Help with Australia and New Zealand Cruise

[T1403]

Looking for a great itinerary for a cruise exploring Australia and New Zealand. Will be flying  into Sydney from Miami.  No more than 15 days, would like to see the best of Australia and New Zealand.  Not looking for luxury cruises, on somewhat of a budget.  What ports are a must see?  What excursions are a must see? What Cruise lines and ship offer the best experience.  Thanks!

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by T1403

[Blackduck59]

Welcome to cruise critic. 

You will find much knowledge here and folks are more than willing to help. 

I thought I should mention that Australia is a vast country about the same size as the "lower 48" United States. So seeing much of that in 15 days will be hard. 

When we planned our 2 cancelled cruise vacations down under we planned to be away for 28+ days. The cruise portion with many port stops in New Zealand was a one way from Auckland to Sydney and that was 11 days.

I'm sure you will get lots of good advice here but I suspect most will tell you 15 days isn't nearly long enough. 

Cheers, enjoy planning your trip.

[andlep]

You could look at P&O Australia. Eg, do a Moreton Island (dep January 30 2023) and a NZ back to back, but a little longer than 15 days.

Another possibility is NCL if you can fly to Miami from Auckland.

Edited July 4, 2022 by andlep

[Over from NZ]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

Welcome to cruise critic. 

You will find much knowledge here and folks are more than willing to help. 

I thought I should mention that Australia is a vast country about the same size as the "lower 48" United States. So seeing much of that in 15 days will be hard. 

When we planned our 2 cancelled cruise vacations down under we planned to be away for 28+ days. The cruise portion with many port stops in New Zealand was a one way from Auckland to Sydney and that was 11 days.

I'm sure you will get lots of good advice here but I suspect most will tell you 15 days isn't nearly long enough. 

Cheers, enjoy planning your trip.

And despite the size difference.. many say to allow more time for NZ than Australia. 15 days will give you a little taste of one or the other, but not really both. 

[SinbadThePorter]

8 hours ago, T1403 said:

Looking for a great itinerary for a cruise exploring Australia and New Zealand. Will be flying  into Sydney from Miami.  No more than 15 days, would like to see the best of Australia and New Zealand.  Not looking for luxury cruises, on somewhat of a budget.  What ports are a must see?  What excursions are a must see? What Cruise lines and ship offer the best experience.  Thanks!

 

 

NZ is a must see. Australia can wait. Use your 15 days on a cruise around NZ departing from Sydney. Get one that includes Melbourne and Hobart.

 

A variation on that is to fly in to Sydney and fly out from Auckland. That would give you a couple extra days in Sydney.

 

Westerdam 6th Dec 2022

Majestic Princess 16th Jan 2023

Norwegian Spirit 8th Feb 2023

 

I prefer Princess, but Celebrity, Royal and Holland are fine. P&O Australia and Carnival are OK but generally regarded as budget cruise lines.

Edited July 4, 2022 by SinbadThePorter

[Aus Traveller]

If your vacation is limited to 15 days and you don't plan to return to Aust/NZ, I suggest you would see more if you planned land travel and flights rather than cruising where you 'lose' days at sea and are obviously limited to the port cities.

[CCC's]

As SinbadThePorter suggests, you could also consider.... a cruise from Sydney to Tasmania plus Adelaide or Melbourne and return to Sydney.  This could be a 6-7 day cruise.  Then fly to Auckland NZ and pick up a cruise of the South Island and Fjords, then back to Sydney, which is maybe another 6 nights.   Fly from Sydney to your home.   This is a very rough outline only and you would need intensive research to make it work.  I am not necessarily including warm tropical tourist spots because as you reside in a tropical area of the USA you would probably want to see something  "different" .

[lyndarra]

I have cruised to New Zealand quite a few times (as well as land tours) on Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Holland America. I have found HAL to have the most varied itineraries and value for money. As mentioned in a previous post, if time limited, do New Zealand and save Oz for a later land tour (if possible), self drive would be the most economical as lands tours in Oz are ridiculously expensive.

A number of cruise i lines start Auckland, finish Sydney or vice versa. This eliminates two return sea days which, IMO, are a waste. 

I thinks CCC's recommendation is worth considering. 

"So much to do, so little time" - Anon🙂

[cruisermsoon]

You don't mention the month you are coming, but for a trip of only two weeks, check out your favourite travel agent site for that time frame, and pick the best cruise line  and itinerary you can afford. 

There are several lines operating, particularly in the summer months here, but my own personal favourites are Holland America, Princess, Celebrity, Azamara. 

There will be quite a large choice of sailings out of Sydney, quite a few from Melbourne, and a limited choice from Brisbane. I would suggest avoiding the larger ships, like RCCL, and limit your choice to those carrying up to about 2000 pax. 

Tasmania is great, New Zealand is great, but whatever you choose, hopefully after your trip, you'll be planning to come here again.

Yes, it's a big country.

 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

6 hours ago, CCC's said:

As SinbadThePorter suggests, you could also consider.... a cruise from Sydney to Tasmania plus Adelaide or Melbourne and return to Sydney.  This could be a 6-7 day cruise.  Then fly to Auckland NZ and pick up a cruise of the South Island and Fjords, then back to Sydney, which is maybe another 6 nights.   Fly from Sydney to your home.   This is a very rough outline only and you would need intensive research to make it work.  I am not necessarily including warm tropical tourist spots because as you reside in a tropical area of the USA you would probably want to see something  "different" .

There are no cruises from Auckland down to the South Island and Fiordland that are less than about 12 days. Any shorter cruises only do a few North Island ports, and Fiordland is not to be missed IMHO.

 

Definitely look at a one way cruise, Auckland to Sydney, then spend the rest of the time sightseeing around Greater Sydney. That's all you'll have time for in 15 days.

[grozzy1]

As an example, here's a cruise I'm taking on Norwegian Spirit in January

It's a fairly typical itinerary, though some cruises may add another stop in Australia instead of NZ

[possum52]

On 7/5/2022 at 3:48 PM, grozzy1 said:

As an example, here's a cruise I'm taking on Norwegian Spirit in January

It's a fairly typical itinerary, though some cruises may add another stop in Australia instead of NZ

Some will go to Hobart as well.

[T1403]

Thanks for all the above advice.  Looks like I'm going to have to expand my cruise to more than 15 days.  I do appreciate all the great suggestions.

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 hours ago, T1403 said:

Thanks for all the above advice.  Looks like I'm going to have to expand my cruise to more than 15 days.  I do appreciate all the great suggestions.

Yes, and plan on some land travel as well if you want to see the best of both countries.

 

Australia isn't really a country you can see a lot of on a cruise unfortunately. Princess does Round Australia cruises twice a year. They are very popular and sell out quickly. They're usually 28 days long and, of course, only visit the coastal regions, and it can take a couple of sea days to go between some ports.

 

NZ is a bit easier to see by cruise ship but the ships only go down the east coast where the sea conditions tend to be better. There are some excursions that go inland though.