Anyone cruised out of Australia?

[bp traveler]

Thinking about sailing out of Australia and searched to see if I could find anything about it but no luck.

 

Has anyone sailed from there yet? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

I know they make some changes to the ship when it goes into the Aussie market but I am not sure what those changes entail.

 

Anyone?

 

thanks

[kazbar]

I haven't done Carnival from Sydney (but I have done others if you want port specific info).

I have had family on the Spirit out of Sydney and from what they told me I think the main differences are;

no free room service,

tips are included in the cruise fare,

cheers is not available,

no bon voyage available,

Australian wattage power points.

[bp traveler]

What ports did you visit and did you like them?

 

Is it a different type cruise with Australians? I have done European so I know what to expect there, just curious!

 

The site is horrible for researching the carnival.au

[kazbar]

Ive been to Mystery Island, Noumea and Vanuatu on cruises. Ive also been to many other places around here on land vacations. Where are the ports that you are looking to do?

 

Im Australian so I cant really comment on what its like to cruise with Aussies. We like a good time and are pretty laid back. I don't think we complain as much as Americans :o

[Colorado Kat]

Try looking under the Australian Port of Call section on this board. Do they have an Australian departures section?

 

Have a great cruise - I envy you!

[kazbar]

Heaps of information here - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=712

[bp traveler]

@Kazbar - we have never been to your side of the world:) I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with what to do first...cruise or a land vacation!

[kazbar]

Well, let see.

How long do you wish to travel for?

 

What kind of trip are you looking at doing? Cultural, relaxing/beach, adventure? Budget or high end?

 

Do you want to see New Zealand as well or concentrate on Australia this trip?

[kazbar]

I will just give you an idea of what we do in reverse quite regularly.

We fly from Sydney to LA and then do our land portion for roughly 2-3 weeks and then do a cruise at the end before our flight back home.

It is a long way to fly (and not cheap) so we like to fit a lot in when we do it (approx. every 18 months).

 

I like the cruise portion at the end because I feel like that is my relaxation time after all the sight seeing is finished

[bp traveler]

@Kazbar - I envy you with all of that vacation time! I am thinking that we would only have about 12-14 days if we are lucky!

 

What is the best way for us to experience Australia for first timers?

 

When I look at the ports of Call for Carnival is that like going to the Caribbean for us in the US? Would we see a lot of Australia by cruising or would we be missing out and just get beach type days?

 

We like a mix of history, culture beach and just absorbing what life is like wherever we are.

 

What do you think?

[kazbar]

@Kazbar - I envy you with all of that vacation time! I am thinking that we would only have about 12-14 days if we are lucky!

 

What is the best way for us to experience Australia for first timers?

 

When I look at the ports of Call for Carnival is that like going to the Caribbean for us in the US? Would we see a lot of Australia by cruising or would we be missing out and just get beach type days?

 

We like a mix of history, culture beach and just absorbing what life is like wherever we are.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Unless you are doing one of the longer cruises around Australia or down the East coast then you are unlikely to see much of Australia at all to be honest. Just like if I was sailing out of New York, I wouldn't see much of the US except for my time actually in New York.

 

The Carnival cruises (Spirit) sail out of Sydney and Melbourne and you would visit other places such as Noumea or Fiji.

 

If your aim is to see Australia itself, then just like anywhere else, you are better off doing a land trip.

You could pick a city, such as Sydney (Im biased cause that where I live :p), and do a week there before (or after) the cruise.