Channel 9 The Todays Show Australia

[harbourside]

Just got an email from Viking to say the Channel 9 will be broadcasting live from Viking Mars in Sydney  on 22nd February , to show the Viking cruise experience

 

[Pushka]

34 minutes ago, harbourside said:

Just got an email from Viking to say the Channel 9 will be broadcasting live from Viking Mars in Sydney  on 22nd February , to show the Viking cruise experience

 

On mars in May on a repositioning cruise. Southern Hemsiphere to Northern Hemisphere. Viking are doing so much advertising here in Australia now. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Pushka

[SteelCity Cruiser]

I have heard they are considering adding a cruise that will sail all the way around Australia. Be interested to see if that's mentioned during the TV broadcast.  I'd sign up for that one immediately!

 

[KBs mum]

2 minutes ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

I have heard they are considering adding a cruise that will sail all the way around Australia. Be interested to see if that's mentioned during the TV broadcast.  I'd sign up for that one immediately!

 

We've seen the itinerary for the round Australia cruise, the ports are not  in the actual cities, in some cases they are an hour + drive away. 

We will travel independently instead 

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

I have heard they are considering adding a cruise that will sail all the way around Australia. Be interested to see if that's mentioned during the TV broadcast.  I'd sign up for that one immediately!

 

It's already out for sale. 

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, KBs mum said:

We've seen the itinerary for the round Australia cruise, the ports are not  in the actual cities, in some cases they are an hour + drive away. 

We will travel independently instead 

Which ports were you looking at? Certainly the capital cities are covered as well as major tourist spots. The itinerary looks really good. Sydney main harbour. Melbourne main harbour. Perth - Fremantle which is excellent, probably the furthest out but very doable, Adelaide - 30 minute train or shuttle into the city, 50 minutes to the Barossa Valley,  Geraldton - tourist. Busselton - tourist. Albany - tourist. Burnie - tourist. Whitsunday Townsville Cairns - the former being a tender, the rest at port. Darwin - that's the city. 
 

You simply cannot cover all of Australia like this without flying multiple times and at significant cost. And loss of several days just in travel. 

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com.au/oceans/cruise-destinations/asia-australia/grand-australia-circumnavigation/index.html

Edited February 21, 2023 by Pushka

[CurlerRob]

3 hours ago, Pushka said:

Which ports were you looking at? Certainly the capital cities are covered as well as major tourist spots. The itinerary looks really good. Sydney main harbour. Melbourne main harbour. Perth - Fremantle which is excellent, probably the furthest out but very doable, Adelaide - 30 minute train or shuttle into the city, 50 minutes to the Barossa Valley,  Geraldton - tourist. Busselton - tourist. Albany - tourist. Burnie - tourist. Whitsunday Townsville Cairns - the former being a tender, the rest at port. Darwin - that's the city. 
 

You simply cannot cover all of Australia like this without flying multiple times and at significant cost. And loss of several days just in travel. 

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com.au/oceans/cruise-destinations/asia-australia/grand-australia-circumnavigation/index.html

 

The Viking cruise is nearly identical to a circumnavigation that we enjoyed in 2016 with HAL. I completely agree with your assessment - the city ports are easily accessible. Did I hear recently that Brisbane may have relocated the cruise terminal a higher distance outside the city? And, Benoa is certainly a bit of a distance from anything - but all tours in Bali will involve a noticeable drive.

 

Perhaps @KBs mum was reacting to those two stops?

 

The 2016 circle was one of our favourite trips - I'd sign up for this one without hesitation! 🍺🥌

[Pushka]

17 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

The Viking cruise is nearly identical to a circumnavigation that we enjoyed in 2016 with HAL. I completely agree with your assessment - the city ports are easily accessible. Did I hear recently that Brisbane may have relocated the cruise terminal a higher distance outside the city? And, Benoa is certainly a bit of a distance from anything - but all tours in Bali will involve a noticeable drive.

 

Perhaps @KBs mum was reacting to those two stops?

 

The 2016 circle was one of our favourite trips - I'd sign up for this one without hesitation! 🍺🥌

The Brisbane terminal has been closed temporarily for renovations. If it is missed they stop at Mooloolaba and having spent many a summer there, I'd much prefer. The current Neptune world cruise stopped there a couple of days ago. It's a holiday spot with fab beaches. If tender, just a walk from the wharf. A tourist wharf. Just a fun chill time.  No need to go to Brisbane.

 

You can certainly chill out at Benoa beach with lots of beach activities and large hotels. It's a tourist spot itself not a wharf . Lovely beach. No need to travel unless you want to. Bali traffic is horrible. And it's hot. Humid. Can just stay on the beach. Ubud is a long way to drive as is Kuta but no need at all to go there. We've been to Bali several times, went to Ubud once, the monkeys are very aggro and scared hubby 😂.  

Edited February 21, 2023 by Pushka

[CurlerRob]

12 minutes ago, Pushka said:

The Brisbane terminal has been closed temporarily for renovations. If it is missed they stop at Mooloolaba and having spent many a summer there, I'd much prefer. The current Neptune world cruise stopped there a couple of days ago. It's a holiday spot with fab beaches. If tender, just a walk from the wharf. A tourist wharf. Just a fun chill time.  No need to go to Brisbane.

 

You can certainly chill out at Benoa beach with lots of beach activities and large hotels. It's a tourist spot itself not a wharf . Lovely beach. No need to travel unless you want to. Bali traffic is horrible. And it's hot. Humid. Can just stay on the beach. Ubud is a long way to drive as is Kuta but no need at all to go there. We've been to Bali several times, went to Ubud once, the monkeys are very aggro and scared hubby 😂.  

 

Thanks for the update on Brisbane. On Bali, we greatly enjoyed Tanah Lot and Taman Ayun, but the driving was left to a coach driver (you couldn't pay me enough to take on that traffic)! No aggro simians, but can't say the same for the 7-year-olds outside the cruise terminal 😁.  🍺🥌

[SteelCity Cruiser]

11 hours ago, Pushka said:

Which ports were you looking at? Certainly the capital cities are covered as well as major tourist spots. The itinerary looks really good. Sydney main harbour. Melbourne main harbour. Perth - Fremantle which is excellent, probably the furthest out but very doable, Adelaide - 30 minute train or shuttle into the city, 50 minutes to the Barossa Valley,  Geraldton - tourist. Busselton - tourist. Albany - tourist. Burnie - tourist. Whitsunday Townsville Cairns - the former being a tender, the rest at port. Darwin - that's the city. 
 

You simply cannot cover all of Australia like this without flying multiple times and at significant cost. And loss of several days just in travel. 

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com.au/oceans/cruise-destinations/asia-australia/grand-australia-circumnavigation/index.html

Thanks for the link - took a look at it and I think it might not be the best for us after all, especially considering the pricing.  When we were there last month, we did Sydney (2 days), Cairns (3 days), Perth (3 days), Adelaide (2 days) and Ulura (2 days) over two weeks (you are right-lots of flights, but it was worth it). If I'm going back, there are some places I'd prefer to spend extended time visiting: Western Australia for one (so much to see and do there!). 

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Thanks for the update on Brisbane. On Bali, we greatly enjoyed Tanah Lot and Taman Ayun, but the driving was left to a coach driver (you couldn't pay me enough to take on that traffic)! No aggro simians, but can't say the same for the 7-year-olds outside the cruise terminal 😁.  🍺🥌

 

Rob - In addition to the closed Portside cruise terminal, they built a new International Cruise Terminal, at the mouth of the river. It is out by the end of the airport, so great for turnaround days, but not so good for in transit pax.

[zalusky]

We just most of the Australia loop on Oceania on a last minute booking.  Looking at the itinerary it's pretty must the same except they do not do the Penguin Parade stop at Philips Island.  I considered that one of the highlights.  The other thing Oceania was not able to provide was the camel excursion at Broome.  I see Viking is skipping that port altogether.  It's not clear to me what they are providing itinerary wise over the competition?

[LindaS272]

45 minutes ago, zalusky said:

It's not clear to me what they are providing itinerary wise over the competition?

A Viking ship and crew—that would do it for me. 😄

Edited February 21, 2023 by LindaS272

[zalusky]

14 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

A Viking ship and crew—that would do it for me. 😄

So itinerary and destination ports are not that important.

[KBs mum]

19 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

A Viking ship and crew—that would do it for me. 😄

They aren't as good as they were pre covid, the ship and hotel staff are as good, the food is as mediocre as usual, but customer service is worse, and the 'entertainment' is now loud and in the Explorer’s Lounge and Atrium all evening. Port stops seem to be cut or shortened more than before. 

We have gone from Viking as first choice, to Viking being an option. We don't cruise for every holiday, so we will likely just go land based independent more often

[LindaS272]

46 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

They aren't as good as they were pre covid, the ship and hotel staff are as good, the food is as mediocre as usual, but customer service is worse, and the 'entertainment' is now loud and in the Explorer’s Lounge and Atrium all evening. Port stops seem to be cut or shortened more than before. 

We have gone from Viking as first choice, to Viking being an option. We don't cruise for every holiday, so we will likely just go land based independent more often

You’re entitled to your opinion, but it’s not been my experience after Covid.

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, zalusky said:

So itinerary and destination ports are not that important.

I don’t cruise to “travel”, per se. I cruise to be pampered. If I’m not interested in the itineraries in a given year, we just do independent land-based trips.