise to NZ from Melbourne November 2018 was smooth both ways. The Tasman is renowned for bad weather and rough seas but it can be smooth. I tend to have motion sickness and was a little concerned but I didn't feel unwell once. 

 

 

34 minutes ago, stickey_mouse said:

 

In layman's terms, which direction has better potential for smoother sailing? 

I don't really know, but it will depend on the weather systems coming across from Australia usually. 

 

Perhaps do a little research.

 

Leigh

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I would pick Itinerary A or C pending on whether you want to explore NZ on land or finish up in Sydney.

Both have Milford Sound as a cruising destination while Itinerary B doesn't. 

 

Milford Sound is the most scenic place in all NZ, can't be missed!

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14 hours ago, Luffy86 said:

I would pick Itinerary A or C pending on whether you want to explore NZ on land or finish up in Sydney.

Both have Milford Sound as a cruising destination while Itinerary B doesn't. 

 

Milford Sound is the most scenic place in all NZ, can't be missed!

Good pickup Luffy86. I checked the HAL website as not cruising Fjordland seemed incorrect, because as you pointed it is the highlight of the cruise. The OP's B cruise is not quite right as the first day (9th February) after Dunedin/Port Chalmers should be Fiordland cruising according to the website - 

HAL Cruise B February 3rd 2022

 

 

So cruise B is still the one I would choose.

 

Leigh

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