Earlier Flight home from Sydney - Too Risky?

[Muffinz]

We're on a Princess cruise that docks / disembarks in Sydney on 26 December 2024 at 0630

We've managed to get a really good airfare going to Sydney from Auckland 2 days before the cruise starts and we are now debating which return flight to get.

The flights at the best times (later in the day) are on the smaller A321NEO planes (both Air NZ & Qantas), and we'd prefer to fly on a larger 777 or similar 

 

There is an Air NZ flight that leaves Sydney at 11:45am on a 777-300ER, but would this flight be too risky to make?

 

Passengers can apparently 'self disembark' the cruise ship with their own luggage at 0630, so if we did this and got to the Circular Quay Train station at say 7am, then we'd probably be at the Airport by around 8am and have plenty of time to make that flight.

 

The only problem could be if there are any issues with the ship docking or if it arrives late into Sydney..... 

 

We're in 2 minds about this - part of me wants to book the earlier flight, so we can get back to Auckland earlier.... but part of me doesn't want to risk it

[MicCanberra]

It is a risk, perhaps have insurance and also a back up plan.

[icat2000]

Your not going to make that flight. If it was domestic yes. I've managed to get a flight to Melbourne at 9.30 am.

 

But international I wouldn't be taking the risk.  

 

My questions are is the cruise a domestic Australian cruise or is it a South Pacific/NZ one (if so you have to factor in customs). Also just because it docks at 6.30 am they still got to wait for clearance and sometimes not everything runs to plan. What happens if its a rough coming in throug the heads. That potential delay factor too.

 

I would book a flight that departs 1pm for NZ to be safe. 

Edited February 27 by icat2000

[Muffinz]

Just now, icat2000 said:

Your not going to make that flight. If it was domestic yes. But international no. 

 

My questions are is the cruise a domestic Australian cruise or is it a South Pacific/NZ one (if so you have to factor in customs). Also just because it docks at 6.30 am they still got to wait for clearance and sometimes not everything runs to plan. What happens if its a rough coming in throug the heads. That potential delay factor too.

 

I would book a flight that departs 1pm for NZ to be safe. 

thanks - the cruise is Sydney to Sydney (around South Australia) so customs won't be an issue

But yes.... being delayed could cause a problem

 

I'd prefer a later flight myself, but they are on the smaller A321 planes, and last time we flew international on one of those planes it rattled like buggery for most of the flight.... and really put us off... but we might just have to suck it up

[SinbadThePorter]

I'll give the optimistic answer.

 

If the ship arrives on time.

If you can disembark by 7:30am.

If you can get to Circular Quay station with all your luggage by 8:00am.

You will get to Sydney Airport International train station before 8:30am.

Then you can check luggage, pass security and find your lounge, probably before 9:30am.

Then you pull out your book and have a read for 2 hours.

 

The choice (as with the risk) is yours.

[JohnGc]

I look at it from my point of view and that is you are going on a nice cruise from Sydney and returning, the question is are you going to enjoy the cruise knowing that you have a tight schedule on returning. This personally would be on my mind. Without doubt I would give myself plenty of time to arrive at the airport. I have often disembarked way to early for my flight and managed to spend a pleasant time around the harbour and allowing plenty of time to catch the train to the airport. Stress and I do not go well together.

 

Cheers John.

Edited February 27 by JohnGc

[possum52]

Is it possible to stay overnight in Sydney and fly home the next day? No stress and it doesn't matter what time you disembark. Spend a nice leisurely day without worrying if you will make it to the airport in time.

[Muffinz]

2 hours ago, possum52 said:

Is it possible to stay overnight in Sydney and fly home the next day? No stress and it doesn't matter what time you disembark. Spend a nice leisurely day without worrying if you will make it to the airport in time.

Unfortunately We've only been able to get a certain amount of time off work and we're both going back to work on 27 December..... anyway if we did stay overnight in Sydney we'd have to fork out about $400-$500 AUD for a nights accommodation...

We're already staying in Sydney 2 nights before the cruise (hotel yet to be decided)

 

I think we're probably going to get the 1:45pm flight back to Auckland just to be safe

[cruiser3775]

I think you are wise to take the 1.45pm flight.  And don't worry about the "smaller" aircraft. It's not actually that small, and  aviation safety laws in Australia and NZ are very strict, so it certainly won't be less safe. It's only a 3 hour flight you are talking about,  not a 13 hour transpacific to US flight.

[robncruise]

Why not check out Princess EZAir.  They show flights Sydney - Akld from as early as 9.30 am for a cruise arriving in Sydney on 26 Dec.  The beauty of using EZ Air is if the ship is late arriving Princess will reschedule flights for you.   Also their transfer from OPT to the airport at 29AUD is quite reasonable  for singles/ couples .

[Muffinz]

2 hours ago, robncruise said:

Why not check out Princess EZAir.  They show flights Sydney - Akld from as early as 9.30 am for a cruise arriving in Sydney on 26 Dec.  The beauty of using EZ Air is if the ship is late arriving Princess will reschedule flights for you.   Also their transfer from OPT to the airport at 29AUD is quite reasonable  for singles/ couples .

thanks - I don't know anything about EZ air.... I assume they are flights organised by Princess on the regular carriers that fly between Sydney and Auckland?

 

is that $29 per person or couple because if it is per couple than that would work out cheaper than the train

[lyndarra]

11 hours ago, Muffinz said:

Unfortunately We've only been able to get a certain amount of time off work and we're both going back to work on 27 December..... anyway if we did stay overnight in Sydney we'd have to fork out about $400-$500 AUD for a nights accommodation...

We're already staying in Sydney 2 nights before the cruise (hotel yet to be decided)

 

I think we're probably going to get the 1:45pm flight back to Auckland just to be safe

CKS Sydney airport hotel shows a double king room for $152 (Booking.com) for Dec 26. They run a shuttle to the airport. I've stayed there many times pre international flights,

[Muffinz]

7 hours ago, lyndarra said:

CKS Sydney airport hotel shows a double king room for $152 (Booking.com) for Dec 26. They run a shuttle to the airport. I've stayed there many times pre international flights,

thanks for that - it's good to know

but I think for this time we will opt for a later flight in the afternoon

[robncruise]

21 hours ago, Muffinz said:

thanks - I don't know anything about EZ air.... I assume they are flights organised by Princess on the regular carriers that fly between Sydney and Auckland?

 

is that $29 per person or couple because if it is per couple than that would work out cheaper than the train

Yes EZ air is Princess acting as a travel agent for many of the airlines if you look at any cruise underneath where it says book now it says itinerary, shore excursions, flight quotes . what flights are available in the cruise personaliser. I would recommend you read a up about EZ Air . Sometimes (not often) they are cheaper than direct with the airlines. They have restricted  and flexible airfares. Flexible are usually more expensive but the advantage is you dont pay until final payment of the cruise AND you can cancel/ change up to 45 days before departure. There are a no of other benefits too.

[Muffinz]

5 minutes ago, robncruise said:

Yes EZ air is Princess acting as a travel agent for many of the airlines if you look at any cruise underneath where it says book now it says itinerary, shore excursions, flight quotes . what flights are available in the cruise personaliser. I would recommend you read a up about EZ Air . Sometimes (not often) they are cheaper than direct with the airlines. They have restricted  and flexible airfares. Flexible are usually more expensive but the advantage is you dont pay until final payment of the cruise AND you can cancel/ change up to 45 days before departure. There are a no of other benefits too.

Yes - I had a look at EZ air and they bought up the same flights we've already looked at, and they were more expensive than booking direct with the airlines

[rkmw]

11 hours ago, Muffinz said:

Yes - I had a look at EZ air and they bought up the same flights we've already looked at, and they were more expensive than booking direct with the airlines

The Coral P4incess came in yesterday (Thursday) and they started disembarking passengers at 6.30, but doesn’t always happen 

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 2/28/2024 at 9:14 PM, Muffinz said:

thanks - I don't know anything about EZ air.... I assume they are flights organised by Princess on the regular carriers that fly between Sydney and Auckland?

 

is that $29 per person or couple because if it is per couple than that would work out cheaper than the train

Go into the Personalizer and have a look under Flights. They often have some very good deals especially for one way flights. Pre-Covid I had a repositioning cruise up to Japan booked and was able to get a one way business class fare for under $700 with China Airlines via Taiwan. I think the Qantas fare was well over $2000. Unfortunately Covid cancelled that trip. However I used the HAL equivalent to book a one way business class fare to NZ in December 2022 for just under $1000pp. Qantas wanted over $1000 for a one way economy class fare! Same plane, same flight, operated by LATAM. We had a great flight.

[resordanis]

13 hours ago, rkmw said:

The Coral P4incess came in yesterday (Thursday) and they started disembarking passengers at 6.30, but doesn’t always happen 

Same with us today Bob, very early before 6.30am, but doesn’t always happen.

[rkmw]

25 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Same with us today Bob, very early before 6.30am, but doesn’t always happen.

Cheryle I was at the airport at 7.45 and that was getting the train to Mascot station then the bus to the airport 

Edited March 1 by rkmw

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, rkmw said:

Cheryle I was at the airport at 7.45 and that was getting the train to Mascot station then the bus to the airport 

Sorry, I didn't know you were aboard.

 

For Coral it was domestic though, so much less clearance required than a cruise arriving from a foreign port. 

 

We had a leisurely breakfast and disembark and were comfortably at Central for an 8:15 train home. It was a good day. On a good day an 11:45 flight is a breeze - but not all days are good days.

 

Re EZ Air, we have used from time to time. We like that payment isn't upfront, but am not a fan of having to wait to select seats. On any given day, fares are usually much of a muchness with booking direct. It is nice to have the assurance, but there was a time when it wouldn't allow us to choose an same day AM flight home.

[sciencewonk]

It won't take long to get to the airport by train.  The trip is 20 minutes and trains run from Circular Quay every 15 minutes or so.  If you disembark early enough you should probably make your flight. 

 

The biggest risk is the security line.  I think my average time in line is about 30 to 45 minutes, but it's been faster and it's been slower.  I always have business class tickets.  If you are flying economy, you might have to add 15 to 30 minutes to my estimate.

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, sciencewonk said:

 

The biggest risk is the security line.  I think my average time in line is about 30 to 45 minutes, but it's been faster and it's been slower.  I always have business class tickets.  If you are flying economy, you might have to add 15 to 30 minutes to my estimate.

As long as their system is working! We got caught last November when they were having system issues. We were in the queue for at least an hour, with two system reboots, before we both got through! We were flying business class but they gave up trying to prioritise business class passengers in the end. Luckily we'd arrived at the airport fairly early as we just had enough time to duck into the lounge for a comfort stop and a drink of water before we had to board our flight. 

Edited March 3 by OzKiwiJJ

[cruisevac4]

I was on a R/T Sydney cruise to Australia last month.  At our last port, the ship decided to make repairs but were unable to complete them prior to the scheduled departure time.  They were waiting for parts.  We ended up leaving 8 hours late.  I had a 2:00pm flight and I was worried we would have trouble making it.  Fortunately, we made up all of the 8 hours and docked at 7:00am.

[Muffinz]

We've booked our return flight - on Qantas..... they had a special on and we splurged out for business class

Only problem is the flight is 5:45pm and we'll probably be off the ship by about 9am, so we'll have a few hours to kill before we need to go to the airport.

 

I've found a luggage storage place called 'bounce' in circular quay - does anyone have any experience using them? I'll need to check they are open on 26 December too

[cruiser3775]

Yes I have used Bounce. Best to book, because sometimes they reach capacity when a cruise ship is in.