CRUISING THE SOUTH PACIFIC - 2010

22 days incl. travel, or 20 days from Cairns to Auckland (PC)

Return to Australia Cruises & New Zealand Cruises

Vacation Overview

Experience the best of Australia and New Zealand—by land and sea—on this in-depth Cruise & Tour vacation. Experience some of Australia’s majestic cities, Aussie culture, and stunning beauty before you board your cruise to discover the splendor and fun that await you in Tasmania and New Zealand.

Start your vacation in Cairns, gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, where you cruise aboard a catamaran to one of the Great Barrier Reef’s many tropical islands. Snorkel, take a glass-bottom boat tour, or walk through the cool rainforest. Next, fly to the Outback, where Ayers Rock and the magnificent Olgas, a geological splendor of some 30 brilliant monoliths, await. Experience an Aboriginal “Dreamtime” tour and learn about this important native culture. In Alice Springs, see how Outback locals live and learn how medical and education services are provided to those living in remote regions. A highlight of your Outback tour is the opportunity to ride a camel to watch the sunrise at Ayers Rock. Tour the base of Uluru and learn of its significance in Aboriginal “Dreamtime” mythology.

Then, fly to Sydney, Australia’s largest city. Enjoy a guided sightseeing tour including a cruise on Sydney Harbour and a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit one of Australia’s leading opal companies to learn how the beautiful gems are mined.

In Sydney, embark your Princess cruise ship and set sail for Melbourne and then New Zealand with a stop in Tasmania. In New Zealand, see Fiordland National Park, New Zealand’s largest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Park, with some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. Enjoy extraordinary scenic beauty as you cruise on Milford Sound and witness the sheer rock walls rising thousands of feet from the water’s depths. You also cruise to Dunedin, Christchurch, and Tauranga. At each stop in your cruise, choose from optional tours, excursions, and activities to give you a unique experience at each destination. Disembark in Auckland and enjoy a city tour—a wonderful ending to a fantastic journey. Cherish this vacation, including Australia and New Zealand land and cruise adventures, for a lifetime!

Diamond Princess

Similar Vacations that may interest you:

Things to see on your vacation: View Vacation Photo Slideshow

A Vacation Story Ayers or Uluru?

Almost everything has two names in the Outback these days. Ayers Rock, the symbol of the Red Center, is now more correctly known by its traditional Aboriginal name, Uluru. The famous monolith sprouting from the desert had been given its stolid English title in 1873 by the first European explorer to clap eyes on it in 1873, Ernest Giles, in honor of his dull British benefactor, Sir Henry Ayer. But for all of 20,000 years before that, the local inhabitants had called it Uluru (apparently after one of the ancient clans in the area) and regarded it as a sacred site.