Doubtful Sound or Milford Sound Overnight Cruise
 

My family of 7 (6 adults and one 5 year old) will be traveling to NZ in March. We are trying to decide where to spend our last night. I am leaning towards the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise but am concerned about making our flight leaving Queenstown the next day at 4:45 (3:45 final check-in for international flight). The cruise would get back to Manapouri around noon, then we would have a 2 1/2 to 3 hour? drive to QT arriving at 2:30-3:00 - not allowing much extra time for lunch, bathroom breaks (5 year old) and rental car return - BUT is doable. not allowing for any contingencies.

The other option is the Milford overnight cruise that would get back at 9:15am. We would then drive 4 1/2 hours? to QT, arriving around 2 pm, giving us a little more extra time before our flight.

I was leaning towards Doubtful Sound which was recently recommended to us because it is a little less crowded and is a shorter drive time to QT but we have less time to make sure we catch our flight the last day.

Also, is it safe to leave our extra luggage in our rental car at either the Milford Sound or Manapouri car park? Or do we need to keep it in baggage storage overnight? Getting it out of storage would require more time the last day too.

In Doubtful Sound I would love to take one of the smaller boats (Fiorland Expeditions), but their departure from Manapouri is at 9:30am (vs. Real Journeys at 12:30) which may be too early since we will be driving from Cardrona that morning.

I haven't looked at the smaller boat options in Milford Sound yet.

So you'll be spending the previous night in Cardrona? Have you considered switching that night with your cruise night to prevent the hurried drive from Manapouri to QT? Would that be a posiiblity given your plans for Cardrona?

Barring other alternatives, I think I'd go for the Doubtful Sound trip. The drive from Manapouri to Queenstown is 171 km, about 2:25. It's a relatively easy drive. You could make it if nothing goes wrong, maybe even fit in a quick lunch, but if anything comes up, you might have to head directly to the airport.

The Milford Trip on the other hand concerns me a bit - it's 291 km, about 4:10 and the road from Milford to Te Anau is more of a challenge and more affected by poor weather. There will also be plenty traffic coming into Milford as you leave.

I see no problems with leaving your luggage in the TRUNK of your car. I'd not leave anything within sight though.

I went to Doubtful Sound 2 years ago in March. The road to Milford Sound was closed due to bad weather and falling trees. People were being airlifted out from that area. Doubtful Sound was open for business and was not busy. It is a more expensive tour though.

You don't have to do overnight. Both places do day tours.

So, I think Doubtful Sound seems less risky. Although we have less time to spare, the road from Milford Sound seems more unpredictable. I think it should work - we don't have much extra time, but plenty to make it. My sister in law and her husband are staying a few extra days, so can maybe return our rental car if necessary (we will have 2 cars for the 7 of us).

Now just to decide between Fiordland Expeditions and Real Journeys. Just how cozy are the quad shares? It will be really important for us to have time to shower the last morning before we embark on the trek home.

Oh, and yes I realize that day tours are available. We just really wanted to do the overnight for the full effect. I thought about rearranging our schedule, but that doesn't really work either. This is the most efficient way to do it - as long as it works!

Seems very risky to do either one. Why can't you switch your itinerary as Melnq8 suggested?

Things can happen anytime you are on a boat.

I thought about changing the itinerary, but we would have to cut something out of our trip.

Day 1 - Abel Tasman
Day 2 - Murchison/fly fishing
Day 3 - drive to Glaciers
Day 4 - Glaciers
Day 5 - Drive to Cardrona (3 nights)
Day 6 - hiking/Mt Aspiring National Park
Day 7 - fly fishing
Day 8 - Doubtful Sound
Day 9 - Drive to QT/fly home

If we changed the itinerary, we would have to cut out the day of fly fishing or hiking.

Day 6 - fly fishing or Mt Aspiring
Day 7 - Doubtful Sound
Day 8 - return from cruise at noon - drive back to Cardrona? maybe do some of the Rob Roy Glacier Trail?, or just stay in Queenstown
Day 9 - Drive to Glenorchy, Depart QT

I really like the Waiorau Homestead and was looking forward to staying somewhere for 3 nights after driving around so much. But we could maybe still stay there 3 nights (including 1 night after the cruise), and have somewhere to leave our luggage while on the cruise (if they they let us change our reservations around like that). Day 8 just seems like a waste. There isn't much time to do much of anything since the cruise doesn't get back until noon. I might be able to talk the guys out of fly fishing the second day - but this is a group that could easily fly fish the entire trip.

Why are you fixed on so many nights at Cardrona? Is there a special resort there?