whimsy7

thank you to BrissieB and Leigh.

Hi Leigh,

Thank you for all your help. 

Will be in Brisbane next month so will see what is/is not provided 

Hi Leigh,

when I spoke to RCI (probably a central office overseas!), I was told they do not provide shuttles from the Multi us terminal ( a tempory one for mega ships). she had no answer for my question of how over 4000 passengers were going to get to the city 25 km away.....;-)

RCI probably do provide shuttles from the dock that is closer to the city....not from this Multi Use Terminal 25 km away.

looks like a private shuttle for us or a day onboard.

many thanks again for your help.

Hi Leigh,

thanks for your informative reply.

I called Royal Caribbean and was told they do not provide shuttles so I'm assuming these are private shuttle companies (good business for those companies!). thanks.

our upcoming cruise will make a stop at Brisbane.

as we are on a mega-ship (Ovation of the Seas) it will dock at a temporary dock which is 25 km away from the city centre at an industrial port area. the good news is that a large terminal is currently being constructed with the opening date for late 2020.

our options are a tour with the ship or to stay on board,

we tend to explore new cities on our own but it looks like doing this in Brisbane will not be as easy as we'd hoped.

there is a store that sells alcohol/wine etc at Circular Quay (Wharf 3 ,I think)

prices could be higher here though

used wineselectors many years ago for delivery to our home (not hotel)

thank you for all your replies.

I didn't realise that the port was so far away from the CBD!

what is the train fare or bus fare to the city from Wynnum?

I have spent about half an hour on the Translink site (for Brisbane) and was not successful in getting this information.

we were looking forward to seeing Brisbane but might now consider either staying on board (what a shame to do this!) or just wander around Wynnum.

thank you for your prompt and useful reply.

we are considering a cruise on Quantum of the Seas which will visit two ports in Vietnam. we are Australian passport holders.

can someone who has traveled on RCL confirm the prices that they charge for getting a visa when on board?

is it still US$6/person?

is there a price difference if you are sightseeing independently compared to going on a ship's tour (as mentioned for Celebrity ships)?

many thanks in advance for any information/advice.

Hello,

would appreciate some help for the port of Brisbane....

we've just booked on Ovation of the Seas that will stop in Brisbane for the day at the Multi Use Terminal.

I read that the terminal is 23 km away from the city centre.

Has anyone docked at this terminal?

What are the public transport options (ie bus) from here to the city?

Does RCL provide shuttles? At what cost?

Many thanks in advance for any advice/tips.

we did the 3 Sounds in one day. we loved the scenery.

at Milford Sound, the ship goes in and does a 180 degree turn giving you a good look of the area.

for me, it was the best way to see the Sound as I would be car sick on the roads in/out of the area.

we were lucky to be there on a sunny day and to see a pod of dolphins that live in the waters there.

we were there in the month of February and it was cold on deck! we were prepared with our winter gear/jackets and scarves.

this day was the highlight of our NZ cruise

Will soon be on the Jewel. Does it have a themed party?

When on the Jade, they had a White Hot party...

Thanks for your advice.

@ possum52,

good point....some reviews do take a while to be posted.

Thank you for your comprehensive review of your trip to Sydnay.

I enjoyed reading your experiences. You certainly managed to see/do many things.

It looks like you did lots of research before this trip. Good on you.

Re Doyle's at Watsons Bay. Yes. go if you wish to say that you've been but it is just expensive fish and chips. Many years ago, a well known food critic gave it a pretty bad review. We usually encourage visitors to get their fish and chips at the take away kiosk nearby and eat in the park or go to the Watsons Bay Hotel.

@ Bulldoglady ,

the cable car is in Wellington

Yes, the walk to the Sydney Harbour Marriott should be quite easy. It's at this end of Pitt Street near Circular Quay.

Re the Opera House tour....there are many tours run during the day. I'm sure that they'll find you a spot even if you took the chance and just turned up to get a tour on the spot.

will look forward to your posts and impressions of the Norwegian Jewel as we will be sailing on her to NZ at end January 2019.

bon voyage.

please re read my earlier post and search for a physiotherapist who specialises in these types of vertigo problems.....they can help to re balance your inner ear

On 11/29/2018 at 8:12 PM, whimsy7 said:

catch the 380 bus to Bondi and then do the Bondi to Coogee walk

my apologies...it's the 333 bus

it sounds like the cruise really affected your inner ear imbalance.

there are physiotherapists who specialise in treating people with vertigo problems....not every general physiotherapist does.

you might have to ring around and ask or check with your local hospital.

i know that St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney has a vestibular clinic.

where are you located?

for Sydney, you should get an Opal card (it's free) and load some money on it. start with $20 and top up as you go (at convenience stores and newsagents). remember that only people with an Australian bank account can get a refund.

the Opal card fares are cheaper than a single fare ticket from the machine. the daily cap is $15.80 and there is also a weekly cap. on Sunday, the fare is $2.70 all day on all forms of transport.

the Pylon Lookout

the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk

for a full day, get to Circular Quay, take the ferry from Wharf 2 to Watson's Bay, have some fish and chips there (from the takeaway kiosk), catch the 380 bus to Bondi and then do the Bondi to Coogee walk

This is exciting news!

We were on the Regal Princess in 2017 (Baltic cruise) and the ship has a very good thermal suite in the spa area. We did not use it as our xruise was so port intensive.....but it will be tempting on a cruise with more sea days...better start saving....

we did a day tour of the GOR many years ago.... and still remember it as a day well spent in terms of time, sightseeing locations and money

we had allocated one day for the GOR and realised that if we did the driving ourselves, we would come back exhausted and would have to hire the car for two days (no night time returns available!).

so, we git the bullet and paid for a tour.

yes, it was a long day but it was great as someone else did the driving, we learnt many interesting things about each area we visited (which we would not have found out on our own unless we did lots of signboard reading), we did not feel rushed at our stops (surprisingly,we did not meet many other buses at these stops either) and the tour that we chose included morning tea/lunch and dinner

we rarely take tours as we prefer to do the sightseeing ourselves but we're glad we took a GOR tour

we were not lazy tourists.....just tourists who had limited time to do the GOR

yes, there is a food market on at the Rocks on a Friday. it's on Argyle Street near the Museum of Contemporary Art.

another place to eat (if in Circular Quay during the daytime) is the Gateway Food Court (right next to the McDonalds)

Yes, you can drop your bags off at the OPT and board the ship later.