B2B Australia cruises

[peggy1]

Does anyone have any information regarding doing a back to back cruise doing Australia including Cairns and then doing New Zealand? We would like to do the cruise during the time period of Oct.-Jan. 2010. We will be celebrating our 40th Anniversary and are looking forward to this trip. It seems daunting to plan even though we have been on so many other cruises. We would appreciate the help. We have no problem changing ships as long as it can encompass both areas on Australia and NZ. Thanks.

[SheilaNC]

I assume you mean January 2011.... Best bet, based on our experience is to look for cruise lines that have back to back cruises that are different from one another.. We did Sydney to Auckland then Auckland to Honolulu several years ago and loved the variety of ports. You might contact a travel agent who could seek out the possibilities for you since there are so many options.

[Aquarians]

Does anyone have any information regarding doing a back to back cruise doing Australia including Cairns and then doing New Zealand? We would like to do the cruise during the time period of Oct.-Jan. 2010. We will be celebrating our 40th Anniversary and are looking forward to this trip. It seems daunting to plan even though we have been on so many other cruises. We would appreciate the help. We have no problem changing ships as long as it can encompass both areas on Australia and NZ. Thanks.

Kia ora,

Royal Caribbean, Princess and Holland America are among the regulars here, with their cruises incorporating both countries, Eg. a popular itinerary is one that starts in Sydney, goes down to Melbourne, on to Hobart in Tasmania, across to the Fjords in NZ and then around the bottom of the south island and up the east coat of both islands, finishing in Auckland or back in Sydney, or vice versa. Weather-wise , you are more likely to get settled weather in NZ after Christmas. As there are a number of alternatives, including circumnavigation of Australia, cruising from Auckland or Sydney to the South Pacific Islands etc. I suggest you discuss with a TA who has knowledge of the area and can ascertain what you are looking for.

Aquarians

[Kiwi Kruzer]

One suggestion would be to look at Diamond Princess in Dec 2010.

it leaves from Bangkok and comes down to Australia, then on to the NZ cruise, finishing in Auckland.

It also takes in Christmas and New Year.

[The_Big_M]

RCL's Rhapsody of the seas does cruises to Cairns in October and March, though you'd need to mix it up with another cruise line for NZ as they're not doing B2B's there.

[Australian family]

If you can't work 2 cruises intogether, maybe do a land tour to Cairns, or fly up there and do some touring around. There is so much to do up there. Met some Americans on our cruise who went up there individually and hired a car and had no trouble getting around, it is more laid back and a lot easier to get around driving yourself. There is some nice beaches north of Cairns where you could base yourself to do day trips.

[Wandering Writer]

If you can't work 2 cruises intogether, maybe do a land tour to Cairns, or fly up there and do some touring around. There is so much to do up there. Met some Americans on our cruise who went up there individually and hired a car and had no trouble getting around, it is more laid back and a lot easier to get around driving yourself. There is some nice beaches north of Cairns where you could base yourself to do day trips.

 

This is a great idea. We have been to Cairns three times and yes, the area is easy to navigate and there are some wonderful tours you can book from Cairns to see the lava tubes, the tablelands, the Great Barrier Reef, etc. There are also some resort islands near that area that would be great fun to stay at. We've always stayed at the Colonial Club and found nice accomodations. Be sure they put you in the newer section if you do. They have a bus that goes downtown and a tour office onsite.

 

We've done the Auckland to Sydney cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it (Jan. 2000). Wish we would have stayed a few days in Sydney but we returned and did it on another trip. Our latest trip is documented at my blog.

 

Have fun!

[sparky-elpaso]

RCL's Rhapsody of the seas does cruises to Cairns in October and March, though you'd need to mix it up with another cruise line for NZ as they're not doing B2B's there.

 

Actually, they are - you just have to search the RCI website.

 

2011

Feb 17 to Mar 6 - Rhapsody - Sydney to Perth - up the east coast and "over the top".

 

Mar 6 to Mar 24 - Rhapsody - Perth to Hobart and then 3 stops in NZ and back to Sydney.

 

So you end up with a circumnavigation of Australia with some NZ thrown in as a bonus.

[peggy1]

Thanks for all the input. We booked the Dawn Princess in Oct., which does Brisbane and up the coast to Cairns and a few other ports and when we return back to Sydney we will do the Sun Princess from Syd. to NZ. We are looking forward to all the ports. We love to snorkel so the Great Barrier Reef is a must. We wanted to do October since it won't be hot in Sydney. We did Italy in September and it was so hot we couldn't fully enjoy it. Sydney is suppose to be around 71 and we are hoping that that temp. holds true. It has been a very unusual weather year all over, so we can only hope. We know we will only get a taste of Australia and NZ but that will have to do for now.

[moyaroo]

Be aware that Dawn and Sun are "Australian" ships and the currency onboard is the AUD. Ships are generally incrementally different to accomodate the Aussie market.