Australia/New Zealand Cruisetour Info

[LittleFish1976]

On 3/31/2023 at 4:21 AM, KYBOB said:

How was the weather? I have read that January is the start of rainy season?

 

January is during summer here and Darwin and Cairns, being in the north of Australia, are tropical. January is during the monsoon season for Darwin.

 

[Worldtraveler 4727]

On 3/30/2023 at 1:10 PM, Princess Cruises Fann said:

We did the Ultimate Australia land tour in January 2023 before getting on the Majestic Princess for an Australia and New Zealand cruise. It was fantastic. 

Another couple and my husband and I are going on the Princess AU land tour the first week of Nov and then the cruise around NZ.

ANY and ALL info you would care to share would be so appreciated! For example,

Can you tell us if there were meals other than breakfasts included?

What was the Uluru Sunrise Tour like?

When you had "evening at leisure" what did you do?

Anything you'd care to share would be wonderful.

Thank you!

[Princess Cruises Fann]

On 4/18/2023 at 9:38 AM, Worldtraveler 4727 said:

Another couple and my husband and I are going on the Princess AU land tour the first week of Nov and then the cruise around NZ.

ANY and ALL info you would care to share would be so appreciated! For example,

Can you tell us if there were meals other than breakfasts included?

What was the Uluru Sunrise Tour like?

When you had "evening at leisure" what did you do?

Anything you'd care to share would be wonderful.

Thank you!

There was usually one additional meal included each day besides breakfast. It was often lunch, but we had a couple of dinners included on the trip.

 

The Uluru sunrise tour was spectacular. You did have to get up early to get there before the sunrise. You will want to get netting for your face/head, but there will be a stop at a gas station to purchase those. We also had a sunset tour of Uluru the night before, which was also nice and included food and drinks. Attached is a picture I took of Uluru at sunrise. 

 

The evening leisure days usually encompassed exploring the city we were in and finding a nice place to eat dinner. Since it was also pretty hot, we did spend some time in the pool at the various hotels in the evening. 

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Thank you for the added information and the beautiful photo!

[KYBOB]

Yes thank you for the information and photo. Since the question was raised how was the luggage handled? Were the planes regular commercial flights or charter? Just trying to figure out how to pack. 
 

 

[zukecruiser]

Thanks for the information.  Will help on our Cruisetour in Oct/Nov this year.

[Princess Cruises Fann]

On 4/22/2023 at 7:35 AM, KYBOB said:

Yes thank you for the information and photo. Since the question was raised how was the luggage handled? Were the planes regular commercial flights or charter? Just trying to figure out how to pack. 
 

 

It was regular commercial planes. You were able to have one checked bag and one carryon bag. At most of the airports, we were at the group area for Qantas where we dropped off our bags and got our airline tickets. At the smaller airports, we checked our bag and got our ticket at the counter. Even then, most of the time our guides tried to get our tickets ahead of time and handed them out so we didn't have to stand in the general public line. 

[KYBOB]

Thank you so much for this information!!

 

It is much appreciated! 

[cleoruby]

Do we tip the hotel porters and tour guides as we would in the states?  The tipping in Australia is confusing to me.

[SDWalt]

Are all the flights Economy seats?  Is there an option by Princess to upgrade to Business class??

Edited June 10, 2023 by SDWalt

[KYBOB]

13 minutes ago, SDWalt said:

Are all the flights Economy seats?  Is there an option by Princess to upgrade to Business class??

I have wondered the same thing. But in looking at some of the flight times it looks to be about 2 hour flights so not to bad to be in economy. 

[charliedalrymple]

On 5/4/2023 at 5:00 AM, cleoruby said:

Do we tip the hotel porters and tour guides as we would in the states?  The tipping in Australia is confusing to me.

 

You wouldn't tip porters in Australia (or waiters, taxi drivers, hairdressers, manicurists, etc.).  Tour guides wouldn't necessarily expect it, but I would tip them if you spend a day or more with them and their services are good.