Viking Venus - Australia & New Zealand
A 14-night one-way crossing from Sydney to Auckland that overnights in both bookend cities and threads the Bass Strait, Tasman Sea, and Foveaux Strait between nine port calls. It hits Melbourne, Hobart, and five New Zealand ports including art deco Napier and geothermal Rotorua via Tauranga, with a Viking shore excursion included at every stop.
Price Range
$$$$$
Ultra-Luxury
*Prices vary by cabin type, sailing date, and availability. Confirm rates with Viking Ocean Cruises before booking.
Ship Details — Viking Venus
View full Viking Venus details
Year Built
2021
Tonnage
47,800 GT
Passengers
930
Crew
550
Decks
9
Class
Viking Ocean
Itinerary & Route Map
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Where this cruise calls, day by day
11 ports and 4 sea days over 14 Nights.
- Day 1Sydney port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
Sydney
AustraliaDepart - Day 2Sydney port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
Sydney
AustraliaPort Day 3 · At sea
- Day 4
Melbourne
AustraliaPortShips berth at Station Pier in Port Melbourne, which is not the city but has a tram stop at the gate - the 109 runs to the CBD in around half an hour. Melbourne rewards wandering more than sightseeing: the good things are in laneways, in coffee shops, and inside a sporting culture that borders on religion. The famous scenic drives are too far for a single port day.
- Laneway coffee and street art around Hosier Lane and Degraves Street
- Queen Victoria Market
- MCG tour and the National Sports Museum
- Phillip Island penguin parade or a long Great Ocean Road coach day
- Getting ashore
- Docked at Station Pier, about 5km out; the route 109 tram terminates at the landward end of the pier and runs to Collins Street in around 20 minutes, but you need a myki card - this stretch is outside the free tram zone.
- Best months
- Nov-Mar (southern summer)
Day 5 · At sea
- Day 6
Hobart
AustraliaPortMacquarie Wharf drops you a ten-minute walk from Salamanca Place, which makes Hobart one of the easiest port days in Australia. The city sits under kunanyi/Mount Wellington on the Derwent estuary, and it has an unusual amount going on for its size - a serious art museum, colonial sandstone, and the best produce in the country. If your call falls on a Saturday, the market alone justifies the day.
- Mona, reached by the catamaran up the Derwent from Brooke Street Pier
- Salamanca Market on Saturday mornings
- Drive or shuttle to the kunanyi/Mount Wellington summit
- Port Arthur historic site, about 90 minutes each way
- Getting ashore
- Docked at Macquarie Wharf, within 800m of the CBD and about 15 flat minutes from Salamanca Place - no shuttle needed, which makes this one of the best walk-off ports in Australia.
- Best months
- Dec-Feb (southern summer; Tasmania is cold outside it)
Day 7 · At sea
Day 8 · At sea
- Day 9Dunedin (Port Chalmers) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
Dunedin (Port Chalmers)
New ZealandPort - Day 10Christchurch (Lyttelton) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
Christchurch (Lyttelton)
New ZealandPort - Day 11
Wellington
New ZealandPortNew Zealand's capital sits in a wind tunnel at the bottom of the North Island, wrapped around a harbour with hills coming down to the water on every side. Most ships tie up at Aotea Quay, a container berth a couple of kilometres north of the centre with a shuttle laid on; a lucky few get Queens Wharf downtown. It is a compact, walkable, coffee-obsessed city once you reach it.
- Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum, free and genuinely good
- Wellington Cable Car up to the Botanic Garden and walk back down
- Weta Workshop tour out at Miramar
- Zealandia, a fenced valley sanctuary with kaka, takahe and tuatara
- Getting ashore
- Almost always docked at Aotea Quay, a working commercial berth you cannot walk out of - the shuttle loop is effectively the only way ashore, covering the 2km to downtown; the rare Queens Wharf berth is a straight walk into town.
- Best months
- Nov-Mar (southern summer)
- Day 12
Napier
New ZealandPortAn earthquake flattened Napier in 1931 and the town was rebuilt over the following few years, which is why an entire small city centre is coherent 1930s Art Deco. It is a genuinely unusual thing to walk around. The port is a working breakwater terminal a few kilometres out, and Hawke's Bay's vineyards start almost immediately behind the town.
- Art Deco walking tour around Emerson Street and Tennyson Street
- Hawke's Bay wineries - Mission Estate, Church Road, Te Mata
- Cape Kidnappers gannet colony by tractor-trailer along the beach
- Te Mata Peak lookout over the plains
- Getting ashore
- Docked at Napier Port, which since the 2022 Te Whiti wharf takes very large ships; town is only about 2km but walking on the wharf is prohibited, so everyone takes the free shuttle to the drop-off where the local operators wait.
- Best months
- Nov-Mar (southern summer)
- Day 13Tauranga port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
Tauranga
New ZealandPort - Day 14Auckland port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
Auckland
New ZealandPort - Day 15Auckland port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
Auckland
New ZealandArrive
Onboard Amenities
Cruise Highlights
About the Ship
What Travelers Say About Viking Venus
Reviews of the ship itself — the same for every Viking Venus sailing. Distilled from 1 traveler threads, Cruise Critic member reviews and travel blogs.
Viking Venus is one of the newer ships in Viking's ocean fleet, debuting in 2021, and it earns the line's top marks while delivering the same refined, adults-only formula Viking is known for. With about 930 guests, all in veranda staterooms, it pairs understated modern Scandinavian design — knitting-pattern atrium motifs, fireplaces and faux-fur throws — with a deliberately calm, no-kids atmosphere. U.S. News rates it 4.5 out of 5 across 42 passenger reviews, ranking it the top Viking ocean ship, a reflection of its fresher build and consistently praised crew, even though the review base is smaller than the older ships'.
What People Love
- Outstanding crew and service, frequently described as radiant and superb, backed by a roughly one-to-two crew-to-guest ratio
- Strikingly beautiful modern Nordic design, with hygge touches like fireplaces, faux-fur throws and atrium knitting motifs that reviewers call the prettiest ship they've sailed
- Excellent all-inclusive dining across The Restaurant, Manfredi's, The Chef's Table, World Cafe and Mamsen's, with praise for special-diet handling
Common Complaints
- Weak entertainment is the most common complaint — no casino, no production shows, and the ship can feel like it lacks life at night
- Too sedate or sleepy for some travelers, with an explicitly older, largely retired demographic
- Limited daytime onboard activities, with some guests noting there is very little to do on sea days