Flying into Sydney the day before or on day? Large family accom recs also

I booked out 1st Cruise Today

16th Jan 2019 8 Night on Carnival Legend

Sydney, Noumea, Lifou Isle, Melbourne

Where in Melb so will need to fly up (happy it debarks in Melb so no flight to get home)

Do we arrive the night before and stay or do a morning flight on the day of embarking?

We are a family of 6 (2 Adults 4 kids) its the middle of summer school holidays

Will accommodation be hard to get or be pricey to get that time of year??

Any recommendations for places to stay that are reasonably priced, close to OPT

and that will fit all 6 of us if we decided to fly in the night before would be helpful too

Thanks

Coming from Melbourne where there are very regular flights to Sydney and the fact that the cruise is in January when it is high unlikely there will be fog to cause a problem, I would fly to Sydney on the morning of the cruise. We are in Brisbane and always fly on the morning of the cruise. A 9am flight gets there in time, but if you want to be sure, book an 8am flight. Enjoy your cruise. :)

When you get to Sydney airport you can take a maxi taxi to the ship (or the hotel if you decide to stay overnight). Alternatively you could book a shuttle.

We always fly up the day before. I can't rest until I am in the city of departure. We also are from Melbourne and yes fog is unlikely, but many things can happen to mean you are delayed, even an accident on the freeway can delay you getting to the airport for your flight. I decided long ago when we first started cruising that we can afford a night in a cheap hotel to avoid the stress. We are flying out of Melbourne in a few weeks internationally and as we live in the south eastern suburbs we will be staying at the gladstone park hotel the night prior.

Recommendations - family of 6 - have heard good things about the YHA at the rocks though its pricey compared to other YHA its a great location and the kids would love being so close to the harbour bridge etc. We usually stay at Ibis Budget - the old formula 1 at sydney airport. They have quite respectable rooms not for 6 but you could book a family room for 4 and a twin or 2 triple. Last time we were there we had a triple for about $140 for the upgraded room. Perfect for our needs, Mc Donalds and KFC and Krispy Kreme next door, or a short walk to the airport for plenty of options. Also next morning we walk to the public bus, take it to the Mascot station, then train to circulay quay. As seniors it cost the grand sum of $2.50 each and our ticket is valid all day on bus, train and ferry. Sadly you are not old enough to enjoy that.

I booked out 1st Cruise Today

16th Jan 2019 8 Night on Carnival Legend

Sydney, Noumea, Lifou Isle, Melbourne

 

Where in Melb so will need to fly up (happy it debarks in Melb so no flight to get home)

Do we arrive the night before and stay or do a morning flight on the day of embarking?

We are a family of 6 (2 Adults 4 kids) its the middle of summer school holidays

Will accommodation be hard to get or be pricey to get that time of year??

 

Any recommendations for places to stay that are reasonably priced, close to OPT

 

and that will fit all 6 of us if we decided to fly in the night before would be helpful too

 

Thanks

Sydney Wattle Hotel have family rooms for around $240. They are 2.5km from the port. There may be other transport options but an Uber XL shouldn't cost too much to get you there.

Personally I would never fly in the morning of the cruise no matter where I was coming from. Flight delays seem to be the norm these days and cancellations are always possible. When there are 6 of you, if the flight is cancelled it could be hard to get on another plane altogether.

Go the night before for peace of mind.

Not only fog causes delays, there were massive delays and flight cancellations in Sydney last week due strong winds.

I would recommend The Rocks YHA. Don't be put off by the fact that it's a hostel. It is a great place to stay in a great location.

Thank you all for your help :)

Where only 20min or so from Melb Airport

we dont have the massive peak hr traffic issues most of the time like heading in via the Tulla from Melb

as where in the other direction.

But JIC of flight delays and all the rest I would be less worried about arriving the night before

staying and getting a shuttle/taxi/uber/bus/train/walk ect to the OPT

so far looking at staying at the YHA, Old Sydney Holiday Inn or Sydney Wattle Hotel.

How close to the cruise should I think about booking? its not for 16mths but with it being Jan school holidays

I dont want to leave it too late and not have somewhere to stay

Thank you all for your help :)

Where only 20min or so from Melb Airport

we dont have the massive peak hr traffic issues most of the time like heading in via the Tulla from Melb

as where in the other direction.

But JIC of flight delays and all the rest I would be less worried about arriving the night before

staying and getting a shuttle/taxi/uber/bus/train/walk ect to the OPT

so far looking at staying at the YHA, Old Sydney Holiday Inn or Sydney Wattle Hotel.

 

How close to the cruise should I think about booking? its not for 16mths but with it being Jan school holidays

I dont want to leave it too late and not have somewhere to stay

Is there a reason no to book earlier? Or like now? Most places have free cancellations until like the day before anyway. I guess you can save a bit more by booking the non-cancellable option, I that cause just keep an eye out on the number of rooms available and book when it starts to get low.

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I would book now but most you can't book that far in advance so I just have to keep an eye on websites

I'm glad you've decided to fly the day before. I was recently delayed for 4 hours (it was nearly overnight but they scheduled a new flight for us at the last minute) because of a mechanical issue. I'd rather be safe so I didn't mind the delay but I would have been panicking if I'd had something super important to attend.

The YHA at The Rocks is great, according to everyone I know who has stayed there.

I would book now but most you can't book that far in advance so I just have to keep an eye on websites

Oh yea, that's a good point

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Thank you all for your help :)

Where only 20min or so from Melb Airport

we dont have the massive peak hr traffic issues most of the time like heading in via the Tulla from Melb

as where in the other direction.

But JIC of flight delays and all the rest I would be less worried about arriving the night before

staying and getting a shuttle/taxi/uber/bus/train/walk ect to the OPT

so far looking at staying at the YHA, Old Sydney Holiday Inn or Sydney Wattle Hotel.

 

How close to the cruise should I think about booking? its not for 16mths but with it being Jan school holidays

I dont want to leave it too late and not have somewhere to stay

Sydney wattle hotel is on oxford street, you may want to consider with 4 children, kings cross is fine but will be noisy and potentially educational....

I would recommend The Rocks YHA. Don't be put off by the fact that it's a hostel. It is a great place to stay in a great location.

Can you walk to the pier (Radiance of the Seas) from there? Thx

I booked out 1st Cruise Today

16th Jan 2019 8 Night on Carnival Legend

Sydney, Noumea, Lifou Isle, Melbourne

 

Where in Melb so will need to fly up (happy it debarks in Melb so no flight to get home)

Do we arrive the night before and stay or do a morning flight on the day of embarking?

We are a family of 6 (2 Adults 4 kids) its the middle of summer school holidays

Will accommodation be hard to get or be pricey to get that time of year??

 

Any recommendations for places to stay that are reasonably priced, close to OPT

 

and that will fit all 6 of us if we decided to fly in the night before would be helpful too

 

Thanks

I am also from Melbourne and would make sure I got there the day before. The Adina Apartment hotels can be slightly pricey but if you stay at World Square you are close to the train which will take you directly to the OPT. The hotel also has 3 bedroom apartments. We've stayed there a few times and the hotel is very clean and nice. My 17 year old daughter and I are going to Sydney next week and since she's paying she's done her research on the hotels. We have booked the Travelodge for $101 per night and it's in the CBD so you can get cheap good hotels. Just keep an eye on specials coming up and book something that has free cancellation.

Trish

Can you walk to the pier (Radiance of the Seas) from there? Thx

Yes, unless you have enormous amounts of luggage or have mobility issues, you should be fine.

We stayed at Glenferrie Lodge at Kirribilli on the north shore. A shuttle, recommended by Glenferrie, picked our family of five up from the airport and dropped us to the door. Our room consisted of two separate bedrooms with private bathroom in one wing of the lodge. Some rooms have share facilities but our family suite had private facilities. Room rate included buffet breakfast. Rooms were cean and comfortable. The garden out the back was nice to relax in. It was a short 2 min walk to the ferry, nice trip across the harbour the next morning to Circular Quay and on to the ship. Cant remember prices but it was quite a cheap option for both the room and shuttle at the time. Certainly much cheaper than the city hotels. Just thought this might be an option.

Enjoy your cruise

Sydney Town is a big city with lots of accommodation ranging from 2 star to 5 star. If coming up the day before check out wotif / booking.com/ trivago / expedia or other similar type booking sites about October when prices for the New Year will have stabilised and be at their cheapest from my experience. Booking earlier may get the odd good deal but closer to the day generally gets a better deal. Flying up the day of embarkation saves on accommodation but can be risky. We have flowen over from NZ to catch a cruise on embarkation day without an issue but it is a risk

I would suggest you book Virgin or Qantas - with more flights they're far more likely to be able to get you there if things do go wrong for whatever reason.

I booked out 1st Cruise Today

16th Jan 2019 8 Night on Carnival Legend

Sydney, Noumea, Lifou Isle, Melbourne

 

Where in Melb so will need to fly up (happy it debarks in Melb so no flight to get home)

Do we arrive the night before and stay or do a morning flight on the day of embarking?

We are a family of 6 (2 Adults 4 kids) its the middle of summer school holidays

Will accommodation be hard to get or be pricey to get that time of year??

 

Any recommendations for places to stay that are reasonably priced, close to OPT

 

and that will fit all 6 of us if we decided to fly in the night before would be helpful too

 

Thanks

Just heard the "News "Sydney Airport completely closed throwing all air travel into chaos.Your question has been answered.

Just heard the "News "Sydney Airport completely closed throwing all air travel into chaos.Your question has been answered.

Yeap if we fly it will the day before at the lastest but with all the delays/cancellations

I'm now thinking of catching the overnight train instead :D

Just heard the "News "Sydney Airport completely closed throwing all air travel into chaos.Your question has been answered.

Anything can come out of the blue . Auckland airport had a curly one last week in that a digger ruptured the Avgas pipeline , resulting in 30% of all flights being cancelled or diverted. All back to normal now but many International and local passengers missed connections.