Australia Cruisetour

[Dick & Linda]

Anyone been on the 5 night post cruise tour of Australia offered through Celebrity Cruiseline? Seems spendy for 5 days - is it worth it?

[Aus Traveller]

Anyone been on the 5 night post cruise tour of Australia offered through Celebrity Cruiseline? Seems spendy for 5 days - is it worth it?

Where does it go and what does it cost?

[Dick & Linda]

For two people - about $9300.

Tour begins in Perth (Fremantle), Australia

Upon arrival at Fremantle pier you'll be met by your Tour Director and enjoy a morning sightseeing the cities of Fremantle and Perth, the capital of Western Australia. Upon conclusion of your tour you'll arrive at your city centre hotel for check-in. The afternoon and evening are free for dining and sightseeing on your own. Overnight Perth. Next day, Australia / Ayers Rock, Australia

Following breakfast, you'll board a motorcoach to the Perth airport for a flight to Ayers Rock. Upon arrival at Ayers Rock you'll be transferred to your hotel and have time at your leisure to relax. Following dinner, an astronomer will take you on a tour of the southern night skies before you return by motorcoach to your hotel. Overnight Ayers Rock. Breakfast and dinner included.

Next day, Ayers Rock, Australia / Cairns, Australia / Port Douglas, Australia

In the early morning a light snack will be served as you take in the sunrise over Ayers Rock, followed by a gentle walking tour of the Rock encompassing the Mala Walk and Maggie Springs. Following the walk you will return to the hotel for a full breakfast before transferring to the airport for your flight to Cairns. Arriving in the late afternoon you will transfer to your hotel in Port Douglas. The evening is free for dining and sightseeing on your own. Overnight Sydney. Breakfast included.

Next day, Port Douglas, Australia

After breakfast you will be transported to the jetty where you will board the Quicksilver boat for a full day of marine adventure at the Great Barrier Reef. You'll cruise to Agincourt Reef lying within the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Here you will find ideal swimming and snorkeling with opportunities to dive or view the reef up close from the underwater observatory. During the day enjoy a buffet lunch. Return to your hotel in the late afternoon where you will have the rest of the evening at your leisure. Overnight Port Douglas. Breakfast and lunch are included.

Next day, Cairns, Australia / Sydney, Australia

Following breakfast, you will board a motorcoach to the Cairns airport for a flight to Sydney. Upon arrival in Sydney you will check into your hotel and have the remainder of the evening free for independent sightseeing and dining. Overnight Sydney. Breakfast included.

Last day, Sydney, Australia

Following breakfast, your Tour Director will ensure you are transferred to the Sydney International Airport for your return flight home.

[Aus Traveller]

It sounds a good tour touching on the hightlights, but in my opinion expensive. You could easily do this yourself, but some people are more comfortable if everything is taken care of for them.

 

If you are interested in putting your own tour together it would be easy to research and book everything on line. If you had more time available you could add a few more days to the length planned for the Celebrity tour and still come in way under budget.

 

I don't know what day of the week your cruise gets in to Fremantle and I haven't researched flights. Here is a rough suggestion with some approximate costs -

Day of arrival - check into hotel in Fremantle (the historic area) and visit the Maritime museum, the gaol (jail). One night hotel ($100).

Next day - taxi to airport ($60) fly from Perth to Ayers Rock (Uluru) $329pp). I suggest you hire a car for a couple of days. Drive to hotel (not cheap to stay here). Sunset at the Rock or book ahead for the Sounds of Silence dinner (astronomy with fancy dinner in the desert).

Next day - morning free escorted walk with ranger (Mala walk), afternoon at Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). back to hotel at Uluru

Next day - sunrise at the rock if you wish. Fly to Cairns ($369pp) and hire a car. Maybe stay in Cairns one night. Consider going to Tjapakai Aboriginal dinner and show on the northern outskirts of Cairns.

Next day - drive on one of the most beautiful scenic coastal highways in the world to Port Douglas. There are many options for a trip to the reef and you can book on Quicksilver trip. Stay in Port Douglas.

Next day - As you drive back to Cairns stop at Hartleys Crocodile Park then continue on to the northern outskirts of Cairns where you can take the cable car up to Kuranda. Lots to do there. Transport back to Cairns on the historic railway. There is a bus from the Cairns railway station that will take you back to where your car is parked. (Check that this will be available).

Next day - fly from Cairns to Sydney for a couple of days sightseeing (if you haven't already spent time in Sydney before your cruise).

 

You are probably already aware that there is virtually no tipping in Australia, so the prices you see are the actual prices.

[bazzaw]

I have to say that this tour is unbelieveably expensive $4650 pp - especially as it is "per person". Seems to involve 5 hotel nights (with breakfast only mostly and hotels here are charged by the room - so hotels would amount to no more than say $2000 for two) , 3 flights from Perth to Ayers Rock to Cairns to Sydney- and some short guided tours of a few hours duration.

 

EDIT - the BIG killer in the cost to provide this itinerary is the total cost of airfares. A quick look at an online TA gives me an approximate cost of between around $3000 to $5500 for the two people. I would guess that, as this is a POST cruise tour - you could expand the length of this tour to perhaps 12 days - at the same cost as the cruiseline has quoted ( if you organise it yourself). For a 5 day cruise, considering the cost and the shortness of the tour, I am not too sure of how enjoyable it would be in it's current form

 

Barry

Edited January 29, 2012 by bazzaw

[Aus Traveller]

I have to say that this tour is unbelieveably expensive $4650 pp - especially as it is "per person". Seems to involve 5 hotel nights (with breakfast only mostly and hotels here are charged by the room - so hotels would amount to no more than say $2000 for two) , 3 flights from Perth to Ayers Rock to Cairns to Sydney- and some short guided tours of a few hours duration.

 

EDIT - the BIG killer in the cost to provide this itinerary is the total cost of airfares. A quick look at an online TA gives me an approximate cost of between around $3000 to $5500 for the two people. I would guess that, as this is a POST cruise tour - you could expand the length of this tour to perhaps 12 days - at the same cost as the cruiseline has quoted ( if you organise it yourself). For a 5 day cruise, considering the cost and the shortness of the tour, I am not too sure of how enjoyable it would be in it's current form

 

Barry

I agree with your comments except the estimate of airfares. :) I checked on line and the two flights were $329 + $369. Add in a flight from Cairns to Sydney $259 (all Qantas). That is less than $1,000 pp.:)

 

I also agree strongly with Barry's comment that the cruisetour would be very rushed. If it was us, we would do it ourselves, but it comes back to whether you would be comfortable doing that. Be assured that Aussies are friendly, :D it is a safe and easy country to travel in and we speak the same language (sort of).:)

[bazzaw]

I agree with your comments except the estimate of airfares. :) I checked on line and the two flights were $329 + $369. Add in a flight from Cairns to Sydney $259 (all Qantas). That is less than $1,000 pp.:)

 

I

 

The problem with assessing the airfares - is that there are so many fares, with different conditions pertaining to them (fully flexible, totally inflexible, etc) and the price varying from day to day. I do agree that it may be possible to get fares as low as you have said - but without knowing what time of year we are talking about, I was ultra conservative in my estimation. In any case- certainly this tour could be done for much, much cheaper - or extended out to a decent time (say 12-14 days) for a similar cost to the original.

 

PS The fully flexible fares on each of those legs is around $900 pp for each leg for a date in about two months time

 

Barry

[Raison]

I agree, the Cruisetour sounds expensive for what it is. You would certainly see some nice places, but in a short time. You would be spending a significant amount of time in airports and on planes.

If you could add more days and do the bookings yourself, I think you would have better value for money and greater flexibility to see the things you are interested in.

[Aus Traveller]

The problem with assessing the airfares - is that there are so many fares, with different conditions pertaining to them (fully flexible, totally inflexible, etc) and the price varying from day to day. I do agree that it may be possible to get fares as low as you have said - but without knowing what time of year we are talking about, I was ultra conservative in my estimation. In any case- certainly this tour could be done for much, much cheaper - or extended out to a decent time (say 12-14 days) for a similar cost to the original.

 

PS The fully flexible fares on each of those legs is around $900 pp for each leg for a date in about two months time

 

Barry

Fair enough. Just for pricing I picked a date in April and didn't go with the flexible option because I believe the OP would have their departure date from Aust set in concrete and could plan their touring with the end date as an immoveable object.:)

[Dick & Linda]

Thank you all for your input. We are still in the planning stage. We have been on a couple of post cruise tours/hotel stays and founfd them to be very nice (upscale). But none of them have been this expensive, so we thought we would ask. Thanks again and G'day Mate (we better learn how to speak Australian if we are going to visit you down under,lol).

[JO_Travel]

Celebrity just cancelled our pre-cruise land tour, so our only option is to reorganize ourselves. We came to the same conclusion - we can do it cheaper, for longer and with a slower pace. We are spending a few days at Ayers Rock and then heading to Port Douglas for a couple days on the reef. We would like to do a combined tour of Kuranda and Hartley's Crocodile park, but see lots of tour operator offering the same thing. Does anyone have any experience or could recommend a particular tour operator for the day?

[RJHNorthyorks]

We're also putting our own pre cruise tour together and planning to spend 2 weeks visiting Sydney , Ayers Rock and Cairns. Haven't got final prices yet as not on sale for another month but travel agent here in uk is telling me that we can get cheaper flights by booking at same time as long haul flights. So far looking a lot cheaper than Celebrity package and we get more time in Australia.

[MMDown Under]

Thank you all for your input. We are still in the planning stage. We have been on a couple of post cruise tours/hotel stays and founfd them to be very nice (upscale). But none of them have been this expensive, so we thought we would ask. Thanks again and G'day Mate (we better learn how to speak Australian if we are going to visit you down under,lol).

 

Celebrity just cancelled our pre-cruise land tour, so our only option is to reorganize ourselves. We came to the same conclusion - we can do it cheaper, for longer and with a slower pace. We are spending a few days at Ayers Rock and then heading to Port Douglas for a couple days on the reef. We would like to do a combined tour of Kuranda and Hartley's Crocodile park, but see lots of tour operator offering the same thing. Does anyone have any experience or could recommend a particular tour operator for the day?

 

If you are finishing your land travels in Cairns, you might like to consider flying back to the States from Cairns, rather than Sydney.