Plant

We'll be in the following ports. Where can we easily walk from the port to "town" and sightseeing? Are there any "must not miss" sights?

Wellington

Napier

Tauranga

Auckland

Thanks!

I hope you had a Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah, too :) ! And a Happy New Year to everyone :) !

On our last cruise (Caribbean Princess) the facial tissues were left in the cabin, not in the bathroom. We were told that too many people were flushing them, resulting in "toilet stoppage's" :(. We've always been told that if you didn't eat or drink it earlier, or it's not TP, don't flush it :eek:!

http://www.redy2go.com.au/

 

you can either make a reservation or just book in at the airport.

Thanks, I've saved this link :).

We travel with 2 adults and 2 children. We have found that Ready 2 Go shuttles are the same cost for us as the train. We now do this option as we don't have to walk to the train station. Especially handy this time around as we had 11 bags in total (just finished a 4 month holiday!)

Could you tell me more about this shuttle service? Do you have their site info?

Thanks,

Fern

We have used Princess EZ-Check several times, the latest being last week. We paid $50.00 to the airline for two checked bags (this would be charged when you check in, anyway) and $25.00 to Princess. It was worth every penny! We walked off with our carry-on luggage and found our major checked luggage at the airport at home.

Yay! We'll be sailing her next fall :) !

Very sad :(. Thoughts are with the affected. Hope the bus driver is really okay.

We're still booked at the Meriton Kent Street :).

Now I'd like to know, approximately, how much it would cost to take a taxi from the Sydney Airport to the Kent Street Meriton and from the hotel to the port (Emerald Princess).

(We're not comfortable enough to take a train from the airport and then walk to the hotel.)

Are there any shuttle service's that would go from the airport to the Meriton Kent Street?

We've taken some shuttle's in other places that went from the airport to many area's. Is this kind of shuttle available?

Thanks!

I'll be looking forward to hearing about the Emerald since we'll be sailing her next fall. I'm mostly interested in Crooner's Bar. This is our favorite bar on every Princess ship! The bartender's and server's there are always the best on the ship and I'm hoping that's true for the Emerald :) !

Hope you and Mrs. Gut have a wonderful cruise!

Good thoughts and prayers coming to our friend's in New Zealand.

It's not the best part of Sydney, but probably save you a bit.

 

You will be close to central station so only a couple of $ for the train to Circular Quay for The Rocks or Ferry to the Zoo.

Thank you so much for this and all the other post's you've made to help me and other's who are coming to Sydney! I went a little crazy this afternoon (info overload!) and booked the Meriton Kent Street. I got so tired of trying to find the "best" deal! I can still cancel and book something else, but I think I'll just let it go... . :).

Now to find another thing to worry about!

No chance of a bit of kip on the flight? We flew to Oz via LAX last year on a late night flight and I even surprised myself that I managed to stack some zeds (zees???). Also while your flight may arrive at 6:00, but immigration, bags, customs and getting to the hotel will wipe some time off the clock...

 

The Meriton has luggage storage facilities and I'd look at popping along to CQ and going to chill in the Botanical Gardens with a spot of lunch at the Opera House (or The Rocks) until the apt. is ready. If you like coffee and need a shot of Joe, Sydney is up there with Vancouver as a coffee drinker's nirvana.

Unfortunately, I'm not very good at sleeping on a flight :(. I've even tried "drugs", but they didn't help. My brain seems to think that I should be awake to "help fly the plane" :eek:!

We've now booked our flight and will definitely be arriving at 6:05 AM. The Meriton's suggested that I book the night before to be sure of a room early in the morning. Since we'll be staying for 6 nights I thought we MIGHT get a break, but maybe not.

I've just found the Waldorf in South Sydney. It's very reasonably priced, but would it cost us big $$ to get to The Rocks and the Taronga Zoo?

I really appreciate Aussie opinions, thanks!

We tip all of the above! We appreciate everything that's done for us, and we have the means to tip. We can afford to stay in a nice hotel and take a nice cruise, why would we begrudge anyone who helped us a few dollars?

Thanks! We're planning on visiting the Taronga Zoo, so I guess that will be enough. I didn't realize Featherdale was 1.5 hours from Sydney by train/bus. I appreciate everyone's opinion :) !

I emailed a few serviced apartment hotels to see if we could get a (very) early check-in. Every flight we've looked at from the US get's into Sydney around 6 AM :eek:. The only response I got was from the Meriton, Kent Street, from a nice person named Jesse. I appreciate that reply and will lean toward booking there. We'd have to book (and pay) for the night before, but considering my debilitating jet lag it would be worth it!

I really just wanted to stress how much communication means to most of us. If you have a "Contact Us" link, answer emails!

JMO,

Been cruising for several years with Carnival and I check their website every day and I have never received a call.

I think it's interesting that several people have posted that they've never been called. I wonder why that is??

Maybe there's a time when PVP's get a bonus or something similar?

I've just seen Featherdale Park mentioned in a post about Sydney. Would this be a good place to visit? How would we get there from the CBD and what would it cost?

Thanks,

Fern

How did you poison her over the phone?

He had cancer ... he was only 31.

 

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Well, I certainly didn't expect my post to go in this direction! Christy, I'm sorry to hear that your PVP passed away.

I generally get call's when I've not been on the site for a while and then sign in to check the "special" prices. I just wish they'd keep up with people who use TA's and people who might want a PVP.

We really don't mind doing our own laundry and wish we could get credit's to do so, instead of sending it to the laundry and waiting for it to come back. To answer the OP's question, when we have sent it out we had the option of items being folded or on hangers.

I was browsing the Carnival site last week and got an email from a Carnival PVP. Since we use a wonderful TA, I told him to take us off his list and he said he would.

Since then we've had several phone calls from Carnival PVP's. We screen our calls, so there's not a big problem, but why would they keep this up? As much as we've cruised with Carnival I think they should have the info that we book with our TA.

Have you been overwhelmed with call's from PVP's?

(This is what happens when you book WAY early!:)) I've now found the York on (surprisingly!) York Street. It get's good reviews and seems, pricewise, on par (or a little less expensive) with the Meriton's (Pitt Street and Kent Street). The review's say it's within walking distance of Circular Quay and The Rocks.

Any opinions would be welcomed!

Thanks,

Fern

Check out La Quinta, Hollywood. It looks like they have rooms available for under $200.00. We've stayed there several times. They have a free shuttle from the airport and a shuttle to the port for a small fee. They also offer a free breakfast.

Good luck!

Buy mosquito wipes/spray with DEET. Use it while in Miami and anywhere else Zika might be.

Thanks to everyone! I think we'll probably chance booking this hotel based on the Trip Advisor review's (it's only one night, as long as it's clean). I'm glad there are some restaurants and shopping nearby.