Celebrity solstice Australia Cairns skydive?

[Gilby1989]

Hi everyone.

 

Me and my Fiance are going on the celebrity solstice to Australia in February for 17 nights and getting wed aboard the ship!

As a present we want to do a skydive in Cairns when we stop off there. We get at Cairns at 12.00 send leave at 20.00. Has anyone done this before and is this enough time? There seems to be no shore excursions like this as part of celebrity so I'd have to do it myself.

Also do people feel it's better to book excursions through celebrity themselves or by yourself? This is my first ever time cruising and I apologise for being so clueless :(

[TLCOhio]

Hi everyone. Me and my Fiance are going on the celebrity solstice to Australia in February for 17 nights and getting wed aboard the ship!

As a present we want to do a skydive in Cairns when we stop off there. We get at Cairns at 12.00 send leave at 20.00. Has anyone done this before and is this enough time? There seems to be no shore excursions like this as part of celebrity so I'd have to do it myself.

Also do people feel it's better to book excursions through celebrity themselves or by yourself? This is my first ever time cruising and I apologise for being so clueless :(

 

Welcome to these Cruise Critic boards!! Good luck on your trip, wedding and marriage!!

 

As noted in the live/blog below, we got off of the Solstice in February. Check out the postings below on my live/blog for more info/background on these many different ports, tour options, visuals, etc.! Happy to answer any questions. Just go the live/blog, post there and I will be happy to respond and share more.

 

Not totally sure on the exact sky-diving options at Cairns, if any are offered. We visited there for four days before our cruise sailing from Sydney. Super loved the rain forest, flying out to the Great Barrier Reef, spending a day snorkeling and exploring on Lizard Island in the middle of the GBR, etc. BUT, weather can be a little iffy at times in and around Cairns. They have a world-class rain forest there because . . . it can and does rain in this area!! That make the "odds" for your timing there to have such an adventure work out. Such "extreme sport" option might be more easily found in New Zealand and/or near a large city such as Sydney.

 

Doubt Celebrity will offer any such options. Never have seen any in the past. With the older crowd on many such cruise ships, not many would be in for doing such a costly and more risky "adventure". You might contact this pilot who did your trip out to Lizard Island to see if he can make any suggestions for while in Cairns.

 

Check out their website of

http://www.daintreeair.com.au

Contact Chief Pilot Greg at

info@daintreeair.com.au

 

Tell Greg that Terry from Ohio said "HI!" and that he needs to treat you well.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 89,913 views for this posting.

 

 

For the Great Barrier Reef, we chartered a plane for our group of six and flew out from Cairns to Lizard Island, one of the most isolated locations in Australia. Chief Pilot Greg has done about 2200 trips to this location and really knows it well. Here we are on the beach getting his briefing for snorkeling in these reef areas right off of this location/beach. Yes, we saw real lizards here when we walked from the landing strip to our beach location. Captain Cook named this island because when he landed, he saw so many lizards!! Had a wonderful lunch on the beach. On the way to Lizard Island, we flew our over the edge of the reef to better understand this amazing 1500-mile long natural wonder, how it works, etc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wastegirl]

Just google skydive cairns and lots of options come up, it seems it is popular for tandem skydiving as it takes in reef views as well.

 

Your only problem will be that as we are not actually in Cairns but Yorkey's Knob which is around 30 minutes from Cairns and we are there only for a limited time, you will need to factor in transport times to and from Yorkeys.

 

Furthermore I have heard that as a Tender Port getting off the ship and onto land, especially if you are not on a ship sponsored tour, can take a while so don't book anything too early after we drop anchor.

 

TLCOhio is also right about the weather, this is the Top End's rainy season, monsoons etc, so when you book make sure you can get a refund if the dive is cancelled due to weather conditions. Most simply offer alternative times/days which would not be suitable for cruise ship visitors.

 

Not long to go now :D

[The_Big_M]

The main difference between booking with the cruiseline, or yourself, is just that they make things simple. You just choose the option and they take care of the rest. Whereas do it yourself, you've got to work out timing, transport and plan for it all to fit together. And of course if you make a mistake, it's on you, not the cruiseline.

 

Many do book their own excursions as when the line organises it, the extra support/transport/staff they give, plus their profit means it will cost a bit more. It just comes down to preference though. As usual, you pay for convenience. :-)

[carlandlyn]

Gilby, I think your best option is to google 'skydive cairns', and you will get a couple of options. Some have the ability for you to send an enquiry through, and from there you can lay out your situation.

 

There are several options. Firstly the flights leave from Cairns airport, about 20mins from Yorkeys Knob, cabs and that run out there, but you may have to wait as Yorkeys is not the best place for 2000 people to come ashore in a short period of time.

 

Secondly are the drop zones, there is one at Gordonvale and another at Mission Beach and Innisfail. The time taken to get back to Cairns may be a factor. 30 mins for Gordonvale, 75 mins for Mission Beach (although a more scenic drop).

 

Finally, most of these drops are in the morning so people can get back for other activities, so check to see which ones offer an afternoon drop.

 

Sorry not much help there, but I'll make some enquiries to see if we can get some more details for timings.

 

Last thing, as someone has mentioned, February is the Wet, and it may not be the best time to do this here. If you are down Sydney / Brisbane way on your trip, they may be a better option regards the weather.