Cruise Fiordland

Fantastic, great scenery, crew and vessel.

I wanted to write a review about our experience on this boat. Overall, I would not recommend this particular boat to view Fiordland.There were 10 people in our group, aged between 60-70 years old and we paid for 7 nights on this boat. Nigel (who is the owner and operator) and his daughter Stacey were our crew.- No noise: On our first night when we were playing cards, at 7pm, we were told we were being too loud and that Nigel can't tolerate noise. This noise control continued throughout the trip and we felt like we were unable to play music or even laugh out loud whilst playing cards. We felt like the restrictions were unreasonable and there was no compromise on this point.- Access to the boat: There's no ladder low enough to get swimmers back into the main big boat after a swim. When you want to get back into the boat after a swim, there is a smaller boat that you have to get pulled up into by two persons because the smaller boat also does not have a ladder. Because it was all too hard, we did not swim much (even though we wanted too).- Facilities: When it rained two of the cabins leaked and as a result had wet beds. The beds in general were uncomfortable.- Environmental impacts: They do not recycle or seperate the waste. It all goes into big black rubbish bags, all as one.However I will say the food and fishing were good. And obviously the sights speak for themselves.

Mere words can't do justice as to just how good their Fiordland cruise is.It was staggering, spectacular, and utterly overwhelming. It is up there amongst the best things I've ever done.In retrospect, the value for money you get is absolutely astounding.Nigel is an absolute fish whisperer. He will put you on the fish without fail. He's obviously spent a lifetime in these waters and his knowledge and experience is immense.The crew (Finn and Stacey) are fantastic too, and their absolute dedication to making sure you're having a great time is exemplary.If you're going to visit Fiordland - and you absolutely should - the absolute best way to do it is on the Cindy Hardy.

I would recommend the team at Cruise Fiordland we had a party of 8 on board the Cindy Hardy the experience was awesome our trip throughout Chalky and Preservation Sounds was mind blowing the history and the food was amazing lots of crayfish and blue cod thanks to our crew for the trip Finn, Nigel and Stacy

The helicopter rides over the pass were awesome, and the fjords are stunningly beautiful.The fishing was good and the diving was great.The boat had some serious issues.The crew were really really nice people, but I think exhausted - we heard that two of them had been on for 40 days.We suffered a sewage problem for two days that meant that raw sewage was backflushing into our ensuite toilets, and so our bedrooms were not fit for being in, let alone sleeping in.This boat is not eco-friendly. Our cray catch was tailed live, the rest thrown away. As someone who knows the devastated CRA2 fishery well, quite distressing to see.We asked for walks, kayaks, got one short walk. Not great when travelling with families. Members of our group literally spent 5 days sitting at the food tables.The food was very basic - lots of fried food and not a lot of vegetables and fruit.Being driven back to Invercargill, the scenic route we chose turned out to be hours longer. Turns out that stop for a 'snack' at a supermarket was actually all we were going to get between breakfast and dinner. Then the driver decided to stop off and visit his parents!The offer of an early pickup from the hotel to the airport was nice - a make good I thought for some of the problems we experienced. Wasn't so good when the guy wouldn't answer his phone - left us needing to urgently find an alternative at 5am.We wouldn't recommend for anyone but those who are focussed on hunting fishing or diving and are relaxed about their accommodation quality and OK with ravaging the seabed.