Cool Breeze Cruiser

Thanks for all the great information yarramar! You are making my research much easier! Your suggestion about skipping Healesville Sanctuary this go round makes sense. I was just trying to combine something else with the Puffing Billy so we make the most of our time in port. I will check out the car rentals too. We just booked this cruise a few weeks ago. I have been working on the Oahu road trip before our cruise & the New Zealand road trip post cruise so any help is much appreciated! Like most people, Australia & New Zealand are bucket list places for my husband! Juli

Thanks for the suggestions possum52. I have been copying notes non stop but it is great to get first hand experience. We normally book independent excursions but we just booked this cruise a few weeks ago so most of Princess’s excursions are sold out so we definitely need private excursions. I think we are considering doing Puffing Billy combined with Healesville Sanctuary or something else for one of our days in Melbourne. My husband likes trains so Puffing Billy seems like a good fit. Juli

My husband & I are booked on the Diamond Princess Sep 26th. This is our itinerary… Spending two nights in Sydney before departing on Sep 26th. Sep 28th- Melbourne, Australia; 7:00AM-10:00PM Sep 29th- Phillip Island, Australia; 8:00AM-11:00PM Oct 1st- Kangaroo Island; 7:00AM-5:00PM Oct 2nd- Port Lincoln, Australia; 8:00AM-6:00PM Oct 3rd- Adelaide, Australia; 7:00AM-6:00PM Oct 5th- Melbourne, Australia; dock at 7:00AM & spending one night before flying to New Zealand for a 15 day land trip. I am in the beginning stages of research for excursions for our cruise as I have been spending most of my time planning the land trip to New Zealand & that is making my head spin! We like to see the countryside, absorb the culture, short hikes, etc as opposed to visiting museums, art galleries, etc. If anyone has any recommendations for private excursions for any of these ports, your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. So far, I have looked at quad bikes on Kangaroo Island & the Puffin Billy train on one of our days in Melbourne (we will be in Melbourne the day we disembark too). Thanks, Juli

Thanks. I went ahead & booked a room at the Jazz Corner Hotel in Melbourne for the night after we disembark our cruise right after I made this post. Looks like I made the right choice.

My husband & I just booked a Princess cruise that starts in Sydney & ends in Melbourne Oct 5th. The cruise makes a port stop in Melbourne Sep 28th from 7:00AM-10:00PM. We plan to visit the Healesville Sanctuary that day. We would prefer to fly straight to Queenstown the day we disembark but the latest nonstop flight is at 11:35AM. We are not priority on Princess but we always do self disembark. Would it be to much of a gamble to book the 11:35AM flight? Per Princess website… ’For voyages arriving in Melbourne, the earliest flight departure is 5 hours and 30 minutes after ship's arrival.’ Thanks, Juli

Thanks Corobin. We have decided to go with a hotel day pass post cruise but haven’t decided which hotel yet.

Our cruise ends in Miami January 24th. Our flight home is not until 4:50PM. We usually rent a car & explore for the day so we have something to do with our luggage until our flight. I remember there being long lines to rent a car at the car rental place near the cruise port & I don’t feel like we have enough time to Uber to the airport & rent a car so I am looking at some other options. I am checking out day use hotels. Has anyone booked the Cambria Hotel Miami Airport - Blue Lagoon for the day or do you have a recommendation for a different day use hotel, preferably not to far from the cruise port & airport? I have also looked at a couple of resort day passes. Has anyone booked a resort pass for the day? I also checked on some tours including an Everglades tour. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Juli

Thanks Port Royal. That looks awesome. We have done the See Antigua by Sea 3 times & enjoyed it.

Thanks Port Royal. We are considering staying at a Sandals All Inclusive but that is way to pricey for one day. We have been to Antigua numerous times but looking for something different this time. I will check out the options you gave me. We enjoyed Beach Limerz in January.

Thanks Mitsugirly. I am just now seeing this post. We are going back to St. Thomas January 2024 & looking for another boating day. We will be in port from 11:30AM-7PM. Our day with Pat & Independence Sailing in January was AMAZING even though it was cloudy & the seas were a bit rough. Pat will take out up to 6 people but it was just my husband & I & 2 friends on our day. Pat is a feisty, little woman who definitely knows her way around her sailboat that her husband built. She raised her two kids on the boat. The lunch she cooked & served was delicious too! I would recommend Independence Sailing 100%. It was worth every penny we paid!

Has anyone been to Sandals Grande Antigua lately? If so, how was your day there & what was the cost of a day pass? Thanks, Juli

That stinks! We had an amazing long day in St. Thomas with Captain Pat & Independence Sailing. Captain Pat is an absolute delight!

We did Tour #1 with Green Visions Tours. It was an AMAZING day! We felt like we were being shown around by a friend. We are going back to Ponta Delgada in April & are touring with Green Visions again. You will love Ponta Delgada. It is GORGEOUS! https://greenvisionstours.com/en/tours/

Ms411, sorry but I don’t remember. I just remember that it was a really great day. We had not totally ‘sailed’ before. Fury only offers half day sails & we wanted to maximize our long time in port so we booked with Independence Sailing. Juli

Thanks for the reply’s.

We already have plans for the other ports but NCL changed our itinerary recently & we have 3 extra hours in St. Thomas so I want to maximize our time there. I think we are going to book a day sail with Independence Sailing. Pat has been very quick to respond & has excellent reviews. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjPiKLjrJz8AhVxLkQIHR4EC1gQFnoECCUQAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independence44.us%2F&usg=AOvVaw2QHmQG-sRvZHtmz8K91kbZ Juli

I will. Our cruise is going to San Juan, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua & St. Thomas. We are going with Calabaza Sailing again in Barbados. It is one of the best excursions we have ever done!

Thanks Ms411. I will check out those option!

We have done an island tour in St. Thomas & been to Magen’s Bay & Sapphire Beach. We have done day sails with Fury Charters, New Horizons, Nightwind Charters & 2 with Tribal Day Sails. Obviously we like boating days! 😁 We are looking for something ‘different’ to do or another boating day on our next visit to St. Thomas. We will be in port from 7AM-6PM January 16th. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Does anyone know what bars will be open on the NCL Getaway out of NYC on embarkation day in January?

We paid Royston in cash the day of the tour.

Royston has a big van. He emailed me that he has the same van, but nicer wheels than when we toured with him. Gotta love Royston!

Royston’s personality is adorable! We all loved him. We felt like we were touring with a friend. Royston also goes off the beaten path to places where other tours do not go. The price for his tour is craziness cheap too! We tipped him well.

Email Royston at Roystontours@hotmail.com. Royston said he likes to take 7 or 8 people total. Last time we toured with him, it was just my husband & I & our two friends. Royston took us the beaten path, places we would not have been able to see otherwise.

We toured with Royston in 2015 & had an amazing day. I emailed Royston a few weeks ago at Roystontours@hotmail.com & he emailed me back yesterday. He apologized for the delay & said he had been doing other work. What a shame because I can’t imagine a better tour guide. We have been to St. Kitts numerous times & have toured with Javin & Thenford Gray. We liked Royston's tour best. I am excited we will get to our with him again when we are in St. Kitts in January. Juli