Kewpie Cruises

Kewpie Cruises

Kewpie Cruises
4.5
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Monday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Friday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Saturday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
About
Welcome to Kewpie Cruises, Taurangas original Harbour cruise boat. Shes been lovingly restored and a truely Iconic. Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty's best value scenic tour. This is a fantastic opportunity for families with young children as kids under 12 travel FREE. ( conditions apply ) Cruise through the vibrant port, see the shipping activity, and islands of Tauranga harbour. Bring a picnic and hop on-off at Matakana Island to explore the island or have a swim. Occasionally you may see some seasonal wildlife on your cruise like blue penguins, sea birds, NZ fur seals, orcas, dolphins. This cruise is popular with everyone, local Tauranga residents and visitors from all over New Zealand and overseas. It is relaxing and easy aboard the iconic KEWPIE. Located at PILOT BAY WHARF at the base of Mt Maunganui off the Mount Maunganui walking track..
Mount Maunganui, New Zealand

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles158 reviews
Excellent
121
Very good
21
Average
7
Poor
3
Terrible
6

Class Teacher
Tauranga, New Zealand1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2021
The Kewpie Cruise was a highlight for two of our classes as an end of year celebration trip. Amy was amazing to deal with. We live in a beautiful place, and for some of our students it was their first time on board a boat! Amy and her staff were very patient and reassuring of these students. Our class trips were 1 hour and our students enjoyed a little bit of information / history and commentary while aboard. I would highly recommend this outing for a class or two, whether it be a celebration or simply an experience while learning the history of our beautiful moana.
Written 16 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jess H
Tauranga, New Zealand128 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022 • Business
We had our Tunstall Christmas Party on the afternoon cruise the Saturday just gone and couldn't have been more impressed with Amy and her Team. From the get go Amy was helpful and easy to deal with. The boat was tidy and well equipped with what we needed for a night Of FUN! Highly recommend doing this as a coroprate event. We did get our own catering we brought on board, but next time to save the hassel we would just use kewpies recommendations. Loved it all. Thankyou guys - we all throughly enjoyed ourselves and where very impressed.
Written 11 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Espie F
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2020 • Friends
My partner and I threw a surprise wedding and Amy and the crew did an amazing job helping us put it all together. They were totally accommodating to all our requests and offered up really awesome suggestions to make the day even more special for us. Our friends and family all had a blast and absolutely enjoyed the harbour cruise aboard Kewpie. Thank you for making this experience a total breeze and extra special for us.
Written 6 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ria J
10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022 • Couples
Best recommendation is to get the 12 boat to the island and get off for a few hours to enjoy more if the area..in the busy season Dec/Jan/ Feb make sure to give at least 30 mins to park. Lovely skipper and deck hand. Great little bar inside.
Written 28 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tenpin Tauranga
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020
Our experience last Sunday, was very enjoyable. There was plenty of space on the cruise to host our 15 staff members. As well as a large variety of beverages to choose from. Following from this, the staff on the cruise were friendly and helpful.

We were fortunate enough to go on a day when there was good weather, making the boat ride easier to experience the scenic views.
We highly recommend Kewpie Cruises.
Written 18 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Christoph P
Berlin, Germany11 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
Great harbour cruise with a hop-on-hop off option at a harbour island with a really nice beach. Super-friendly staff engaging with customers and gave us some tips for our further journey. Slightly vintage boat with an incredibly charming bar and really rather good wine at a fair price point.
Written 29 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bronwen
Wellington, New Zealand45 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2019 • Family
We paid for the 1-hour cruise in order to get to Matakana Island. This was a disappointing and expensive 20 minute trip at $30 per adult. The staff on the boat were rude and unhelpful. Due to a local event there was no parking on the Mount and some of our group were delayed. The staff refused to wait for even 5 minutes while my husband ran to the boat. He arrived 3 minutes after we had cast off. No apologies - just a rude "We can't wait". He had to wait an hour for the next boat....
The commentary on the boat was terrible. A few facts were mentioned without any local history, especially of the Maori settlement on Matakana.
Once on the boat, we were told that the 3pm boat that we had planned for our return was cancelled. Apparently there were not enough bookings for the 2pm boat. We had to make a completely new plan to leave the island, paying for the ferry and a taxi in addition to the unused return fare.
This seems to be the only option for a cruise on the harbour and to get to Matakana. This company clearly doesn't care about customers - just keeping the monopoly to fleece them. Would not recommend at all.
Written 14 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Bronwen. Wow... so much of your review is about what your late arrival.. and we accomodated your group as best we could on the next cruise!! Parking, and getting to the departure location is beyond our control, thats your part of the deal, to turn up... on time. We are strict with our departure times as an overall service to those clients already onboard, who were able to get to the boat on time. We stand by our staff who made the right call to depart on time - it is a scheduled service with other passengers who also have their right to our great service. We do recommend that clients take the earlier departures over the Matakana if they wish to stay there to optimise time on the island. Come on board readers , relax have a glass of wine and enjoy our very easy going, relaxed atmosphere. We are here to offer a introduction to the harbour and get folk to the island if you like to relax there.
Written 11 September 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Bee727
Birmingham, UK196 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2018 • Couples
We booked a harbour cruise from the UK a year in advance. On the day of our cruise we found a notice on the harbour to say the trips were cancelled. We found out from Tourist Information that they had taken on a block booking and cancelled everything else. They did not email or telephone and have not responded to requests for a refund. Thoroughly unacceptable.
Written 22 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

PaoloCaldo
Port Macquarie, Australia108 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2019
This harbour cruise for 9 November should have been enjoyable. It was not.

Trip Advisor confirmed the day before that the booking was in place.

On the day, a fine and sunny one, the vessel did not arrive. No staff were at the wharf.

The operator's phone had a message about cruises on the NEXT day being cancelled because of a fun run. Nothing about our cruise. No response to phone call.

Later we found an email from the cruise operator,unaccessible as sent while we were at sea, indicating that forecast bad weather would cause cancellation. We had no reason to check older emails as Trip Advisor had confirmed the day before that the booking was in place.

On a cruise ship with only one day in Tauranga, these examples of poor/careless communication make us doubt Viator and Kewpie.
Written 28 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi guys! We unfortunately cannot control what Trip Advisor sends you however we did personally contact you well in advance to offer you another sailing day or a refund due to some very bad weather forecast for the day of your cruise. In your confirmation it reminds you to check emails 24 hours prior at least incase of any cancelations due to weather etc. It's a shame that you had no access to emails while travelling and you did not leave a mobile number for us to reach you. We would have been happy to resolve this issue without the need for a 1 star review.
Written 23 January 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

jollyrobert
Bridgend, UK948 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2019
Repeating a very good experience in 2015, we eagerly embarked on the Kewpie yesterday, taking the 1 pm sailing out of the jetty on Pilot Bay. Unfortunately, we didn't enjoy the cruise as much on this occasion, as the one-hour cruise does not cover as much of the waters of Tauranga harbour as it used to. Yes, we set sail promptly as another reviewer complains, but time and tide..., yes, we sailed out past the statue of Tangaroa, the warrior guarding the entrance, and yes we stopped off at Matakana island to allow some passengers off to enjoy the beach area, but we disembarked less than an hour later, asking each other what was that all about? Last time we sailed much further into the shallower harbour waters, past Fergusson Point, Te Puna, Omokoroa, almost as far as Kati Kati, then sailed back and almost up to the harbour bridge nr. the marina past a variety of ships tied up to the busy quayside. That journey encouraged us to repeat the experience but on the second occasion we landed at Matakana and spent nearly 3 hours enjoying the accessible beach strand, before being plucked up out of the rising tide at 3.15 pm for the return journey to the jetty. This time a very truncated version I'm afraid. The enjoyable bits were Brandon's laconic, but informative, commentary peppered with interesting anecdotes, and with a mastery of Maori language and interpretation. Anna and Leo were charming and helpful too, but struggling to liven up a really disappointing trip.
Written 2 February 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Your greatly mistaken and confusing you prior experince with a CHARTER that was 4hrs in duration. Not only that NO vessel can get to Katikati at all as its too shallow. not even a speed boat... so Im sorry but your review by no means reflects our scenic 1hr cruise. The 4hr CHARTER cruise for groups (you were on a group CHARTER with Probus group) goes all the way past the points you have indicated to Omokoroa. This also departs from Strand Tauranga or Pilot Wharf by arrangement. This is a very different product, crikey its hard to defend ourselves sometimes from this type of review. Please peolpe come on board, have a wine from the licenced bar, relax and let us have a shared time on the water taking in the sites.
Written 11 September 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

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