Meamat

The harbour ferries are definitely a good first-day plan. The public ferries are frequent and cheap, and you can hop on and off at different locations and really get a feel of the city. Darling harbour is a nice trip too, as is rose bay. It would be good to get an opal card soon after arrival for ferries - it's a tap on/tap off card that acts as your ticket and caps your travel costs.

I'd personally aim for three days before at least. Book the bridge climb in advance and give yourself a day or two to adjust before. Take the first day gently like you say, ferry rides, maybe an opera house tour, a walk around the botanic gardens. The extra day gives you the chance to do some of your must-see things if you're too tired on day one, and if you've been feeling great it gives you the chance to go further afield or try something else. A day trip to the blue mountains would be great, a beach day in the city, lots of great areas to visit in the city if you have the time.

Re:jet lag, I find it worse coming to Aus from the US for some reason. Stay hydrated, rest on the flight if you can (noise cancelling headphones, neck pillows, eye masks, whatever it takes!) and get plenty of daylight on your first day.

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Losfp explained well - yes, very heavily Melbourne based because it was originally a Victorian comp. Even our beloved swans were originally a Melbourne team (South Melbourne) who relocated.

Tense game tonight against the giants, currently up by 17 but there's over a quarter to go and it's been anyone's game all night.

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Prospective Snorkelers, I have NEVER seen a Snorkel Tour operation without flotation gear avail. Never. I've SCUBA'd and snorkeled since the 1960's. Snorkeling properly ABOVE coral in 10-12 feet of water necessitates it. For those except children, wading in 3 feet of water would not of course.

On many of the islands visited by RCI, Carnival, etc out of Australia people are talking about snorkelling on their own without paid tours. Places like Mare, Isle of Pines, and Mystery Island people are not usually using any snorkel tour as such. They just walk in off the beach with their own equipment or equipment hired from the ship. Your response is very true if we're talking about larger scale tour operations, but of course that's hard to know unless the OP tells us what kind of snorkelling she's planning to do in which ports. There are still lots of small local operators in some of these locations, truly people that just drive a few people in a van to a nice spot for beach snorkelling or hire out hodgepodge equipment in popular areas. For that reason I wouldn't count on flotation vests being available at the ports unless you were taking a specific snorkelling tour.

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Some great advice here already.

Do check the equipment as well - my last trip to the US from Australia was on the new United dreamliner and it was a better plane by a significant margin for those long flights. Air New Zealand are top notch to travel with, and they're also running a very comfortable dreamliner with a stop in Aukland for Australian passengers. It's possible that you could be comfortable enough in coach to make the trip work. My last trip was something like 32 hours long by the time I did all the connections, and I do feel that the dreamliner helped me get through. More legroom makes a world of difference!

Yes, as others said the ranking is really about the guest satisfaction survey at the end of the cruise. There have certainly been changes (waterslides, sushi, guys burgers, blue iguana, dive in movies, coffee, menus etc), but a part of it has been moving into a different market. As it was 5 years ago, obviously Spirit wasn't getting much love from those filling out their surveys. I wonder how much of it is the change in the actual ship and experience and how much of it is the cultural differences and comparisons between her former US guests and current Australian ones.

I know a lot of people here appreciated the changes they spearheaded - e.g. no added gratuity because your fare covered wages properly, everything in local currency, it made cruising smoother for many people who were used to other lines.

Hi, I see this thread is a little old now, but hoping someone might see my post. I'm trying to get information on the Spirit and gosh is it hard to come by.

 

 

Hoping someone can help with the following:

 

 

 

- Are all the balcony rooms the same size and the only difference is the size of the balcony, or does the aft-extended balcony room for example have more space inside?

 

- Is there anywhere you wouldn't recommend getting a room? For example would you avoid getting a room at the front or pack of the boat or would you avoid being above a restaurant or below the pool for example?

 

- Does it cost money to go on-shore or only if you do an 'excursion' through the boat?

 

- Do you have to pre-book a tender to shore?

 

- What can the onboard credit be used for?

 

- Are the drinks packages worth it? Do they include spirits?

 

- Do the pools get too crowded?

 

- Do the rooms without a symbol on the deck plans have queen beds or are all beds on boat twins pushed together?

Yes, the balcony rooms are all basically the same size and layout. There are a few exceptions (e.g. the ones turned sideways like 4202, 5345 etc are obviously a different layout, but they are also set up for disability access, premium balcony rooms are a bit bigger), but yes the aft view rooms are pretty much the same as the other balconies just with a nice big outdoor space.

Rooms are personal preference - I personally try to put myself between two residential floors. I've heard that right next to the night club or right below pool deck and lido can be a bit of an issue for some people. Lifts aren't an issue, we've stayed right next to them and you really don't notice. Movement is most noticeable at the front of the ship, so if you have fears of motion sickness aim for mid ship or even aft.

Tenders are free, and they have a pretty smooth system where you just wait for your group to be called and walk down to the exit. You don't need to pre book, just follow instructions and turn up in the theatre when your whole group is ready. They'll assign you a group. If it's not a tender port it's even smoother.

On board credit can be used for anything you can charge to your account - it just came off our bill at the end as a deduction.

The only drinks package available is the soft drink package - covers soft drinks, juice, etc but not mocktails, smoothies, or specialty coffees. Adult price is $7.25/day and kids are $5.50/day - it can be bought in the first day or two of the cruise and must be purchased for the whole cruise rather than individual days. We find it's worth it - the cost works out to around 3 soft drinks a day, and I know I had more than that. It was nice to be able to just order a ginger ale or something while we were watching musicians, and I think we spent less overall because we could always grab a pre paid drink. They do have a wine package where you can pre purchase several bottles to be enjoyed over the course of your cruise and there are a few individual deals like double shots for $5, fishbowl cocktails, and beer buckets and tubes, but none are a package as such.

The pools aren't especially big (don't plan on lap swimming) and on cruises with lots of kids it does stay pretty full. More adult oriented ones like Melbourne Cup not so much.

All the main beds can be set up as queen or twins depending on what you need. Just identify your preference at booking.

Have fun!

Could someone tell me if they have a coffee card on the Spirit, like they have on Princess ships? Also is there a cafe in the atrium for specialty coffees and teas?

The Fountain cafe does have specialty coffees and cakes, but they do not have a coffee card. It's not in the atrium itself but it is on the same deck. Head forward of the lobby through the casino and you'll come to it.

Update with your preferences and I'm sure we can be more specific.

One of my favourites is Contrabando - a little latin place a couple blocks from Circular Quay. It's far enough away that it can't just rely on passing tourists and street appeal, and it's actually deliberately an underground place.

Thai town is vaguely surrounding the Capitol Theatre and there are plenty of mid priced thai eateries with fantastic food.

Some of my favourite sushi would be sushi hotaru at the Galleries, though there are some fantastic Japanese places around Sydney including ones that are more foodie/upmarket fare.

Farmhouse at Kings Cross is definitely foodie fare. A little pricier but every food lover I've known to go there has loved it.

There is so much good food in Sydney. I'm surprised every time!

It is a stunning island, it was definitely my favourite. The snorkeling on the organised bus shuttle was beautiful, only disappointment was the sheer number of people but that's what you get when a whole cruise ship lands and there's only one excursion!

The natural aquarium is about a 40 minute walk south of the tender spot. It's along a road the whole way, so it's not a difficult walk but you have to be careful because for the first half of the walk you'll have all the beach buses sharing the road with you before they turn off.

Shabradan terraces look amazing but it's such a big hike it's not something we've dared attempt on a single shore day.

It's very hard to answer more specifically unless we know what ports you're visiting.

You of course have the option to snorkel with a life vest if you bring it with you. I haven't seen any available for use in ports, but then again you may be visiting different places than I've been.

Mare was probably the best island for snorkeling in shallow water, but I'm not sure if that's on your itinerary. Many islands have places that you could swim/snorkel in shallow water, quality varies.

That is the tricky part - the diversity within a few hours of Sydney is stunning. We just recently spent some time in the Lake Macquarie and Newcastle area for the first time and were surprised we'd not taken the time before. Then again, there's so much to see in the Hunter, south coast, mountains, Mudgee, Bathurst, Orange etc that it's no wonder we'd not gotten around to it before.

The blue mountains are definitely worth a visit - I've lived here for around 20 years and it's just spectacular. If you only have a day, I think you're right that a private tour company is the best option especially if you want to get out to something like Jenolean caves as part of the trip. There's no public transport at all out there and it's very far removed from the city.

My only advice would be to see if there is a way to see some of the less touristy places even though you're traveling with a tour company. I don't know if there are options for that, but ALL the tourist buses seem to go to Katoomba, Scenic world, etc and therefore you kind of get a cookie cutter version of what the blue mountains are. I lived in Katoomba for a year, it was a great spot, but it does cater to the tourist crowd and for really experiencing the scenery and beauty of the area you're actually better to hit some of the places that locals mainly seem to visit. The lookouts and walks at the end of Falls road in Wentworth Falls, Hassens Walls in Lithgow, Pulpit Rock or Govetts Leap in Blackheath, all of those are just as spectacular as Katoomba's Echo Point but you don't have to share them with three busloads of other tourists.

As Gut has said - if you ask specific questions about what you like then you will get some good input here as well. It's hard to say because everyone has such different preferences.

For me if I had two days in Sydney I'd take one to do a walking tour around Sydney, visit the Rocks and some of the free museums in that area (the rocks museum, the observatory), take a ferry ride somewhere around on the harbour (maybe manley and visit the beach) and just get a feel for the city. As someone mentioned, trip advisor is pretty good at giving you ideas about what's there. I'd then take a second day and take a train west to the blue mountains or north to the central coast or Newcastle and see something a bit different.

When we traveled via Japan it was fairly easy. On the way to the US, we had an overnight layover and the airline really took care of us, bused us to the hotel, etc. so it was pretty straightforward. On the way back we had a crazy long layover in Narita... something like 9 hours and of course we were already exhausted. At that stage (18 years ago, I'm sure some things have changed!), the non smoking areas weren't really segregated well in the airport so I was feeling pretty sick and over traveling by the time we boarded the last flight home. With a bit more foresight (and perhaps more travel experience) I'm sure that could be a better experience. Changi (Singapore) is meant to be one of the most beautiful and comfortable airports in the world. I've not connected through there, but from what I've heard I wouldn't hesitate.

In terms of traveling via the airports to another flight - in most places a couple hours would be plenty of time. You're generally already checked in from your previous flight, so you really just need to clear customs and find the next gate, no long check in queues.

Check this site for the proper information about medication coming into australia : https://www.tga.gov.au/entering-australia

Basically you don't need to have it IN the original containers, but you should have any paperwork for the prescription with you and the original containers intact somewhere on your person. It's also worth checking their guidelines to be sure that everything is legal here - the last thing you'd need is having an essential medication taken from you because you'd not gone through a permit process. You would need to declare some types of medication ( eg addictive pain medications). It doesn't mean you can't have them, just that you'd need to have the paperwork in place and be able to show it if asked.

I'd love to bring my family on one of these someday. I grew up in Holland and lived at a marina much of my life. All our holidays were trekking up and down the coast, mainly Lake Michigan but occasionally into other areas too. We don't live anywhere near the area now, so my kids have seen a few of the places I loved as a kid but not from the water. So many of those itineraries read like a list of my childhood!

While I enjoyed the Lake Michigan car ferry I would never compare it to a cruise... it is a ferry ride.

I think this hits the nail on the head. My first experience with larger passenger ships was the car ferries from England to the continent prior to the chunnel. We loved it as kids - it didn't matter if we had a day sailing and played in the kids zone the whole time or if we had an overnight and got to sleep on a cabin in the ship, we were thrilled. It was a similar time frame to the Badger, and it was a fantastic way to travel and of course meant we had our car to explore on the other side. Same in New Zealand from South to North Island, it was the best way to get across and I loved the trip.

I never counted those as a cruise, though. That's just a totally different experience. Would I pay the cost of the ferry so I didn't have to go around the lake? Sure I would, saves time and money and it's a fun way to travel. Would I call it a cruise? No. It's a ferry. A big one and a long journey, but a ferry nonetheless.

Clint Fisher is a solo singer/guitarist currently on the Pride, we loved his music last year when he was on Spirit in Australia. Country influence, but plenty of other styles and songs as well.

I love eating on our balcony instead of in a crowded dining area. In the mornings I usually bring a tray of coffee/juice/pastries down to our cabin for everyone. I'm the first one up, so I sit out there for a while and enjoy the peace and quiet, then the family joins me as they wake up and they know I'm probably out there with a breakfast snack. Beautiful way to start the day with my family, really. Lunch I like bringing a wrapped burrito or something and a drink down to the balcony and reading a book. Beautiful way to spend a bit of time by myself while the rest of the family are elsewhere :-D

That being said, I don't know I often had people in the lifts with me... maybe I'm going at odd times or in less populated lifts?

Clint Fisher is on Pride at the moment, he's awesome. If you see him, tell him Lindsey from Australia says hi and come back to Spirit please :-D

We self-debark, it works fine for us and I personally feel more comfortable with it.

Both of my kids each have one wheelie bag and a backpack. Hubby and I have one or two cases each and I usually carry a purse. That's perfectly manageable and means our stuff doesn't leave our sight. Yes, I know nobody wants my dirty laundry, but if someone accidentally grabbed my snorkel gear and expensive prescription mask I'd be out hundreds of dollars. Plus I can pack at my leisure anytime before we need to leave, grab an extra layer of clothing if it's surprisingly cool in port, etc.

Yes, I know technically we've paid for that service and it's available to us if we need it, but for now we're young and healthy and can manage our own gear so we'll keep doing that until we need to change our routine.

Yes, yes, yes, yes you should buy travel insurance. Yes.

I travel internationally about 1-2 times a year and I'd never go without it. Last year I ended up having a major medical incident just 12 hours after I'd stepped off a plane. If I'd not been insured, my bill seriously would have been worth more than my house. I was so incredibly grateful for the care I received and the peace of mind knowing that all I had to do was heal, I didn't have to stress about the cost. I was (am) a basically healthy young-ish woman with no pre-existing conditions, no medications, exercise regularly and eat healthy, travel often enough to know all the 'right' things to do, so I'd honestly be one of the last people you'd imagine to have an issue. Certainly not a massive DVT and PE with a week in intensive care.

By all means, check out your credit card insurance and other options. Just don't travel without it.

Screamer of a goal from Buddy, too. Good to see him acknowledge the inconsistency and bring his talent for the win!

We travel with four in one cabin, so we need to be prepared and organised but efficient.

My highlights from what everyone has said:

poopourri/one drop deodoriser - life saver for sharing a bathroom!

magnets - we kept kids' programs and daily programs on the wall, one with a hook is good to create a spot for hanging lanyards all in one place

A decently stocked medicine/toiletry kit - we don't use much on each trip, but it's good to know that if someone needs an antihistamine or cough drop that it's easy to grab.

Conditioner - the shampoo was decent enough and we're not too fussy, but salt/wind/chlorine= straw hair.

Cleaning wipes - one pack to thoroughly wipe through the drawers/cupboards/remotes etc. Not for germs so much but we have allergies to dust and moulds in the family so it helps to freshen everything up, especially in an area that by design is always in a humid area!

Post it notes for the mirror in the cabin - keeps all four of us aware of who is where and when we're next meeting for meals/activities etc, as we are all back in the cabin off and on throughout the day.

There are other things I pack because they're useful. Those clips for beach towels are excellent for pegging swimmers or towels on lounge chairs. I actually bring a plastic laundry hangar that can clip into the shower to drip dry swimwear but can also be lifted out as one unit so we aren't always removing 8 pieces of swimwear every time someone needs a shower. That's probably the strangest/bulkiest thing we pack, but it's so useful I don't think I'd travel without it unless we were doing a 3 day cruise to nowhere or something. An extra set of swimwear for everyone likely to use it regularly is a huge plus.

A lot of others' essentials I try to just reuse stuff we already have on board - e.g. a suitcase tucked under the bed works as a laundry hamper and then is easy to wheel to the laundry if you want to wash while on board. I didn't bother with a shoe organiser, we had individual toiletry bags plus a couple of other small bags with sunscreens/medicines etc just stowed in cupboards or on the shelves in the bathroom and that was sufficient. Cups to bring drinks back to the cabin seemed unnecessary and I didn't want to be washing them out while I was on holiday, so I just brought regular cups down from the bars and drinks dispensers. To each their own, of course. You'll find certain things that you can't do without and other things that can't see why you brought it at all.

Carrying Zip locks is a tip I got YEARS ago on CC and it's the only thing that I 100% have since then ALWAYS packed. .

I'm with you on this one! It depended on the situation, but packing outfits in singe ziplocks was invaluable when my kids were little and we were traveling without laundry facilities. Without them, my daughter's suitcase would have been a chaotic mess of clean and dirty clothes within a day!

I always have a few for taking things on beach excursions, too. It keeps sunscreens/cameras/phones/medications from getting all mixed up and messy. The last thing we need is a camera smeared with sunscreen and sand.

I did get a few ideas from you, too, thank you :-)

re: size - I can't compare to average hotel safes, but we were able to put a fair amount in ours and I used it like extra storage. Room for documents, a couple of jewelry cases, watches, phones that weren't in use, and a few other things as well I'm sure. I don't know dimensions so I can't say for sure a tablet would fit.

And I just used an old card with magnetic strip, I think it was a store rewards card or something similar. You can use your sail and sign card, but then you'd be the only one who could open it. I preferred a separate one so others in the family can access.