Iluvcruising2

Those are the key risks.

 

In particular, what if you had a 4-hour, 6-hour or overnight mechanical delay? That's the sort of moderate delay for which the airline would probably simply keep you delayed; you would not be put onto another flight (and it could be very difficult anyway). Then you could miss the ship or be cutting it very close indeed.

 

At least from Singapore, you'd have the option (depending on how tied you are to particular airlines) of taking a day flight the day before you cruise, so that you'd arrive in Sydney the evening before your ship sails. Or you could fly overnight the night before that, and have a full day and night in Sydney before embarkation.

Thanks for the suggestions. Certainly food for thought!

We plan to fly by Singapore airlines and they fly 4 times a day to Sydney. Singapore is the hub for SQ. If the plane has a significant mechanical fault that requires an extended delay, SQ would deploy another plane in order to minimise the delay. Commercially they do this because any delay of the SQ flight going out to Sydney would have knock-on impact on the returning flight from Sydney (or any other destination). As a premium full service carrier, SQ aims to avoid this. Therefore I think the flight risk is mitigated.

Regardless, I thank you for the suggestion because it may be good for my family to spend one night Pre cruise to enjoy beautiful Sydney.

Say we indeed choose to take up the one night Pre cruise option, would anybody know of a suitable hotel for my family? (2 adults and 2 kids ages 6 and 7).

Taxi; 20 minutes.

 

Are you planning to fly overnight from Singapore to Sydney to arrive on the morning of the cruise? That would be taking on quite a lot of risk.

Yes, that is the plan, at least for now.

What are the risks?

I suppose plane delays could be one.

Another could be luggage not arriving?

If it is too risky, we could consider flying into Sydney one day earlier, which means we have to stay one night pre-cruise.

Thanks for this great thread!

We plan to take the Voyager OTS out of Sydney in December.

What's the best way to get to the cruise terminal from the airport and how long would the transfer take?

We haven't confirmed our flights.

Either we arrive before 9am or around noon.

Do they allow young children to eat at Izumi, say 6 years and 7 years old?

Your first cruise and it is on a JS?

Wow.

You'll be so spoilt you will never travel less than a balcony room again.

Congrats!!!

I totally agree that it is a very short walk and you shouldn't pay for it.

 

It would be a good idea to have a way of identifyng your pick up person as there are taxi's touting for business just outside the gate.

Yeah. Many touts.

We were a bit scared at first, because we had 2 kids under 6.

But there were 4 adults, so looking after the 2 kids was ok. I went to scout around for the pick-up while the other 3 adults and 2 kids sat together as a group.

Oh, i checked with my dear wife.

She told me that we sent a photo of us to the tour operator so that he could recognize us. Similarly, he sent us a photo of the guide who would be picking us up.

He told us to walk out of the port, turn right and wait just outside a small maritime museum. It was a shaded place. We waited for about 10 min.

The company we have selected as guides says they can either pick us inside the port (for an extra $25 each) or on the outside of the port. Can anyone tell me how far it is from the ship to the outside of the port? Thank you

Hey,

We sailed on the Legend in June 2011 and did a private tour at Nha Trang.

The walk is very very close. 2 min. normal walk, 5 min. MAX if you walk like a snail. Save the money, walk out to the port gate.

Take note, walk is unsheltered. Bring umbrellas if the weather doesn't look good.

Find a way to be able to conclusively identify your pick-up. There are many men hanging around, touting their cab services.

In our case, we got a photo of the guide. Also asked him a few questions when he approached us to make absolutely sure he was the right guy.

How to get such killer deals?

I suppose you need to be very very flexible with your travel dates.

I am going on my 1st RCI cruise since 1992. Have cruised many times with Celebrity where you can bring on one bottle each of wine. Also have done Princess. Just got off the Emerald Princess where you could bring all you want of wine, beer, water and soda onboard when embarking. Also pool towels were easily available and not checked.

I am wondering how I will feel about RCI after the posts I read about their policies on towels and beverages. I will miss not having my wine prior to dinner in my cabin. I decided to try RCI since Celebrity has left Baltimore and Princess is not an option either.

Celebrity is the premium line.

RCI is for the mass market.

Remember that and you'll feel better. :)

My group sailed on the Brilliance earlier this month from Dubai.

We had no problems bringing bottled water onboard. We brought at least 18 bottles, all sealed, 1.5L size.

Some were hand carried, many were packed in the luggage.

Do what you want. Just be prepared that you will be seen.

What happens if you do not pre-pay your gratuities and refuse to pay any gratuities onboard?

I am not advocating this of course, but I'm just wondering what would happen.