SinbadThePorter

The same customs and quarantine regulations apply irrespective of the mode of arrival. You are going from one country to another. When you arrive in Australia it isn't just another port day. You will be going through customs. If you try to sneak items past them and are caught, there will be fines.

The answer for Australia is "maybe". "Commercially prepared and packaged nuts are allowed into Australia if they are one of the following: blanched/roasted/fried/boiled nuts shelled and tightly vacuum sealed nuts nuts packaged in small confectionery tins sealed under vacuum. Nuts must be declared and may be inspected on arrival. Products that do not meet import conditions will be exported or destroyed at the importer’s expense."

What are you interested in? Airlie Beach and Yorkeys Knob are tender ports, so if you intend to see the Great Barrier Reef you will need to get a ship's excursion as 3rd party excursions leave too early. In Sydney and Auckland you essentially berth in the centre of the city. In both cities public ferries from next to the cruise dock offer cheap and worthwhile self excursions. The Brisbane cruise terminal is a long way from the city with no public transport options, so you would need uber or taxi to get to the CBD. I've never seen any 3rd party excursions offered from there, but as it's my home port I haven't really looked.

I bet in all those lists they are equating Sydney with the Harbour. Once you take away the waterviews there is not much left.

The lookout at Stanwell Tops has spectacular views along the coast. You can even arrange a tandem hang glider from there. Further down the coast the Kiama blow hole is a very traditional place to visit. It was always one of our major family outings when I was a kid. Even further down is Jervis Bay with some beautiful beaches. Hyams beach is supposed to have the whitest sand in the world. Point Perpendicular lighthouse has wonderful views out to sea and across the bay.

Travelling with a carry-on is great is you can swing it. Just walk off the plane, straight onto public transport and go wherever you want to go. No trailing set of wheeled luggage dragging along at your heels catching every crack in the footpath. No having to stand guard over a pile of luggage while your partner goes looking for a loo. No having to arrive at the airport a hour earlier to make sure your luggage gets on board in time. No losing of said luggage by the airline. That said, 7-10 kilos of clothes is not a lot, especially for NZ. What to remember is that even in Australia, clothes can be purchased. How many T-shirts do you need to bring when you can buy them here for $10? Most ships have sales. If you bring a warm jacket, wear it onto the plane and take it off once onboard. Put as many toiletries as you can in the pockets. How dressy are Aussies on cruises? Let's just say that the majority of male Aussie cruisers that I know of usually need a cattle prod applied to encourage them to dress up. 🤥 Short answer, not very.

For the major cruise lines, not as far as I'm aware. The conditions for Oz/NZ based cruises purchased in Oz/NZ by Oz/NZ residents differ from those for Oz/NZ cruises bought by non-Oz/NZ residents. For instance, gratuities are included in the fare for the former but not for the latter. However, given the very favourable USD to AUD exchange rate and the generally better pricing available in the US, I'd say that you aren't missing out on much by not booking with an Oz TA.

On P&O's plus side I think you're forgetting Dragon Lady and Angelo's. I was on Luminosa 3 times this year and I also lived on pizza and ice cream, mainly because I thought the other offerings were pretty poor. Their free pizza was definitely the highlight of the menu. Although as pizza goes it was just average. To tell the truth I wouldn't separate P&O and Carnival as far as food goes. They are both not up to scratch and far behind Princess and Royal. Which is a shame because in most other respects they provide a comparable product to the more expensive cruise lines.

Nov 19 this year, Luminosa is going to PNG. Not only that, but she visits Conflict Island twice on that cruise.

I've always thought P&O should sell the Cairns cruises as a fly/cruise packages. Perhaps P&O could block book some seats and save some of the inevitable price gouging the airlines get up to whenever a cruise ship hits town. Same could apply to Darwin.

$1000/cabin/night? No thanks. Not even for mouse ears. If I wanted to lay out that sort of money for a cruise I'd be looking at Viking or Regent.

They also went across the Top from Fremantle to Cairns last month.

For NZ the best months are Dec-Mar. Dec and Jan are school holidays in Oz and NZ. For cruising I recommend Feb and Mar. But if you want to connect to a TransPacific cruise they generally depart in Apr. I don't drive in right side driving countries anymore. I've tried it and it just wears me out mentally. Everything feels wrong and my driving instincts are turned around. I can imagine the same happening to people coming to left side driving countries like Oz and NZ.

Not really, for me it would depend on the ship. For instance, I would prefer to go on Coral Princess or Brilliance of the Seas over Majestic Princess or Ovation of the Seas. But that's just me. As for land travel in NZ, yes it is better in many ways than cruising, but it is also more hassle, more expense and more time consuming. If it was me I would do one or the other, not both at once. But I'm not coming from the other side of the world. The idea of flying into Auckland catching a cruise to Sydney and getting on a TransPacific cruise to go back home sounds appealing.

We expect you to let us know what it looks like from the top. 😁

On any cruise I've been on, when the ship is offshore the land is almost always far enough away that you need a good pair of binoculars to tell what you are looking at.

You definitely want to take in the South Island. Most cruises will take you through the fiords there, and then the first stop at Port Chalmers. Port Chalmers is surrounded by what you seem interested in, but I would suggest a visit to the Albatross Sanctuary. Next stop is usually Lyttleton. Nearby Akaroa is worth a visit, but a bit of a drive. The cable car lookout above Lyttleton is very scenic on a sunny day. There is also a walking track up through there called the Bridle Path. Next is often a choice between Wellington, Napier or Picton. Wellington being the capital is very urbanised, but Zealandia Wildlife Park is worth a look. Picton has a nice steam train, but the charm of Napier escapes me. Next is Tauranga, a nice hike up nearby Mount Manganui. Most tourists head to Rotorua or Hobbiton for the day. It sounds like Rotorua might be more your thing. Tours can be booked just as you walk off the dock. Then Auckland. This is a major city, but the islands offshore can be reached by public ferry. Waiheke Island is probably the best for exploring. Sometimes your cruise may also visit Bay of Islands before heading back to Australia . None of mine ever have so I have no suggestions. Most cruises will go around NZ anti-clockwise. A few go clockwise. Some will only do the North Island, but most do both.

We were on the Ruby Princess from Sydney to Fiji in Nov 2019 during the fires and we didn't get out from under the smoke until we left Lifou in New Caledonia. That's about 2000 kilometers.

No language has rules, they only have usages. In other words, whatever works. 😇

Not so bad in the tropics. 😎

I think now the only Princess ship with a trolley handle is Caribbean Princess.

But no trolley handle. ☹️

Around Brisbane, there is: Syd's Pie Shop, Loganholme Muzza's Pies, Coorparoo KP Gourmet Bakery, Carindale Wavell Hot Bread, Wavell Heights Carby's Bakehouse, Wavell Heights All worth a go.

I think the window to solving this closed 20 years ago. I don't think that politicians don't want to solve it, I think that they don't want to admit there is no solution. Which is why I get a little upset with those who complain about the new Brisbane Terminal. It was a response to a closing window. It was as good as we could expect to get and if it hadn't gone where it did go, it would not have gone anywhere at all. In which case Pacific Explorer would be the only cruise ship sailing in Australia (apart from luxury lines) capable of docking at Portside and all other cruise ships would have been banished to the Grain Terminal.

If Botany Bay is out and Garden Island is out, how about HMAS Penguin? It seems to me that Penguins' duties could be carried out anywhere and doesn't involve shifting a lot of heavy machinery. I suppose there is an argument that road access is a problem. If that's the case then I expect that nowhere on Sydney Harbour will serve.