Anyone gone on Australian/New Zealand/South Pacific cruise?

[esbie11]

I am already looking forward to a honeymoon cruise (though we haven't had our wedding cruise yet:p ). My fiancee and I would love to do an Australian, New Zealand, and/or South Pacific cruise. This would be very expensive since it costs a fortune just to fly to Australia, but just wondering if anyone has done it and was it worth the expense?

[cruisenfever]

I am already looking forward to a honeymoon cruise (though we haven't had our wedding cruise yet:p ). My fiancee and I would love to do an Australian, New Zealand, and/or South Pacific cruise. This would be very expensive since it costs a fortune just to fly to Australia, but just wondering if anyone has done it and was it worth the expense?

We did it twice on Legend of the Seas.........the first time in 2000 we sailed from Auckland to Sydney and the second cruise we did in 2001 from Sydney to Auckland.

 

It is a definite must if you can survive the 14.5 hour flight from LA to Sydney (it's only 11.5 to Auckland). As you said, the cost to fly to Australia/New Zealand can almost amount to the cost of the cruise but I think it is definitely worth it. We did air through RCI both times and they just seem to be able to get better prices than one can do on their own.

 

I would definitely recommend cruising over in Australia/New Zealand and if you sail out of Sydney, try to arrive a few days early to enjoy the beauty of Sydney..............it's incredible.

 

We are hoping to do another cruise over there in 2010.

[esbie11]

We did it twice on Legend of the Seas.........the first time in 2000 we sailed from Auckland to Sydney and the second cruise we did in 2001 from Sydney to Auckland.

 

It is a definite must if you can survive the 14.5 hour flight from LA to Sydney (it's only 11.5 to Auckland). As you said, the cost to fly to Australia/New Zealand can almost amount to the cost of the cruise but I think it is definitely worth it. We did air through RCI both times and they just seem to be able to get better prices than one can do on their own.

 

I would definitely recommend cruising over in Australia/New Zealand and if you sail out of Sydney, try to arrive a few days early to enjoy the beauty of Sydney..............it's incredible.

 

We are hoping to do another cruise over there in 2010.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I live in PA so our flight would be even longer:( It is something I'd really love to do though so hopefully someday we can make it happen!

[emmy]

I have seen some specials in my emails from agencies that offer air included and also I have seen gratuities as well included. Insides went for about $2500 pp or thereabouts..quite good when it included airfare and not just from the west coast but from Detroit where I fly out of often. This was on RCI and Celebrity

 

I always pay attention to the Australia cruises that come into my email.

 

This is on my 'to-do' cruise list but first in 5 weeks I am flying to Sydney for my daughter's wedding. She has lived there for almost 4 years and it will be our first visit 'down under' so plan on the next visit to include a cruise.

[esbie11]

I have seen some specials in my emails from agencies that offer air included and also I have seen gratuities as well included. Insides went for about $2500 pp or thereabouts..quite good when it included airfare and not just from the west coast but from Detroit where I fly out of often. This was on RCI and Celebrity

 

I always pay attention to the Australia cruises that come into my email.

 

This is on my 'to-do' cruise list but first in 5 weeks I am flying to Sydney for my daughter's wedding. She has lived there for almost 4 years and it will be our first visit 'down under' so plan on the next visit to include a cruise.

 

oh that's great! Congrats to your daughter! I just imagine Australia to be so amazing. My fiancee actually had a really good job offer there but I am a baby and I just couldn't be that far from my family! Have a safe trip!:)

[bikn4fn]

We did it back in 2003 for our 25th anniversary. It was from Auckland to Tahati, Bora Bora and Hawaii (16 days). It was on the Legend and we loved it!:D There are a total of 8 days at sea. Four from Auckland to Tahati and four from Bora Bora to Hawaii. We were never bored. They had enough activities to really keep up hoppin'.

 

The flight was a killer, but we slept most of the time. Four hours from Chicago to LA. Then 12 from LA to Auckland (zzzzzzz)

[xpcdoojk]

We did it back in 2003 for our 25th anniversary. It was from Auckland to Tahati, Bora Bora and Hawaii (16 days). It was on the Legend and we loved it!:D There are a total of 8 days at sea. Four from Auckland to Tahati and four from Bora Bora to Hawaii. We were never bored. They had enough activities to really keep up hoppin'.

 

The flight was a killer, but we slept most of the time. Four hours from Chicago to LA. Then 12 from LA to Auckland (zzzzzzz)

 

We were on that same sailing! Did you attend the Meet and Mingle (I don't remember your id from that roll-call)? Anyway, we had a great trip as well, and we spent a few days in Auckland pre-cruise and enjoyed the America's Cup Yacht races even though they were a blow-out win for the Swiss Boat Alinghi. That sailing was the sailing where some of our meet and mingle group did kite flying off the back of the ship after we left New Zealand. I think NZ is one of the most naturally beautiful places I have ever visited. The 4 days at sea separating NZ and Tahiti and again to Hawaii made for a very memorable cruise.

 

I would recommend this trip to anyone, but the airfare is a real pain. My flight day to New Zealand, started at 5 in the morning as I realized the night before that I had left my wetsuits at the lake house, and I drove down to get my wetsuits and when I got there it started to snow, by the time I got back the normal 1 hour drive was magnified to 2 hours. Worse I got back in rush hour traffic and had to leave the parking lot freeway and drive back roads to get back to my house. Gathered up our friends and drove 3 hours to St Louis for our 3pm flight to LA, then we had hours to kill in LAX waiting for a 9:30 Qaantas flight to Auckland. I took two sleeping pills and was still awake all night, crammed into the smallest seats in coach I have ever had. We left on February 27 and arrived on March 1 so it may only be 12 hours flying time, but I am going with the calendar on this one. :D Then after clearing customs and getting our bags, we went to get our rental car, and I got to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road after "3" days of not sleeping! Fortunately, I didn't kill us, and we checked into our hotel and left the car in the garage and walked all over the city and the harbor.

 

jc

[ssantow]

We have done two of them. The first was a South Pacific cruise that started in Tahiti and visited all the islands on the way to Hawaii. It was 15 days and we loved it.

The Second was a New Zealand and Australia cruise that started in Auckland, NZ and ended up in Sydney 12 days later. We became friends with a wonderful couple from Sydney and after the cruise spent an extra 3 days in Sydney and got a locals view of the city from our friends.

The flight from Los Angeles was well over 12 hours. We started in Detroit so by the time we got to Auckland it only one hour after we left. (Time changes and dateline) Well worth the time and trouble and all the money we spent. I would do it again but I would stop over in Hawaii for a few days both coming and going to break up the flight.