Celebrity in OZ/NZ?

[turtlemichael]

There is talk on the Celebrity board of one of their ships, probably Mercury, being in Australia/New Zealand late 2007/early 2008. The thread is headed May 11th Announcement which is apparently the date an announcement is expected. :)

[cands]

There is talk on the Celebrity board of one of their ships, probably Mercury, being in Australia/New Zealand late 2007/early 2008. The thread is headed May 11th Announcement which is apparently the date an announcement is expected. :)

 

Michael,

That's good news. Gives us more choice close to home. I hope they do some different ports to Princess and Holland America.

 

Cheers,

Steve.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Michael,That's good news. Gives us more choice close to home. I hope they do some different ports to Princess and Holland America.

Cheers,Steve.

 

 

Hi Steve,

The ports will probably be the same as HAL.I Checked a few of the smaller port schedules and Napier,Dunedin ,Hobart and Melbourne have Mercury booked in.Calls down here are a bit limited by the facilities available unless they tender ashore.It would be nice to see them call at the Bay of Islands though.

[turtlemichael]

Hi Steve,

The ports will probably be the same as HAL.I Checked a few of the smaller port schedules and Napier,Dunedin ,Hobart and Melbourne have Mercury booked in.Calls down here are a bit limited by the facilities available unless they tender ashore.It would be nice to see them call at the Bay of Islands though.

 

I have to say that for me itineraries that just go down the Australian coast from Sydney and up the NZ coast to Auckland,and vice versa, with various ports on the way, will be a little disappointing. For others of course it may be the trip of a lifetime. What's your view Kiwi Kruzer - are the port bookings throughout the period?

 

I'd much rather see Celebrity come up with more varied itineraries which include some of the Pacific Islands and South East Asia. If they are here for 3-4 months all that is possible at least for some of the voyages. I accept that some of the Pacific Islands would have difficulty coping with 1800 cruisers, even with tendering. It just seems to me that as this has been a long time coming it would be great to see at least some innovation. We shall see soon enough but its fun anticipating and telling Celebrity how to run its business!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I have to say that for me itineraries that just go down the Australian coast from Sydney and up the NZ coast to Auckland,and vice versa, with various ports on the way, will be a little disappointing. For others of course it may be the trip of a lifetime. What's your view Kiwi Kruzer - are the port bookings throughout the period?

 

 

Michael,

For us the ports may be disappointing,(having been there done that),but "they" have to make it worth while for Americans to undertake a long flight both ways ,and so plan the cruises to give them both Australia and New Zealand,with the options of pre and post cruise tours to see even more of our countries.

I think it would be great if one of the lines did a Honolulu/Sydney run,say a 10/12 day cruise through the islands which they repeated back and forth during our summer. Both ports have all the infrastructure to handle turnaround days and both offer excellent pre/post cruise stays.

I have done the Au/NZ cruise 4 times now on 4 different ships,Regal Princess,Legend of the Seas,Star Princess and Statendam,but for me the ship has been the destination rather than the ports.Looks like number 5 might be coming up on Mercury!!!!!!

[turtlemichael]

Yes David, a regular Sydney/Honolulu would be great. Very attractive to me.

 

I can't see the ship being the destination for most Americans as they could certainly do that quicker and cheaper closer to home. For many Aussies and Kiwis who have visited many of the "standard" NZ and Aus ports, that might be the case. For me, the ports are the reason plus being on a great ship. I'll plan out Mercury's total itinerary and send it off to Celebrity to help them out!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Make sure you plan a cruise for them up to Cairns and The Great Barrier Reef.

The new terminal in Brisbane will under way then as well!!!

[turtlemichael]

Unfortunately, its not the best time of year for the North because of marine stingers near the beaches (though not at the reef) and the risk of cyclones. And we like to have one time of year without too many tourists!

[Onessa]

As someone who has already spent some time in New Zeeland and whose current desire is to see Aus - are there any lines that have a Aus-only itinerary?

 

I loved NZ, but I'm looking for just Aus right now.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

P&O Australia ships,Pacific Sun,Star and soon to arrive Dawn cruise to the Pacific Islands,but now and again do a coastal cruise up to Cairns and back from Sydney.Pacific Princess comes down here for 6 months each year and this season is doing 2 Circumnavigation cruises around Australia.They will be 28 day cruises but you will see more of Australia than most Australians have seen.Here is the link to the P&O site.......

 

http://www.pocruises.com.au/html/

[aussie52]

We are doing a 7 night cruise on a small ship from Cairns to Tip of Cape York in October which explores the Great Barrier Reef. There are also Australia only cruises across the top of Australia Darwin to Broome and also cruises that circumnavigate Australia (28 days I think).