jspqld

My DH and I are in our 40's. No kids to go. This will be winter break for me as I am presently going to school. We like to visit new places and learn of the culture, take pictures, and try new foods. We aren't the sitting on the beach type, although one port or so to do that would be fine. I would really like to see some of the country, so maybe cruising isn't the right choice for this majestic country? We have had a pen pal who lives near Sydney for some 20+ years. It would be cool to meet. Looking at airfare is also making it cost prohibitive. Just for kicks, I plugged in December 2016 sailing,and was able to get an estimate for air. It was over $2000. per person. If anything, maybe this needs to be a trip a bit further down the line. I will check the suggestions that were given here and do more research. I thank all of those who took the time to give me feedback.

If you could come before early Dec, or after mid Jan, you might see some good flight deals. If you are prepared to do a stopover in Hawaii, sometimes ??, you might find great deals if you book flights between mainland USA & HNL, & separate flights between HNL & Australia. This has saved us heaps in the past & provided a nice stopover as part of the journey for a couple of days.

Most cruise lines here do the odd cruise that sails up the eastern coast of Australia. Departing from Sydney or Brisbane. This would be a good way to see the main eastern cities of say Syd & Bris along with maybe Cairns or other areas near The Great Barrier reef. A side flight to Melbourne would only be an hour or two from Syd or Bris. This type of trip along the east coast would allow you to see a lot of what most of us Australians call home. Within these destinations you will be able to see anything from big modern cities, historical towns, to beautiful beaches & scenery, rainforests, wildlife, etc.

Before travelling in Australia make sure you watch the documentary "Wolf Creek" to get some idea of how friendly and hospitable we are to visitors.

haha, oh that's just cruel. no tourist will ever come here again, lol

The Med is so beautiful, yet can be very nasty! I can imagine what these passengers have woken up to.

A few years ago we were a couple of hours into sailing away from Barcelona on the Carnival Freedom when we hit a freak storm & 17 foot waves. It suddenly went from very smooth to very rough. We were up on deck at the time and out of nowhere this wind just came along and swept up deck chairs like bits of paper & then the towel gazebo which was bolted down got blown away and smashed to pieces. At this point we headed inside only to have overhead panels & wiring start falling and narrowly missing us. We ended up getting told to stay in our cabins. It was very rough for a couple of hours & lucky no major damage, but cosmetically there was a fair bit around the ship.

Taxis in SIN are not expensive. Many city hotels to port would probably be less than $20 USD

fantastic photo review. thanks for making it mainly about the photos, as a picture tells a ....

Reminded me of good times we had exploring the quantum!

Oh & the Honfluer pics brought back some good memories too.

A while back we did Tulum as a ship exc from Cozumel. It was a great day. First a ferry then a bus. maybe about 90 mins each way but was well worth it. Spent some time at the ruins & then went to a great beach for lunch and a swim

Agree with most of what you say but still think it needed to be clarified - as what you consider generally younger or older is relative to how old you are. :)

 

For example my 82 year old Father Inlaw went on the QE2 & was complaining that it was full of old people! :eek:

 

I would argue that Royal on their Voyager class ships especially promote themselves as family friendly due to the whole DreamWorks characters deal on those ships, the breakfast with the characters, the parades in the promenade etc etc.

 

Agree in school holidays there are always more kids - we try to avoid that time when possible.

 

But we are cruising on Ovation in January right in the middle of school holidays, & really hoping the high cost of that cruise will put off a lot of families with young kids so we don't get too many kids on board.

 

I think Carnival also has more kids because they are cheaper than Royal most of the time & this is more affordable for families.

 

Also in general the cheaper the cruise the more likely to attract more schoolies & 20 something's party crowd & along with that group often comes more bad & bogan behaviour, which is another reason Carnival has more of a reputation for that sort of clientele than Celebrity for example.

And I agree with most of what you are saying which is why I said the crowd would be slightly younger on Carnival.

Unlike Voyager, the Explorer does not have DreamWorks & the associated activities. That is why many families in Oz choose the Voyager over Explorer wherever possible. Of the two cruise options above, the carnival one is also the shorter one meaning it is likely to draw more younger families than the longer cruise. So of these two options I'm guessing the average age on carnival might be 30's & 40's while the Explorer might be 40's & 50's ??

In regards to your Ovation cruise I have sailed on the Quantum & they are amazing ships, very different style of cruising, both in the facilities on board & the overall atmosphere. I liked it but many don't. I don't like your chances of there not being much kids in the holidays though. I have seen many people on social media bragging about having booked expensive family holidays on it. The ship is big enough though that you should be able to escape to a quiet place if needed. The solarium is perfect for that.

But compared to what? Age is relative, I'm middle aged but someone who is 70 thinks I'm young, but someone of 20 thinks I'm old.

 

Just to clarify I would say on Explorer you will get a good mix of families, middle aged 40-60 year olds will make up the bulk & a good sprinkling of 60+, but definitely not the zimmer frame & scooter crowds.

 

I wouldn't call Royal cruisers a slightly older crowd - that title is reserved more for Princess & HAL in general.:)

I agree with your point about age is relative. However my point about the Explorer having a slightly older crowd & the Spirit having a slightly younger crowd was exactly that. I was making a direct reference between these two ships.

I wasn't suggesting that the passengers on Royal are old, I was just trying to say that the average age on board would be younger on the Carnival Spirit as opposed to the RC Explorer. Carnival promotes itself as a family Line here in Oz more so than RCI, such as lack of drink packages, Dr Suess on board, etc. So other than during school holidays I would suggest that the ratio of kids on board would be greater on Carnival throughout the year, thus bringing down the average age.

well done, a JS for the same price on a longer cruise makes sense to me. enjoy

If you're only in Sydney for a night or two pre-cruise I would suggest The Rocks or circular quay areas, but if you do intend to stay a week, I would be trying to find the nicest room at the best price anywhere within the city area including potts point or darling harbour. Transport options from any of these are usually pretty good.

1. Are tips charged to your card on Explorer (I know they are paid in the cruise fare on Carnival) Yes they will be charged to your on board acc about $13USD per day pp. or you can pre pay when booking.

2. For folks living in the southern hemisphere and knowlegeable on these ports wich itinerary do you prefer and would recommend? Both trips are good, but the explorer visits Fiji which the carnival one doesn't. I have been to some of those & liked them. Some people really don't like Suva &/or Noumea.

3. What is weather like at the end of October/ and mid November, in general as I know it cant be predicted. Personally I would say that that is a very good time. Not as hot and humid & less likely to encounter cyclones/bad weather.

When I booked I didn't research enough and had no idea nearly every port but one was a tender port on the Spirit itinerary - I am slightly put off by this but not totally. Yes the Spirit one does have mainly tenders. i'm not sure about Loutoka but I know Noumea & suva are docked.

I'm one of those people that could easily jump on a Carnival or RCI cruise and appreciate each one in different ways. I have been on the Carnival Legend- a sister ship to the spirit & I have also been on the Explorer twice. The explorer is a beautiful big ship with nice modern cabins, great pool deck with large hot tubs & a slightly older crowd. Your diamond status would be very handy to utilise on board. Carnival will probably have a slightly younger crowd, have more entertainment options such as late night comedy shows & great 24hr pizza!

I don't think you would regret either cruise. maybe research which ports seem more appealing & compare what sort of cabin you are staying in compared to price.

I first cruised on carnival in 2008 way before they started cruising in Australia, & under the old rewards program. I then did some more overseas & became Gold on our second cruise & have been Gold ever since. Our last carnival cruise was here in Australia on the Legend & booked through carnival Australia. At checkin we had our usual Gold cards waiting for us & within 2 weeks after the cruise our vifp accounts were updated with the new points.

As a bonus, because carnival is still fairly new in Australia, there are not many gold card holders, only 18 on our cruise & no higher, so we were kind of treated like royalty compared to cruising out of the US. We were even given a very nice & intimate & fun party with the captain & staff. Sat down at a table & had a chat with the captain for about a good 15mins which isn't very common.

So if you're platinum I would imagine you will be very spoilt.

The weather is really hard to predict so far out. What has been already mentioned above is roughly true going back over the years. However this year has seen a very dry/hot overall season across the Queensland Coast. Hardly any heavy, summer rain, the warmest March on record in Brisbane & a never ending summer. No hint of a cyclone either & normally there would have already been a few to watch out for by now.

So this would have been a great season to be visiting northern Australian ports.

While packing , I asked my wife where her Nike Shoes were and see told me

that Dubai has a dress code and you can't wear "Tennis Shoes" there.

 

 

Can anyone expend on that ?

What? of course you can! That's a good one!

You would be surprised at how many Nike and similar stores are found across Dubai.

Actually it seems to be getting a bit more laid back to when I first visited there a few years ago. At a large mall now you see all sorts of skimpy outfits that would have been considered a bit taboo in the past.

Also, at a beach or hotel pool you can wear pretty much any sort of clothing providing there is no nudity.

I am looking at a flight that lands in Singapore at 1:40AM. Does anyone know if taxis are normally available at that hour or should I book a car service to be safe? Thanks so much!

 

Helen

No problem getting a taxi at anytime in Singapore. It's a very busy airport.

It's not really an MSC thing but more resulting from the countries you may be visiting. We had this happen to us with MSC on a med cruise that visited Egypt. It was all explained and done professionally & we never felt our passports in danger of getting lost, etc.

We have also come across this on an RCI ship where India port of calls were included.

So it is fairly normal depending where you are cruising to, as immigration officers from affected countries will board the ship before cruising to such countries and scan/stamp all the passports & this is why you have to surrender them once on board.

Kai Tak in Hong Kong is a great looking cruise terminal, but you will waste a lot of time just getting in & out of it. You will walk up, down, up escalators, around & around, down a lift or two and about 15 mins later you will be outside the terminal or on the ship depending which way you are going. We were warned about this excessive walking involved by the ships crew and they were not wrong, what a mess! We were also there on an overnight & on our return to the ship late at night we came across a cab who had no idea where the new port was as he hadn't been there before & we even had a map & address to show him. We eventually ended up pointing him in the right direction. We didn't go to DL, but we did a DIY to Macau which was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed our stop in Xiamen. It is a very modern city by the water with interesting buildings and very clean throughout. I don't remember seeing too much that would be of interest within walking distance of the port. We did a ships tour which was not very expensive. It took us to a very large old temple, a drive along the pretty coastline & then a brief shopping stop but we just walked around & had a look at a ferry terminal nearby.

We will be in Dubai in a couple of weeks. We need to get a taxi from the airport to our hotel. There are six of us with luggage. Do they have taxi vans?

I am fairly sure I have seen taxi vans at the airport, but just be aware they may be more of a premium taxi and charge a premium price. Dubai has many different types of limo's that take taxi fares, but they charge higher prices. Which is somewhat fine as it is often relative to the luxury car you in.

We loved the 270 lounge for entertainment & the 270 café was a fav also. Could buy a real coffee there & the design your own salads were a real treat. The hot food to go was handy for breakfast if you wanted something quieter than the windjammer.

We liked jamies Italian much better than chops and ended up eating there twice. The location of Jamies I think is nicer and has a better ambience about it & great for people watching. The music hall was another standout for entertainment, especially with the high ceilings and mezzanine level. The bumper cars are a lot of fun. We did the northstar while in port which provided great views of the location & the line was only about a half hour compared to the normal 2 hour wait. Probably my favourite area was the solarium, just a real oasis at sea!

The cruise dock itself is hidden amongst mangroves and part of a massive industrial port area. It's a fair walk down a long, covered walkway just to get out of the terminal building. & there is nothing within walking distance of the port. Once outside there will be buses for shore exc and taxis. If taking a taxi allow at least an hour each way to the city for traffic. If you do go to the city, there are brilliant shopping malls and markets and hawker streetfood areas also. Some shopping malls are tailored to just one type of thing, eg 6 levels of just electronic goods. I would go the top of the K.L tower for great views. It's fairly tall and built on a hill so the views of the city are fantastic. Lots of old buildings inc the Railway one.

If you don't want to venture too far from the ship there is another big shopping mall that has activities attached like a water park called Sunway about 30 mins away.

Waitlisted to me means that I'd say that you are currently assigned a set time for dining, but they will try get you on anytime dining if it becomes available. If you don't get it,

you could always approach the MDR on the first day of the cruise & see if they can do anything. If not ask again after a couple of days.

If you want a good but easy option, I would just stay in Auckland for the 3-4 days. Plenty to see and do there including museums, zoo, boat cruises, good food and more that will easily fill that amount of time.

The metro in Dubai is fantastic & easily connects the main areas. Besides the metro I would use cabs as they are everywhere and fairly well priced.

In Goa, we just organised a taxi at the port as there were many there & he took us to the old town for a brief look around & then to a popular beach for more free time. Not a tour as such but was good value.

In Cochin there were many taxis as well as tuk tuks at the port. We did a tuk tuk tour which turned out to be a real highlight. The driver was a real gentleman & provided us with lots of great places to see and had a lot of fun in the process.

 

We for sure want to do Sydney and Cairns/Port Douglas. I had thought of doing Uluru but the cost of flying the 4 of us there along with going when it's so hot has me leaning towards not. Where else would be good with kids? Want an authentic experience but also something the kids won't be super bored with.

I would just stick to the east coast of Oz as this is where you'll find more cheaper flights & things much closer & easier to get to. So maybe start with a flight to Cairns and spend a few days there exploring the reef, etc. Then a flight to Brisbane & spend a few days at the Sunshine coast for great beaches & great natural scenery & Australia Zoo which the kids will love. Then a day trip or so around Brisbane before heading back to Sydney and spend your last days exploring that great city.