cassamanda

Yeah I'd second Canberra as a good suggestion, except it's full of politicians.

I agree that in this case, a 2/3 day visit to Canberra by car would be appropriate.

The War Memorial is a must see and can occupy a full day or 2 half days.

Lots of good hotels around.

My intentions are to drop my bags in storage at airport for the day as I intend get a 9pm or later flight back from Melbourne to Sydney

Its alot hassle for just a days racing but to me to experience the race day would be worth it.

Was going to get a taxi to flemington as thought most the people would be at the course already since the racing will be already started less traffic

Thanks for the replys back

Ok thanks for the clarification.

Couple of things to check out.

Sydney airport closes at 11 pm with the last flights ex Melbourne around 9 pm.

You will need to book as soon as possible and dont expect many cheap seats.

Check what time the bag storage closes. If you are staying at a hotel in Sydney it may be better to drop your bags there.

Good luck.

From what i gather, kev-des is travelling with carry on only. But does that mean is he rejoining the ship? Or is he dropping luggage off somewhere? The cup is at 2.30/3pm.

Hi Cricketts, apologies for taking time to come back to you.

The Darling Harbour hotels which come to mind would be Park Royal, Novotel and Ibis, with the disclaimer that I have never stayed in any of them. Hopefully someone with first hand experience will chime in here. And do make sure you ask for a view room if you choose one.

With 2 teens in tow we opted for an apartment. Metro Apartments on Sussex street gave us that extra space. Still very close and also with a view (albeit restricted) over the precinct. We also had a definite feel of being right in the city.

Just to add to this. Darling Harbour precinct is undergoing major changes in the Barangaroo and chinatown areas. A new crown casino hotel is being built at Barangaroo together with many high rise apartments and office blocks.

Around chinatown, the entertainment arena is being demolished to be replaced with a shopping centre and hotel complex. I would not stay in this area for the time being because of construction noise.

Star Casino has a high rise hotel and an apartment wing that gives great views over Darling harbour to the city and harbour bridge.

The previous mentioned Novatel Darling Harbour has easy pedestrian bridge access to Darling Harbour shopping centre. Definitely taxi only to these hotels.

I like the Sheraton 4points on Sussex st overlooking Darling Harbour. Has in my opinion easy access via several walkway overbridges to Darling Harbour with an elevator to street level also. Very close to central downtown also.

Adina Apartments are also in Darling Harbour on Lime St.

There was some discussion on this last year me thinks. Memory tells me you book through a travel agent, but the me memory is wandering:eek:

Park Hyatt is undoubtedly the finest and most expensive in Sydney. Only 3 floors high.

Both 4 Seasons and Park Hyatt are easy to walk to and close to ship.

Pier One is just around and under the bridge, still walkable, on flat ground, also only 3 floors.

ShangriLa is up on high ground and not walkable with luggage.

Quay Grand also easy to walk to and gives great views of the bridge and ship.

ShangriLa, 4Seasons, Quay West are high rise buildings - hence give you superb views.

All of these are International 4-5 star hotels. Top notch as we say.

Check out Google Maps and bring up Sydney and zoom in around the ferry terminal/bridge. Currently one of the Carnival ships is shown docked at the OPT. You will see how close some of these hotels are.

What day of the week? Makes a huge difference with respect to traffic ex city.

I would move my time by at least an hour to give you a safety buffer. Flights on the 2 major airlines run every 15 minutes.

Airport traffic at the moment is not good on any day and Sydney to Melbourne is one of the busiest domestic airline routes of the world.

Take the train unless there is a scheduled rail outage (usually on weekends).

Can you pay the shuttle to Octagon with Australien dollars?

 

Hoya

No. New Zealand = NZ dollars. Australia = Australian dollars.

Royal uses USD.

18% Gratuities are added.

 

I don't think the drink prices themselves are that expensive compared to many other lines or pubs and bars back home. What does make them dearer is when you add in the exchange rate to AUD as some lines don't need to the conversion.

Under Australian law, the added gratuities on drinks are included in the price of the drink. It is not added on later. In my experience (last cruise was Sep) the drink prices are very reasonable with the cocktail of the day at $7 and tap beers at about $6.

Daily Service charges (gratuities) can be prepaid when you book or you can pay per day during the cruise. Some people elect to remove the grats when they get on board but you can only do this if not prepaid.

The service charge is not shown in the advertised cruise fare because of this option. However the advertised fare on Australian websites does show all taxes whereas in US sites it does not.

Be careful of this when comparing prices on the internet.

Unfortunately Suites are usually on the top accommodation deck so researching the location is very important.

It is showing twin share as sold out and only triple and quad share available.

This often relates to the configuration of the cabin where the 3rd person sleeps on a pull out sofa lounge. Should be no problem.

Terry you are amazing. What a great blog and super info here. You are a fantastic ambassador for both Australia and NZ.

Thank you for sharing. Your situation is quite unique but could become more common with many new estates opening up.

At the moment we just use messenger as a free service when we call our overseas cruise friends. With the current many Telstra outages, other networks are offering cheap phone deals including free minutes overseas.

So, if I understand both of you and the website, you buy a card with a certain amount of money on it, and each time you take a ride, it automatically deducts the cost of that trip from the balance.

 

Is that correct?

 

So the pricing is always PER RIDE. There is no "daily pass" for one flat fee that covers all of your rides for that day, for instance?

Correct. Daily/weekly/monthly passes and paper tickets are now a thing of the past, or at least will be prior to next cruise season.

The Opal smart card is now in use including light rail.

This is the official transport website. http://www.transportnsw.info/

Old thread i know but we have just been researching this subject fir an upcoming cruise on Voyager in 2017 that we booked 12 months ago.

Our son and his partner are also booked. However, looks like they wont be able to cruise now because they will be having a newborn that will be just less than 6 months old at the time of the cruise and Royal will not give special dispensation.

Bugger.:mad:

For domestic cruises that have less than 3 sea days between ports, the minimum age is 6 months. Where sea days exceed 3 days between a port then the minimum age is 12 months.

Royal does cater for tiny tots from 6-36 months. However babysitting fees apply at night. Dinner and speciality restaurants must be attended before 7 pm or early sitting.

Looks like they will have to fly to our debark location and continue with us on our land portion. Stupid thing is a one week old baby can fly but a 5 month old cant cruise.

Unfortunately the same cruise in 2018 already has prices some 25% dearer.

I know this is an old thread but we are cruising from Sydney to Auckland and trying to decide which side of the ship to book, port or starboard since we will have a balcony. Any insight? It looks like port maybe best?

Probably port but i would be up on deck or somewhere i can get a 180 deg view so both sides of the passage can be seen.

You will travel a short distance at sea close to the coast between fiords/bays.

You will mostly cruise at night between ports up the eastern NZ coast.

Has anyone here been to Margaret River ?? before, if so has any got any ideas on what to do here?? (We will be there 9th November 2016.)

 

We are stopping at Margaret River on our cruise on the Emerald Princess.

 

Any tips / ideas are very welcome :)

Bit of misleading itinerary info by Princess. Definitely lists Margaret River as the port of call and doesnt even mention Busselton in the description.

You will definitely tender at Busselton though.

Margaret River area is also a popular surfing area but known for its shark populstion:eek:

But are seat belts required in Vila? I doubt it.

Probably not but the bus did have belts of sorts by the looks.

According to tonights news reports, the tour bus veered onto the wrong side of the road when returning to the ship from a cultural tour and collided with a a local bus. That driver was unfortunately killed. The driver of the tour bus has been arrested.

Seat belts are fitted to all tour busses (coaches) operating out of Australian ports. Its a legal requirement to wear them however the tour guide/driver should remind you at the start of the tour.

I've not stayed there myself but do people think the Holiday Inn be a good recommendation for Peacockcruises?

Would not stay at HI Darling Harbour at the moment due to lots of construction noise from across the road at the now defunct Entertainment Centre.

HI. First timer to Australia and beyond. Can anyone give me details/ info good or bad about the Best Western Stellar?

Location, view, etc

Whether or not you'd stay there.

Boutique hotel very close to Oxford st. No views from there.

A better location for you to consider is directly across from Hyde Park in downtown Sydney at the Hyde Park Inn Hotel. You can get a deluxe Studio (kitchenette) with views of Hyde Park and possible distant harbour views from upper floors. The standard Studio does not have views.

Very handy to most city venues and transport.

Dont confuse this hotel with the Oaks Hyde Park Plaza, not as good.

Prices go up the closer you get to the harbour.

Hugh

Checked current prices for your visit time at around $A230. You can book now through all the various sites such as TripAdvisor.

Just found this thread and wanted to know which cruise lines are you suggesting for an east coast cruise? also what time of year?

I would be flying in from the US.

I like this idea of staying a few days snorkeling and enjoying marine life.

thanks

All the major players sail the Australian east coast. Try Princess Australia, P&O Australia, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity. Believe NCL coming down under next year also.

Benoa is neAr Nusa Dua resort area. The current there is very strong causing a sea swell created by bow of the ship. The water is fairly smoothe, just the current causes lots of tendering problems.

Be prepared for delays. Your driver is probably fully aware of the delays.

Thanks for the advice but unfortunately they too are not offering hire cars at the port over the Christmas/New Year period.

I've decided not to bother. This will be our 4th visit to Dunedin and we have never actually spent any time in town so I think this will be our opportunity.

 

cheers

 

Stu

Dunedin is a fab place to just walk around. Visit the Cadbury factory, historic railwAy station, local cathedrals, breweries, or do a town tour from th i-site.

Hugh

When we were on Legend back in September there was a strong rumour that Legend was being sold to become a floating casino in Asia.

The question was asked at Captains Corner but a very political response was offered neither confirming nor denying the event.

Looks like the experienced cruisers knew more than the Captain.

We prefer the smaller ships but Royal and others are now just aiming at the mass market.

Sorry to see Legend go, she is a true legend and even though many have complained about her age (20 is not old in terms of a ships life) but we had our best cruise on her.