A great and interesting day out. - No Doubt! - Early start. Quite a varied programme. Bus, lake boat, bus over the pass in an ancient forest with nature guide/driver who gave good information about the construction and form of the forest, roadway, hydro electric scheme for Aluminium smelting,, trip through the sound itself (really a Fjiord) with another nature and history guide, then back via the other side of the sound - so other side of islands. The guides made this more interesting and we saw penguins (just 2), and lots of fur seals. Sadly no dolphins but then they are fickle. The scenery whilst similar in one sense was stunning and each corner a different image with constantly changing clouds and wind. We had the opportunity to get off the coach and learn more about the trees and forest. Interesting guides. The journey back through the lake was a little more subdued as by then we were tired but overall a great day. Everything ran like clockwork and RealMZ who ran the trip were extremely well organised, with good modern kit to make the day easier and comfortable for clients. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful.

Loved It! - We had a really beautiful sunny day and wonderful experience going to Doubtful Sound. It’s worth going further to have fewer people and boats. We felt like we had the sound to ourselves.

Lively doubtful sound tour - Fantastic tour of Doubtful Sound! Incredible experience. Definitely get on the outside deck if you can!

Incorrect start time given by viator - Check with tour day before because the 7.15 start time that Viator give you for this trip is wrong. The tour starts at 6.30 from Te Anau . If you get there at 7.15 you will miss trip. Really enjoyed the trip it is a long day.We saw Penguins, Seals and Dolphins along with amazing scenery. Highly recommended. Very cross about not being given right start. Real NZ have said they have emailed Viator several times.Wish I booked direct

Getting to Doubtful Sound is quite an ordeal - Overall, enjoyable day. The Doubtful Sound cruise was certainly worth the effort. I would not book through Trip Advisor again. We arrived 15 minutes early to the Te Anau departure point, as instructed. The woman at the counter was irritated and told us she had “been trying to call us”. We therefore boarded the bus immediately, concerned that we might have been holding people up. We then waited on the bus for 25 minutes. It departed when another couple (who actually were late) finally arrived. Every seat on the large bus was filled. The air conditioning was freezing. We were pleasantly surprised when the bus driver told us there is a cafe at the boat terminal, where we can buy coffee. My husband lined up for 15 minutes or so, to be told he could not order coffee when he finally got to the front of the queue. The boat cruise across the lake was very pleasant, and the boat wasn’t at all crowded. There was space for my son to play, and for everyone to spread out and be comfortable. The 45 minute bus ride at the other end was unnecessarily long because we kept stopping for “photo opportunities”. At each stop, 3 bus loads of people got off, queued up to take a generic snap of the view, then quickly got out of the way for everyone else to take an equally generic photo. It felt even longer because the bus driver kept telling unfunny jokes the whole way. The actual Doubtful Sound Cruise was amazing and worth every bit of the discomfort and irritation to get there. 10/10, would do again despite it all. The scenery! The dolphins! The informative, entertaining commentary! Loved it. Regarding the booking process: The confirmation email from Trip Advisor didn’t

Nice, but no exceptonal - The expercience was oke, but not extraoridinary. People see, you must see. I say nice, but if not, no problem.

Doubtful Sound Cruise - Very expensive & majority of time spent on a bus or 1st ferry . Virtually no wildlife or waterfalls scenery more of the same . Disappointing

Expensive and Repetitive - Quite an expensive trip due to all the travelling involved. From Te Anau, 20 minutes by bus to Manapouri, then 45 minutes by boat to West Arm, then 60 minutes by coach to Deep Cove, then a 2 and a half hour cruise by boat which travels down Doubtful Sound and returns a similar way to Deep Cove. Then you have the return journeys. A good trip for those wanting to see scenery and some seals. The best part was when they stopped the boats engines to listen to the silence. A long day with not a lot of variation. Don't expect to see an abundance of wildlife. Mainly scenery, which is closely repeated on the return journeys.

Doubtful Sound - First and foremost, Doubtful Sound pales in comparison with Milford Sound judging by that little scenery and silhouettes of the background mountains I was able to see. Not even close. I dare say the first leg of the cruise, Manapouri Lake would suffice. Second and most important, if you think of going with rain or even a hint of rain in the forecast think twice. We weighed our options of either going and seeing at least something or staying in the hotel watching TV. We decided to take our chances and found out that the latter would be more exciting. The long anticipated cruise turned into a dreary boring water ride. The highlight of the tour was a sighting of a crested penguin and a colony of NZ fur seals. Finally, the company, RealNZ is so chip they could not throw in a $5 sandwich and a bag of chips for a US $230 ticket. In addition it was awfully slow and poorly organized. We had to wait for the bus, wait for the boat, wait for the bus, for the boat, on the way there, on the way back. That added at least an hour.

Viator gave me the wrong start time - Viator email and voucher told me my tour was at 7:15. When I arrived at RealNZ, they said the actual time had been 6:15 and i had missed it. RealNZ was able book me on a tour two hours later than the one i had booked. You may not be so lucky if it happens to you.