Interislander Ferry (NZ)

cheekymole

I want to book a return crossing with motorhome for December.
Two problems

1. can only book up to July on website
2. as a tourist you can only book the most expensive fare although if in NZ you can book much cheaper fares

anyone any ideas of getting around these problems esp. problem 2

emg

I used the interislander in November last year, we booked while we were there, there's actually another ferry company that runs between the islands too, Bluebridge ferries. In November we needed to book a couple of days in advance to get the cheapest tickets, probably need to give a week or so for the end of december when things get busy. We used the I-Site (their tourist info) to book most things as they were excellent at finding us the cheapest options for everything, they are really geared up to shoe-string travellers in NZ!

cheekymole

Do you have the website addresses please?
Also the Interislander website states that you may not be able to book that close to travel due to it being busy season? Any ideas?

emg

Bluebridge are at https://www.straitshipping.co.nz

How far into your holiday are you planning to cross over. If you are having a few weeks before your crossing then I would chance it. The thing to be careful of is the NZ school holidays as this is when the tourist industry is really stretched. If you plan to cross in school holidays then you may not want to chance waiting to book. You can find school holiday dates here...

http://www.minedu.govt.nz/index.cfm?layout=document&documentid=3767&indexid=1010#P166_5118

Check out both Bluebridge and InterIslander for your dates, we went with Interislander as it suited the time of day we wanted to travel but Bluebridge did have some cheaper sailings in the evening.
I don't know if some of the travel agencies have cheaper tickets. I think we also got a discount for having a YHA card.

Hope this helps!

cheekymole

after looking at the school hols over there I think I would be better off booking in advance as we would be doing the return crossing during the holidays.

Although, saying that, I haven't looked at the other ferry yet