Auckland to Sydney ??

[mochuck]

We're booked the aisle and window seats of a three seat row for our flights on Air New Zealand. Our hope is that the plane will not fill up and no one, in their right mind, would choose the middle seat. Downside is that it will be taken but we thought we could negotiate with whoever has it to either move to the window or aisle. It's a gamble, but we thought we'd give it a try.

 

I wouldn't bank on the flight not being full, but you shouldn't have any problems asking someone to take the aisle or the window.

[Globaliser]

And my hope here is that is an offer I won't have to make.

Don't get your hopes up very high. Think of it as a lottery win if you find you don't have to make that offer.

[Kathie44]

Syl, we did the flights through Celebrity because for us it's just easier. It seems from what I've seen and heard from others the price is not significantly different for those who did their own. We were not told we might lose the Quantas seats. :eek: All the flights were arranged in March.

I just went back and looked at the e-mail info from our TA and we go home also through Chicago, not Cincy. Except for the AKL to LAX all the other flights are United.

I hope we get to Syd. on time so we have that day for sightseeing. In any case, I won't have to worry about missing the ship.

With the pre-stay, cruise and flight home, I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other. :)

[BabySis]

I'm biased but you really need to stay at least a few days in Sydney.

It would be a pity to be in one of the most beautiful harbours in the world and not see it.

 

Have a look at this website for flight info. It's very informative.

 

http://www.seatguru.com/

sayaguru, we are sailing Celebrity Feb 1, 2009... never too early to start planning. Just exactly what in Sydney should we NOT miss with only 48 hours pre-cruise time??

[Globaliser]

I tried to get our seats thru Qantas--well we have them but--they told me they might be taken away--not sure why..but I guess you can't fight it...

We were not told we might lose the Quantas seats.

Every airline that pre-allocates seats will reserve the right to re-allocate seats at any time. If you're expressly warned by Qantas (which has no "u" in its name ;)) it's only because of this, not because they positively plan to take your allocated seats away from you.

[kehlx2]

Syl, we did the flights through Celebrity because for us it's just easier. It seems from what I've seen and heard from others the price is not significantly different for those who did their own. We were not told we might lose the Quantas seats. :eek: All the flights were arranged in March.

I just went back and looked at the e-mail info from our TA and we go home also through Chicago, not Cincy. Except for the AKL to LAX all the other flights are United.

I hope we get to Syd. on time so we have that day for sightseeing. In any case, I won't have to worry about missing the ship.

With the pre-stay, cruise and flight home, I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other. :)

 

We are at different hotels than you tho...yes I thought it strange when they told me I might lose those seats--thought it sounded pretty tacking...we also got thru X--as anything I could find was double for each of us--so X prices in this case were good..but now of course they have gone up. We leave Minneapolis using NW

I hope you are not having any problems with flooding?? we sure have been having the storms--rain & lots of thunder lightening..again tonight too...we use 2 sump pumps...they are running..oonce they start running we just hope we don't lose power--we've had to scoop & dump before..not fun--but we have also had water in our basement 3 times..but only ankle deep when we catch it..right now wouldn't be good-Tom's PC is on the floor--the hard drive anyway.

[Kathie44]

Syl, fortunately we are not in a flood zone. We occasionally have minor leaks in the basement here, no basement at the lake and the sump pump keeps the crawl space dry. The rain has helped to bring up the lower-than-usual lake and lagoon water level, though. The worst flooding has been 3 hrs north of Dayton.

Yours has been "...only ankle deep"? :eek: Sounds pretty bad to me!

The time has been flying by. I can't believe it's almost Labor Day already.

I guess we are having fun, as the saying goes. Jan. will be here in a flash. :)

[ozland]

sayaguru, we are sailing Celebrity Feb 1, 2009... never too early to start planning. Just exactly what in Sydney should we NOT miss with only 48 hours pre-cruise time??

 

Hi BabySis.......from a fellow Tulsan (originally from Sydney). :)

 

Here's a link for you (in case you haven't already seen it). Lots of things to do in Sydney!

 

http://www.sydney.com.au/index.htm

[mes531]

Three weeks back from Europe.

 

We flew over Qantas and had the first of the 2 seater rows. Lots of room to stow things between the seat and the window but of course you cannot put a pillow against the window to sleep. Paula had the window seat but it might have been better if I had it as you can twist around and have a lot more legroom. (Paula 5 foot nothing, me 6 foot plus). Good thing was the armrest in the middle folded up so we averaged out our space and both had enough room. Yes there is more movement when it is turbulent, it does take longer to get of at the transit stop and the end but a good set of seats to get. You must get in early however to get it allocated. Flight July 5th and I was able to get the allocation back in September for the flight over but it was already booked for the flight home.

On the way home we got the bulkhead seats. Yes a bit more legroom but still not enough for someone of my height. Sometimes I stuck my feet through the side of the curtain when the cabin had settled down but it appears business class is very sensitive about encroachments into their toilet area and every time I got confortable and almost asleep somebody would walk the extra pace when going to the toilet just to kick my economy class feet. Positive - we were off the plane quickly at Hong Kong and Melbourne. Neagtive - no lifting armrest so a squeeze for me, 3 seats and window seat taken by the single (smelly bare feet and all), the knob to release the TV monitor is badly placed and it has taken 3 weeks for the deep bruising to clear up on my thigh.

 

But as we were on the way home a seat out on the wing would have been just as good.

 

My recomendation would be to book as early as possible ( Qantas now allow early booking without having to pay the full amount) and try to get the double seats at the back.

 

David

Glad for your info - we booked early and were told by the booking agent that these were the best seats to have...so we have them on all our flights. I hate to have someome climb over me, and I hate to feel that I am locked in and have to climb over someone! Thanks.....;)

[SelectSys]

... we would rather have more trips in Economy than only one a year in Business ...

 

My perspective entirely! I can't see paying 10x for something that I can reasonably endure although LAX - SYD really pushes my limit in economy.

 

I am really hoping that Jetstar makes it to LA and we get a reasonably priced premium economy service. I also understand that Virgin Blue has ordered some long haul aircraft to fly to the US (probably SFO).

[boards]

We the advise of someone and booked the seats in the back rows on Qantas and they were great. I don't remember if I thanked them or not, but I will now.

[beaver]

I'm biased but you really need to stay at least a few days in Sydney.

It would be a pity to be in one of the most beautiful harbours in the world and not see it.

 

Have a look at this website for flight info. It's very informative.

 

http://www.seatguru.com/

 

 

This site will be very useful

[mipps]

seatguru is now firmly in my bookmarks

 

:)

[ciera123]

We were on the Sapphire Princess Auckland to Sydney March 12, 2007 and it was wonderful. I would definately travel a day earlier and stay all night in Auckland. We also stayed in Sydney for 3 nights before traveling home and it was great. The Tasman sea was quite rough crossing from Fjordland National Park to Tasmania. We've sailed quite a bit and had some very rough seas, but never that rough. If you are prone to seasickness, this stretch of the cruise could be a challenge, though I've heard from others that the seas were calmer when they crossed.

[boards]

We were on the Statendam last Nov/Dec. and did much the same. Two nights in Auckland, stayed at the Langham and then 6 days in Sydney at the Crown Plaza. Our cruise across the Tasman Sea was a little rough and it upset a few including DW. The whole cruise and all the ports were great. We want to do it again and stay longer in either one of the two countries.

[Lobbylin]

Wow - you are on the same wave length as us! I think we are following you around the world!!! We are doing Auckland to Sydney 2/14/08 and then Venice to Rome on 10/29/08 You will have to let me know about your favorite parts of each trip when you return and clue us in as to what is best!!

 

Mes531

 

Small world! - we are doing Celebrity Mercury Syd to Auckland 23rd Dec 07, then Grand Princess Venice to Rome 23rd Sep 08.

 

Email me a reminder and I'll let you know how what we thought!:)

linda.backwith@yahoo.co.uk

[editor@cruisecritic]

Cruising from Auckland to Sydney (and vice versa) is an awesome experience -- we took a cruise last year on HAL's Statendam and I wrote a virtual about the experience. It's here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/virtual/virtual.cfm?ID=17. It's a day-by-day recounting of what we saw.

One caveat -- due to a weird schedule, we flew in to Auckland, spent a few days there (enjoyed it immensely), then flew down to Christchurch to meet the ship there. So we didn't get to see Wellington.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions. The flights weren't bad -- and I hate to fly. We flew Air New Zealand out of SFO, nice new plane, clean, seatback televisions even in coach. Flew back on Qantas...funny the longer flights are less...bothersome to me for some reason than the moderately long ones. I don't recall being bored or itchy or anything.

Great trip and hopefully not just a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Best,

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic