Best time of day to cruise Milford Sound?
 

(I am re-posting this because I neglected to tag it for New Zealand last time.) We (a group of 4) will be staying in Te Anau and driving to do a cruise of Milford Sound on Feb. 27. Are debating about the best time to do the cruise. I know we need to allow about 2-1/2 hours between leaving Te Anau and beginning the cruise, and I’ve heard that the sound gets very busy mid-day, so are debating about cruises before or after that. We’d like to do a hike, probably to Key Summit, that same day -- so hike before cruise if we do an afternoon cruise or hike after the cruise if we do a morning cruise. Morning cruise would have the advantage of allowing plenty to time afterward for hike and not being rushed on that, but would have to get up very early and have heard that the sound is foggier in the morning. I have read mixed things about whether morning or fairly late afternoon is better for photography. Some said morning better (sun on rather than behind Mitre Peak), but others said there are more shadows in the morning. Also, I read that water is calmer in the morning.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

My answer is the same regardless of the tagging - BTW this forum is so slow tagging doesn't really matter.

apparently the moderators tagged the other thread for you -- (its hardly ever necessary to start a new thread when the title is self explanatory - especially on this board)

I apologize for the double posting.