millinz

Just a note that the Eco Hopper ferries are different to the public Sydney ferries run by Transport NSW and they have a different timetable, different tickets too, and one can't be used on the other. They leave from Wharf 6 at Circular Quay. Their current timetable (up to Dec 17) is on their website here: http://www.sydneyharbourecohopper.com.au/media/ecohopper_timetable.jpg

The Eco Hopper starts at Darling Harbour, stops at Circular Quay then zigzags across the harbour to stop at the zoo, Rose Bay in weekends, Watson's Bay, the Quarantine Station then on to Manly. It stops at the same spots on the way back and you could stay on past Circular Quay to go to Darling Harbour.

Ferries don't go to Bondi Beach as it would require them to leave the harbour. You'd either train to Bondi Junction and bus, or there's a couple of red double-decker hop-on-off buses which leave outside the train station at Circular Quay that have a Bondi loop.

We've just returned from 8 nights on the Spirit and the chat feature was very useful. We had a large group split over several cabins and used chat to coordinate meeting for meals, keeping track of who was going where and when - it was definitely worth the $9 each. The Hub app also shows all activities, dining times, specialty dining hours etc so we used it rather than the daily printed Fun Times. The only problems we found with chat were due to Wifi problems in general. Wifi reception in some cabins wasn't great so occasionally you wouldn't receive the chat messages until you left the cabin or hit a spot with better reception.

The free Wifi only allows you to use the Hub app, for any other internet you need to purchase a package and we found them quite pricey.