Debarkation and Sydney airport

[RumpunchGirl]

I have been checking on flights for our October cruise out of Sydney On Rhapsody of the Seas. DH and I will be flying on Delta and want to head back home the same day we get off the ship. We arrive back in Sydney at 6:30 am. But what I'm seeing is that almost of the the Delta flights back to the US leave at 11:20 am.

 

My question is will we have enough time to debark and get to the airport on time?

 

Thanks,

Teri

[bazzaw]

Hmmm -- in theory, you should be at the airport at 09.20 (at the latest) for checkin. So, once again in theory, provided you self disembark ( ie carry your own luggage off at the first opportunity available -maybe 0730?), then get a taxi direct to the airport , you should be able to adequately make it out OK.

 

BUT -- if it were me, I would be booking a hotel for that night and relaxing for a final night in Sydney. Rushing around at the end of a hopefully wonderful holiday is a good way to spoil it .

 

Barry

[Pushka]

I've been on a ship where our gathering time for disembarkation was 10am. If you could take your own luggage and walk off you might be ok. But I'd stay the extra night.

[MicCanberra]

It is cutting it fine, make sure you have good travel insurance cover, in case you miss your flight. A flight in the mid afternoon or evening would be better or stay the night and get an early flight then.:D

[Flipper133]

I agree with others about staying overnight...although I would pick a hotel closer to the airport precinct.

 

I have often been accused of being too organised, and at time over conservative, but I have had one major experience at Gatwick (UK) which I would never want to go through again. Even though I allowed plenty of time to get to the terminal and have some farewell drinks with friends, a traffic snarl on the M25 (not uncommon) meant we only just scraped in before the gate closed. Never again:(

 

So with our cruise next month, even though we get back to Sydney at 6.30 I have booked return flights to Brisbane for 12 noon... and that's at the domestic terminal with no passports and no customs. No way would I consider an international flight at 11.20am.

 

cheers

[goodycruising]

Which day of the week are you arriving back? The trip can be a nightmare through the city on a Saturday morning, but on a Sunday it is a different matter. We have taken the train on arrival from the airport one time - domestic - and there were horror stories about track works, but when we went it was all fixed and we were there very quickly using the train.

 

So I agree it might be a close call at that time, and not a relaxing way to end the trip. The pre flight arrival time is pretty much adhered to as far as I have heard, and I would think if you were a little late that would be the end if it. Getting a taxi from the ship on debarking we have found pretty quick, but we are usually leaving later in the morning, and a 10 minute wait may seem quick to us, but it might be agony for you!

 

Also the boarding gates of the airlines can be quite a way from the front doors of the terminal. Why you have to go so far through all those damn duty free shops is beyond me!

[Einreb61]

We were at OPT in October returning on a RCCL trip. We got back into Sydney and had a disembark time for 0930. We had booked domestic flights for 1330 as people had told us not to book early. We were in the designated waiting area of the ship at 0920, heading to the gangway at 0925. Before we knew it we were on a bus and headed to the airport, arriving around 1020. Only problem was we had booked our flights a long way in advance and very cheaply so they were unable to be changed. We walked and walked and walked the airport until it was time to board. Time over again I'm still not sure I would book a flight hours earlier than we had. I think we just totally fluked it.

[cassamanda]

We were at OPT in October returning on a RCCL trip. We got back into Sydney and had a disembark time for 0930. We had booked domestic flights for 1330 as people had told us not to book early. We were in the designated waiting area of the ship at 0920, heading to the gangway at 0925. Before we knew it we were on a bus and headed to the airport, arriving around 1020. Only problem was we had booked our flights a long way in advance and very cheaply so they were unable to be changed. We walked and walked and walked the airport until it was time to board. Time over again I'm still not sure I would book a flight hours earlier than we had. I think we just totally fluked it.

 

You can get away with it at the domestic airport but the OP is flying out of the international airport. They will need to be at the checkin no later than 9.00am as it can take quite some time just to get through Customs if you do not have priority.

Early morning rush hour is a nightmare around Sydney weekdays and on the weekends traffic around the airport is also very bad, Sunday particularly.

 

Stay in Sydney overnight and enjoy one of the most beautiful cities of the world.

There is a Rydges hotel on site at the airport.

[cwtravel]

Did you consider the afternoon flight on Virgin Australia, which code shares/is bookable through Delta.com? That flight generally departs SYD around 2pm, non-stop into LAX with an arrival around 10am.

[MicCanberra]

You can get away with it at the domestic airport but the OP is flying out of the international airport. They will need to be at the checkin no later than 9.00am as it can take quite some time just to get through Customs if you do not have priority.

Early morning rush hour is a nightmare around Sydney weekdays and on the weekends traffic around the airport is also very bad, Sunday particularly.

 

Stay in Sydney overnight and enjoy one of the most beautiful cities of the world.

There is a Rydges hotel on site at the airport.

 

Sydney customs is generally hit and miss (more miss) when it comes to getting through quickly, it has generally been at least 1/2 an hour when speedy and up to 2 hours when slow.:D

[tjcox9]

Did you consider the afternoon flight on Virgin Australia, which code shares/is bookable through Delta.com? That flight generally departs SYD around 2pm, non-stop into LAX with an arrival around 10am.

 

As Delta regular fliers, we used this VA flight recently on return to US for a couple of reasons - time and it was also less expensive. The plane was newer and nicer than Delta's, food about the same low quality. Downside of doing this is that if you are connecting in LAX which we were, after going through customs with your luggage, there is no drop point right there. You must drag or carry it to the Delta terminal for drop off. It worked out alright, but was a bit of a pain and not at all clearly marked. And one piece of my luggage did not show up in LAX, and when we returned to our final destination late that night, we had to file a report.

 

We'd almost given up as that was on the 22nd. On Christmas Day, an attempt was made to deliver the wrong bag, and finally, early on the 27th, the correct one showed up. We have no idea where it was all that time.

 

Anyway, in the end, all was okay, but it was a bit stressful at the time. Just thought I'd pass this along, but this may have just been a one off.

 

[MicCanberra]

As Delta regular fliers, we used this VA flight recently on return to US for a couple of reasons - time and it was also less expensive. The plane was newer and nicer than Delta's, food about the same low quality. Downside of doing this is that if you are connecting in LAX which we were, after going through customs with your luggage, there is no drop point right there. You must drag or carry it to the Delta terminal for drop off. It worked out alright, but was a bit of a pain and not at all clearly marked. And one piece of my luggage did not show up in LAX, and when we returned to our final destination late that night, we had to file a report.

 

We'd almost given up as that was on the 22nd. On Christmas Day, an attempt was made to deliver the wrong bag, and finally, early on the 27th, the correct one showed up. We have no idea where it was all that time.

 

Anyway, in the end, all was okay, but it was a bit stressful at the time. Just thought I'd pass this along, but this may have just been a one off.

 

Even though bags are lost all the time it is still random to flights, people, airlines, etc. They really do make up a very small percentage of the baggage that is transported around the world. That said, if it is your bags, it is very inconvenient.:D

[Esilef]

As the others have said - why not spend another night in Sydney and relax after the cruise. We are doing this rather than fly all the way to melbourne (1 hour flight)