Last April we boarded a cruise from Sydney, Australia, that stopped in New Zealand, Tahiti, and ended in Honolulu. We rarely take excursions while on a cruise, but as a person who loved to sail years ago, the chance to sail on an America's Cup racing boat through the Aukland harbour sounded too exciting to pass up. We booked directly through the Explorer group, which seemed sensible and was cheaper than booking through the ship, of course. The reason we decided to travel from Vancouver to Australia and New Zealand this year, is because I am going blind. I have very little sight left, so we knew that time was running out for me to see this distant part of the world. Our cruise ship docked right in the Aukland harbour, and we walked by to see our ship in the morning. Our tour was booked for 1 p.m. We were impressed with the size of the boat and had a pleasant chat about the afternoon tour with one of the crew members working onboard. We raced around several blocks of downtown Aukland, then back to our ship so we could dress for our tour. We arrived on time, to find only one, sad-looking, person at the top of the marina. A young woman informed us that the Tour Was Cancelled! We were dumbstruck. We asked the reason, expecting an emergency or onboard malfunction, but they said that there were not enough people signed up!! How is this our problem? We booked weeks ago, paid in full, and travelled half way around the world, for my last chance to see New Zealand, from a sailing ship or from anywhere!! We will never be back there again, and to make matters worse, they must have known, days earlier, or at least That Day, that they might decide not to sail. Instead they told us less than 3 hours before our cruise was to leave N.Z.! We could have booked any number of tours to at least see the local sites, but now it was too late! All the tour operators were gone and any afternoon buses etc. were full. How incredibly thoughtless, callous and selfish can this company be?! It's what they advertise and at least there were 5 people signed up - so what if you make a little less profit for a 2 hour tour?! It is not that they couldn't sail, they just couldn't be bothered for too few people. Again, not my problem - and you took my money weeks ago. The poor young woman who had no answers (she was left there on her own. We were told that no employees or crew were available to speak with us...) and just had to repeat the bad news, kept assuring us that we would get a "full refund". Yes, I said, that is My money - you're not giving me anything. In fact you're taking away our only chance to sail or explore any part of Aukland. It sounded good on paper - a longtime dream finally realized, but NO. Buyer beware! Apparently they have plenty of business, so they don't care who they disappoint, and thus this poor review might make little difference, but I write so future tourists will weigh the risks. I hope you are treated much better than this.

Amazing experience. So nice to be out sailing on the beautiful Waitemata again! The crew were super helpful and looked after everyone really well, instructing their guests how to take the helm, work the grinders. It really showed the uninitiated how fit those sailors have to be and how hard they have to work on the America's Cup racing yachts. Thank you.

Great afternoon on the harbour, sailing with explorer group..great crew and well experienced. Light winds unfortunately, but got the groove going with us all.

Phenomenal few hours. Boat is a weapon, fast and agile. Crew are awesome and very knowledgeable about all things sailing

Thanks to Pete and the crew for a great sail in the harbour.We even joined the Rum race for a while . Highly recommended a very professional company.cheers

Amazing trip I got to really feel apart of the team. Driving and grinding really showed me how much work sailers put into there work. Makes me proud how Nz won.

It was a fantastic and comprehensive look at the history of the americas cup as well as how sailing boats worked. I thought it was truly beautiful

A great sail on a windy day. The crew did of sailing the boat with vigor while keeping everyone (relatively) dry. Good weather gear made the trip comfortable, even with a rain shower.

We kicked off two wonderful weeks in New Zealand with the America’s Cup Sailing Experience out of Auckland Harbor. A sunny and windy day made for, well, a wonderful experience. We even got to take the help along with getting the sails up and down. And a great crew. Highly recommend this trip which totally exceeded our expectations~

It was more fun than expected. I thought it might be a real tame and boring ride around the harbor but they actually got the boat up to a fairly exciting speed with it leaned right over. We were lucky to have a perfect day with a nice breeze and clear skies. I wouldn't bother if its pouring rain or dead calm day. Anyone who wanted were able to participate as crew by manning the hand cranks to hoist and lower the sails as well as driving for a bit. Tip... there is no toilet on the boat so make sure to go before boarding. The crew were fun and gave lots of interesteing info about the boat, sailing, racing etc. Well worth it!

Decent event. Not being a sailor I did not know what to expect. Friendly crew. Whatever to be able to state I sailed on an America's Cup sailboat. Worth the effort 👌

Had been so looking forward to this and was not disappointed!! We had Skipper Peter & Charlie on board Defiance and I didn't want it to end! When I asked if I could have a photo taken next to the steering wheel they said to get in behind the wheel and let me steer for a while. The ocean is my 'happy place' where all stress melts away and should I return to Auckland anytime soon, I would do this experience again as it's priced reasonably. Thanks for the great time! :-)

What a surprisingly fun and beautiful experience!! We sailed with Captain Peter and his mate Joe and had a wonderful time. My husband talked me into doing this excursion since Auckland is called the City of Sails but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. They served us sodas or juice or their New Zealand soda LNP, which is like carbonated lemonade. I recommend the LNP to experience a local soda as it was refreshing and delicious. We had a beautiful sail and all of the kids and even some of the adults were able to ‘drive’ the sailboat which was a great picture. We would definitely do this again!

Our first full day in Auckland and NZ itself so we chose to go on a sailing boat round the harbour. Nice relaxing morning sailing up past the naval area and commercial port and then down towards the Harbour Bridge, anybody who wanted a go at the wheel was able to do so which was a good photo opportunity!

This was such a fantastic experience. It was relaxing to o be on the water and enjoy the views. The captain and deck hand were professional and welcoming. Guests could take a turn at the wheel, which was cool. One of the guests had trouble finding the meeting point, delaying our departure. The captain asked if we could wait for the guest and we all agreed. I thought that was very kind and it didn’t shorten our sailing time. I would absolutely do this again.