North Australia: Sidney to Perth or vice

[QShip]

We are looking for a North Australia cruise, East to West or West to East, for Winter 2021-2022.  Having difficulty finding anything that does not include NZ or Asia.  Experienced cruisers, do not need a butler. Would appreciate suggestions, warnings, anything at all.

[possum52]

There are very few cruises, if any from Sydney to Perth or vice versa around the northern coast, that don't have a visit to Bali or even Papua New Guinea. Winter 2021-22 in the northern hemisphere is our summer and for the cruise you want it will be very hot and extremely humid. It is not yet known if Australia's borders will be open by then, or if cruising will have returned to Australian waters by then. If cruising has returned, it is quite possible that international visitors will not be allowed, depending on what is happening Covid wise in the rest of the world.

 

Good luck.

 

Leigh

[OzKiwiJJ]

I presume you mean your winter which is our summer.

 

Top End cruises are rarely operated in our summer as it is the wet season, very hot, very humid, and also cyclone season.

 

Princess operates Australia circumnavigations in March/April and September/October. There are usually some cabins offered for the Top End and Bottom End sectors separately. However these cruises book up very quickly once released.

 

I'm not sure if any of the other cruise lines offer the occasional Top End itinerary. I know Celebrity did once some years ago.

 

Anyway our borders may not be open to overseas visitors for our 21/22 season. If cruising does recommence down here for that season it will be for domestic cruisers only, and will operate under strict Covid procedures.

Edited April 22, 2021 by OzKiwiJJ

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, QShip said:

We are looking for a North Australia cruise, East to West or West to East, for Winter 2021-2022.  Having difficulty finding anything that does not include NZ or Asia.  Experienced cruisers, do not need a butler. Would appreciate suggestions, warnings, anything at all.

A butler? Seriously?  You would need a 'Stewart' to make your bed.😁

Edited April 22, 2021 by NSWP

[lyndarra]

I have done a full circumnavigation  (HAL) in 2 parts not B2B. I have also done a half circumnavigation Fremantle/Sydney on X Solstice. Thoroughly enjoyed all.

The half circumnavigations can be done as a north or a south, i.e. around the top of Australia Sydney/Fremantle (Perth) which usually includes a port stop in Bali, or Sydney/Fremantle which includes a few ports in New Zealand, usually the South island to include Fiordland. The inclusion of a foreign port I'm guessing is something to do with GST (tax) reasons possibly? I'm not aware any circumnavigations that don't include a foreign port.

All were done during summer (here) cruise season. As mentioned above, doing the northern cruise can get hot, it's in the tropics, which was not a problem for me or my wife as we don't mind the heat.

As for going east/west the cruise lines seem to alternate year to year. I don't think it makes much if any difference except for the Great Australian Bight where going west to east may be a bit smoother as the prevailing winds blow in the same direction which would mean a following sea. Not that much of a problem in summer but in winter it could be very different.

Go the Longhorns!

 

[Aus Traveller]

I suggest that a cruise around the northern part of Australia is probably more interesting than one around the southern part. As others have said, the southern summer is not a good time to cruise in the far north as it would be very hot and most likely wet.

 

There will usually be an Asian port included so the cruise qualifies as an international one, allowing the ship to sell duty free goods and for passengers to receive a refund of tax (GST) on qualifying purchases (minimum $300) before the cruise.

[NSWP]

Did our circumnavigation on ye olde Sun Princess in 2008, when she first came here. It was in March, boy was it a trifle warm and humid up in Broome, Darwin, Cooktown, Cairns etc. Many pax went over on the tenders or down the gangway and came straight back to the a/c ship !!

[OzKiwiJJ]

We did a Top End, Perth to Sydney on Dawn Princess in August 2015 and it was pretty hot in Darwin then. We've also been through Darwin on a couple of repostioning cruises, one late March, another early April, and both times it was very hot and humid, so I wouldn't like to go there in the peak of summer. 

[cruiseaholic78]

Do any of these fit the bill, I don’t know your budget but as you mention a butler maybe Oceania could be a match. I know you were not interested in Asia but as previously mentioned I think this is a prerequisite.
 

We have done Singapore via Bali to Sydney and Auckland to Bali so both halves of Australia so to speak. Loved them both so we have booked the circumnavigation with Oceania for 2022/2023. We  are looking forward to experiencing Christmas and New Year in a sunny climate.

 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/cruise-comparison/REG211203-REG211203A-REG211217?returnUrl=%2Fcruise-finder%23time_frame%3D2021-8|2021-9|2021-10|2021-11|2021-12%26marketing_region%3Daustralia%26ship%3DREG%26sort%3Dfeatured%3Adesc%26page%3D1%26pageSize%3D10%26cruisesCompared%3DREG211203-REG211203A-REG211217
 

happy planning

Rosalyn

[cruiseaholic78]

Oh sorry just checked and they are all waitlisted which is possibly because sailings to Australia might not be allowed/possible 2021/2022.

Here are the possibilities for 2022/2023 which are also waitlisted (it was so popular we managed a pre booking) but you can always try to waitlist as it is a long way away.

If you do manage 2022/2023 do pop over and join our roll call.

happy planning

Rosalyn

[MMDown Under]

2 minutes ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

Oh sorry just checked and they are all waitlisted which is possibly because sailings to Australia might not be allowed/possible 2021/2022.

Here are the possibilities for 2022/2023 which are also waitlisted (it was so popular we managed a pre booking) but you can always try to waitlist as it is a long way away.

If you do manage 2022/2023 do pop over and join our roll call.

happy planning

Rosalyn

Thanks.  I had a lovely time just looking at itinerary.  

[rkmw]

5 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I suggest that a cruise around the northern part of Australia is probably more interesting than one around the southern part. As others have said, the southern summer is not a good time to cruise in the far north as it would be very hot and most likely wet.

 

There will usually be an Asian port included so the cruise qualifies as an international one, allowing the ship to sell duty free goods and for passengers to receive a refund of tax (GST) on qualifying purchases (minimum $300) before the cruise.

I noticed the April 2023 cruise on the Coral Princess is doing an 11 night cruise Sydney to Perth going clockwise and a 17 night cruise Perth to Sydney clock wise  and going via Willis Island to let people duty free

[OzKiwiJJ]

44 minutes ago, rkmw said:

I noticed the April 2023 cruise on the Coral Princess is doing an 11 night cruise Sydney to Perth going clockwise and a 17 night cruise Perth to Sydney clock wise  and going via Willis Island to let people duty free

Those would be sectors on the April circumnavigation.

[rkmw]

3 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Those would be sectors on the April circumnavigation.

Princess is showing the 28 night cruise as unavailable so that’s why the have the 2 sectors

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 minutes ago, rkmw said:

Princess is showing the 28 night cruise as unavailable so that’s why the have the 2 sectors

The full circumnavigation always sells out very quickly but there are often some cabins on the sectors. I guess they allocate a certain number of cabins to those on each itinerary.

Edited April 23, 2021 by OzKiwiJJ