Rotorua Geothermal Wonderland & Maori Cultural Excursion
Rotorua Geothermal Wonderland & Maori Cultural Excursion
Departing the pier, you will travel around the Mount Maunganui inner harbor, then along the main surf beach and pristine waterfront of New Zealand's number one seaside resort. Continue past the suburbs and dairy farmland before coming to Te Puke, the kiwifruit capital of New Zealand. You will stop at a kiwifruit country orchard, where you will be able to taste various products made with this amazing fruit. You'll then make a stop at a producer of New Zealand's famous export: Manuka honey. You'll learn about what makes this delicious honey so special, and taste it for yourself.
This cultural excursion will then drive through farmland and pine forested areas before taking a detour to view some native fauna while on a short stop to view the adrenaline junkies as they cascade the Kaituna Rapids and falls in their kayaks and rafts. You will continue on to Rotorua passing Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotorua, which are just 2 of the 16 lakes in the region.
There will be a short break for lunch (at your own expense) alongside Lake Rotorua before you drive to the unique thermal wonderland of Whakarewarewa, a landscape of erupting geothermal activity, hot thermal springs, bubbling mud, and the famous Pohutu Geyser.
You will be hosted by a Maori guide and experience a people who have come to live in harmony in the midst of this unique environment. Hear how they use the boiling cauldrons and steam in everyday life for cooking and the natural mineral waters for communal bathing.
The local villagers are always delighted to share their knowledge and pastimes of the place they call home. Learn about their traditions and culture, visit the fully carved meeting house Whare Tupuna (ancestral home), and then experience a traditional Maori welcome, songs, and dances, including the famous Haka. This is the only authentic living Maori village of its kind in New Zealand. Crowds should be expected at this site.
Your sightseeing journey continues through Rotorua to the Government Gardens, the historic Bath House, and Rachel's Pool. The excursion returns to Tauranga using a different route, with the opportunity to stop and admire Hamurana Springs crystal clear blue waters. Upon arrival to the city, you will have the opportunity to see a little of the inner city and its downtown area before crossing the harbor bridge to return to your ship at Mount Maunganui.
See our FAQ for more information
Shore Excursions Group was created with one goal in mind: to provide exceptional travel experiences to cruise passengers in the ports they visit around the world. To accomplish this, we have compiled an exceptional array of tours delivered by local experts with decades of experience serving travelers and delivering excellent tours. Our owners and management team are comprised of seasoned travel industry executives who leverage their considerable experience to deliver memories of a lifetime.
We are experts in providing exceptional shore excursions. We understand that in today's fast paced world, vacations have become an increasingly important way to relax, reconnect with family and friends, and experience new and interesting places. With this in mind, we provide the highest quality tours by performing extensive research, and detailed reviews. While other companies also offer excursions, we strongly believe our expertise and approach set us apart. The large cruise lines sell shore excursions - typically in very large groups visiting high traffic sites. We focus on smaller groups visiting more interesting and authentic locations using more personalized local operators. While the cruise lines are experts in delivering cruises, we are experts in delivering shore excursions.
Our Approach
We believe quality service is not only highly valued by customers, but ultimately leads to better experiences and higher satisfaction. Unlike the cruise lines and other tour companies that rely almost entirely on websites, we encourage customers to call us. We want to invest our time answering your questions, providing input, and selecting the excursions that best meet your needs.
Our Tours
Our goal is to provide customers a wide array of exciting, appealing, and enriching tours. For those customers who prefer to travel in smaller groups with more personalized service, we offer a wide variety of small group tours around the world. These tours generally range in size from 2-12 people compared to larger tours which can number up to 50 people. While exploring the destinations and ports on this website, feel free to search for these "Small Group Tours". For those customers interested in private tours, we offer many outstanding excursions that allow you to travel with your party alone and, in many cases, to fully customize your tour. Search for "Private Tours" if you are interested in this experience. Our "Scenic" tours provide up close and personal access to some of the most spectacular natural environments on Earth from majestic glaciers in Alaska to spectacular reefs in the Caribbean. Our "Cultural" tours allow customers to experience local customs, entertainment and culinary delights ranging from tribal dances in Alaska to an outstanding local meal in Santorini, Greece. Our "Active" tours offer a multitude of exciting and adventurous ways to experience our destinations. Our customers can kayak the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, hike to a spectacular waterfall in Hawaii, or bicycle through quaint villages in France. Our "City" tours allow travelers to see the highlights of great cities around the world with unique insights provided by our expert tour guides.
Our People
In our experience, exceptional travel experiences are almost always delivered by exceptional people. With that in mind, we utilize a comprehensive approach to select and employ the leading tour guides and tour providers around the globe. We hold our people to very high standards which we measure by our comprehensive Quality Control process and, most importantly, by our customer feedback, which we will actively seek from each of our customers.
Our Owners
Shore Excursions Group is owned by seasoned travel executives possessing extensive experience across many sectors within the travel industry.
Bradford J. Miller
Mr. Miller is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer for Abercrombie & Kent, the World's leading luxury travel company. In that role, Mr. Miller was responsible for contributing to Abercrombie & Kent's international growth through the development and acquisition of tour products and travel experiences around the world with a specific focus on cruising and land based experiences. Prior to joining Abercrombie & Kent, Mr. Miller held a variety of executive positions with Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises for more than a decade. These positions included Vice President of Guest Sales & Service, Vice President of Brand Development, and Vice President of Onboard Revenue (which included shore excursions). Mr. Miller also led Celebrity Expeditions, a collection of outstanding and unique tours around the World.
Michael Bonner
Mr. Bonner has over a decade of experience working in the cruise industry in a variety of roles for both Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Viking River Cruises. Most recently, Mr. Bonner was the Chief Operating Officer for The Scholar Ship, a Royal Caribbean program aimed at providing college students onboard educational programs in conjunction with enriching shore excursions around the world. Mr. Bonner also helped co-manage Viking River Cruises U.S. Operations, and he ran the corporate, strategic, and deployment planning functions at Royal Caribbean. While at Royal Caribbean, Mr. Bonner was responsible for forming Royal Celebrity Tours, Royal Caribbean's land-based tour operation in Alaska, which takes cruise passengers on multiple day tours through the interior of Alaska either before or after their cruises. Prior to working at Royal Caribbean, Mr. Bonner was a consultant for Booz Allen & Hamilton.
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