Shore Excursions

[margord]

We are doing the NZ to Sydney cruise in 2/09 on the Diamond Princess. We are going to:

 

Auckland, NZ

Tauranga, NZ

Christchurch, NZ

Dunedin, NZ

Hobart, Australia

Melbourne, Australia

Sydney, Austalia

 

What were your favorite (not to be missed) shore excursions? Did you book through the ship? If not, who was the independent agent you used for your tour.

 

Marilee

[Annatoo]

We are doing the NZ to Sydney cruise in 2/09 on the Diamond Princess. We are going to:

 

Auckland, NZ

Tauranga, NZ

Christchurch, NZ

Dunedin, NZ

Hobart, Australia

Melbourne, Australia

Sydney, Austalia

 

What were your favorite (not to be missed) shore excursions? Did you book through the ship? If not, who was the independent agent you used for your tour.

 

Marilee

Marilee....see details posted to CruisinKiki with email address. I'm happy to send information to you on all shore tours/attractions.

B E V

[Aussie Gal]

Here is a link to a thread which was on the Board earlier this year regarding Melbourne and Hobart.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=459427

 

This may help you decide firstly what you want to do in each city.

 

Jennie

[margord]

Here is a link to a thread which was on the Board earlier this year regarding Melbourne and Hobart.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=459427

 

This may help you decide firstly what you want to do in each city.

 

Jennie

 

Thanks Jennie

[Spikesgirl]

We did this with Princess back in '02, so some of the excursions are probably different, but this is what we did - all were ship excursions with the exception of Auckland.

 

Auckland, NZ - flew in two days early to adjust to the time. The first day, we toured the art museum on our own and did some shopping. We took a taxi around the city and up to the penquin exhibit.

 

Tauranga, NZ - we did the geological excursion with Princess and it was fun. My DH loves volcanoes and geothermal sites, so he was in 7th heaven.

 

Christchurch, NZ - my second favorite. We did the Romantic Christchurch, which included our own limo, punting on the 'Thames', tea in a private garden, then our driver put himself at our beck and call for the res tof the time. We ended up touring a theater, a botannical garden and having lunch at a toll station - it was incredibly fun and relaxing.

 

Dunedin, NZ - my DH's favorite - we took the train up to into the Taieri Gorge. Saw some sheep dogs working, lots of incredible vistas and had a fabulous box lunch - downside - toilets didn't work on the train and they were serving unlimited beer, wine and soda. The ride down was really uncomfortable for some folks!

 

Hobart, Australia - we went to Mt. Field National Park for lunch, a hike, stopped by a wildlife preserve and had a great time interacting with the animals. It surprised me how soft the fur of a tasmanian devil is and how much like eucalyptus a koala smells. I got mugged by a wallaby and loved every miunte of it - this was my very favorite excursion.

 

Melbourne, Australia. We opted out of any excursions here and just took a bus into the city and walked around. At this point, we were excursioned out!

 

Sydney, Austalia Here we stayed three days and toured the botannical gardens, did the Sydney Harbor bridge climb (incredible!) and toured backstage of the Opera House. We also took several walks around and just enjoyed the city.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our excursions and ourselves. It would be great to be able to do this again for the first time!

 

Hope this helped a little. If you have questions, you can always e mail me at charliekirby@comcast.net

 

Cheers!

 

Charlie

[susierailroad]

Bev: Could you be a little more specific on where I can find "details posted to CruisinKiki with email address"? I've "searched" but I can't find your info. I'd especially like to read your suggestions. Thanks,

[HB Pencil]

Hi,

In Auckland we took a bus trip to Wiatomo Caves and saw the Glow Worms and went to a sheep farm for lunch and the Kiwi Bird Farm. It was a great day. The caves are amazing.

In Christchurc, we went into the city on our own and rode the trolley through the city and took a punt ride along the Avon river. We also visited a lot of art studios. It was great.

Dunedin was a bore.

[margord]

We did this with Princess back in '02, so some of the excursions are probably different, but this is what we did - all were ship excursions with the exception of Auckland.

 

Auckland, NZ - flew in two days early to adjust to the time. The first day, we toured the art museum on our own and did some shopping. We took a taxi around the city and up to the penquin exhibit.

 

Tauranga, NZ - we did the geological excursion with Princess and it was fun. My DH loves volcanoes and geothermal sites, so he was in 7th heaven.

 

Christchurch, NZ - my second favorite. We did the Romantic Christchurch, which included our own limo, punting on the 'Thames', tea in a private garden, then our driver put himself at our beck and call for the res tof the time. We ended up touring a theater, a botannical garden and having lunch at a toll station - it was incredibly fun and relaxing.

 

Dunedin, NZ - my DH's favorite - we took the train up to into the Taieri Gorge. Saw some sheep dogs working, lots of incredible vistas and had a fabulous box lunch - downside - toilets didn't work on the train and they were serving unlimited beer, wine and soda. The ride down was really uncomfortable for some folks!

 

Hobart, Australia - we went to Mt. Field National Park for lunch, a hike, stopped by a wildlife preserve and had a great time interacting with the animals. It surprised me how soft the fur of a tasmanian devil is and how much like eucalyptus a koala smells. I got mugged by a wallaby and loved every miunte of it - this was my very favorite excursion.

 

Melbourne, Australia. We opted out of any excursions here and just took a bus into the city and walked around. At this point, we were excursioned out!

 

Sydney, Austalia Here we stayed three days and toured the botannical gardens, did the Sydney Harbor bridge climb (incredible!) and toured backstage of the Opera House. We also took several walks around and just enjoyed the city.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our excursions and ourselves. It would be great to be able to do this again for the first time!

 

Hope this helped a little. If you have questions, you can always e mail me at charliekirby@comcast.net

 

Cheers!

 

Charlie

 

 

CHarlie,

 

It sounds wonderful. I really appreciate you takign the time to tell me about your excursions. What exactly is "punting on the 'Thames?"

 

Marilee

[margord]

Hi,

In Auckland we took a bus trip to Wiatomo Caves and saw the Glow Worms and went to a sheep farm for lunch and the Kiwi Bird Farm. It was a great day. The caves are amazing.

In Christchurc, we went into the city on our own and rode the trolley through the city and took a punt ride along the Avon river. We also visited a lot of art studios. It was great.

Dunedin was a bore.

 

We are planning on doing a pre-cruise tour through princess which includes the Wiatomo Glow Worm Caves. Can you tell me a little about it. DId you enjoy it?

 

Marilee

[margord]

We are also planning on doing a post cruise tour (through Princess) which is to the Great Barrier Reef. Has anyone done that?

 

Marilee

[Annatoo]

Bev: Could you be a little more specific on where I can find "details posted to CruisinKiki with email address"? I've "searched" but I can't find your info. I'd especially like to read your suggestions. Thanks,

 

Let me know your itinerary and whether details on Bay of Islands are required as well. Happy to email you altho will be away next 4 days.

busybev28@buzzbb.net

B E V

[Spikesgirl]

Margord - they have a small very calm river (the Avon) and part of our excursion was getting into a punt and being guided up and down the river while we drank champagne and ate strawberries with cream. It was a lot of fun. They called it Punting on the Avon - sorry, wrong river. That's what I get for taking things from memory instead of my notes! The young man who was doing the punting was actually from Sacramento, which is a town just half an hour up the highway from us and he was delighted to hear about what was happening back home.

 

Charlie

[margord]

Margord - they have a small very calm river (the Avon) and part of our excursion was getting into a punt and being guided up and down the river while we drank champagne and ate strawberries with cream. It was a lot of fun. They called it Punting on the Avon - sorry, wrong river. That's what I get for taking things from memory instead of my notes! The young man who was doing the punting was actually from Sacramento, which is a town just half an hour up the highway from us and he was delighted to hear about what was happening back home.

 

Charlie

 

Avon/Thames, close enough. I assume a punt is a boat? So you were actually "boating on the Avon?" Of course, "punting on the Avon" sounds a lot cooler.

 

Marilee

[Spikesgirl]

Yes, you are correct, a punt is a flat-bottomed, square-ended boat propelled by a pole. The ride took us through the expensive homes section of Christchurch and there were some beautiful estates to look at. The only bad part is that we went directly from our morning tea of scones, cakes and tea to the punting and we were both really full. It would have probably made more sense to do it the other way, but I fugure if that's the only thing I can think of that was wrong with the entire day, we are wa-a-ay ahead. It was an expensive excursion, but we felt worth it as it gave us a lot of private sightseeing time and we had a great driver.

 

Charlie

[Spikesgirl]

I think Cruise Cruitic may need a cruise! My reply is here, but never register - how odd!

 

Charlie

[Missabby]

We just got off the Statendam yesterday from a 14-day NZ-AUS cruise. We did a Mount Classics tour in Tauranga (to Rotorua) and Arthur's Tours in Dunedin. Ask Arthur if you can get John in Dunedun - he was the best. We did a ship's wine tour in Picton (thru Marlborough wine country to the Montana and Forrest wineries) and a cave & wildlife preserve in Burnie. All the rest we were on our own in the ports.

 

HB - sorry you thought Dunedin was a bore. We thought it and the Otago area were absolutely beautiful!

[margord]

We just got off the Statendam yesterday from a 14-day NZ-AUS cruise. We did a Mount Classics tour in Tauranga (to Rotorua) and Arthur's Tours in Dunedin. Ask Arthur if you can get John in Dunedun - he was the best. We did a ship's wine tour in Picton (thru Marlborough wine country to the Montana and Forrest wineries) and a cave & wildlife preserve in Burnie. All the rest we were on our own in the ports.

 

HB - sorry you thought Dunedin was a bore. We thought it and the Otago area were absolutely beautiful!

 

Thanks for the information.

 

Marilee

[jcwong]

Hi

I just got back from a 14day cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas. You can book most tours through the Visitors Info centre. However before leaving Sydney I booked a tour to Rotorua from Tauranga and had the most AMAZING tour through Supa Express Travel. The guide who is a local (Maori)went beyond the call of duty to give us a good time. I recommend him highly.