TSS Earnslaw vs Spirit of Queenstown
The 1912 coal-fired steamship or the modern catamaran? A straight comparison of both Walter Peak vessels on comfort, access, price, atmosphere and availability.
Every Walter Peak trip runs on one of two boats, and you choose which at checkout — not at the wharf. One was launched in 1912 and still burns coal shovelled in by hand. The other was built this century and has more glass than a conservatory. They reach the same jetty in the same 45 minutes, and the right answer is not automatically the old one.
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The TSS Earnslaw, in short
She was built in Dunedin in 1912, then taken apart — every quarter-inch hull plate numbered — and railed across the South Island to Kingston at the foot of Lake Whakatipu, where she was riveted back together and launched in October of that year. She was the largest steamship built in New Zealand and the biggest thing on the lake, and her job was supply: wool, stock, mail and people to the high-country stations on a shore that had no road. Walter Peak was one of them. That history is why she is called the Lady of the Lake.
She came close to being scrapped in the late 1960s. The company that is now RealNZ put her back into passenger service instead, and she is generally described as the last coal-fired, hand-stoked commercial passenger steamship still working in the southern hemisphere.
The engine room is open. You stand on a grating above two working steam engines and watch a stoker feed the fireboxes with a shovel. There is a small museum of historical photographs, a view into the skipper’s wheelhouse, a cafe and a licensed bar, and usually someone playing the piano on the way home. It is hot below, it smells of coal and hot oil, and none of it is a re-enactment.
The Spirit of Queenstown, in short
A modern catamaran. Fast to load, stable, quiet, and built around large windows rather than open deck. There is a licensed bar. There is no engine room to visit, no coal, and no piano.
What it has instead is comfort and predictability: more step-free space, an easier boarding process, better sightlines from a seat, and a smoother ride when the lake gets up in the afternoon.
Which to book
Take the Earnslaw if the ship is part of why you are going. For most first-time visitors it is — the crossing stops being transport and becomes half the experience, and the engine room is the thing people photograph. Book early: Earnslaw sittings sell out before catamaran ones, and the evening slots go first of all.
Take the Spirit of Queenstown if any of these apply. Someone in your group would rather not manage steamship stairs or the heat below decks. You are travelling with a pram or mobility aid. You want a seat with a window and a quiet crossing rather than a walk-around. Or you are booking late and the steamship options have gone — the catamaran is far easier to get at short notice, and it lands you in exactly the same place.
The thing that catches people out
You cannot swap on the day. The vessel is baked into the booking option, and the price differs: the Earnslaw options are consistently the dearer ones. On the Gourmet BBQ listing the vessel is a choice within the booking; the catamaran BBQ and catamaran farm tour listings name the boat outright, which removes the ambiguity.
One more caveat from the operator’s own small print: both vessels come out for scheduled maintenance at some point each year, and an alternative boat may run in place of the one you booked. If the steamship specifically is the reason for the trip, check the vessel named on your option before you pay, and consider a date that is not at the edge of a maintenance window.
What if you only want the ship?
Then skip Walter Peak entirely and take the 90-minute Earnslaw cruise at $70 — same ship, same open engine room, same commentary, no landing, back at the wharf in an hour and a half. It is the cheapest way aboard her and the right call when the rest of your day is spoken for.
If you want the farm and the meal, the crossing is included either way and the which-cruise guide covers the rest of the decision.
Frequently asked questions
Is the TSS Earnslaw worth the extra cost?
If you would otherwise spend the 45 minutes sitting still, yes — the open engine room, the museum and the deck give you something to do on both crossings, and it is a genuinely rare piece of working machinery. If you mainly want to get to Walter Peak comfortably, the catamaran does that better for less.
Can I choose the boat on the day?
No. The vessel is part of the booking option you buy, and sittings are allocated in advance. If you want the steamship, book an option that names her.
Is the Spirit of Queenstown better in bad weather?
Generally, yes. It is a modern catamaran with more enclosed seating and a smoother ride when Lake Whakatipu gets choppy in the afternoon. The Earnslaw is a heavy displacement hull and rides well too, but there is more open deck and more moving about.
Does the Earnslaw run all year?
She sails year-round, several times a day. Both vessels are taken out for scheduled maintenance at some point each year, and an alternative boat may substitute — so confirm the vessel on your booking option rather than assuming.
How long is the crossing on each boat?
About 45 minutes each way on both. The catamaran is faster in absolute terms, but the timetable is built around the same sittings at Walter Peak, so the time ashore is the same.
Can you visit the engine room on the Spirit of Queenstown?
No. The open engine room is specific to the TSS Earnslaw — it is a steamship with a hand-fired boiler, and watching the stokers work is the part of the crossing that has no equivalent on the catamaran.
Cross the Lake. Eat by the Fire.
The Walter Peak Gourmet BBQ is rated 4.8/5 by more than 3,100 guests. A 45-minute crossing each way, a wood-fired buffet at the Colonel's Homestead, and a working farm demonstration — with free cancellation up to 24 hours before you sail.
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