Tss Earnslaw Lake Wakatipu Steamship Cruise From Queenstown

Excellent tripadvisor, booking, payment and the overall experience

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip on the SS Earnslaw to Walter Peak Station. The staff were super friendly and it was interesting to be able to watch the workings of the steamboat There is a great cafe onboard with a great choice of food and drinks. We just did the round trip

The cruise was lovely apart from seeing one of the workers using a dustpan and shovel on the floor and then use the same one on the bench top where food is served and plates were stacked. The lunch at the homestead was amazing.

First time to see a steamship and we were able to wander around to have a look at the engines below. Great scenery along the tour and there was a good performance on the ship as well.

What a fabulous experience. We did the cruise, farm tour and afternoon tea and can highly recommend it. The staff on the boat and at the station were polished and professional. The tour was interesting (especially good for children I would think) and the afternoon tea was simple but delicious NZ food at its best. The cruise itself is a gentle highlight.

How beautiful the view is. Well organised. Professional. Ample information regarding the ship and farm.

We had a wonderful experience, my Husband and adult children really enjoyed the voyage, the crew were very polite and helpful and the food and drinks on board were great. Loved the stunning scenery and we were lucky to have perfect weather for the trip.

It was a great trip to the Walter peak country farm

We did the cruise and farm tour with afternoon tea. It was fantastic . Way better than we expected tbh and the scenery (both on board the boat and at Walter Peak) was breath taking . The farm show was excellent and the animals were gorgeous. We especially loved the baby highland cow which was adorable. The afternoon tea was excellent (we didn’t need lunch) A really scenic and enjoyable day .

Loved it. Great views and live music on board. So relaxing and easy going. Lovely choice of wines on board which was unexpected. Thank you

if you go in winter the cruise is nice, the dinner is great but the farm show is not enclosed and freezing so if you come from Australia like us skip it, too freaking cold. staff are great and no complaints about the service.

Amazing! Really enjoyed the TSS Earnslaw Steamship Cruise! The whole experience was lovely, from the beautiful lake views to the old steamship itself. The atmosphere was relaxing and the staff were friendly and helpful. It was nice to sit back, enjoy the scenery and watch the steam engine in action. Definitely a memorable experience during our New Zealand trip. Would recommend it to anyone visiting Queenstown!

Beautiful sights, nice staff, could use a bit more information. The musician tries hard but it not a great singer. But it's fun all around and good for the price.

Scenic. Fun. Met nice folks on board. First time on steam ship. Interesting. On time and smooth sailing.

This is the second time I have done this experience of the cruise only. Do recommend.

Everything about this experience was pretty fantastic, apart from TRIP ADVISOR ripping me off by advertising US Dollars on a New Zealand site. I fell for it. Screw you Trip Advisor. Wrecked an otherwise perfect holiday

We booked the TSS Earnslaw cruise with the Walter Peak Gourmet BBQ Dinner, and it exceeded our expectations. The historic steamship is beautifully maintained, and being able to visit the engine room and watch the engineers keeping the steam engines running was a real highlight. The cruise across Lake Wakatipu is stunning, with spectacular mountain scenery in every direction. At Walter Peak, the BBQ dinner was outstanding, with a fantastic selection of meats, salads and desserts. Everything was fresh, well presented and plentiful. The farm demonstration was entertaining and well worth seeing. The staff on both the Earnslaw and at Walter Peak were friendly, professional and made the whole experience enjoyable.

Amazing views and wonderful atmosphere on the boat. We went at 3pm and it was a beautiful time of the day.

Amazing, loved it. Highlight of trip.

Great views, beautiful steamship experience watching the motor running photo gallery was a great look into the past my wife loved the ladies parlour. The crew were excellent Thank you

Such a fantastic experience and a perfect way to slow down and appreciate the beauty of Queenstown. The crew were amazing from start to finish, so welcoming, friendly, and passionate about sharing the history of the steamship and surrounding land. After a few days of adrenaline-filled activities, this was a really peaceful and relaxing break. Cruising across Lake Wakatipu surrounded by stunning mountain scenery was absolutely beautiful. A must-do experience in Queenstown if you're looking for something a little different and want to take in the incredible scenery at a slower pace. Highly recommend!

Definitely worth doing. We did the evening cruise that included dinner at Walter Peak Station. We absolutely loved it experience the vessel itself is well maintained, there were blankets available and the staff were excellent. The buffet dinner was exceptional!! Exceeded any expectations we had. Would absolutely recommend.

Awesome unique experience. It’s a very special type of a boat. Great views. Café food and coffee was great too.

Boarding the steamship was a good experience especially for first-timers like us. It was nice to see the lake and mountain views from the boat. I feel that the ticket fees could have been made cheaper considering that there isn't a lot of activities that can be done while aboard the ship aside from sitting most of the time and a little bit of walking around to take photos of the surroundings. The staircase to go down one level was very narrow and slippery. There are a lot of damp and dirty blankets near the benches where we're sitting and the smell can be a turn-off to the passengers.

Incredible. So friendly. Amazing trip

Beautiful views and very interesting ship features

Fabulous experience. We went with a tour and thoroughly enjoyed an amazing buffet at our destination when we disembarked the TSS Earnshaw. After our sail cand meal we were treated to sheep dogs herding sheep and a display of sheep being sheared in record time. An absolutely wonderful trip on a beautiful lake on an ancient steam boat surrounded by some of the best scenery in the world.

Old world charm and the glory of Central Otago combine! Lovely staff, fascinating engine room and an authentic mulled wine.

First rate experience on this wonderful 1912 built ship. Although its not well signposted you can get quite deep into the engine room and see how a real caol-fired ship actually works

Spent 4+ weeks in NZ and this tour rises to the top of my favorites. Departing from wonderful downtown Queenstown on the historic TSS Earnslaw, and then taking in the spectacular mountain and lake views wrapped around a BBQ and farm visit is just a soul filling way to spend a day. If you are lucky enough to get some sunshine on the day you go, even better! Let’s start with the ship. It’s beautifully maintained in its largely original 1912 configuration; highlighted by the original twin steam 220 HP engines powering the vessel (Fun fact: TSS stands for “Twin Screw Steamer”). Don’t miss the opportunity to enter the walkway midship that provides views below into the engine room where engineers are actually manning the coal fires and the steam engines. The views of them loading the coal, stoking the four fire chambers and then those massive pistons turning all while steam is being emitted, in some cases even mildly up to the main passenger deck, is truly awesome. And, also fun to even watch them back up the dump truck to the ship on the first trip of the day and dump and load the coal onto the vessel. From where do you even procure that amount of coal these days? There is also a great small room in the bow of the ship that has a lot of historical pictures and memorabilia if you want to really nerd out. But, even if you are not that into the engineering wonder, just the nostalgic feeling of being on the ship, and seeing things like the original anchor, the original crane and wench on the bow where they used to load cargo, even heavy farm equipment in the day, is an impressive and fun site and experience. You’ll love the feel of being taken back to a time long ago. The ride across the lake is also gorgeous. Sweeping views of the surrounding mountain ranges while cruising on the lake is both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. The farm experience is also well worth while. It’s a bit of a cattle call through the BBQ as you might imagine with them trying to feed such a large number of people in a short time. The only unfortunate part of my experience was at the lunch. They seat everybody, take drink orders and tell you they will then come back with your invitation to the buffet. Well, I sat there with another women, also at a table for one, and watched the manager come by and invite all the tables around us but not us. Only to sit there another 30 minutes watching everybody else eat while the buffet was getting cold; and, only after getting up then to ask the manager why we hadn’t yet been invited, was told it was an oversight and we should go ahead and eat. NGL, was a buzz kill. And, only after I asked, did they then agree to comp my drinks as a concession. I shouldn’t have had to ask for that. Still, though a bit cold and picked over, I can say the selection and quality of the buffet was very nice, only wish I could have enjoyed it while it was hot and fresh. The farm show afterwards turned things back to enjoyable again! Just a lot of good fun, humor and entertainment watching a sheep get sheared, and seeing the dogs work with the sheep. Don’t miss it! And, was happy to get back on the ship again and enjoy the nice cruise back to Queenstown. Overall, a well organized and executed experience, barring the one unfortunate event with the buffet which I am chalking up to a likely rare exception.

Great way to see another side of the lake. Would have liked a bit of commentary on the history and information on what we were seeing. The music was nice but could have been a bit less.

A beautiful old ship which was a privilege to be on sailing along Lake Wakatipu. Drinks and music to entertain and views to enjoy. You can leave at Walters Peak to explore and dine at the restaurant or return as we did on this 90 minute excursion.

We took this ship to the Walter Peak High Country Farm. Be sure to check out the historical information on board the ship. Very interesting history.

A month after leaving NZ I was harassed by email that I had not paid for this experience on TS Elliott. After many emails explaining I prepaid and obviously would not be able to board without a paid ticket they finally accepted their mistake with transaction record. RealNZ need to get their accounting system in order and experienced staff. It was a very ordinary boat trip and lunch. Very stressfull having to prove a month later that I had paid. Not happy with their handling of this issue. Why should I do all the investigation work. Cannot recommend.

Super relaxing and enjoyable way to explore the lake and beautiful scenery! The coffee was the best I have had and the on board entertainment and tours of the steamship were wonderful.

overbooked and crowded one way. Other wise a leisurely and somnolent cruise with minimum interaction

Lovely day the lake was flat. Enjoyed the female playing the piano. Great to watch the staff feeding the boiler.

This was such a fun, relaxing and informative experience. So beautiful to be able to see close hand the operation of this steam ship built the same year as the Titanic (even going below deck to watch the operation room). The scenery is absolutely beautiful on the trip across the lake to Walter Peak ‘farm’. A photographer’s dream.

Really interesting to see the inner workings of a steamship, and the views around Lake Wakatpi were great! Boat slightly crowded on the way out, but much quieter once those staying at Walter Peak had alighted.

This was a beautiful ride across lake we opted for the cruise as we had just had dinner but the was an option for going to Walter peak farm at the end of the lake for a meal and a walk about the farm

Best Steam Ship Excursion. 2+ Hours of fun. Great shore views and homes architect. Great ice cream on board. Ship runs on coal and interesting to see.

We just did the return trip across Lake Walatipu without visiting Walter Peak Farm. The trip allowed great views of the lake and surrounding mountains, but the best bit was the atmosphere of the old steamer. You could even go below and check out the workings of the steam engine. Great experience.

Where do I start, maybe the booking up early 3/4 months before our trip would be good, or maybe the cancellation 9hrs before our trip was due to leave, this left no time to book another trip. Very poor customer service, cancelling so late and not honouring the booking on an earlier sailing. Private booking at such late notice doesn’t seem right but I suppose the might dollar is more important than customer satisfaction.

It’s pretty, yes. But the experience is one that you just to be over with. Too crowded, and unpleasant

Great cruise on Lake Wakatipu aboard the TSS Earnslaw. Really enjoyed the mini museum on board and going below deck and watching the stokers shovel coal. The scenery was stunning. Highly recommend.

Great experience both on the ship and at the Walter Peak High Country Farm. The trip across the lake is magical and you can really get the steamship vibe - get on early for a decent seat. Once at the Country farm the buffet dinner is magnificent. The choice of both hot and cold food is staggering and the quality is first class - and there is plenty of it - a real feast. The waiting staff are excellent and the wine choices first class - cannot fault it. After dinner, the sheep shearing display was remarkably engaging and fascinating and the shearers patter is great but the star of the show of course is Kip the sheep dog who gives a brief but excellent display of sheep rounding. An excellent trip and a must do if in this part of New Zealand, A real highlight.

cute little cruise 🚢 went solo after doing doubtful sound with this company a day before. the DS was very overpriced in my opinion but this experience was pretty adequate

Great relaxing scenic cruise on a historic steamboat. Really enjoyed the views, length of the trip & the hospitality.

Save your money. Don’t be scammed by this boring boat ride. You will fare much better with a nice walk in the park by the beach.