Airport to wharf, and when to land
Auckland Airport is about 21-23km from the wharves. In normal traffic a car takes 25-35 minutes, closer to 45 in the rush hour, and 2026 guides put a rideshare at roughly NZ$45-60 to the waterfront, with taxis a little dearer.
The old SkyBus is gone. Its replacement, SkyDrive, runs a coach every 30 minutes to a stop by SkyCity in about 40-45 minutes, and from there it is another 1.1-1.3km - a 15-20 minute walk with bags - down to Queens or Princes Wharf. With luggage, the coach plus a short taxi for that last leg is the cheap combination.
Flying in on sailing day is risky here. Transfer guides suggest at least three hours between landing and boarding, and with long-haul flights from North America, a night at one of the waterfront hotels - the Hilton sits on Princes Wharf itself - takes the risk out.
Leave the buffet fruit on board
New Zealand's biosecurity rules apply to passengers walking off a ship for the day, not only to those flying in. Since December 2018, officers have been able to issue a NZ$400 on-the-spot infringement notice to cruise passengers who unintentionally bring risk items ashore, and deliberate smuggling is prosecuted separately.
In practice that means not pocketing fruit or snacks from the buffet on the way off. The ship's own food counts as an import the moment it crosses the gangway.
Sources: thetraveler.org, thedcn.com.au