What would YOU do??

[tutuwahineLV]

I need your expertise, please...

 

We are very excited to be booked on RCI LotS next January, departing from Brisbane. Will be our first trip to Australia & New Zealand...

 

Here's where I need your help, when we cruise here in the states, we always fly into our departure city at least one day prior to our departure. Would you recommend the same thing if I start my adventure in Sydney. We are thinking of doing a few days prior to the cruise in Sydney, flying in to Brisbane the morning of departure, and tacking additional days after the cruise to explore Brisbane and the Gold coast.

Since it's only a 1.5 hr flight, I feel relatively safe planning on an early morning flight on that sunday. We never do same day flights to our departure city here because we're usually flying cross country (3-6hrs away)

 

So the questions is ..... would you fly in on sunday morning to catch the ship?? or Saturday night, just to be safe?

 

Thanks for the input

D

[tazaria]

We live in Perth (other side of the country - 5 hour flight) and we're cruising on Legend in April. We're flying out at 11pmish Perth time Saturday night, arriving 5:30am Brisbane time Sunday morning and boarding the ship Sunday lunchtime. Does that help?

[SpainAlien]

It helps me, I'm flying to Perth to visit relatives then a few days later on to Brisbane to catch the ship. Thanks for the info

 

Gail

 

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[stingau]

We live in Brisbane and fly same day to Sydney, but we do book the earliest flight in the morning just in case of delays. We cruising out of the states we always fly a few days early to get over the jet lag. We wants to board a cruise ship with your body clock out of sync.

 

Also don't forget when flying from the states to here you lose a day when crossing the date line

[GUT2407]

For what it's worth, we live about a 2 hour drive.

 

We prefer to go down the da before and stay the night.

 

But that might say more about me.

[Tigerlily75]

I say yes, always book to fly the day/night before, you just never know and Sydney is prone to large storms affecting flights. We are in Melbourne, so only a 1hr20m flight to SYD.

 

On my last cruise I was booked to fly the day before. I sent my kids (15 yo daughter, 20 yo niece) up early that morning to my sister who lives in Sydney, and I was booked later that night so I could sleep after night shift.

 

Huge storm in Sydney shut down flights. My flight was delayed and then eventually cancelled (by the time the storm cleared, we were too late to make Sydney's very strict airport curfew).

 

It was hugely stressful, especially when we were told to "call the call centre to re book on another flight tomorrow" and 200 people are trying to call at once, and I had a cruise to catch! And my daughter was already in Sydney! (Safe, but still, it was stressful nonetheless to be separated and not be able to do anything about it).

 

I even considered driving overnight (about 9 hours) until my sister reminded me of the trucks on the Hume Hwy... too dangerous. Eventually Virgin announced they had created a new flight for us at 10.30am the next morning. A relief, but a sleepless night worrying Sydney would have another storm in the morning!

 

I made it to the ship in perfect time. My sister looked after the kids fabulously and it all turned out well.

 

But ... anything can happen. So I would always book to fly the day before.

[goodycruising]

My feeling is that you are going to be paying for a night of accommodation either way, and you might as well sleep better knowing you are in Brisbane and ready to get onto the ship whenever suits you. Have a relaxed breaky and enjoy your first day of the cruise.

 

We flew Sydney to Perth (5 hour flight) one time to get onto Radiance, but allowed a few days before to explore a bit. We had an early flight out, went to bed early, and when we got up at about 4am to get ready to go to the airport we got a text that our flight was cancelled. Because they can apparently. Must not have had enough booked to make them bother. So we spent a very stressful few hours getting on another flight. If that had been the day of the cruise I would have been a wreck.

 

We are about 6 hours drive away from Sydney and we did fly in on the day for our first couple of cruises, but one we changed to driving up the day before and staying overnight it was so much more relaxing. You know that already, you do that at home!

 

It is not a long flight that you are talking about it, and there are quite a few flights per day to Brisbane from Sydney, but why put yourself through the possibility? The drive would be around 11 or 12 hours? (someone might confirm) so if something happens storm wise or whatever, what is the backup plan?

[Cabansail]

You will probably be alright, but it would be safer to get there the day before. It means a night in Brisbane but you can't help that.

 

Have a suggestion for the Gold Coast on the return but would rather email that.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I'd fly to Brisbane the night before. Here's a little story to illustrate why.

 

Some years ago I booked a points flight from Singapore to Sydney with Qantas. The only flight I could get was Sydney to Melbourne on Qantas, then Melbourne to Singapore on Jetstar which involved collecting my luggage and rechecking in at Melbourne.

 

I checked in to my Sydney flight and was enjoying a cup of tea in the lounge when they announce my flight was cancelled. I was rebooked on a flight that was actually an earlier flight and assured my baggage would be on that flight. That flight ended up beinmg seriously delayed and, of course, my baggage had been put on a third flight which arrived after my Singapore flight was due to depart. By the trime I'd sorted out the baggage situation it was way past the time of final check-in for the Singapore flight and Jetstar are well-known for being very strict on check-in times.

 

Luckily the Singapore flight was also delayed (the plane hadn't even arrived in Melbourne) and since I had no baggage they issued my boarding pass for the flight. Phew! I headed for the lounge and a stiff G&T! My luggage finally caught up with me in Singapore next morning.

 

No explanation as to why the first flight was cancelled and minor mechanical problems caused the delay of the second flight. They were both regularly scheduled Qantas flights. We have had other occurrences of flights being cancelled at the last minute here in Australia so I'd never risk any tight timing if I had to board my cruise.

[CoopColbie]

If you are going to chance a morning flight - and I think it is reasonable as those wild weather events that shut down airports usually happen in the afternoon/evening on hot summer days - I would recommend flying Qantas. They have regular flights between Sydney and Brisbane (every 30 mins to 1 hour) so if one is cancelled for some reason, there are a number of other options for you to get on.

[MicCanberra]

If you are going to chance a morning flight - and I think it is reasonable as those wild weather events that shut down airports usually happen in the afternoon/evening on hot summer days - I would recommend flying Qantas. They have regular flights between Sydney and Brisbane (every 30 mins to 1 hour) so if one is cancelled for some reason, there are a number of other options for you to get on.

 

Agreed, make sure it is a flexible fare.

[Tara Jane]

Always the day before and sure it means hotel $$ but what price is peace of mind?

In your case as someone else said you have a nights hotel $$ anyway so might as well be in Brisbane than Sydney.

[The_Big_M]

For me (as per the question), I fly up the same day. Especially as you'll have been here for a few days (so won't have to worry about connections/luggage from O/S), it won't be a problem.

 

By way of example, the few times I've seen bad weather be an issue in one location for a cruise in Sydney, _many_ passengers will be affected, not just yourself, and they have always held the ship. Bad weather hasn't been an issue for more than a few hours. Passengers have always still made it, though sometimes getting there at 5-6 p.m. (As CoopColbie said, those weather events have been around 1-2 p.m. as well).

 

In short, low risk, and even lower chance of missing it.

Edited March 1, 2016 by The_Big_M

[MicCanberra]

Always the day before and sure it means hotel $$ but what price is peace of mind?

In your case as someone else said you have a nights hotel $$ anyway so might as well be in Brisbane than Sydney.

 

Good points, less stress and the accommodation will likely be cheaper in Brisbane than Sydney.:D

[The_Big_M]

Agreed, make sure it is a flexible fare.

 

Since it's direct, one sector there's no need to worry about that - as long as you're still flying.

 

If there is an issue e.g. cancellation, they will re-book you on the next available flight. Flexible fare or not won't change that situation.

[Esilef]

On our last cruise we flew to Sydney from Melbourne on the same day. I booked a later flight with Jetstar thinking I had a couple of hours to spare. Wrong. Flight was delayed getting into Melbourne and therefore getting into Sydney. I was stressing big time. We made it but I was rushing.

 

Would have been much nicer to have flown to Sydney the day prior. Stayed somewhere near the opt and enjoyed our time there....

 

Never again cutting it so fine with flights to a cruise ship

[Meamat]

Your accommodation in Brisbane would probably be less costly than Sydney... if it were me and I had to pay for a hotel anyway I'd want to be in my departure city the night before.

 

Enjoy - hope you have a lovely time here!

[Tara Jane]

Yes Esilef only need to be caught out once and never again flying up the day of. Fortunately we have always gone the day before but I know many cruisers who always fly the morning of departure, until they get stuck I expect they will continue to do so.

We are actually flying up to brisbane the evening prior this time due to hubby having to work would have preferred to fly during the day.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Tara Jane

[MicCanberra]

Yes Esilef only need to be caught out once and never again flying up the day of. Fortunately we have always gone the day before but I know many cruisers who always fly the morning of departure, until they get stuck I expect they will continue to do so.

We are actually flying up to brisbane the evening prior this time due to hubby having to work would have preferred to fly during the day.

 

I have flown up to Sydney on the day but that has been from Canberra. If flights were cancelled, we still have buses, train and the car if needed.

[vrogers]

For me I always fly up the morning of the flight Melbourne to Sydney to catch our cruises, always book Qantas, as fare includes luggage and have numerous flights each morning. I usually try for a 10:30am flight that gets me to Sydney around 12 and then train to OPT to board ship before 1pm. Just keep in mind the passenger terminal in Brisbane can be a 45 minute drive from the city if your ship is leaving from Grain Terminal Fishermans Island, so maybe take that into consideration as well, as frequency of flights from Sydney to Brisbane.

[Tara Jane]

Yes mick Canberra to Sydney is quite doable by other means lucky you.

By the way see you Canberra cruisers still having your meet ups?

[Cabansail]

It just takes people from Canberra longer to drive to Sydney as they have to drive in a circle every few km along the road. :D

[clairebearinaus]

I'll add to the chorus.... I frequently fly in and out of both Sydney and Brisbane for business and it is not at all uncommon for either airport to be disrupted because of weather. Brisbane in particular, can be shut down for hours if there are thunderstorms around.

[tutuwahineLV]

Thank you all so very much for your sage advice. It will help so much in my planning. I will probably end up doing the sat flight scenario, but some of it will depend on what we end up booking to get, if we can get the dates we want...

am very much looking forward to this trip, it's something I've been dreaming about for ages, and the difficult part is the editing of what we would love to do/see and what is actually doable in the time frame. But then again, that's half the fun, init?? and the things you can't get done provide incentive to get back again......

 

Thanks again for your help,

 

D

[Sugarlift]

For me I always fly up the morning of the flight Melbourne to Sydney to catch our cruises, always book Qantas, as fare includes luggage and have numerous flights each morning. I usually try for a 10:30am flight that gets me to Sydney around 12 and then train to OPT to board ship before 1pm.

 

This is pretty much exactly what my boyfriend and I are doing for our cruise in June :)