Anyone taken HAL 5 day pre trip Australia?

[ZSandy25]

Taking HAL 2/16/08 cruise Aus./N.Z, has anyone taken the pre trip they offer which goes to Ayers Rock,Alice Springs, Cairns? We are doing this trek on our own following the same route and would welcome any advice, hotels that they booked you in etc. Thanks for any info you could provide, trip of a life time for us.

[STUR]

Taking HAL 2/16/08 cruise Aus./N.Z, has anyone taken the pre trip they offer which goes to Ayers Rock,Alice Springs, Cairns? We are doing this trek on our own following the same route and would welcome any advice, hotels that they booked you in etc. Thanks for any info you could provide, trip of a life time for us.

We are Booked on the Century Mercury January 20th,2008

We oppted to take the 5 night pre Tour offered by Celebrity Sydney / Ayers Rock 2 night / Cairns - Port Douglas 2 night

 

To book a tour about the same and after insurance cost was about $200 less money We felt more comfertable with the Cruise line .We have to leave the States 13th of January

 

STUR DAYTON,OHIO

[ZSandy25]

Thank's for your reply, do you have the names of Hotels they will be using? I have been in contact with a CC who is taking the trip but they do not have their doc. yet. I did the math and was able to do the trip on our own for about half of what HAL wanted for the same. If I could have come within $200 I would have gone the same way. Did the same when we went to Europe and had no problems and I feel pretty comfortable about the country we will be in.

I have all our flights lined up and am trying to lock in hotels, we know what we would like to do in each area.

Have a great trip....Sandy

[Aussie Gal]

ZSandy 24,

 

You will probably find that they will be staying at "Sails in the Desert" at Uluru which is the most expensive hotel there. In Alice Springs it will probably be the Crowne Plaza as that is the only 4 and a half star there.

 

Often the cruise packages are so much more expensive than doing it privately. I would just make sure that you arrive in plenty of time for the ship's departure. In fact I would plan to arrive back in Sydney the day or night before sailing to be on the safe side.

 

Remember it will be unbearably hot in the outback in February with lots of flies. Always go out with lots of water and try and buy a typical Australian hat that covers your entire face and has the corks hanging down to ward off the flies.

 

I hope you enjoy our country.

 

Jennie

[ZSandy25]

Jennie,

Thank you so much for your reply. We are so excited to visit your country it has always been a dream for us. We have all our flights lined up. We are also travelling to Cairns, do you have hotel recommendation there? We leave Cairns at 10:00 in the morning arriving Sydney 13:46, this is the day the ship sails. We are flying on Jetstar. Sail time is 6:30p.m.

This is the reason I wanted to follow the HAL group, not to be hanging on to them but know the ship will not sail without them if something comes up.

 

How far is the airport to the docks, travel time? We do have two days in Cairns so maybe flying in the evening before the ship sails is not a bad idea.

 

Also, we fly into Uluru first and then we need to get transportation to Alice Springs. What is the best means of travel to these spots? From Alice Springs we fly to Cairns and then back to Sydney.

 

Thanks for any info,

Sandy

[Aussie Gal]

Sandy,

 

Sydney airport is quite close to the city and yesterday we left our hotel which was very close to Circular Quay where your ship will be docked, at 9.40am and we were out at the airport by 10am. Of course we were going against the traffic and we did see hold ups for the traffic going into Sydney at that time.

 

I would definitely arrive back the night before if you can, as yesterday we were flying Qantas and our flight was cancelled (due to mechanical problems) and we had to take a later flight. Of course we were only flying to Melbourne and there are so many flights each day between the two cities so our flight was only 30 minutes later. I see that there are only two flights a day, one is at 6am and one at 10am. It is too big a risk to rely on the 10am flight. What happens if the flight is cancelled, you would miss the ship.

 

The distance between Uluru and Alice Springs is over 443km which is a 4-5 hour trip. There is a plane that flies between Uluru and Alice Springs and I would definitely look into that.

 

Here is a website which may be of help:

 

http://www.alicesprings.nt.gov.au/tourism/Uluru.asp#1

 

I don't have any recommendations for a hotel in Cairns as we always stay either at Port Douglas, Palm Cove or Trinity Beach when we are up there. Here is another website which may help in your decision of where to stay.

 

http://www.tropicalaustralia.com.au/

 

Hope this has been helpful.

 

Jennie

[Globaliser]

I would definitely arrive back the night before if you can, as yesterday we were flying Qantas and our flight was cancelled (due to mechanical problems) and we had to take a later flight. Of course we were only flying to Melbourne and there are so many flights each day between the two cities so our flight was only 30 minutes later. I see that there are only two flights a day, one is at 6am and one at 10am. It is too big a risk to rely on the 10am flight. What happens if the flight is cancelled, you would miss the ship.

I absolutely agree with this. The constant advice given on these boards is not to fly to the port on the day of embarkation, if you can avoid it. Most advice would be that flying into the port of embarkation at 2 pm on sailing day is akin to madness. For ZSandy25's itinerary, this is particularly so given the relatively small number of flights from Cairns to Sydney every day. It's not like there are easy alternative routes to get to Sydney should something happen to the originally-scheduled flight. And from time to time, a spell of bad weather somewhere in the country can mess up a lot of flights for a day. In addition, as you're flying on JetStar, the chances of them doing something unusual to re-accommodate you are probably rather smaller than if you'd opted to fly with Qantas, on whom at least there are some alternatives.

There is a plane that flies between Uluru and Alice Springs and I would definitely look into that.

The currently-posted schedule for February is: Uluru -> Alice Springs 1005-1050 (QF1940), Uluru -> Alice Springs 1245-1335 (QF1941). These flights operate every day.

[ZSandy25]

WOW, thank you both so much for your replies, I am taking your advice and flying back the day before we sail. I know if we were with the HAL group we would have no worries as the ship would wait but not for the two of us.

 

We decided to do this journey on our own and save $$$$ which we did (more than half). We are travelling so far and want to pack as much of the country in as possible but I would be sick if there was a delay getting back to Sydney. I know we will not be disappointed as there will be much to see and do in Sydney.

 

Have either of you done the dinner under the stars??? Do you think it is a good choice? How about the morning hot air balloon ride to see the sunrise?

 

We are so excited about this trip!!!! I can't say enough about the information I get from CC boards. We have met and still are in contact with people we have sailed with. Thanks again......Sandy

[tomtal]

Sandy - Hi,

We are also doing the land portion of our trip by ourselves and agree with you the money saved is quite a lot. We were going to do a hot air balloon trip in Cairns until someone mentioned 'insurance'. On looking at our policy, we find this is not covered (specifically mentioned), so being cowards we decided not to book it. This, of course, is a policy issued in the UK - yours may be different. Incidentally, we are doing the Sounds of Silence dinner in Ayres Rock so you may consider that also if you are going there.

[Aussie Gal]

Sandy,

 

I would definitely do the Dinner under the Stars, that is one of the highlights of going to Uluru. I would also do the Balloon ride if you have a chance.

 

I haven't been ballooning up in the Northern Territory but I have done it down here in our Yarra Valley and it is a most amazing experience. I imagine it would be even better up at Uluru as it would be just so peaceful and still at that time of the morning.

 

Go for it! You only live once.

 

Jennie

 

P.S. I am glad you have changed your booking, I would hate for something to go wrong before you board the ship. You will love Sydney anyhow.

[ZSandy25]

Hello,

We booked the dinner and will be skipping Alice Springs and flying up to Cairns, we will have one full day there and are packing it all in with a 10 hr. excursion which incompasses Kuranda Train, Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and then a 30 min. helicopter flight (something I swore I would never do again, husband is estatic) to the GBR at Hastings Reef, transfereed to a vessel for lunch and 2 hrs. to swim and snorkel, and then a sail back to Cairns....phew!!!

I'm already tired and excited. It will be our wedding anniversary 39yrs. this day 2/14, what a way to celebrate.

 

Next morning we are looking at a sunrise balloon ride w/breakfast and a trip to the airport before our trip back to Sydney. Thank's again for all your input and advise.

 

Sandy

[Aussie Gal]

Sandy,

 

A fantastic trip and a wonderful day up in Cairns and the GBR. Have a wonderful 39th wedding anniversary and enjoy every minute. :o

 

Jennie