Cruising Sydney -->NZ - want to also cruise AUS - any ideas?

[Elusive_Cruiser]

We have booked Feb/21, Celebrity, for 12 days, departing Sydney, going across to NZ.  We leave the ship in Auckland, and have friends in NZ that we will spend some land time with before coming back to Canada.  We're trying to figure out the best way to get some time in Australia, preferably by ship.  There does not seem to be a whole lot of options.  I did find a Royal Caribbean 16 night top end Auzzie cruise, but balcony cabins are already sold out.  We prefer to have a balcony, but cannot justify the suite $.  No other main stream cruise lines seem to have any options.  Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Patricia

[GUT2407]

There would normally be more options than you can jump over. Depending on exact dates Princess seem to have plenty of cruises Feb 2021

 

otherwise why not some land trips.

[andlep]

Try dream cruises and cmv Australia. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Cruising is not a good way to see Australia. Australia is just too big. A full circumnavigation cruise of Australia usually takes 28 days and 50% of those are sea days. I would suggest picking two or three places in Australia that you really want to visit and arranging land/air travel between them. For example if you want to visit the Great Barrier Reef then fly to Cairns (the flight is around 3 hours). Stay in Cairns or Port Douglas (an hour away by shuttle bus and easier for good reef trips) for a few nights. That way you can really experience that part of Australia instead of just spending a few hours there as a port stop.

[GUT2407]

45 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Cruising is not a good way to see Australia. Australia is just too big. A full circumnavigation cruise of Australia usually takes 28 days and 50% of those are sea days. I would suggest picking two or three places in Australia that you really want to visit and arranging land/air travel between them. For example if you want to visit the Great Barrier Reef then fly to Cairns (the flight is around 3 hours). Stay in Cairns or Port Douglas (an hour away by shuttle bus and easier for good reef trips) for a few nights. That way you can really experience that part of Australia instead of just spending a few hours there as a port stop.

Agree wholeheartedly that a cruise touches very little of Australia, but having said that I’ve got another circumnavigation on the books and looking at yet another, but then I’ve lived here all my life and been lucky enough to see a fair chunk of our sunburnt country.

 

However if health permitted I’d be doing more road trips, just took three days to drive to Lismore but need a couple of days in bed before I can drive home again.

[Elusive_Cruiser]

Thanks for your replies! Cruising is our go-to for vacations - less tiring than land vacations, with only unpacking once and not lugging around luggage.  However, I will look at some land options as well.

[SinbadThePorter]

On 5/1/2019 at 1:23 PM, Elusive_Cruiser said:

We have booked Feb/21, Celebrity, for 12 days, departing Sydney, going across to NZ.  We leave the ship in Auckland, and have friends in NZ that we will spend some land time with before coming back to Canada.  We're trying to figure out the best way to get some time in Australia, preferably by ship.  There does not seem to be a whole lot of options.  I did find a Royal Caribbean 16 night top end Auzzie cruise, but balcony cabins are already sold out.  We prefer to have a balcony, but cannot justify the suite $.  No other main stream cruise lines seem to have any options.  Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Patricia

 

I can't see a 12 day Celebrity Solstice cruise from Sydney to Auckland in Feb 2021.

 

There is a 9 day cruise on the 12th Feb 2021.

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 5/1/2019 at 1:23 PM, Elusive_Cruiser said:

  I did find a Royal Caribbean 16 night top end Auzzie cruise, but balcony cabins are already sold out. 

 

I wouldn't recommend doing a top end cruise in February anyway, it's the wet season so far too hot and humid. 

 

17 hours ago, Elusive_Cruiser said:

Thanks for your replies! Cruising is our go-to for vacations - less tiring than land vacations, with only unpacking once and not lugging around luggage.  However, I will look at some land options as well.

 

I know exactly what you mean but Australian cruises really don't give you sufficient time at the places they do stop at, they always have a lot of sea days which can be an issue if you have limited time for your vacation, and, of course, don't cover inland places like Uluru.

[Elusive_Cruiser]

11 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

I can't see a 12 day Celebrity Solstice cruise from Sydney to Auckland in Feb 2021.

 

There is a 9 day cruise on the 12th Feb 2021.

Oops!  Yes, it is the 9-day

[SinbadThePorter]

17 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I wouldn't recommend doing a top end cruise in February anyway, it's the wet season so far too hot and humid.

 

It's a pity because the Top End is at its best in the wet season. The vegetation is green, the waterfalls are flowing and the fish are biting. In the Dry it can seem like a bit of a dust bowl. Of course you don't want to try to travel on any dirt roads, but that's not usually a problem on cruise excursions.

 

I know people find it very humid, but I've never had a problem with it at that time of year.

[iancal]

We have done two cruises and three land trips to Australia.  This winter was a one month land trip.  Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Tasmania, and Sydney. 

 

Australia is a beautiful country.  There is so much to see.  Our cruises were very nice but frankly we did not see very much compared to our land trips.  One day here and there does not do it for us.   Australians are such warm and inviting people.   We usually spend winters in Thailand.  Last winter, and previous winters, it took us all of two minutes to decide on a side trip to Australia.

[GUT2407]

7 hours ago, iancal said:

We have done two cruises and three land trips to Australia.  This winter was a one month land trip.  Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Tasmania, and Sydney. 

 

Australia is a beautiful country.  There is so much to see.  Our cruises were very nice but frankly we did not see very much compared to our land trips.  One day here and there does not do it for us.   Australians are such warm and inviting people.   We usually spend winters in Thailand.  Last winter, and previous winters, it took us all of two minutes to decide on a side trip to Australia.

Wow you sure covered some territory an that last land trip.

[roothy123]

It's not cheap, but Oceania does have at least one cruise that ends up in Sydney Jan. 6, 2020.  With luck perhaps they have another identical or similar one in February 2021 which you could do before your cruise.  Oceania is not the cheapest line, but it's not the most expensive either, and often you can take away the airfare and other items included in the cruise price to make the cruise a little less expensive.  We also forego a balcony, which drops the price quite a bit.  We just don't feel it's essential, as we don't use a balcony that much anyway.  On the cruise we're taking, there are 8 days in a variety of ports in Western and what I call southern Australia (Victoria perhaps? I forget) along with 3-1/2  sea days.  While our trip obviously won't go into the interior of the country, I do fully expect to see a decent amount of Australia by cruising.  Oceania is a great line,  with smallish ships and great itineraries.  We are combining this cruise with another that goes mostly to New Zealand, plus a few Australia ports we won't visit on first cruise. 

Edited May 5, 2019 by roothy123

[roothy123]

Editing to select notification of replies

 

[iancal]

Gut2407...we only did a bit of the Sunshine coast because we arrived in Gold Coast to cyclone warning.  Sea was very rough in Noosa but fortunately the cyclone did not hit land...as you probably know. Flew from Brisbane to Tassy, for eight days, then to Sydney for five.   DW already want to go back.  Especially since we have had snow on the ground for the past two days!

[GUT2407]

3 hours ago, iancal said:

Gut2407...we only did a bit of the Sunshine coast because we arrived in Gold Coast to cyclone warning.  Sea was very rough in Noosa but fortunately the cyclone did not hit land...as you probably know. Flew from Brisbane to Tassy, for eight days, then to Sydney for five.   DW already want to go back.  Especially since we have had snow on the ground for the past two days!

Well maybe avoid Tassie for a while my says it’s freezing at the moment, but the Coast should suit you fine.