uvasag

Still in the planning stages but my family might be visiting Australia in June/July 2019. I believe that is prime whale season. Can someone suggest a good whale watching tour? I think a smaller boat will offer a better experience. While they all go to the same place in the ocean I think small boats get closer than bigger boats while keeping the required distance from the whale. Please and thank you.

12 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

There aren't many good Australian cruises during that period next year. Unfortunately Princess seem to have cut back on their Top End cruises over our winter, which is a shame. The only ones are the two circumnavigation cruises, one in March and one in October, which are also sold as two sectors (Southern Explorer and Northern Explorer) but the 209 cruises are already sold out.

 

So your best bet would be land travel. I'd suggest some time in Sydney where most things can be covered by day trips, then Melbourne where you might like to rent a car and spend a few nights touring the Great Ocean Rd and the Grampians. You need to fly to Uluru if you want to see that, and plan on spending a couple of nights there, or you could do the Ghan train trip from Adelaide to Darwin. I'd also recommend spending some time in Far North Queensland - fly into Cairns then get a shuttle bus to Port Douglas (about an hour away). PD is the best place to do Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest tours from. I can give you some recommendations if you are interested.

 

 

Thank you. Yes what you are suggesting sounds like a plan. Is Melbourne necessary? Can I just do Sydney and then PD? Would definitely like recommendations. 

9 hours ago, GCHAN said:

If you can you might even be better coming to Australia/NZ in March and catching any one of the cruises back to Honolulu in April. Celebrity have a cruise that has 3 nights in different ports in Tahiti. i Think Royal Carribean has the same. Tahiti is a real highlight.

 

If you even consider this you have to know that Australia has different weather zones. It is still wet season in the North and cyclones can happen at this time of the year. Later in March there is less chance of this happening. In the south of the country the weather should be good as it is Autumn. Nz weather is generally good at this time i think but I am not really certain of their weather.

Unfortunately I don't get that much time off neither would I have the money for such an extensive travel plan. Maybe one day :)

We are planning on traveling from US to Australia in June/July 2019. Do you think cruise is a good option or would I appreciate the country more by land?

36 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

The only cruise that does what you want at that time of year is P&O Pacific Explorer, 10 nights, 22nd July, Sydney to Cairns and back.

 

Pacific Explorer is a better ship than Pacific Dawn, which is a bit run down. Also Dawn departs Brisbane, not Sydney. The Explorer doesn't actually go into Brisbane, but visits Tangalooma, which is a resort across the bay from Brisbane on Moreton Island, and very nice.

 

P&O will often discount their fares close to departure time, but at that time of year there is no competition so maybe not.

 

$200 per person per day for a balcony is pretty standard, although full price. If I was you I would look at 2 Insides with 1 adult and a kid in each cabin at $1K pp. There are some interconnecting Insides available.

 

Remember that these are Australian dollar prices. If you come from overseas it will be much less in your currency.

Thank you. Will look at the exchange rate. Good point that it may not be as costly in USD. I also found Carnival Spirit sailing 19th June with slightly cheaper prices. 

I know this is a cruise forum but for someone flying in from US would you advice a cruise to Australia or do you think I would appreciate the country more by land? Trip by land is cheaper but I want to avoid the hassles of packing/unpacking every 2-3 days, spending time in and out of airports etc. I feel cruise is more relaxing and it still hits the cities that I would be visiting anyways.

Hello. We are a family of 4 with boys aged 13 and 15. We would either have to book 2 balcony suites or a suite large enough for 4 adults. Most cruises seem to be from Australia to NZ. Really looking for something that covers Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and possibly back to Sydney. We will probably visit Australia in July 2019. I see Pacific Dawn but seems like it's $2K pp. Is that the regular cost for a cruise in Australia? Would like at least one balcony suite and maybe 2nd one could be inside.

New to the Australian thread. Have cruised before within US and Caribbean. I would like to cruise with ports near the coasts from Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns etc. How do you suggest I start my search? Please and Thank you.

You really must be used to some huge airports, as Honolulu International, which you call a very small airport, handles 20 million visitors per year.

Yes, agreed about huge airports. However, the thing that stood out the most was the outdated decor and technology. Also, no power outlets along the walls worked to charge the phones.

We went to the Punaluu black sand beach which is about 45 mins further from VNP. Very unique black sand, and sea turtles hanging out near the rocks to feed. I don't know to swim so couldn't snorkel and thought would miss out on seeing the sea turtles but was lucky to see them standing on the rock under which they were feeding.

No changes that I noticed. The person regularly calls out for suite and penthouse patrons but other wise the line just moves along. Same as pattyj, we were done in 20 mins with beautiful leis. So many threads on the cruise not one mentions beautiful free lies from the cruise line or the performance by the natives as you are checking in :)

It's understandable to me for rental car agencies to inform cruise ship passengers to not park at the mall. If it was towed that would create issues for them to retrieve it from the impound lot & getting the renter to pay for towing, storage & possibly for a parking citation.

I'm frugal when I need to be but with so many discussions going on about overnight parking, who is to say when they start cracking down. I had read on this forum that you can take any rental car shuttle since they all are next to each other. We tried getting on a Hertz shuttle and he asked us for reservations. So obviously, they have caught on to this trick and are putting a stop to it. We could have lied and said we will reserve when we get there but were embarrassed enough. You are spending in thousands to get there, why cheat for $15 ? Not worth the headache and stress.

My brief summary of our vacation. Hopefully, it helps someone. Let me know if you have any questions.

We are a family of 4. Myself and husband in our mid-40s, 2 boys aged 12 and 10. We are vegetarians so our dinner options were limited plus we were looking for something familiar that my kids would eat so stuck to chain restaurants which I know a lot of you will frown upon :) .

2/22 - Arrived at HNL at 4:00 pm. Rented a car with Alamo. Were the first in line but unfortunately last to get out of the parking lot. We got to pick our SUV from their lot but the back seat's seat belt buckle was broken and by the time we let them know, all the other SUV were picked up from the lot and had to wait for them to get us another one. Still didn't mind waiting and were on our way to Waikiki. Initial reaction - Loved Honolulu. I was born and raised in Mumbai, India and this place reminded me so much of home. Mango trees, Papaya trees, Pineapple trees, coconut and palm trees and all of these in people's backyard !!! Checked into Holiday Inn beachcomber. I had used my reward points to book the 3 nights but still had to pay $20 in resort fees and $33 in valet parking per day.

2/23 - Since our bodies were still on EST we woke up early and had breakfast at IHOP. Picked up our car and drove to Pearl Harbor. We arrived at around 7:15 am and got tickets for the 8:15 am ferry. Absolutely, loved this place and was really sad learning about the events on the day and the grave yard beneath the memorial. After spending half a day there we drove on to Ko Olina lagoons on recommendation by the guest services lady there. Beautiful lagoons and kids spent the afternoon on the beach there.

2/24 - Drove to the North shore. Had a map with the various beaches marked and stopped at most of them. Had lunch at Pizza Hut and the lady there gave exact locations to spot sea turtles. We saw the huge banyan tree which is used in various movies and then walked to the beach. There was Olivia the Sea turtle basking in the sun. They know her because of the poly resin mark on her shell when they had a receiver attached to it. Sometimes the beach has more turtles and sometimes none. I feel we were very lucky to have seen at least one.

2/25 - Spent the morning on Waikiki beach, returned the car at the Waikiki location and took a cab to the pier. About $20 from Waikiki Alamo location to the pier. Boarded the cruise ship.

2/26 - Maui. We rented a car from Alamo here as well. Took the shuttle from the pier to their airport location. Drove to Lahaina for our Whale Watching Tours with Hawaiin Ocean Project. Spotted quite a few mamma and baby whales and saw couple of whales breach but quite far out in the ocean. After the whale watching ate at a mexican restaurant in the mall and then spent some time on the beach. On our drive back to the pier, we stopped at a lookout point near Maalaela bay and saw more whales. Same distance as our Whale Watching tour so felt like we scored a freebie. We parked at the airport overnight for $15.

2/27 - Maui 2nd day. We drove to Haleakala crater at around 9:00 am. It was very foggy at the top and we couldn't even take a picture. Also, very cold and glad we had our winter coats with us. Entry fee is $20 per vehicle

2/28 - Hilo. We rented a car from Thrifty and drove to VNP. Entry fee is $20 per vehicle. We stopped at the Visitor's center and the park ranger was very helpful. She saw the live cam and asked us to go to Jagger's museum right away since the lava was visible. We rushed to Jagger's museum and saw the lava bubbling in the crater. We then drove to Thurston Lava tubes stopping to see the Steam Vents on the way. After the Thurston Lava tubes and the devastation trail we stopped by one more time at the Jagger museum lookout. All we could see was the steam coming out and felt really fortunate of having seen the lava earlier in the day. We then drove to Punaluu Black Sand Beach. Really unique and saw sea turtles swimming close to the rocks.

3/1 - Kona. We were supposed to tender port at Kona but due to weather the ship couldn't anchor and we got a sea day out of it. We sailed around Maui and Lahaina and saw the Molokai islands and tons of whales from the ship. I preferred the Sea Day over my Kona port day. I had nothing planned for this cruise stop.

3/2 - Kuaui . We drove to Waimea Canyons and then drove to Poipu beach park. Saw the Sprouting Horn and then spent some time on the beach.

3/3 - Kuaui Day 2 - Had nothing planned. Took the free shuttle to Walmart for Souvenir shopping and then to Hilo Hatties for the free shell Leis :) . Spent couple of hours at the beach there before returning back to the ship and start packing !!!

3/4 - Ship threw us out by 9:00 am :( . Took a taxi to the airport for $30. HNL airport takes you back to the 70s !!! They had dot matrix printers screeching out sheets of paper. Very small airport with pretty much nothing to do while you wait for your flights. We were thinking of taking a half day tour to pass our time but it was too hot and humid and with luggage we just camped out at the airport.

Update : We got there around 7:15 am and got tickets for 8:15 am

Just returned from our cruise. You will have a good experience if you take your binoculars with you. The ship sails by slowly with the narration but it's still pretty far. You see the orange glow but if you want to see the lava hit the ocean and form steam plumes binoculars will help. Also, the flow changes constantly so no guarantees on what you will see on the day.

We had rented a car in Maui but later on met 4 ladies on the cruise ship. They didn't have any plans for Maui so once on port they met a lady cab driver who drove them around for $17 per person. She took them to a beach where they saw 17 sea turtles and the beach is tucked away from popular tourists so was practically empty. It probably helped that both the tourist ladies and cab driver were Vietnamese Chinese and got along well at first sight. All they knew was that the beach is next to a famous fish restaurant.

Just returned from our cruise. We only used 2 day rental in Maui so cannot answer for Nawiliwili. We were strictly told by the shuttle bus driver to use the airport for overnight parking and to NOT use the free mall parking. We were charged $15 for overnight parking at the airport.

Just returned from our cruise. You need a photo ID when you check in for the cruise and then your room key and photo id each time you get on and off the ship on ports. Remember, the port authority does an ID check when you return back to the port so always carry your photo ID. Also, no beverages allowed back on the ship. Something to keep in mind if you buy a drink right before you are planning on getting back on the ship.

We just returned from our cruise and would definitely recommend renting a car. We stopped at places that the locals suggested and saw sea turtles which we would have otherwise missed. Also, saw the huge banyan tree that is used in a lot of movies, again on suggestion by locals. Also, based on our mood we stopped at places for as long or as little and you have that kind of freedom when you are driving. Lots of fruit stalls that you can stop at and chat with the sellers and get tips on what to look for and where.

Just curious what time you ended up boarding the ship. You were advised to be onboard by 5:00. Hopefully you did not cut it too close and made the 4:45 safety drill as the make up day is in Maui.

We made it by 3:00 pm.

Please let us know how you enjoyed your cruise

Yes, I'll do a trip review after I return home. Anything you want to know now about the ship ?

Thanks. Onboard now :)

Just trying to plan my day out.

Anybody know by what time I should arrive at the pier ? TIA

Thank you all. I'll do what Bruce suggested. Turn it off when the ship leaves shore.

I would leave it off until docked. Sailing will be in evening and overnight anyway.

Thank you