8 day Princess PreCruise Tour 1/26-2/2

[Red Rox]

I better post this review while it's still fresh in my mind...

Our flight from PHX and connection in SF and on to Sydney was all on time. That was the case for about 75% of the 80 people on our 8 day (Princess Tour #6) precruise tour of Australia. We were divided into two groups (A&B) for our coach tours, and staggering the airport checkin processes. Our group (B) was lead by Peter McCredie, who was absolutely delightful. Group A had Gregg Williams who was also very enjoyable. My party consisted of 3 couples from Sedona AZ. It seemed as though almost half of our group B had roots in AZ so we had some commonality and bonding was easy.

We arrived early in the morning on Saturday January 26th which was coincidentally Australia Day. Since it was a national holiday the city was jammed but we were checked in at the Amora Jamison Hotel by about 11AM and had plenty of free time to explore on our own for the day. We chose to take the Harbour Ferry out to Manley. It couldn't have been more exciting. We found ourselves in the middle of the boat parade as it passed under the Harbour Bridge. There were hundreds of vessels from tiny outboards and sailing boats to mega yachts and huge tall ships. It was a traveling party on the water.

The ride takes about 1/2 hour and you get a good look at Sydney Harbour without all of the minutia and narrative that you can get on a 'Harbour Tour'. We were more interested in getting to the destination at Manley and it was OK to miss the narrative because we got it all the next day on our 1/2 day 'City Tour'.

Manley was busy as well. We walked out to the beach where we observed a variety of holiday competions taking place. We found a place to have lunch and a few beers while we did some people watching and tried to get over the 20+ hours of travel that we had all just experienced. Since it was a late lunch we weren't hungry again for dinner when we returned by ferry to the city. We had a mandatory orientation gathering that evening that included plenty of cocktails and nibbles. Some of us chose to reire early that night and some of us were able to walk over to Darling Harbour and watch the multiple fireworks displays before going back to bed for the night.

Breakfast was provided the next morning at the hotel and was the first of many 'better than expected' breakfast meals that we received each day. Our half day city tour was interesting and informative and had us on and off the bus enough that we didn't feel trapped and everyone agreed that it was more enjoyable than we had expected it to be. It included a stop at Bondi Beach where we were able to strip down/change into beach attire and wade or swim in the surf. There was also time for a beverage and/or shopping. The tour was also a good time to get acquainted and bond with some of our fellow travelers. We had a fun group and made many new friends in that week. The afternoon was more free time and we chose to explore the markets in The Rocks since it was the traditional Sunday street fair and still the holiday weekend. We had lunch at a German Restaurant that was busy but good.The name that was printed on my receipt says Lowenbrau Keller.

For dinner that night the concierge at the hotel suggested that the Waterfront Restaurant would be better than Doyles for seafood, so we took his advice and tried it. It was OK but not great, fairly expensive (like most of Sydney) but a great location right under the bridge.

We were up the next morning and after another great breakfast we were off to the Red Center (Uluru). Our travel time was about 4 hours including the bus to the airport and flight time. This was one place where we had made a change from the planned schedule. Our Princess tour included an afternoon on the bus to see the Olgas and Ayres Rock followed by cocktails at sunset and dinner on our own with accomodations at Sails in the Desert Hotel. It's the nicest hotel at Ayres Rock, and while adequate, not exactly luxurious. We instead rented a vehicle and toured the park on our own so that we could be back in time for the Sounds of Silence Dinner that we had booked on our own. We enjoyed the park, and the Aborigini Cultural Center was interesting, but I must admit that, coming from Sedona, the scenery was perhaps less impressive to us than it might have been for others. Sadly, the Sounds of Silence was cancelled that night due to high winds and thunderstorms in the area. We were very disappointed, but found a good meal at the local restaurant at the resort.

Tuesday found us traveling again. After breakfast we took the short ride to the airport and flew to Alice Springs where we changed planes and flew to Darwin. The bus met us and after a short delay where we had to handle our own luggage due to some kind of labor dispute by the local airport service people, we took the long ride down to Kakadu Park. The highlight of the day was to be a hike at the site of Aboriginal Rock Paintings, but a sudden rainstorm prevented us from seeing the artwork. Instead we were transported to our accomodations the Gagudju Crocodile Hotel. The day was kind of a bust, but it did include a dinner that night (provided in the package) where we sampled many local dishes including crocodile and baramundi. It helped to make up for the disappointment of missing the rock paintings.

And the next morning was indeed one of the highlights of the week. We were taken on a river tour where we observed all kinds of birds and wildlife including up close sightings and interaction with several large crocs, all in their natural environment. After a great morning trip, we took the long bus ride back to the city of Darwin where we had time at the local museum that featured artwork, historical archives and plant and wildlife displays. We spent the night at a very nice Crown Plaza hotel and found a fun Irish Pub (Shenanigans) for dinner with several of our new friends.

The next day was the longest one. Due to time zone differences and flight times, we had to get up at 4AM to catch a 6AM flight to Cairns. We arrived there and were taken to the SkyRail to Kuranda. We rode the gondolas above the rainforest and found ourselves in the funky mountain village of Kuranda where we had time to see more animals (including koalas, kangaroos and wombats) and shop and enjoy some local fare for lunch. The meat pies at Annabelle's were a must. From there we were transported up the shore to Port Douglas. The Sheraton Mirage Hotel was our home for the next 2 nights, and Port Douglas was the nicest places that we visited all week, apart from Sydney. Dinner that night was an included buffet at the resort that was outstanding to say the least. It offered all kinds of great food and deserts and most of us took advatage of the $22 wine package that included several varieties of local wines and champagnes, for as much as you cared to consume.

The next morning was another breakfast extravaganza and then we were taken to the marina where we boarded a catamaran and were taken out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a classy operation and after a 90 minute boat ride, we had about 4 hours to spend at the company's pontoon base at the reef. Included activities featured snorkling, a semisubmersible glass bottomed boat trip, scuba diving (for those who are certified) a (mediocre) buffet lunch, and optional helicopter flights. The weather was excellent and this day was another highlight of the week.

Dinner was on our own again that night and a group of us went to the Salsa Bar & Grill. I highly recommend this place. Reservations are a must.

Our last day had us returning to Cairns and flying back to Sydney to embark on the Sapphire Princess. We said goodbye to Peter and Gregg and boarded the ship. The luggage that we had left behind in Sydney was waiting for us in our staterooms and we were finally able to unpack for our cruise.

In conclusion, I think we all agreed that the tour was a definite enhancement to our vacation experience. Australia is a huge country and we only saw a few of the highlights, but we saw and learned a tremendous amount in just a week. The tour was well managed and the accomodations were pretty much the best that were available at the various locations. Provided meals exceeded our expectations. It was a bit of a whirlwind, and as such, I would personally choose to do a tour like this before, rather than after, the cruise. I also have to add that I found a lot of valuable information in my research at cruisecritic and tripadvisor, and our trip was enhanced because of what I learned at those sites.

I'll post a seperate review of the cruise portion of the trip. Feel free to comment or ask questions about anything that I've reported here.

[margord]

Thanks so much for the info on the land tour in Australia. I wish more people would post on these trips. It was really interesting and helpful. We plan on going on our cruise next Feb 09. We are doing the Great Barrier Reef portion of the land tour.

[Dorset Cruiser]

Thanks for all the information. You have really rekindled my desire to go back down under. We only had three days in Sydney post cruise but really enjoyed it. Your review has given me lots of ideas for when we go back again.:D

[susierailroad]

Red Rox:

 

I found your land portion. Just a couple of questions, please:

 

1. would you recommend renting a car instead of taking a tour in Hobart and Tauranga. Both look easily doable on your own.

 

2. With whom did you do the GBR trip? Quicksilver or someone else?

 

3. Was the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas the best jumping off spot to visit Kuranda, GBR, Cairns, etc? Any other recommendations for a hotel based on your observations?

 

4. You rented in Ayers Rock. What car hire agency? Sorry you missed your planned events.

 

We are doing a post cruise 2 week extension on our own after the Auckland to Sydney cruise (which leaves in TWO WEEKS!!) We're staying in Sydney a couple of days, then flying to Cairns for 4 days; flying to Ayers Rock/Alice Springs, 4 days; flying to Adelaid, where we'll stay 2 days then rent a car and do the Great Ocean Road drive to Melbourne, from wherer we will fly home. Getting sooooo excited. Only mistake I think we may have made based on peoples' input is 4 days in the Ayers/Alice area. Thanks so much for taking your time to input all this information for the benefit of others.

[Red Rox]

Red Rox:

 

I found your land portion. Just a couple of questions, please:

 

1. would you recommend renting a car instead of taking a tour in Hobart and Tauranga. Both look easily doable on your own.

 

2. With whom did you do the GBR trip? Quicksilver or someone else?

 

3. Was the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas the best jumping off spot to visit Kuranda, GBR, Cairns, etc? Any other recommendations for a hotel based on your observations?

 

4. You rented in Ayers Rock. What car hire agency? Sorry you missed your planned events.

 

We are doing a post cruise 2 week extension on our own after the Auckland to Sydney cruise (which leaves in TWO WEEKS!!) We're staying in Sydney a couple of days, then flying to Cairns for 4 days; flying to Ayers Rock/Alice Springs, 4 days; flying to Adelaid, where we'll stay 2 days then rent a car and do the Great Ocean Road drive to Melbourne, from wherer we will fly home. Getting sooooo excited. Only mistake I think we may have made based on peoples' input is 4 days in the Ayers/Alice area. Thanks so much for taking your time to input all this information for the benefit of others.

We enjoyed our tours in Hobart and Tauranga. Yes you could rent a car and do it yourself, but with a limited amount of time in the ports, I think we benefitted from having a knowledgeable tour guide to do the driving and get us to the places we wanted to go on time and with information that we would not have otherwise gained on our own. The one benefit of renting your own vehicle would be to save some money, but I think we got more than our money's worth. Finding your way will be manageable, but dealing with heavy traffic will be a bear!

Quicksilver was the provider at GBR. They appear to be the biggest outfit there and I think we got the best trip we could have had. I can't even imagine that a smaller private trip could have been any better. Their assets and facilities are unmatched.

Kuranda is closer to Cairns than Port Douglas. Our itinerary made it easy to go there directly from the airport. The coach dropped us off at the base of the skyrail and then met us in Kuranda and we drove on to Port Douglas from there. If you rent your own car and do the sky rail, you'll need to do a round trip to get back to your vehicle. We didn't really visit Cairns so I can't comment on the access to GBR tours from there compared to Port Douglas. It's a bigger city, and so most likely can give you just as many options. Port Douglas is a small resort town with a tourist driven economy and plenty of facilities to serve the travelers. We enjoyed our stay there, but it is definitely more remote in terms of location. Sheraton Mirage is certainly the biggest and probably the nicest place to stay up there. Not sure what would compare in Cairns.

At Uluru we used Hertz for our car rental. It was a nice new Toyota Van. They have a desk at the airport and also at the Ayres Rock Resort, where all of the hotels are located. You can arrange to pick up your vehicle at either location, but you need to specify, and it helps to be on time since I think the personel share time between the two locations.

I have to agree with others about your land tour itinerary. 4 days at Red Center will be about 2 days longer than you could possibly need.

Have a great trip!