New Zealand/South Pacific B2B excursions

[DRLPP]

I am reposting a request for info about B2B cruises on Radiance out of Sydney in 2020. Looking for info on shore excursions for stops in New Zealand and the South Pacific islands. I know the 2019 summer/fall season there is just finishing up so hoping for some suggestions or feedback from some of your stops in either area. My New Zealand stops are Dunedin, Akaroa, Auckland and Bay of Islands. South Pacific stops are Noumea, Mystery Island, Mare, Vila, Lifou and Isle of Pines. Also any other tips or pointers are appreciated. Last thing deals with pre-cruise hotel in Sydney. I am looking at Rendezvous or the Holiday Inn in the Rocks area. Greatly appreciated.

[KristiZ]

4 hours ago, DRLPP said:

I am reposting a request for info about B2B cruises on Radiance out of Sydney in 2020. Looking for info on shore excursions for stops in New Zealand and the South Pacific islands. I know the 2019 summer/fall season there is just finishing up so hoping for some suggestions or feedback from some of your stops in either area. My New Zealand stops are Dunedin, Akaroa, Auckland and Bay of Islands. South Pacific stops are Noumea, Mystery Island, Mare, Vila, Lifou and Isle of Pines. Also any other tips or pointers are appreciated. Last thing deals with pre-cruise hotel in Sydney. I am looking at Rendezvous or the Holiday Inn in the Rocks area. Greatly appreciated.

Just got back from a South Pacific trip, so I can speak to that part:

 -- we did the Advanced Snorkel on Mystery Island and it was fantastic. Beautiful, beautiful corals and nice big colorful fish. You will need to be pretty fit, though -- the swimming can be challenging and you have to be able to pull yourself back into the boat (with a little ladder and one person giving you a hand)

 -- Noumea you'll likely dock at the cargo terminal, but don't worry. The free shuttle zips you out of the port quickly. This is a cute town and the least "beachy" of your stops. FWIW, the Aquarium and a few other places are not open on Mondays, but will open for the RC shore excursions, so that's a nice plus if you happen to be there on a Monday.

 -- Isle of Pines has a nice beach right where the tender brings you if you want a free beach day. Please note that the RC snorkel excursions require you to have your own gear.

 -- Lifou is a quiet island. We did the Vanilla House tour and enjoyed it, then just kicked around the rest of the day.

This was my first time in the South Pacific and I admit I was expecting a bit of "Caribbean West" feel. Boy was I wrong! These locations are much more primitive, not at all in a bad way, just different! Tourism is really only recently getting started in most of these islands (Fiji excepted I'm guessing).

For Sydney, the Holiday Inn Rocks location is fantastic -- so much to do (and EAT) in that area!

Enjoy!

[DRLPP]

KristZ, Thank you for taking the time to respond and share your insight. I am trying to decide how much time to devote to water activities vs. cultural so your info is exactly what I am looking for. 

[F1guynz]

Even through we have sailed with RCI many times we have never done one of their shore excursions but some good things to do in New Zealand are:

Dunedin: Early Settlers Museum, Speights Brewery, Railway station building looks amazing from the outside, Tairei Gorge railway has some amazing scenery. There all also some wildlife tours as well.

Akoroa is a nice small French village that has great fish and chips. Lovely place to visit. I guess the cruise will offer excursions to Christchurch but that is further away. The Antarctic Centre is great place to visit.

Auckland: Catch the ferry to Waiheke Island some some great vineyards and food. Davenport is an old village next to Naval base, it is a quick ferry ride away from the ship. Sky tower if you want a great view of the city. Kelly Tarlton’s has the glass tubes you can walk through to look at fish and other sea life in a natural setting.

Bay of Islands: you will likely see dolphins well you are anchored here. Russell is a great historic village to visit as are the treaty grounds at Waitangi. Here you will find the Marae and the Treaty of Waitangi

Most of these things you can do on your own without the need to book a shore excursion but i am sure mostcould be be booked through the ship.

With Islands I would try the hop on/off bus in Noumea as we found Noumea city a bit dull. The first time we went there we did jet skiing which was fun.

for all the other Islands we mainly just went to beach, but excursions are offfered and the locals will have plenty of non rci excursions to try. 

Have fun

[KWofPerth]

As @KristiZ hinted, the SP is a bit more "rustic" (not primitive, lol) than the Caribbean. It has its own charm, but just expect things to be done on "island time".

Holiday Inn at The Rocks I can recommend. Great location near the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and a very short walk down to the Overseas Passenger Terminal. I recently also stayed at the Amora Hotel, which is also walking distance (but with luggage a short taxi ride is the go).

Mystery Island - a small, uninhabited, reef-fringed island that you can walk around in under an hour. Excellent snorkelling. The ship will anchor in a channel between Mystery and the (much) larger Aneityum Island, where locals make there way over to Mystery to provide offerings to the cruise passengers of the day e.g. fresh-cooked fish, beers, soft drinks, hair-braiding, various tours (e.g., glass-bottom boats, snorkelling, also fishing from memory). I really loved this stop, but my brother missed out on it once due to tidal conditions not allowing the ship access to the channel.

Mare - Yedjele Beach is the main stop here for cruise passengers. After tendering, there will be a section where you can pay for a bus pass/ticket. The ride is 15-20 minutes with glimpses of gorgeous, clear, turquoise rock pools. At the beach, there is great snorkelling, plus all the usual fare offered by the locals. It was very windswept when I was there back in October, but that barely diminished the enjoyment of the place.  If you're not keen on visiting this beach, once you tender you can simply walk along the road until you find a rock pool of your choice, but be aware there are no beaches in the immediate vicinity.

Noumea - as KrisitZ mentioned, Noumea is the most developed of the island stops. We paid for the hop-on/hop-off bus pass from the main terminal. We got off at Lemon Bay (Baie de Citron). Lots of cafes and restaurants along the waterfront. We also visited the aquarium with the kids.  If you get this pass, the timing between bus arrivals can be somewhat fluid

Lifou - I've been here twice and both times I have snorkelled the Baie de Jinek. If I return a third time I will do the exact same thing once again. Highly recommend. You have to pay for it these days, as they have to control the numbers of people. It's a ten minute walk from the tender boat. There are also plenty of stalls and places to get some local food and a drink. At the jetty where the boats tender, have a look out for a turtle swimming around. Feel free to jump in and have a snorkel with it. You will probably have time to also visit a cave grotto which is a 15 minute walk in the opposite direction from Baie de Jinek. There is a small rock pool inside that you can jump in and have a quick splash about in.

Isle of Pines - if you feel like something other than a beach day, there are local bus/van tours that take small groups for tours around the island. You will see them just before you reach the main beach. Be sure to make yourself known, as last time we were there we were waiting for the van to come back, only to find out another group had already booked the next tour and there was no room (we had to wait another hour if we were willing to commit, which we didn't, since we had done the tour on a previous visit).

Of the above islands, if memory serves, Noumea was the only one that you may have an issue paying for things in US dollars or Australian dollars. We also carried A$150 worth of South Pacific francs just in case. Now, something to be aware of on the islands (which I was happy to let fly because I was dealing with people of a much lower standard of living that I am privileged to enjoy) is that sometimes when you pay in US dollars you will get change in Australian dollars. Or something will be offered in Aussie dollars and they will gladly take the same amount in US dollars without bothering to do the conversion. Like I said, I was happy to let it go because we are only talking a few bucks here and there, but some passengers got irate with the locals over this. So be aware.

Auckland - lovely harbour city. You can take a ferry out to one of the islands. Another good option is to visit the Sky Tower and go up to the viewing level with glass-bottomed walkways. If you're particularly adventurous you can harness up and do a jump from the top. Great fun!

That just about covers it. All the best

[DRLPP]

A big "thank you" for the great info. Exactly what I need. Cruisecritic  and TripAdvisor reviews just don"t give much specific info. 

[KristiZ]

On 3/22/2019 at 1:30 PM, KWofPerth said:

As @KristiZ hinted, the SP is a bit more "rustic" (not primitive, lol) than the Caribbean.

Much better said!