This cruise was absolutely fantastic - the highlight of my holiday.

We has 3 separate dolphin encounters and saw the most beautiful scenery. The trip across Lake Manapouri was very scenic and the coach over to Doubtful was great for photo stops but obviously the cruise on Doubtful was the highlight. We went around all the various arms of the fiord with Daz, the skipper, explaining the geography and history of the area with lots of interesting stories. He even let me steer for a bit! The MV Friendship offered great views with a nice interior with plenty of windows plus upstairs, front and rear open-air viewing. Both staff were very friendly and extremely well-informed. We had free, tasty and healthy food coming out our ears. They pulled up cray-pots so we had 3 crays between 4 guests so our entre in the evening was crayfish pasta with honey, chili and garlic plus a crayfish and lettuce salad, all freshly prepared on board. The main (a selection of cold meats, salad and garlic fried spuds) was lovely too but Yvette (the host) struggled to get us to stop fishing! We caught a lot of small perch plus 3 good sized ones so had pan-fried perch with olive oil and lemon pepper from breakie! Bunks were narrow but surprisingly comfy and cosy with towels provided and even a mint on the pillow! Wonderful all round.

Reviewed almost 15 years ago