Question for those who have been on the New Zealand cruise

[oskidunker]

In a few ports there are several wine tours. Any advice on which ones are the best? Not a wine novice. Would like to try some good wines and perhaps bring back to the ship. There is also an E bike tour with a winery visit. Not sure wife wants to do that. Want to avoid long bus rides if possible.  Any other recommended non wine tours would be appreciated.

 

also need someAustralia circum navigation tour recommendations . We are doing both cruises starting Jan 6. Am on the roll calls but only a few posts on the New Zealand one. Open to private excursions, although we would like to use some of the Viking included ones 

 

also any tours we should avoid? We will be in Auckland for a weeknbefore the cruise so perhaps we dont need to book any paid excursions. 

Edited April 22 by oskidunker

[scmomofboys]

We did this cruise on another cruise line in 2019. It was fantastic! We booked a private wine tour on our Picton NZ stop with https://discoverywinetours.co.nz/. They pick up at multiple locations. Our guide was Chris. Excellent tour! He was very communicative via email prior to the tour and everything was as described or better. He crafted the tour to suit our tastes and we shipped quite a bit of wine home (after we swore we wouldn't do this at the start of the trip). 

 

In Auckland, we did a tour to Hobbiton with https://bushandbeach.co.nz/. They picked us up from our hotel. We were not really Lord of the Rings fans, but when in Hobbiton... It was an enjoyable tour and I do recommend if at all interested. We also did a private wine tour while in Auckland over to Waiheke Island via ferry with https://www.insidertouring.co.nz/. Also highly recommend.

[zalusky]

We did a Sydney to Auckland cruise on Celebrity on 2016.  One of the options was an overnight from Milford Sound to Dunedin.  We basically got off the ship in Milford sound with an overnight bag.  They took us to various sites along the way.  We stayed in Queenstown, visited a sheep sheering event, had dinner, stayed in a very nice hotel.  The next day towards Dunedin we stopped at a bungy jump place and had the opportunity to do an on your own but passed.  I think we also stopped at a winery but don't remember.  We arrived in Dunedin, and rejoined the ship.

 

They had an upgrade to the extension where instead of being in a bus you were in a minivan with more intimate experiences.

 

I am glad I did it.  I don't know other cruise lines provide that option.

[katlew]

We didn't do any of the Viking wine tours, but if you have any time in Auckland head over to Waiheke for some wine tasting. We did this tour. It was an easy ferry ride to the island. We visited a few wineries & had a lovely lunch at one. We also went to an olive oil tasting.

[Mich3554]

We stopped at a winery for lunch after going to visit a huge colony of seals.  That excursion was in Napier, and we did another one the following day in Wellington.  Between the 2 wineries, we had about a case of wine we brought back to the ship.  
 

I know the first winery, it was fairly close to the port but a long haul to visit the seals.  We stopped on the way back.  Both wineries were pretty good, but don’t remember the names….sorry.

[amtatom]

We did this cruise last year. We are not big drinkers, so we didn’t do any wine tours, although I know the area around Napier is generally considered the best wine-producing region in New Zealand.

 

As for other tours, we were disappointed in the three included we took (Sydney, Melbourne, and Dunedin), so much so that we cancelled the rest. Sydney was the worst. Our primary complaint was they were all “panoramic” bus tours which is not our style at all. However, this was partially my fault as they’re listed as such; but it was our first VO cruise after a wonderful river cruise so I thought the included tours would be more similar. But the Viking optional excursions were excellent and more active. I did a write up here on CC back in March 2023 of our excursions.

 

I would also encourage a trip to Hobbiton. I am not a Lord of the Rings fan (although my husband is) and I found it well-organized, beautiful, and charming. Hobbiton is closer to Rotorua than Auckland. However, if you have a week to kill in Auckland and you have other sights to see in Rotorua, it might be worth the extra drive.

[new2cruise]

19 minutes ago, amtatom said:

We did this cruise last year. We are not big drinkers, so we didn’t do any wine tours, although I know the area around Napier is generally considered the best wine-producing region in New Zealand.

 

As for other tours, we were disappointed in the three included we took (Sydney, Melbourne, and Dunedin), so much so that we cancelled the rest. Sydney was the worst. Our primary complaint was they were all “panoramic” bus tours which is not our style at all. However, this was partially my fault as they’re listed as such; but it was our first VO cruise after a wonderful river cruise so I thought the included tours would be more similar. But the Viking optional excursions were excellent and more active. I did a write up here on CC back in March 2023 of our excursions.

 

I would also encourage a trip to Hobbiton. I am not a Lord of the Rings fan (although my husband is) and I found it well-organized, beautiful, and charming. Hobbiton is closer to Rotorua than Auckland. However, if you have a week to kill in Auckland and you have other sights to see in Rotorua, it might be worth the extra drive.

Amtatom, thank you for this info.  Could you add a link to your write up?

[amtatom]

@new2cruise Here is link to a comment in which I linked to both my reviews. This comment also has some additional thoughts (sorry if that’s confusing).

Edited April 27 by amtatom