Cruise to New Zealand aboard one of the many ships that sail to and around New Zealand, each offering a unique experience.
The majority of cruise lines visit New Zealand during the October – April summer cruise season. A shorter winter cruise season also runs from April – July. Most of the world's major cruise companies offer cruise services to New Zealand. In a typical year, more than 25 different ships visit New Zealand's coast. Cruises between Australia and New Zealand offer the opportunity to travel the length of both North and South Islands. Most depart from Auckland in New Zealand, or Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane in Australia. Typically they visit New Zealand destinations including the Bay of Islands, Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Fiordland. The Marlborough Sounds and Stewart Island are also popular ports of call.
Round the world cruises visit New Zealand from all over the globe. These cruises can take as long as 150 nights, with some liners spending two weeks or more travelling the length of New Zealand and others spending shorter periods visiting just one or two ports. Some shorter ‘round the world cruises’ visit just a few countries – the USA, Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Australia, for example. Round the world cruises are often sold in sections, for those passengers who don’t want to take the entire trip.
Expedition cruises mix visits to large ports with scenic visits to less-frequented locations that many large cruise liners do not visit. Some expedition cruises visit New Zealand’s South Island on the way to sub-Antarctic islands, while others visit smaller New Zealand locations, such as Stewart Island or Kaikoura.
