Mercury/Australia..Worth it?

[Luxuriate]

I've been on at least four Celebrity cruises. It is hard for me to remember. My husband and I think Celebrity has been the best by far. Carnival...we won't even go there. That was not good.

 

Anyway, hubby is getting tired of cruising. (I can't believe it either!) He has promised me a cruise of my choice for a special occassion we have coming in 2008/2009. I want to make the best of my choice. I'm concerned that the Mercury is an older ship and I won't be happy. I think Australia would be awesome thought. We have done the Caribbean, Mexico, Panama Canal, and Europe. Some more than once. Frankly, he is more a Galopagos guy, very nature oriented. I like shopping, dancing, and dining. I know he would like a Galopagos cruise but hey, this is MY CRUISE CHOICE!

 

What do you think? Should I look elsewhere? Is cruising Australia any good?

 

I fear this may be my last cruise until I'm widowed, God forbid.

 

Cheryl

[adegner]

I was trying to evaluate this too.

 

Fortunately, my husband still LOVES to cruise, but he can't take the long jet flight. We looked at the flights to Aukland/Sydney and it is 12 hours from the west coast of the US. I live in Wisconsin, so that's another 3-4 hours. And the cost for the air is quite high too. The cost from Milwaukee to Aukland was $1900 PP (YIKES). (We decided to book another Transatlantic instead. The airfare is only $900 and we only have to "live" through a long flight one way - plus we have never been to Morrocco).

 

On the other hand - New Zealand would be AWESOME! I have always dreamed of the Southern Alps. It is supposed to be just BEAUTIFUL! What an adventure.

 

As far as taking Mercury. I would not worry about that in the LEAST! They will treat you just fine. I have not been on her since May of 2005, but she was in great condition then. Besides, it is the service on Celebrity that I go for. If the ship is a little old, so what?

 

Hope that helps.

[greeneg]

We're in kind of the same position, we're not worried about the ship, We've booked her for Mexico in January, but for us, the airfare is more than the cost of the cruise and that does make it a very significant bite.

 

We may try it at some time, but the cost of the flight and the time involved make it pretty much impractical right now.

 

I would say that the ship will be fine.

[chessbriar]

Look at my list of ships sailed. She is my second favorite behind only Summit

[idssms]

Is it worth it? The Mercury in Australia?

 

I think so, I put my money down on a b2b on the Mercury so indeed its worth it. At least until one of the M class ships start the service.

 

Maybe by 2008 the Mercury will go thru some sort of refurbishment like the Century did. There were rumors of that in May when I cruised it but no one knew exactly what would happen. They will get a specialty restaruant someday. Lets hope this occurs before Feb 2008!!

 

Don

[agabbymama]

Of course it's worth it! I've been to Australia twice (land & air). My husband used to say "we had more airtime than the Australian Air Force". We haven't made it to New Zealand yet. I would love to be able to do the cruise. But I have Canada/New England this year, and a 10 day Alaska Cruisetour next year. So it will be while before I could even think of the cruise to Australia/New Zealand. But I would sure love to win the Lotto so I could go. But we absolutely loved Australia. We've done Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Cairns, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Tasmania. After visiting in Cairns with an American couple that retired down there, we were all set to move!

 

Don't even think twice. Go For It!:D

[SheilaNC]

I'm with Don...we, too, booked B2B from Sydney to Auckland and Auckland to Honolulu. Note: we've been to Australia and to NZ twice. And I'm going to NZ later this year for work. AND we love it so much that we're doing the cruises in 2008. First, we now have, from booking, 20 months to save. Second, we will have a floating hotel that takes us back to some of our favorite places AND to some that we have never visited (Melbourne, Tasmania, Moorea, Bora Bora, etc.). Third, we will likely never get to do anything like this again. Fourth, we will have the join of dreaming and planning for the next now 19 months. Truthfully, we contemplated moving to NZ after our first trip but family kept us home in the US...it's an amazing country with such a variety of sights and the friendliest people we've ever met. Australia was almost as wonderful but, like the US, so large that we could only see a portion of it in the two weeks we were able to stay. I could go on but you get my drift...YES, it's worth it!!

 

Re: the long flight. Yes, it is long and annoying but most flights leave the west coast at night, so after dinner anda movie and with the help of a drink or mild sleeping pill, we got enough sleep that we didn't even take a night on arrival, but checked into our hotel, showered and were out and about in Sydney. For now we've booked with X air knowing that we've looked in rates and hoping that if we find a better fare, we can book it or maybe save enough FF points so that we only pay for one fare. Enough said....check out our very active Roll Calls and join in the enthusiasm! Or join us!!

[campingman]

Air Fare.

Im not sure if this helps with your Planning?

 

 

http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/us/specials/webDeals217

[Jimsgirl]

How did you find the cruise Sydney to NZ and then on to USA for 2008?

 

I have been trying to find advance notice of long cruises for wuite a while, I have read on the Princess board that the Sun is doing this type of cruise in 2008, but cannot find any info on that either.

 

My "enquiring mind wants to know". I am doing the Regal in Aug 2007 LA to Sydney ,but Sydney is the only port in Australia and only for dis embarkation.

The Regal then is leaving the Princess line so no hopw of a B2B on her.

 

Any one with any information please let me know , thank you

 

rafex1@earthlink.net

[SheilaNC]

Go to http://www.celebritycruises.com/home.do;jsessionid=0000BDR_lcx5jY8S0FbxWwzeo97:1051tg60i and click on Australia itineraries. The combination I mentioned is done only once...the last Sydney to Auckland combined with the first leg of a repositioning cruise (Auckland to Honolulu ) to bring Mercury back to the States.

[Drew B]

Go to http://www.celebritycruises.com/home.do;jsessionid=0000BDR_lcx5jY8S0FbxWwzeo97:1051tg60i and click on Australia itineraries. The combination I mentioned is done only once...the last Sydney to Auckland combined with the first leg of a repositioning cruise (Auckland to Honolulu ) to bring Mercury back to the States.

 

The repo going the other way looks amazing as well -- Hawaii to Auckland via Tahiti... How great would that be?

[SheilaNC]

Actually that's the reason we booked back to back...we already know that we love Oz and NZ, now we get to visit a part of the world that I've always dreamed of....wow!

[kit9172]

When I called for prices I asked for air also and was told the following. Air from Newark NJ to Sydney, board Mercury and cruise 14 days, then reboard and cruise to Hilo 15 days, then fly back to Newark and total price for inside cabin with air was 5100.00 for both of us. I thought this was a steal.

[SheilaNC]

I, too, thought the prices with air were good...especially since prices are likely to go up rather than down if the oil situation gets worse. So locking in today's prices seems like a good idea. Also can't book on your own for 2008 now.

[Leela]

Air New Zealand offers specials on their web site from time to time, so make sure you check there when looking for airfares.