From towering mountains and golden beaches, world-class shopping & immersive cultural history, this island paradise really does have it all. Catering for all tastes from the adventurous to luxury & relaxation, New Zealand is an ideal destination to visit. Plus, with the ports being so close together, you can experience a new destination almost every day!
There are a few ways to cruise New Zealand too with Princess! Roundtrip from Sydney, Brisbane, or Melbourne PLUS there are now even 2 departures from Adelaide. Or, choose a fly-cruise package where you can spend a few nights in Auckland pre-cruise and cruise your way back to Australia (or vice versa of course). Princess has some fantastic departures like this Sydney Roundtrip departure in November 2022 taking in the sites of Fiordland National Park, Dunedin, Christchurch, Picton, Tauranga, Auckland, and Bay of Islands. Click here: https://www.ecruising.travel/product/115173/new-zealand-bounty
New Zealand cruising offers so many different shore excursion experiences and it’s the perfect destination for every type of traveler. Some shore excursion highlights offered with Princess:
For the Film enthusiast – Why not Discover Middle Earth whilst visiting Lord of the Rings film locations from Christchurch,
Nature enthusiast – Jump on the Otago Wildlife Cruise in Dunedin,
Wine Aficionado – Whilst in Picton the Wines of Marlborough Tour is a must!
With Princess’s Sydney to Auckland sailings, ecruising will include a one-way flight, accommodation at the Stamford Auckland, and transfers so you can experience the beautiful “City of Sails” in depth. Whilst in Auckland, a trip out to Waiheke Island is a day beautifully spent! If 2 nights isn’t enough, we can always assist you with extending your stay in Auckland or perhaps incorporate a few more hot spots along the way. A great way to further explore New Zealand is to hire a car and, depending on the ports you have already visited on the cruise, make your way back down to Wellington & fly home from Wellington. This is the perfect way to explore more of the North Island & can easily be done at a comfortable pace over around 5 days having done this drive myself but in reverse.
Some of the amazing things you will be able to experience along the way:
- Karangahake Gorge - about 2 hours out of Auckland, this historic walkway has a few walking tracks along old gold mining trails & tunnels. It’s simply breathtaking! I planned to spend about an hour here and ended up spending nearly 4 hours exploring!
- Hamurana Springs - 20 minutes out of town from Rotorua. The Reserve is made up of the Hamurana Stream, a scenic walking track through a Redwood Grove, and the water is Crystal clear but laced with shades of turquoise, jade, and emerald! It looks so inviting it's hard to resist throwing your clothes off and diving right in.
- Wellington Botanic Garden - in the heart of Wellington, these beautiful gardens sprawl over 25 hectares. Also within the gardens is the Bolton Street Cemetery, originally a site for MÄori burials from the time of their settlement of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, the cemetery began European burials from 1840 and is Wellington’s oldest European cemetery.
- Huka Falls - Located at Lake Taupo, these astonishing falls have 220,000 litres of water per second rushing over the 11mt high waterfall. If in Taupo & want to have a laugh you can visit the local McDonalds and eat in a decommissioned DC3 plane
To make your cruising experience more enjoyable and seamless, we have some news! By the end of 2021, all Princess Cruise ships will be enabled with their signature “MedallionClass” functionality. What is this you ask? Well, it’s the way to make your cruise even more personalized & the cruise experience effortless.
Before you even get onboard you can get “OceanReady” on the app by customizing what you will eat, see & do when onboard, set up your online boarding for quicker boarding. You can even purchase the MedallionNet Wi-Fi package (if you didn’t take up the Princess Plus offer with included beverages & Wi-Fi).
The MedallionClass ships are truly revolutionary and an added benefit when sailing to New Zealand and with so many varied itineraries to choose from you are sure to find the perfect departure for your perfect holiday.
Once you arrive at the port you will be issued with a wearable device the size of a $1 coin which enables onboard experiences like:
- Staggered & Contactless boarding
- Find your way on board to locate the best restaurant or find your loved ones anywhere on the ship
- Muster video in your stateroom,
- Keyless stateroom entry
- Ocean Casino, use portals throughout the ship to make you wager’s
- Stateroom TV on your device anywhere on the ship
- Touchless payments
- Delivery service request, order whatever you need wherever you are
- Downloadable app on App Store or Google play
- Medallion is even waterproof
You can probably tell that I am a VERY big fan of New Zealand & cruising is a great way to visit various ports. As a big advocate for destination, I have undertaken the 100% pure New Zealand training program run by New Zealand Tourism & achieved the top acknowledgement of a Gold Specialist! I would love to help you get your New Zealand holiday dreams underway!
For enquiries, please contact Cory at cruiseadmin5@ecruising.travel or call1300 369 848.
