Cruise New Zealand
 

We are planning a trip to Australia/New Zealand December 2014. We are considering cruising for the New Zealand portion. Does anyone have any suggestions for a cruise company? I know that Celebrity has a ship with a 12 day itinerary. I want to be sure that we see enough. Here is the itinerary:

Port/City Activity Arrival Departure
Day 1 Auckland, New Zealand 8:00 PM
Day 2 Bay Of Islands, New Zealand Tendered 7:00 AM 6:00 PM
Day 3 Tauranga,new Zealand Docked 8:00 AM 6:00 PM
Day 4 At Sea
Day 5 Wellington, New Zealand Docked 8:00 AM 6:00 PM
Day 6 Akaroa, New Zealand Tendered 8:00 AM 6:00 PM
Day 7 Dunedin, New Zealand Docked 7:00 AM 5:00 PM
Day 8 Dusky Sound Cruising 8:00 AM 9:00 AM
Day 8 Doubtful Sound Cruising 11:30 AM 1:00 PM
Day 8 Milford Sound, New Zealand Cruising 4:30 PM 6:00 PM
Day 9 At Sea
Day 10 At Sea
Day 11 Hobart, Tasmania Docked 8:00 AM 6:00 PM
Day 12 At Sea
Day 13 Sydney, Australia 6:30 AM

I think your decision on whether to see New Zealand via a cruise should be based on what your goal is for this portion of your trip. If you goal is to "see" New Zealand, then I think this cruise misses the mark because you won't visit what I consider to be some of the best places in New Zealand (some of which are located in the interior), e.g. Queenstown, Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, Christchurch (despite the earthquake), Rotorua, etc.

If you goal is to enjoy a cruise and see a little bit of coastal New Zealand, then this cruise itinerary looks fine to me. I will note that many of my favorite places mentioned above can be reached from the ports on this cruise (e.g. Christchurch from Akaroa), but it will involve added cost and travel time to you in the form of ships excursions or guided tours.

As mentioned by longhorn, you'll see very little of NZ this way; you'll just see some of the edges. Only you can decide if that's enough for you. As with most cruises, it's more about the cruise than the destination - the emphasis on this particular itinerary is a handful of port towns and Fiordland.

I'm intrigued by the Dusky Sound Cruise though, as it's an area difficult to access otherwise. The Doubtful and Milford cruises are very popular for first time visitors to the SI.

A lot of cruise lines do a similar trip to the one you have posted. My DD and SIL are musicians and normally do a three month gig on a Princess ship around this time of year. Last year the ship left from Sydney, this year the Princess ship they are going on leaves from Melbourne.

What's more important to you, the cruise with a few hours on land here or there, or a "real" trip to New Zealand? Both ways of traveling have their attractions and their fans, but only you can know to which camp you belong.

Have you been on cruises before? Those hours you list are not realistic, you're not likely to get off the boat at the times listed, and you can't hop back on at the last moment every time.

Plus - the boat doesn't arrive in the middle of town, unlike trains or your rental car can. So there is a lot of time spent to-ing and fro-ing and standing in long lines to get off and back onto the boat.

Now if a quick look here and there is OK with you, maybe as a sampler for future "real" trips, and if you like the kind of life you lead on a cruise ship, then why not? Just be realistic about what it is and what it isn't.

We are doing Regent Seven Seas (Voyager) in the beginning of January which departs from Sydney and ends in Auckland. I'm happy with our choice, but will write an extensive review when we return.