Radiance of the Sea 4/9/13

[heatherandfred]

Does this ship really leave at 10pm? Why so late? Is this the standard time for trips to leave in Australia? Just curious..:cool:

[heatherandfred]

Just looked at the website and the book the TA gave me. The book says 10pm and the website says 6:30pm. I then realized that the one is the book was an 11 night, vs the 10 night I'm taking.

 

No need to respond, carry on, since I answered my own question. :rolleyes::eek:

[fairywren]

Just looked at the website and the book the TA gave me. The book says 10pm and the website says 6:30pm. I then realized that the one is the book was an 11 night, vs the 10 night I'm taking.

 

No need to respond, carry on, since I answered my own question. :rolleyes::eek:

 

Ships leave at whatever time suits the itinerary and the port schedule. Our cruise on Voyager next month sails at 11.59pm.

[avalon007]

Sydney is a very busy harbour & the Overseas passenger Terminal where most Royal ships depart from is right next to the ferry docks, with the Harbour Bridge to the left that they can't fit under & the Opera house opposite & not very far away considering the size of the ship.

 

It may be that they prefer to not have to manouver between ferries, the harbour bridge & the opera house during the busy day & end of day rush?

Would be a bit of a bad blunder if they swerved to miss a ferry & wiped out the Opera house! :eek: :D

 

May also be because people love to be docked in the middle of Sydney & it gives passengers a million dollar view for a few hours longer.:)

 

Plus Sydney is very pretty at night with all the lights twinkling on the water, so an evening departure is worth waiting for.

[heatherandfred]

Ohhh..being a NYer, I've never seen ships leave that late, e.g. 10pm. That's why I was curious about the late departure. And also checking out the hotel early and wondering what to do until then. But mine is leaving at 6:30.

[avalon007]

Here is a link to a thread with a good aerial pic of Voyager at the OPT.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36574380&postcount=9

 

You can see the ferry terminals to the left (green roofs), the start of the Harbour Bridge at right & how close the Opera house is to the ship.

 

Our cruise on VOS in 2 weeks leaves at 11.59pm, extra late I suspect because it is the Australia Day (like 4th July) public holiday long weekend which is super busy on the harbour with lots of holiday makers enjoying the festivities.

 

A good thing about later departures is it gives you plenty of time to get to the dock without the worry of missing the ship. They still start boarding at around 11am though regardless of departure time.

[AussieVisi2r]

Radiance usually leaves at 6.30 but I did a 3 day late last year that left at 10.30pm.

 

re early check out form the hotel.......you will still be able to drop and book in your luggage with RCCL at around 11am. Then have many hours to look around Sydney.

 

HAve fun!