Cruising from Sydney to Auckland

[dianeh]

We are cruising Jan 2025. Those of you who have done this cruise, what were your favorite tours? Our options are available to research yet but would love to hear your recommendations! 

[GeezerCouple]

18 minutes ago, dianeh said:

We are cruising Jan 2025. Those of you who have done this cruise, what were your favorite tours? Our options are available to research yet but would love to hear your recommendations! 

 

Would you please list your ports of call?
They aren't always identical for all of the Sydney/Auckland cruises.
Then we'll know if we had something special where you'll be.

 

Are you only interested in HAL sponsored tours, or also independent/private tours?

 

GC

[dianeh]

Of course:

Dunedin

Christchurch

Picton

Wellington

Napier

Tauranga

Auckland

 

 

[sciencewonk]

We did the Auckland to Sydney cruise in Nov/Dec 2023.  As Geezer stated, the ports may not be identical.  We loved going to Hobbiton, which is about a 2-hour drive from Auckland.  It's not part of a cruise, but if your are a Lord of the Rings fan, it is worth spending a couple of extra days in Auckland to see it.  Wellington and Christchurch (Lyttleton) were fun stops.  We did the Weta studio tour in Wellington (again Hobbit related) and the Tram in Christchurch.  If you like wine, there are a few winery excursions available at good wineries.  I don't know if there's enough time in Melbourne, but if they offer a Great Ocean Road excursion, I highly recommend it.

 

The absolute highlight of the cruise, however, was cruising Fjordland National Park.  Stunning scenery.  Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[sciencewonk]

Also, there's an Australia & New Zealand forum on Cruise Critic.  You should check it out.

[dianeh]

Thanks so much. Haven't decided if we will stay a fee days in Auckland yet. We will be spending Chriswith family in Adelaide before the cruise. I was curious to know how the tours were and will investigate further in the Australia and New Zealand forums layer. Than ks so much

[Iamthesea]

All of the wine tours, which usually included a sit down taste of wines and cheeses.  Another favorite was the Kangaroo sanctuary which included other animals. 

 

We participated in mostly smallish independent tours arranged through our Roll Call.

[JohnCoffield]

We were on Noordam in March last year cruising Sydney to Auckland & were on 2 HAL tours & one independent. The HAL tours were at Dunedin to the wildlife sanctuary, & to Hells Gate from Tauranga. Both were enjoyable but it was noticeable for both trips that there wasn't free time at each stop. The coach drivers were very amusing & worth the cost alone.

Our independent trip was at Picton on Discovery Wine Tours. A brilliant day out where we visited six wineries on a minibus & learnt a lot about the area & the wines. They build their itinerary around the cruise ship schedule & offer full refunds if the ship doesn't dock.