My wife & I are in our early 50's & have gone on Tauck tours before & loved them. Is there a tour similar in quality to Tauck in Aus.& NZ that is less money? How about a combined land tour & cruise? Any recommendations & thoughts are welcomed.

I don't know of any specific land & cruise tours - but can recommend APT (Australian Pacific Touring - we are about to go on our fourth trip with them and have always found them to be totally reliable, use comfortable well located hotels and adequate spare time.
You will find on this Forum that the majority of posters prefer not to use tour companies - but it suits us and we have certainly enjoyed all our trips.
Their web address is www.aptouring.com.au should you require any further details.
I should also add that we are in our 60's but have found each tour to have had a very mixed age group.

Tauck Tours operate in New Zealand, and probably Australia, but I haven't seen their coaches over there.
As with everything, you get what you pay for. The coach tour market is very competitive, and if you get a cheaper tour you will either see less, or you will stay at cheaper accommodation. There will be some trade off.
You will have a cheaper holiday if you plan it yourself, and rent a car, plus you will have the enjoyement of planning it.
Both Australia and New Zealand are very easy destinations to drive around, with the proviso that you may be driving on the 'Wrong" side of the road, and that may take some getting used to, but most people adapt fairly readily.
Australia is a huge country, and you realy wouldn't want to drive between the points of interest. Better to fly from city to city and rent a car, or take a local tour once you get there. Virgin Blue and Jetstar are the cheapest airlines, and you can get some good deals on the internet.
New Zealand is compact enough that you can rent a car for a couple of weeks and do one of the islands. Lots of good advice elsewhere in this forum. You might like to consider an Intercity coach pass. Available for multiple days, and you can get on and off as you like. Intercity services most towns in New Zealand.
In Australia McCafferties is a large coach operator, and may offer something similar. THe rail system in Australia is fantastic, and a good option if you don't want to fly between cities. In NZ passenger Rail is a thing of the past, except for some special routes such as the Trans Alpine.
Whatever you decide, 'Down Under' is a fabulous holiday destination. Mostly friendly people, and so far no terrorist attacks.

While we toured Australia on our own, our arrangements were made by Pacesetter Travel in Toronto, Canada. However, we found that Brooke at Goway in downtown Sydney had excellent advice and can possibly help you. They are a long standing travel service and very reliable.

We used APT for a four-day tour and day tours and they were very good. Brooke probably has many options and can give you inside advice so it would be well worth your while to contact her.

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If it is less expensive than a Tauck Tour then it won't be similar quality or there will be extras that run the cost back up to the same price as a Tauck Tour.

You can plan a similar tour on your own and stay in less expensive hotels and eat at less expensive restaurants. Planning is lots of fun.

RC,

As a travel agent, if you were my clients, and told me you've been on Tauck previously, my advice would be to tell you that you probably will not be satisfied with any other tour operator.

This is not to say that others are bad, APT, mentioned here, is a wonderful tour operator, but they are not Tauck.

I fear with a lesser quality operator you would be comparing it to your previous experience. In 15 years, I've never ever had anyone say one bad thing about Tauck..simply said, they are the creme de la creme.

You just need to know that and decide what sort of experience you'd like to have.

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie & Kiwi Specialist