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May be a silly question - Great Barrier Reef

Iamthesea

By Iamthesea,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Iamthesea

Iamthesea

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We recently booked an Australia/New Zealand cruise on Celebrity. Mentioning the cruise to my brother, he and his wife would like to join us. However, my brother wants to see the Great Barrier Reef. Are there any Celebrity cruises that actually go to the Great Barrier Reef ?

 

Any other cruiseline suggestion or how would we get to the Great Barrier Reef at the end of our cruise from Auckland, NZ?

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cle-guy

cle-guy

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Posted
We recently booked an Australia/New Zealand cruise on Celebrity. Mentioning the cruise to my brother, he and his wife would like to join us. However, my brother wants to see the Great Barrier Reef. Are there any Celebrity cruises that actually go to the Great Barrier Reef ?

 

Any other cruiseline suggestion or how would we get to the Great Barrier Reef at the end of our cruise from Auckland, NZ?

 

website is up, but excursions have issues, so can't search :-(

 

Try an email ShoreEx@celebrity.com for information.

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Iamthesea

Iamthesea

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Sounds interesting, but not sure we want to go THAT small. :eek:

 

We are doing a Sydney to singapore cruise in jan 2015. It stops in both airlie beach and cairns. Airlie beach offers trips out yo the reef

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Is this on Celebrity? Length of cruise?

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Xport

Xport

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I did multiple cruises on Solstice through New Zealand/Australia in 2013 and one of those segments did port calls at Cairns, Airlie Beach, and Port Douglas [though I don't think X is calling at Port Douglas any longer]... All three provided potential to tour the Great Barrier Reef... Celebrity originally offered a tour only from Airlie Beach but, based upon demand, later added a tour from Cairns...

 

Looking at Celebrity's schedule, it appears--if they do the same tours--that the following cruises have possibility...

 

Century - 01 December 2014 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Century - 11 January 2015 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Solstice - 25 February 2015 [Cairns Only]

Solstice - 03 March 2016 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Millennium - 13 March 2016 [Cairns Only]

 

Due to ecological considerations, large scale tourism to The Great Barrier Reef is somewhat restricted... You will board a tour boat--mine out of Airlie Beach held about 300 [we boarded and disembarked directly from Solstice which was anchored off-shore]--for a shuttle [it took more than two hours each way!] to a stationary sightseeing platform at The Reef where there was an underwater viewing area, netted snorkel and dive areas, a submarine that offered fifteen/twenty minute underwater tours, and lunch was served...

 

I was really looking forward to the tour--it was a Bucket List item--but to be candid, it was a major disappointment as I don't snorkel, I don't dive, and I skipped lunch--not that I couldn't afford to do so--given the crowds... The round-trip boat ride was pleasant enough--the seas and weather were beautiful--but you really don't travel over/near The Reef and my views via the underwater viewing area and submarine were really no different/better than I've experienced at places like Grand Cayman, Sint Maarten, and The Bahamas [perhaps it was the day we were there but those who snorkeled had the same general impression; I did not speak with anyone who dived]... And then, I'd really hoped to do a helicopter tour over the reef as offered on some platforms--the multi-colored, distant waters looked sumptuous--but they were not being offered during our visit...

 

Those who did the overflow tour out of Cairns seemed to have essentially the same experience but seemed to enjoy it a bit more as it was less crowded...

 

I was glad to have experienced it--and I earned bragging rights--but, for me, it turned out to be a nice boat ride with too little to do at the platform and not what I'd imagined... I would never discourage you/your family as your interests and mileage, of course, may vary...

 

The most prominent name in tours to The Great Barrier Reef--and Celebrity did use them [at least out of Airlie Beach; I'm not certain who they used out of Cairns]--is Quicksilver... I might have enjoyed doing the trip more with a smaller, private group--and I did try--but I believe that Celebrity may have bought up all of their limited capacity [which may have been further constrained by the fact that our visit to the area coincided with the Easter holidays]...

 

Despite it all, my trip to New Zealand and Australian will always rank as one of my all-time favorites... Enjoy!

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Xport

Xport

Posted
Posted

I did multiple cruises on Solstice through New Zealand/Australia in 2013 and one of those segments did port calls at Cairns, Airlie Beach, and Port Douglas [though I don't think X is calling at Port Douglas any longer]... All three provided potential to tour the Great Barrier Reef... Celebrity originally offered a tour only from Airlie Beach but, based upon demand, later added a tour from Cairns...

 

Looking at Celebrity's schedule, it appears--if they do the same tours--that the following cruises have possibility...

 

Century - 01 December 2014 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Century - 11 January 2015 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Solstice - 25 February 2015 [Cairns Only]

Solstice - 03 March 2016 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Millennium - 13 March 2016 [Cairns Only]

 

Due to ecological considerations, large scale tourism to The Great Barrier Reef is somewhat restricted... You will board a tour boat--mine out of Airlie Beach held about 300 [we boarded and disembarked directly from Solstice which was anchored off-shore]--for a shuttle [it took more than two hours each way!] to a stationary sightseeing platform at The Reef where there was an underwater viewing area, netted snorkel and dive areas, a submarine that offered fifteen/twenty minute underwater tours, and lunch was served...

 

I was really looking forward to the tour--it was a Bucket List item--but to be candid, it was a major disappointment as I don't snorkel, I don't dive, and I skipped lunch--not that I couldn't afford to do so--given the crowds... The round-trip boat ride was pleasant enough--the seas and weather were beautiful--but you really don't travel over/near The Reef and my views via the underwater viewing area and submarine were really no different/better than I've experienced at places like Grand Cayman, Sint Maarten, and The Bahamas [perhaps it was the day we were there but those who snorkeled had the same general impression; I did not speak with anyone who dived]... And then, I'd really hoped to do a helicopter tour over the reef as offered on some platforms--the multi-colored, distant waters looked sumptuous--but they were not being offered during our visit...

 

Those who did the overflow tour out of Cairns seemed to have essentially the same experience but seemed to enjoy it a bit more as it was less crowded...

 

I was glad to have experienced it--and I earned bragging rights--but, for me, it turned out to be a nice boat ride with too little to do at the platform and not what I'd imagined... I would never discourage you/your family as your interests and mileage, of course, may vary...

 

The most prominent name in tours to The Great Barrier Reef--and Celebrity did use them [at least out of Airlie Beach; I'm not certain who they used out of Cairns]--is Quicksilver... I might have enjoyed doing the trip more with a smaller, private group--and I did try--but I believe that Celebrity may have bought up all of their limited capacity [which may have been further constrained by the fact that our visit to the area coincided with the Easter holidays]...

 

Despite it all, my trip to New Zealand and Australia will always rank as one of my all-time favorites... Enjoy!

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Iamthesea

Iamthesea

Posted
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Posted (edited)
I did multiple cruises on Solstice through New Zealand/Australia in 2013 and one of those segments did port calls at Cairns, Airlie Beach, and Port Douglas [though I don't think X is calling at Port Douglas any longer]... All three provided potential to tour the Great Barrier Reef... Celebrity originally offered a tour only from Airlie Beach but, based upon demand, later added a tour from Cairns...

 

Looking at Celebrity's schedule, it appears--if they do the same tours--that the following cruises have possibility...

 

Century - 01 December 2014 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Century - 11 January 2015 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Solstice - 25 February 2015 [Cairns Only]

Solstice - 03 March 2016 [Cairns & Airlie Beach]

Millennium - 13 March 2016 [Cairns Only]

 

Due to ecological considerations, large scale tourism to The Great Barrier Reef is somewhat restricted... You will board a tour boat--mine out of Airlie Beach held about 300 [we boarded and disembarked directly from Solstice which was anchored off-shore]--for a shuttle [it took more than two hours each way!] to a stationary sightseeing platform at The Reef where there was an underwater viewing area, netted snorkel and dive areas, a submarine that offered fifteen/twenty minute underwater tours, and lunch was served...

 

I was really looking forward to the tour--it was a Bucket List item--but to be candid, it was a major disappointment as I don't snorkel, I don't dive, and I skipped lunch--not that I couldn't afford to do so--given the crowds... The round-trip boat ride was pleasant enough--the seas and weather were beautiful--but you really don't travel over/near The Reef and my views via the underwater viewing area and submarine were really no different/better than I've experienced at places like Grand Cayman, Sint Maarten, and The Bahamas [perhaps it was the day we were there but those who snorkeled had the same general impression; I did not speak with anyone who dived]... And then, I'd really hoped to do a helicopter tour over the reef as offered on some platforms--the multi-colored, distant waters looked sumptuous--but they were not being offered during our visit...

 

Those who did the overflow tour out of Cairns seemed to have essentially the same experience but seemed to enjoy it a bit more as it was less crowded...

 

I was glad to have experienced it--and I earned bragging rights--but, for me, it turned out to be a nice boat ride with too little to do at the platform and not what I'd imagined... I would never discourage you/your family as your interests and mileage, of course, may vary...

 

The most prominent name in tours to The Great Barrier Reef--and Celebrity did use them [at least out of Airlie Beach; I'm not certain who they used out of Cairns]--is Quicksilver... I might have enjoyed doing the trip more with a smaller, private group--and I did try--but I believe that Celebrity may have bought up all of their limited capacity [which may have been further constrained by the fact that our visit to the area coincided with the Easter holidays]...

 

Despite it all, my trip to New Zealand and Australian will always rank as one of my all-time favorites... Enjoy!

 

 

Thank you so much...this is exactly what I needed to know!

 

Though we were told that February is a better month to see Australia and New Zealand, sounds like we would need to move our 2/2/16 cruise to the 3/3/16 [Cairns & Airlie Beach] cruise. :D My brother-in-law does (or has) dived. We would probably all stick to snorkeling, though. ;)

Edited by Iamthesea
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chamima

chamima

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We were on the Solstice in Feb. 2013 and I organized a snorkeling trip for our Roll Call with Reef Daytripper.

http://www.reefdaytripper.com.au/

I had to rent out the entire boat but it came to less than what Celebrity wanted for their 300 person trip and we had a private catamaran for the 20 of us.

 

This is a copy of our correspondence. They arranged a bus to Cairns from Yorkey's Knob where we landed. Our ship was late in that day and they waited and were professional in every way.

The only negative was the weather but when you're only in a port for one day you always take that chance.

I would HIGHLY recommend this company for snorkeling in Cairns!

 

We are definitely organising a bus, having reread Karens initial email she says the boat timing says 7 – 7 but more than likely to be 8.30 –6.00 as you have to tender in at Yorkeys Knob.

 

The last time we did this for a cruise ship tendering from Yorkeys we arranged for the bus to be there from 8.15am to wait. Obviously we didnt know what time the guests would be able to come over but fortunately it worked well, it does need some persistance from your side as well to ensure you all get together before hand and insist on being on the same tender over if at all possible. I will email everyone a list of who is going on our trip so that you can try and meet up at the meet and greet. It is a great idea for you to be together at the time of tendering so that you can all come over together and you are not delayed (unfortunately this didnt happen last time, 1 couple were left behind on the ship and had to get the next tender over which obviously shortens your day but it still worked really well and all guests were happy with their day) but just wanted to stress the importance of you guys getting together early and making it work.

 

 

Hoping to have a reply from everyone by the time you leave so lets confirm that we will have the bus waiting at 8.15am, this will then bring you to Cairns where you will have 1 minutes walk to D Finger where we are located. We are the last boat on the right hand side and we will need you to quickly make your way there so that we can depart as quickly as possible. Will find out the time that you need to be back at Yorkeys Knob for your tender over unless you have that listed on your itinerary in which case if you could let me know

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Wastegirl

Wastegirl

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The trouble with the cruise companies is that they do the barrier reef in the rainy season so there is a good chance that the weather will not be good for snorkelling. Additionally if you do get out to the outer reef, where the good snorkelling is, it will be a big tour which does the more touristy spots where the reef is not as spectacular. To really see good coral, fish, gorgeous coral cays, etc you need to do the smaller more personalised tours. You also need more time than one day as when you go to see the reef you need to have several days so you can choose the day where the weather is best.

 

Last time we were in Cairns it was in the dry season but still we were there for a week and only half that time had optimum snorkelling days.

 

By sailing the top of Australia you will be in the middle of the cyclone season in February so don't put all your hopes and wishes on a must see spot because it is possible that you will miss that port and be severely disappointed.

 

Sorry to sound so negative but I have been on cruises where people have travelled from the other side of the world to see our region and ports were cancelled and they were severely disappointed while us Aussies are shrugging our shoulders and saying "it's cyclone season what did you expect".

 

So in answer to your question your BIL is better of doing a cruise followed by a few days in North Queensland to do more boutique tours with time to select the best weather days.

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Iamthesea

Iamthesea

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Elise - I just showed the last two post to my DH. We both agree that the best thing to do would be to fly in a few days prior to the cruise leaving Sydney, and take a few days near the reef.

 

In my research, no one had mentioned cyclone season. I was told that February would be preferable over March. What is your opinion of the best time to see Australia and New Zealand?

 

chamima - Thank you for the recommendation. ;)

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Adidas4fun

Adidas4fun

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Elise - I just showed the last two post to my DH. We both agree that the best thing to do would be to fly in a few days prior to the cruise leaving Sydney, and take a few days near the reef.

 

In my research, no one had mentioned cyclone season. I was told that February would be preferable over March. What is your opinion of the best time to see Australia and New Zealand?

 

chamima - Thank you for the recommendation. ;)

Feb/mar is the best time to see "Australia+NZ" but it is also cyclone season for far north Queensland (fnq). Having travelled to fnq a number of times in jan-apr my plans have only been fully disrupted the last time (pacific dawn), most other times I have enjoyed myself even if the weather wasnt perfect. But with only one or two stops on the X itinerary there is risk that it wont happen. I would suggest tacking a few days on after the cruise with flexible plans so that if the great barrier stops work out fine then you can choose to spend those days wherever; but if you didnt get to see the reef then you can head back up to fnq to try again.

 

And about the comments for a smaller tour I seriously endorse those. I will not be using the ship based tours on my trip in december. I will probably helicopter out to a sand cay at one stop and charter a small catamaran at the other stop.

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Wastegirl

Wastegirl

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I have done New Zealand in February and the weather was perfect, warm and sunny. March also is fine, either month is good for the southern half of Australia, it can be hot but manageable. The top half of Australia at that time of year can be humid and muggy, April to November is better for that area.

 

But then I will be on the feb 2015 trip on the Solstice so I am taking the chance because on board ship out to sea the weather is always pleasant. But I live in Australia so if the itinerary is mucked up by weather conditions its no biggee for us as we are there for the cruise not the land trip which we would do in the dry season via caravan.

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Pushka

Pushka

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Cairns or Yorkeys Knob have GBR excursions. Other ports like Airlie Beach aren't in the reef proper but at least a taste.

 

If you don't swim, snorkel or dive and there's no submarine on the pontoon or glass bottom boat then it's a useless experience. You can't see the reef looking down from "on top".

 

February and March are perfect times to visit most of Australia except for Queensland. Having said that, this year we cruised through Sydney up through GBR to Malaysia. The weather was stunning although a storm hit as we were leaving Yorkeys Knob making it really hard to get the tenders back on board.

 

But then the next weeks weather was stunning. Then two weeks later (late March) there was a cyclone and flood.

Edited by Pushka
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Antonintassie

Antonintassie

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Hi

 

The reef is accessed from mainland ports ie Cairns ,Townsville generally by highspeed boats or alternatively by helicopter

 

In relation to weather Nov to March is the wet season in FNQ so expect some tropical storms and potentially the chance of a cyclone .

 

I lived in Townsville and this was my least favourite time of year

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SPacificbound

SPacificbound

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We spent March & April last year in Australia. Living where tropical storms and hurricanes are a fact of life we really didn't even think about cyclone season.

 

Cairns, Arlie Beach and Port Douglas are absolutely wonderful!

 

If you are really strong snorkelers and divers in your group, you could not go to a better location.

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1of4 Excellent Advice! Rare

1of4

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I am the person who took the small boat one week tour to the GBR in April. A link to my thread was posted earlier in this thread.

 

the best weather on the reef is November, this time of year has the calmest seas. No large cruise ship can tour the reef itself. The Australian government regulates visitors to protect the reef itself. To see the reef you have to take a smaller boat excursion which leave a number of ports by 9 in the morning. The other alternative is to go to Green Island off the coast of Cairns. It's an island accessible by high speed catamaran. If you don't swim there are glass bottomed boats, a long dock that you can just look over and see fish and a fish viewing area underneath. You still will need the better part of a day though.

 

DD and I chose the small boat to learn and experience the reef. The smaller the boat the more you will experience. There are many day operators out of the ports along the reef. If the ship you are on is in port i am sure you could arrange a private tour focused on your needs and what you want to see.

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