What To Expect

What‘s Included

Reviews

• All encompassing ....

  joy s,,Feb 23, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  4.00

  All encompassing . Thoroughly enjoyed Maori village where real people lived. Kiwi farm was a bonus. Had no idea.

• Great Regional Sampler Tour

  Joan M,,Feb 22, 2026

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Cruise ship one day port and they offered a "get you to the next port if you miss the ship" guarantee plus no charge if the ship cancels the port. (Look for this language if you are nervous about booking an independent tour. If the tour contract doesn't say this do not expect a refund for port cancellation or help if you miss the ship if the tour ends late.) Very good value, offered what I wanted to see, prompt communications and clear meet up location instructions. 10 of us booked independently and rode in a comfortable, clean vehicle driven/guided by Mike, a retired banker born and raised locally. He had lots of current and historical information to share and happily answered all questions. The weather was glorious and we saw everything as promised. Plenty of loo opportunities. DIY lunch time was about 15 minutes at the Maori cultural village coffee counter. (You had to queue to select an item from glass cases, pay in a different line, eat, and get back to the meet-up for the village tour.) This way the only weak spot of the whole day. John was our warm, friendly in-village guide--a life long tribe member. This area has hosted tourists for over 200 years, including the pink and white pools lost to a volcanic eruption in the 1890s. There is a secret treat waiting for you near the end of the village tour. I'll leave it at that. Our kiwi farm stop was really special---one of the few remaining independent farmers. Learned SO much and Zealandier provided the array of terrific samples. Mike was a pleasure to tour with and I enjoyed getting to know my fellow car mates who were always on time for meet up. This port dock area is petite and just steps from a gorgeous, crescent-shaped sandy beach area well-loved by locals. You can enjoy a relaxing day walking around and beaching or head out to a wide array of neat things to see/do. I will happily book with Zealandier again unless I want to choose the lazy day route. Tauranga is one of my favorite ports for so many reasons!

  

  

  

• Interesting Day

  TraceyUKUK,,Feb 22, 2026

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  Driver informative, Maroi village very Interesting. Kiwi farm unexpected treat. Coach was too small for tall and large people.

  

  

• Learned a lot

  thomasmP6672LB,,Feb 22, 2026

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  Our driver and guide, Terry was very knowledgeable and easy to understand. Answered many questions for the group. Also the tour of the village was very interesting and informative. The Kiwi stop was great, but the other two stops were not that great. Got to learn a lot about the operation from the owner of this orchard Needed more time at the Redwoods and the falls were just “OK”.

• Professionally guided tour

  SinLeung L,,Feb 21, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  The trip is easy going and very relaxed. Not much walking and is good for seniors. However, it won't give you a lot of time to explore things in depth other than the cultural village visit . It was worth noting that Terry who was tour guide/driver had demonstrated his in depth knowledge and attention to every details. He patiently answered every question asked. He really made a difference in this trip!

• We started our excursion...

  Rafael C,,Feb 20, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  We started our excursion right outside the cruise terminal. The trip from Tauranga to Rotorua took about one hour. Mike, our guide/driver, gave interesting explanations along the way. Once in Rotorua, we had a tour of the Maori Living Village, with a local guide, which included a folk sing and dance presentation. very nice. On the way back to the ship, we stopped at the Rotorua Lake, at a hot spring, at a waterfall and at a kiwi farm where we had a kiwi fruit tasting. Mike's commentaries where very entertaining. It was a very enjoyable experience. The total excursion took a little over 6 hours.

• The visit to the living...

  Marilyn F,,Feb 19, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  The visit to the living Māori village is not to be missed. Geysers and a folkloric show. Excellent time.

• Unreliable & poor conflict resolution.

  Ken B,,Feb 18, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  1.00

  The tour guide was at neither the 1st place nor the 2nd that Viator said he would be, so I was forced to call the Viator emergency phone #. It cost US $35 on my next cell invoice, and Viator refused to reimburse me. Two other Viator booking went wrong - See those reviews. There are many other companies who are more reliable.

• Missed meet up time

  Drena V,,Feb 10, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  4.00

  Unfortunately we missed our excursion as a result of an approved change to our meet up time - our fault for the most part however it would have helped a lot if the reminders & electronic tickets we received had the adjusted time vs the regular scheduled time. When on a cruise & all the information you have to deal with in prep of travel etc along with the time changes - we had a 20 hr time change - it would have helped a lot to get a reminder re the actual time vs what was on the ticket etc. We did receive a voice mail when we were a no show but by the time we got the message it was already to late.

• Well worth it.

  Compass179485,,Feb 7, 2026

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Fantastic, great day exploring the city and learning more about Māori and kiwi culture. Fantastic bus driver John sharing his knowledge and experiences. Best guide ever was Miriama.

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