Seabourn Spirit, March 19th, 2006. Cairns to Singapore.

[juicyjuju]

Is anyone booked on this cruise? On seabourn's web site the date for embarkation is March 19th but in the brochure it's April 16th. I assume the web site is the most up to date.

[GrannyLorr]

You might want to scroll down a bit and read the thread titled "Where is the Spirit going?" because I asked the same question, and got the answer! I am also booked on for this cruise!

[juicyjuju]

Thanks GrannyLorr. I hadn't read that thread. I'm looking into getting flights now. It's tricky getting to Cairns from California.

[turtlemichael]

Juicyjuju - tricky? Hmm. Its a piece of cake.

 

Between Qantas and Virgin Blue and Jetstar there are around 12 nonstop and another 12 indirect flights each day from Sydney. You can fly in direct to Cairns also from Auckland on Air New Zealand and half a dozen Asian destinations on Qantas and Australian Airlines. Continental does a milk run into Cairns twice a week via Honolulu and Guam.

 

There are 7 or so non stop flights between San Francisco (United) and Los Angeles (United and Qantas) and Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne every day. Both Qantas and United have deals which allow you to add on internal flights for very little extra cost.

[LaPaloma]

it has been a few years..but..our experience on Quantas was ...wow! they were the best. If you were on 1st class...your luggage got off the airplane at the same time you did. Their inflight service was wonderful. Hopefully this is still true..even in these difficult times.

[GrannyLorr]

Well La Paloma....last December I arrived at LAX at 7pm for a midnight flight with Qantas. We finally started down the runway at 3am! Dont think even Qantas can do much about the state of LAX! I have never seen such confusion in my life. The hold up was just getting all the passegers bags loaded onto the various flights. Didnt matter what class you were in, they all had to be loaded!:(

[GrannyLorr]

Turtlemichael, you are just the person I need to answer a question for me! We will fly to Cairns from Brisbane, the day before our cruise starts, so would like a hotel near the "cruise terminal" (does Cairns have one?) What we would really like, would be a hotel very very close, with maybe balconies, so we can "watch" the "Seabourn Spirit" sail in. Is there a hotel meeting these wishes?

[turtlemichael]

GrannyLorr, happy to help. Some of the larger ships tender but I think Seabourn docks. They could advise. There are four hotels, all 5 star as possibilities. All have water, and city views however, you would need to check with each that you are getting a room facing the wharf area. If you go to www.wotif.com and look up Australia and Cairns in the second box, you'll find their details. The four are Shangri-La, Sofitel Reef Casino, Hilton and Cairns International. All are 5-10 minutres walk from the wharf. If Sofitel assures you that they have such a room, it would be my choice as one of the best hotels in Australia. Shangri La is very nice too and you could certainly see Spirit sail in but you may not be able to see the wharf which is tucked in a bit on an inlet - Chinamen's Creek. You'd need to check. Specifically say you want a room looking at the wharf for international ships -the jetties where boats to the Great Barrier Reef leave from are also there and you wont want to just be able to see those. Good luck, let us know what you choose.

 

PS. wotif.com is a great site for hotel discounts in Australia but you can only book 2 weeks in advance. If it is not peak time, its worth considering and saving a lot. Unless the cruise date is over the Easter weekend, that time of year is not peak.

[turtlemichael]

Just checked - its docked not tendered

 

 

http://www.cairnsport.com.au/seaport/statistics/cruiseschedule2006.pdf

[GrannyLorr]

Thanks a lot for that info Turtlemichael, I have had a bit of a look at "wotif" and the details about the hotels you mentioned. I will have another look as soon as I log out of here! Just checked the dates for Easter next year, and thats not until April. If the Spirit docks around 5pm I will have to make sure I get a morning flight up to Cairns. My husband had mentioned "the Casino" as a place to stay, but I didnt know that was the Sofitel.:) Thanks again.

[dd@sea]

Granny Lorr,

We stayed at the Softiel a couple years ago and absolutely loved it. We had an water view with a balcony and enjoyed having our afternoon cocktail in this beautiful setting. The bathroom was to die for! I could sit in my bubble bath, draw the sliding shutters to open and look out through the bedroom/sitting, and through the balcony at the boats going up the inlet. Of course, I had my champagne in hand. The gambling is right downstairs and other places are in easy walking distance. Do enjoy

[GrannyLorr]

dd @ sea, that sounds just like the sort of room I USED to like! Last time I did the champagne in the bath (actually was a spa in New Zealand) I fell out and broke my elbow! ouch....;) does actually sound just what we are looking for though........also cant do the gambling thing downstairs....need to save all my money for the cruise! (55 days!!)