Have you cruised in Australia before?

[crownandanchors3118]

Now that RCCL has announced moving the Radiance of the Seas to Australia we are very interested in this cruise and would love to have advice from all who have done this cruise before. Please advise on the best month, must see items and anything else you would like to pass on for a great trip.

[Poochie71]

Hi crownandanchors3118

 

We are from Australia so naturaly will be biased ;) We sailed on Rhapsody in April last year to Vanuatu and New Caledonia and had a great time. Same old great Royal Caribbean service.

 

No one knows what the itineries will be for Radiance yet but in general Rhapsody is doing either South Pacific (although I think there's not much if any in the 2009/20 season but is back for 2010/11 season), around Australia in two cruises or to NZ. You could not go wrong with any of those cruises.

 

I'm not sure of the flight prices from the US these days but flights from Australia to the US have not been this cheap for 15 - 20 years.

 

Plus you'll get to taste some real Aussie beer and not Fosters which no one here drinks...well no one I know.

 

Come on over...:D...we're waiting for you!

[Ausgirl]

Best months for Australia and South Pacific would be anytime from October to April, our spring and summer. That would be when the Rhapsody and Radiance are down here. For the Aus - NZ cruise, it's still a little chilly in spring, so in Jan/ Feb you would have better chance of warmer weather. Saying that New Zealand is unpredictable and can be very cool down in the South Island.

 

Also depending on whether you are travelling with kids you need to bear in mind that the ships will have lots of kids over the Australian summer break from mid December to end January. We sailed on Rhapsody the middle 2 weeks in January and there were heaps of kids (which was great as 3 of them were ours), but the 14 night cruise after ours which left on 21 Jan, had only 20 kids booked on the ship according to the teen club staff. School goes back here at the end of January.

 

There are lots of must sees depending on whether you are looking at cruising to New Zealand, or around Australia or to the islands.

[silentbob007]

I took a cruise on Rhapsody over the past Christmas holidays. It was definitely a new experience for me visiting Australia and New Zealand, as well as finally once again cruising to truly experience the ports.

 

I kept a travel journal here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1106807

 

It was truly a great time and I met a lot of great people. Highly recommended.

[Larry5440]

G'Day cobber

Hi crownandanchors3118

 

We are from Australia so naturaly will be biased ;) We sailed on Rhapsody in April last year to Vanuatu and New Caledonia and had a great time. Same old great Royal Caribbean service.

 

No one knows what the itineries will be for Radiance yet but in general Rhapsody is doing either South Pacific (although I think there's not much if any in the 2009/20 season but is back for 2010/11 season), around Australia in two cruises or to NZ. You could not go wrong with any of those cruises.

 

I'm not sure of the flight prices from the US these days but flights from Australia to the US have not been this cheap for 15 - 20 years.

 

Plus you'll get to taste some real Aussie beer and not Fosters which no one here drinks...well no one I know.

 

Come on over...:D...we're waiting for you!

[Pat.bz]

We did the Rhapsody repositioning in the Fall from Vancouver to Sydney and added a week incountry at the end. Loved this cruise! Part of what made it so much fun was a ship full of Aussies from Hawaii to Australia.

[vivian02]

My wife and I saw a big price drop going into Sydney from the US five months ago and immediately booked Rapsody for January. There seems to be some great airline sales since V-Australia and Delta have entered the market. With some good planning you can do a wonderful trip to the land of Oz. We returned two weeks ago and saw great summer weather the whole time. We did the 14 day circle around New Zealand and had just a grand time. Probably the only draw back was the 15 hour flight from LAX down to SYD but after that it was great. Attached is a picture taken in Sydney from the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Tim

[Desert Cruizers]

Vivian I read a couple days ago about the ROS going to Australia and this has been our dream trip, do you know when they will put the schedules out

[Poochie71]

Vivian I read a couple days ago about the ROS going to Australia and this has been our dream trip, do you know when they will put the schedules out

 

I've read on other threads that the schedules are coming out at the end of March.

[critterchick]

We returned yesterday from Rhapsody's New Zealand cruise out of Sydney, and it was the trip of a lifetime. I just wrote my review, but have to proof a few things - I didn't keep a daily diary and some of the ports have run together in my memory.

 

We enjoyed every port we visited - some were better than others, but there was osmetheing special to us in all of them. But nothing topped our getting to see some of Christchurch's sheepdogs competing in the trials for the NZ sheepdog competition. Our private guide arranged that at the last minute when bad weather forced the cancellation of a harbour cruise. As the owner of a non-working Border Collie mix, I was most impressed with their talent!

[Happy ks]

Welcome home, Jean and Don! We were just talking about you the other day, wondering how your Australia trip was going :)