banditoo

11 hours ago, pink845 said:

Thanks Banditoo,  Do you recall if there was an agent at a counter where the ticket for the train could be purchased.  Or were there only the machines that take your Canadian credit card.   Any issues using Canadian credit cards during your travels in New Zealand, Australia as well.  

There was a transit info agent but not sure if train tickets could be purchased there as we just used the machines. Very simple to use and easily worked with Canadian credit card. We have traveled a number of times in Australia and never had problems using our Canadian Visa and Mastercards. Also used the credit cards in various locations throughout New Zealand and there were no problems. No issues withdrawing cash at ATMS with our RBC debit cards either. Very easy to spend our money. 🙂 

9 minutes ago, pink845 said:

Banditoo,  

 

Hope you had a wonderful cruise.  What time did the ship get in?  6:30 am?  Were you able to get off earlier than 8 am or was 8 am the earliest for self walk off?  Very curious to hear from you.     We of course were originally supposed to be on that 12:15 pm flight to Vancouver, however, as of March 12, that flight is NOW departing at 11:15 am.  Boo hoo.    

Our B2B cruises were great. Ship was at terminal before 0600. People were walking off by 0700. You can easily get off with self express earlier than 0800. They suggested 0700-0830 for self express. We didn't rush as I didn't want to be sitting at the airport even longer. We had a leisurely breakfast before disembarking. It was a seamless process to disembark, pass through Aus immigration, walk a few minutes to Circular Quay train station, buy our airport link tickets from machine, board train and arrive at International Airport. Airport did not have any significant lines either when we were there. SYD airport suggests 2 hours before International flights. 

We disembarked via self express taking our own luggage at OPT yesterday about 0800 and walked the couple minutes to the train at Circular Quay. Trains run every few minutes to the International Airport. We were at the airport in plenty of time (in excess of 3 hours and only needed 2 hours) for our 1215 Air Canada flight. 

Thank you possum52.

4 minutes ago, MrsWaldo said:

Isle des Pins head to the beach at Kanumera

 

sorry can't help with Luganville

Thank you. 

We are currently on Radiance of the Seas and have been informed of a sudden change of itinerary substituting Isle of Pines and Luganville for cancelled ports of Mare and Lifou. I am hoping for some suggestions for great snorkeling (coral and sea life) locations at Isle of Pines and Luganville. Thanks in advance! 

We also had a tour with Clem a few days ago. A little wires crossed about pick up time as they suggested by email a number of times that the pickup be 0700 (as our ship scheduled arrival time changed to earlier a couple months previous) which we confirmed but they were not at the port at that time when we arrived. Another local tour operator called them and both Clem and Judy arrived shortly. All the tour operators know each other and it is a small local area. There was another couple booked onto our same tour and they had been told 0800 pickup. It all worked out and we really enjoyed our visit to the Te Puia geothermal area and Hobbiton. The countryside is very picturesque. I would suggest to make sure you have pickup and tour details reconfirmed just before your tour date.  

They changed to Rydges the day we arrived January 15. Honoured our booking and rates etc. I would not have known it was changing if it hadn't been for our friends who were there a couple days ahead of us. Otherwise we would have likely walked right by looking for Holiday Inn signage. Great location for the Overseas Terminal and exploring the Circular Quay and Harbour area. 

7 hours ago, nimiq said:

Same here booked with Shore Trips and Tours but the 2hrs Glow Worm tour. 

 

@banditoo did you receive a confirmation email and where to meet them ?

 

Sea ya

Eric

nimiq

We did receive the following email message. You need to log onto the account that you created on their website when booking and can send or receive messages form them there. You also need to print out your tour voucher when you have logged into your account. 

On 1/14/2020 at 1:20 PM, WESTEAST said:

We are also going to be in Sydney a few days prior to our cruise and have a few ferry trips planned:

• Manly Beach
• Taronga Zoo - believe ferry is approx. 15 mins. from CQ. We have tickets for 'behind the scenes' at 10:15 AM, what time do you suggest we line-up in the CQ queue as not sure how crowded it will be?

Is it best to purchase an Opal card for the above ferries?  We will also be going to Bondi (either by HOHO or, by Bus 333 from CQ?). 

 

Thank you!

westeast

We did a combo Taronga Zoo and Manly yesterday. Captain Cook and My Fast Ferry each have a combo that includes zoo admission and ferry to zoo and Manly and back to Circular Quay or Darling Harbour. We chose My Fast ferry as they have ferries returning from Manly well into the evening after 9 pm whereas the Captain Cook latest returned at 3:55 from Manly. The zoo took us much longer than we expected even though we arrived shortly after opening so we did not get to Manly until late afternoon. We would have had to miss it if we had chosen Captain Cook. There were no queues so to speak of to get on the My Fast Ferry. 

3 hours ago, Level six said:

No ticket needed for anyone not going into the water when we were there.  Go early and get a good spot so he can see the view.  Have fun. 

Thank you!

My husband does not snorkel or swim but would plan to come to Jinek Bay with me to stay on shore while I snorkel. Do we need to get a permit/ticket for him as well in order to stay on shore or is the ticket just for entering the water?

Friends of ours were there a couple days ago on Soltice. They bought the tickets on arrival at shore. They said the Jinek Bay gets crowded quickly so if planning to snorkel get on early tender and go straight there. 

Hunter69, Good to know about Signal Island! I am booked to take Dal Ocean Charters to Signal Island next month. Hoping for some very good snorkeling! Will pick up some picnic food at the market before heading over to Signal. 

39 minutes ago, pink845 said:

We are on the Radiance in March 2020   and arrive at Circular Quay on a Friday at 6:30 am.  Air Canada (our nasty airline) moved our 12:15 pm flight to 11:15 am.  We are planning to do self walk off as soon as it is allowed (hopefully by 7:15 am) and walk over to the very crowded train and hitch ourselves to it (ha ha).    From what I have read so far, it should take no more than 40 minutes to get to the airport by train and then we will run as fast as we can with our bags.  We will check in on line the day prior and I will report back as to what eventually happens.  We do have trip interruption insurance and hope we will not have to use it!!!  

We are on Radiance in January/February and also booked on the AC 1215 flight home the day we disembark. Hoping they don't do the same thing to our flight. Good luck with getting to your flight in time. 

We too are Canadians and are travelling on on Radiance of the Seas round trip Sydney to NZ in January. I used the official government website noted in post #12. 

This is the message received (one for each of us) as soon as I completed my online application and payment:

Immediately following the application and payment, within a few minutes, I received the following in a separate email for each of us: 

Your New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) has been issued.

Just heard on the news that the military is going in to try and recover the 8 missing off of White Island. So sad to hear of the mounting deaths and about those who are fighting for their lives with significant injuries. 

Such a tragedy for those hurt or killed and their loved ones. I can imagine everyone on that ship is pretty shook up. 

Prayers to all those who were on White Island from Ovation or on their own that have been injured or missing. 😥

I have booked with Shore Trips and Tours for the 6 hour Highlights including Glow Worm Caves. Looking forward to the day!

Thanks Sippican. Will check out ABC too. 

On my cruise planner for upcoming January cruise, I see Voom Surf 1 device for $12.62 CAD/day and Surf and Stream 1 device $15.28 CAD. Will watch to see if it drops any further for Black Friday sales. 

Thanks everyone for the info and ideas. Now having done some more research, it seems the Shore Trips and Tours Bay of Islands Highlights with Glowworm caves and the Viator Small Group Bay of Islands Highlights with Glow Worm Caves are the same tour possibly same operator? Tour times of 6 hours are the same starting at 0930 and include Kawakawa's Hundertwasser toilets, Kerikeri and Paihia Townships, Makana Boutique Chocolates , The Haruru waterfall, The Kawiti Glow Worm Caves (entrance & guided tour),  Waimate Mission Station (entrance). Even the wording on the sites is similar in regards to a larger 22 seater minibus that may be used in some cases. Price is the same. The only notable difference is that Shore Trips & Tours cancellation policy includes a statement about 100% refund if the ship is unable to make port whereas the only info I can find on Viator about cancellation is that the fee is not refundable unless cancellation is made at least 3 days in advance. I can't find any mention of refund if cruise doesn't make port. Will likely book the one through Shore Trip and Tours. 

24 minutes ago, Nonnie1975 said:

We will be there in January and booked a tour through Viator.  It is a small group in a mini-bus. It will go to the Hunderwasser toilets, Waimte Misssion Station, Harauru Waterfall, tasting at Makana Chocolaties and Kawati Caves,

Thanks. I did look at the Viator option and may book that one if we don't find something else. 

We have a port day at Bay of Islands end of January and would like to go to the Waiomio/Kawiti Glowworm Caves. As that won't take the full day, it would be nice to combine that with another interesting experience. Anyone have direct experience with getting to the glow worm caves or a tour that includes both? I prefer not to do ship excursions or large group tours but small groups are fine. Thanks in advance for any tips or info.